RE: You Know You Want To: BMW E30 M3

[E30M3SE]

It won't make the reserve.

[flatline84]

Just buy a scruffy one and drive the ballsack off it.

[Johnboy Mac]

E30M3SE said:

It won't make the reserve.

+1.

[falkster]

flatline84 said:

Just buy a scruffy one and drive the ballsack off it.

I bet a scruffy one will lack engine maintenance so won't last that long. The engine are bulletproof if looked after but it's not unheard of to hear engine problems so it's false economy of very short lived fun.

Don't forget if the timing chain isn't replaced at 100k your car will explode into a trillion pieces!!

[Legacywr]

E30M3SE said:

It won't make the reserve.

What do you think the reserve is?

[falkster]

Legacywr said:

What do you think the reserve is?

I thought it was classified around 90k euro??

[E30M3SE]

Legacywr said:

E30M3SE said:

It won't make the reserve.

What do you think the reserve is?

80K Sterling.

[GarryA]

falkster said:

I bet a scruffy one will lack engine maintenance so won't last that long. The engine are bulletproof if looked after but it's not unheard of to hear engine problems so it's false economy of very short lived fun.

Don't forget if the timing chain isn't replaced at 100k your car will explode into a trillion pieces!!

You are Barney ex Munich Legends aicmfp.

[Johnboy Mac]

I reckon that's just a kite flying excerise putting that on eBay. Nothing to lose & everything to gain.

[Skyedriver]

Was looking at a couple of pics of my old one earlier tonight.....despite the getting in the wrong side at the filling station and struggling at the Tyne Tunnel kiosk, I miss it. Bought 10k sold 8k back in 2001. Later written off I believe = F335DDY

[chrisr29]

pSyCoSiS said:

W108 said:

Not with you Chris on the Cabrio (just my preference) but in all other respects: bob on. Enjoyed the article.

When pondering an E30 M3 my mind always wanders to the 2.7 Alpina. I've never driven one so I must say that I've no clue if it is truly comparable, but I like the idea.


As an aside, where are the "bubbly panels"? Adverts says "no rust on the car".

Never driven an E30 M3, but have given some beans in a 1987 E30 C2 2.7 Alpina Coupe. They are two totally different cars, but the Alpina was quicker. Lovely sound from the howling straight six, and six branch manifold.

They are worth a bit of money, but nowhere near the residuals of the M3s!

You've never driven one yet you know it's quicker

[s m]

Guvernator said:

chrisr29 said:

Better engine how? The m3 runs individual throttle bodies and Motronic engine management where as the Merc has a single throttle body and clunky old KE Jet.

M3 revs harder and pulls as well low down.

Both engines are quite archaic now compared to modern engines so I'm not really fussed about what makes them tick. A lot of owners change bits in the engine on both cars anyway to improve on some of the limitations of the orignal design.

What I am talking about is feel. While both produce very similiar levels of power and torque, I just prefer the way the Merc engine delivers. It feels smoother and stronger, a view shared by many. Apart from timing chain weakness suffered by the earlier 2.3 cars which were later rectified, the engine as well as the other mechanicals and bodywork are pretty much bombproof. As a 20+ year old car I think it's just an easier ownership proposition than the more fragile\rust prown M3.

Read a nice article a while back that said as much - here's the summary. I've seen all of these 3 cars get the final nod though as it depends on the guy reviewing them - all have their own qualities......... but similar in many ways

Edited by s m on Thursday 15th March 21:08

[flatline84]

To me, the first ones are the most appealing. 2.3 and 30 years old very soon.

[s m]

flatline84 said:

To me, the first ones are the most appealing. 2.3 and 30 years old very soon.

They sold around 20,000 of them iirc

Hard to think of it as a rally car ....although I remember the guy on the COI

[pSyCoSiS]

chrisr29 said:

You've never driven one yet you know it's quicker

So, you've never sat in a car and known it feels quicker than another car??

The M3 was an 'E' Reg, early model. The Alpina was a quick car, 210bhp 6 pot, with presumably more torque as well.

From sitting in the E30 M3, and driving the Alpina, I can tell that particular Alpina was quicker than that particualr E30 M3.

[j_s14a]

PPPPPP said:

estoril said:

Any excuse...here's mine..

& one more

Thanks for the screen saver

[Legacywr]

If only I could turn the clock back 4 years... so that I could buy a mk1 Lotus Cortina!

[Traveller]

I have never been taken with the M3 and it's four pot motor, give me the 325IS Evo or even better 333I, any day of the week.

[s m]

Traveller said:

I have never been taken with the M3 and it's four pot motor, give me the 325IS Evo or even better 333I, any day of the week.

You're unlikely to even see one of those though unless you're in South Africa - closest we got over here were cars from Alpina or Hartge to those ...although there was a 325iS EVO up for sale recently in Jersey I saw
Have you owned one of those 2 or driven one?

Edited by s m on Friday 16th March 08:51

[Alfanatic]

The 325iS 2.7 and 333i are, I gather, completely different animals to the M3 and are much more likely to be like the Alpinas and Hartge 6 cyl conversions. The iS even got its engine from Hartge. Still great cars, but different. And the 333i is older too. That's based on the pre facelift E30 and has a very lively back end, though on the plus side you might find one without power steering (packaging restrictions meant that buyers of early cars could choose aircon or power steering, but not both), and the unassisted rack is supposed to be pretty good, but a 333i is even rarer than an M3. You'll have a hell of a time finding a good one.