RE: Shed of the Week: BMW 3 Series Touring (E30)

[V8 TEJ]

A friend of mine has not long turbo'd his 320 Touring. Here are a few snaps of it from a show we attended last year. Sounds lovely, but I haven't been in it long enough to see what it's about..


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[BVB]

What a good car. I had the 6 pot, sounded and went very nicely. One of BMW's finest without a doubt.

[RoverP6B]

The E30 Touring is a very good car, and I love the story of how it came about. My 318i (115bhp) was a bit gutless but would do 120mph flat out and would cheerfully slew sideways at the slightest provocation on anything less than dry tarmac. It was bright red, steel wheels, big 4-spoke steering wheel, cloth interior. Apart from the stock radio and the driver's seat back, which both broke, it felt bombproof. Electrical failure killed it in the end. Wish I could have kept it and turned it into the six-cylinder dark-blue cross-spoke car I always wanted instead of the bright red four-banger it was.

I still think it's a timeless piece of design.

This made for interesting viewing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBkObmAPvs0

[Robbo 27]

Great cars, I bought one of the last and sold it a year later for more than I paid for it.

Took it round Mallory on club days and it was so well behaved, not the fastest with an auto box but superb in the corners, balanced and grippy.

[ReDmEd]

I hope Mr Shed realises his obvious mistake. the M42 engine was reserved to the 318is with around 136hp if memory serves and yes the M42 had a timing chain. ThIS Shed of the week e30 though has the m40 4 cylinder powering it, which has a timing belt.

[anonymous-user]

I didn't realise these overlapped with the E36 by so much. My first E36 was a 'J' plate and I think some were on 'H' plates weren't they? Was it only the E30 Touring (and maybe the convertible?) which was built until '93?

[MDMA .]

Leins said:

Think this one was printed in 1990, same year as both my old E30s rolled out of Munich


Had an original UK option list too, but gave that away with the car I think. Sorry for pic quality, might not be too readable

Edited by Leins on Friday 5th February 12:07

Found it :

[anonymous-user]

Spumfry said:

I didn't realise these overlapped with the E36 by so much. My first E36 was a 'J' plate and I think some were on 'H' plates weren't they? Was it only the E30 Touring (and maybe the convertible?) which was built until '93?

The Cab ran until 92 and the Touring until 93.

Worth mentioning that they were built in a different factory with sightly better material and are a little less prone to rot. They also feature the same suspension and brakes as a 325i or 318iS irrespective of engine size.

[derin100]

AC43 said:

Doesn't do it for me, sorry.

E30's HAVE to be I6's.

This is the 1993 equivalent of wanting a 335i but buying a 320 diesel with big wheels an an M Sport package.

Ah'm oot.

And I did drive a brand new 318i back in the day. Was expecting "the utimate driving machine" but felt more like I was driving a posh Cortina. It was boggo spec - plastic wheeltrims, cloth, skinny tyres, bouncy suspension (well under-damped). Underwhelming.

Jumped back in my Alfa and breathed a sigh of relief.

Edited by AC43 on Friday 5th February 11:08

Well...there are a few exceptions....?

http://www.bmwclassics.co.uk/gallery/index.php?spg...

[tali1]

i hardly ever saw a L reg when new , now all online ones are Ls.
Anyway, good enough for Phil Collins - no less


http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C577579#

[Leins]

MDMA . said:

Found it :

That must have been the first brochure they produced. Thanks for posting!

[MDMA .]

Printed in West Germany, 1990.

[J4CKO]

declasm said:

J4CKO said:

Nice, but the good thing with the SOTW one is that it isnt sacrilege to pull it to bits and stick something else in.

Wouldn't want to with a 325i though

Indeed, that is what I was saying, throw the crappy 4 cyl away and stick something decent in, enjoy.

[161BMW]

Any more tales of E30s and sideways action :-) ?

[BlimeyCharlie]

161BMW said:

Any more tales of E30s and sideways action :-) ?

It is a myth...spinning the inside wheel is about it.

Unless you are a complete dunderhead with zero driving aptitude or even less mechanical sympathy then sideways is not happening.

[JBT]

Not a complete dunderhead, but I did once nearly put my '86 325i 2 door off the road as a result of over exuberance at about 60mph through a cambered right hander. Took a couple of hundred metres and much arm twirling of the non-PAS 4.25 turn lock to lock steering to correct the fishtailing. Lucky for me no one was coming the other way. No LSD won't always just spin the inside wheel...

[pSyCoSiS]

Another decent SOTW. Nothing to set the world on fire, but soon to be a modern classic.

Yes a 6 pot is more desirable, but also more than double the shed cost to purchase.

Nice little runabout which will still be a relatively decent steer, despite the engine size.

[pSyCoSiS]

279 said:

Spumfry said:

I didn't realise these overlapped with the E36 by so much. My first E36 was a 'J' plate and I think some were on 'H' plates weren't they? Was it only the E30 Touring (and maybe the convertible?) which was built until '93?

The Cab ran until 92 and the Touring until 93.

Worth mentioning that they were built in a different factory with sightly better material and are a little less prone to rot. They also feature the same suspension and brakes as a 325i or 318iS irrespective of engine size.

They actually made the Touring models until early 1994, on a 'L' registration:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-TOURING-316-LOW-...

E36 Touring production started in 1995, and IIRC you can get the 325i Touring up to a 'K' registration.

[pSyCoSiS]

SuperchargedVR6 said:

The E34 was a million times better in this respect!



And if you happen across an E30 or E34 Tourer with a missing load cover, there's a good reason for that. They cost a bloody fortune to replace!!

Isn't that an E39 Tourer?!

[e21Mark]

E30 of all variants are still great fun and not devoid of feel like so many modern cars. Admittedly this shed is a little lacking in power but fit some Bilstein, firmer springs and better brakes, then adjust your driving style accordingly. A quicker E36 steering rack is another easy upgrade, along with an LSD. Look after it and it won't depreciate either.

My E30.