Thoughts on BMW e30's

[Slow]

Looking at picking up a bmw e30 for a bit of a fun car. Would be a early 316/318/320 in manual I imagine. The 323/325 are fetching 2k+ all day long.

Plans would be to aim for a track car while learning to do work myself. So basic coilovers, stripped interior, bucket seats and wider wheels.

So really asking, what are people opinions on them? Bad/good idea?

Edit: Only 21 and starting uni next year so would be done on a budget.

Edited by Slow on Sunday 22 November 15:56

[Slow]

Mums boyfriends son does welding for me at a really good price haha

[Slow]

Can still be had for sub £1k if not a hugely desirable model. Think its a mix of I like the look of them and parts arent too expensive if things break.

Like the look of 80s cars even though I wasnt even alive then. Got a 83 cherry which is going to have to go sadly. Parts are too expensive and hard to get hold of.

[Slow]

Ok, so no messing about here.... Bought this just now on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1984-BMW-323i-Manual-E30...






Guess its time to buy a non rusty shell unless this one is saveable for a decent price.

[Slow]

Bought more so for the engine + box as did the guy who bought this.

Seen the shell he had for sale that was for this sell a few days back I believe.

Edit: Also noticed its a A reg like my cherry even though it is a year newer.

[Slow]

McSam said:

When the advert title describes it as "brave", you really need to leave it alone we shall expect a full damage report in Readers' Cars soon..

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1556430&mid=375106&nmt=Bmw+e30+323i+rust+bucket+purchase

Already made it ready to fill with lots of pictures of rust soon, or not hopefully!

I dont even know how to weld.

Found a place local which has a low profile trailer I can rent due to the seller telling me "I've not started it and I think it should really be checked over throughly before doing so, I'm not sure about driving it on!" so that ended my plans of using a plant trailer with a large incline and no winch.

My plan seems similar to the sellers though. Mainly for engine/box and sell random other bits to make it a cheap parts car for a non rusty shell.

[Slow]

300bhp/ton said:

Slow said:

Looking at picking up a bmw e30 for a bit of a fun car. Would be a early 316/318/320 in manual I imagine. The 323/325 are fetching 2k+ all day long.

Plans would be to aim for a track car while learning to do work myself. So basic coilovers, stripped interior, bucket seats and wider wheels.

So really asking, what are people opinions on them? Bad/good idea?

Edit: Only 21 and starting uni next year so would be done on a budget.

Edited by Slow on Sunday 22 November 15:56

I had a 318 ages ago.

Kinda hated it at the time, in fact thought it was horrid. But somehow I look back on it with fonder memories than many other cars I've had.

And I often find myself looking at pics of them on the internet or in classifieds, thinking "mmm they look rather good". Only too see one out on the roads and thing "my word they are boxy!". In the flesh they seem less appealing than in pics.

If the price was right for an ok condition one, I think there is some charm there. But I'm not convinced they are maybe as good as people sometimes think they are.

Arguably if you don't need the space, then a BMW Z3 is a much more enjoyable car.

Im sure a z3 is more fun, but it just doesn't look "cool". Odd as the e30 is like a box but it just looks right.

[Slow]

Updated my readers cars thread but imagine most of you here havent seen that so il paste it here too

So finally in 30 minutes ago, quickly grabbed these pictures. From the ad looked like the inner edge of doors was holey, just cobwebs

Will clean up tomorrow and get better ones, or worse depending what I uncover, lots of overspray on plastic trims near the arches from a quick glance which suggests lots of lovely filler.

The guy gave me a spare bumper, both are slightly damaged so not sure if they can come apart to fix together to make one whole.
No radio, but other than abit of cobwebs and mould interior seems to be like new. Going to head into a few tyre garages tomorrow to see if they have any bald tyres I can have for free just to roll the car around for now.

Rear spoiler thing is a completely different colour, no idea if it was meant to have one.

Going to nick my battery out my old bmw and see if she will start, previous owner said it was last running in 2010 when it drove to his house. Anything I should do before just trying to crank it?

[Slow]

Last update here, the rest will be in my readers car thread > http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

She runs! Took a while and some easy start though, sounded smooth enough.

https://youtu.be/zmsiO43yBYU

Spewed all its water and leaks petrol though. Didnt try drive it yet as it was running off jump leads from the Range Rover and needs the engine bay cleaned out, job for tomorrow, too dark now.

All inner arches near the sills need welded, outer sills need welded, not sure about inner sills though. Rear arches for sure, along with my new wings im due to collect tomorrow Strangely there is a big patch of filler on the top of the boot lid, going to peel off and explore soon. Roof is rust free though!

Scuttle area seems to have been saved by the 4" of mud filling it, except in the middle where there is a slightly rusty edge appearing... where the least of amount of mud was.

Popped the boot finally, was fairly stuck. Found new kidney grill, headlight surrounds and various other things.

































Not sure if this means anything to anyone but if they could tell me if my car should have it?

[Slow]

Would there not be bubbling on the roof? Assuming its a single skin roof and not another piece of metal inside rotting.

[Slow]

Someone else asked me this on a different forum so heres the pasted answer

The fact it was £560 and im a student who cant save money. I can spend money monthly on my cars but saving to buy a nice one? Nah not here, also its nice to learn to do things. Sadly gonna have to pay a bud to do the welding.

[Slow]

Went out 10 minutes ago and had a quick feel. Feels completely solid. Got my mum to stand outside to see if I pushed the roof up too haha.

[Slow]

g3org3y said:

Kawasicki said:

I'm amazed that you are considering this project. Fair play and all that, but I would be starting with something a little less rusty.

Good luck.

Worth starting a thread on E30Zone and ask their opinion. That rust is very extensive.

Seen worse welded up on transits and disco's. Cheaper to buy replacement panels and pay a mate to weld them in.

Not sure if you guys know prices of these but a non rusty one is 2k+ if 3 door really. Thats alot of rust money.

[Slow]

Im hoping to have the rust sorted for around £500 max. The panels are £250 and its like 2/3 days welding I reckon if not needing to make bits for it.

Spray it in primer and a rough match rattle can. Planning plasti dip or a respray at home so saving alot of money on getting it looking good.

Im useless at saving up, if i dont spend money on car parts I just end up drinking/partying it away with mates at college.

It started with the dash all lighting up too. Leaky pipe somewhere, battery out my old e46, fix rear lights if the on board computer check thing was to be believed.

This is pistonheads, lets get behind a project haha

[Slow]

Still a work in progress. Bodywork is basically done except sanding/paint.

Basically been put on hold due to life. Been in the USA for half of my time for the last few years which limits things when you have a few cars to work on.

Hopefully can get it on the road by the end of the year, if it’s painted or just mechanically sorted is a different question.