e30 325 touring
Discussion
Hmmm..... e30 tourer with a V8 in! 
Coming back to reality for a second. The decision largely comes down to two things,
1) Will it put me backwards through a hedge at 7am on a wet Monday morning? I've heard a lot of people say they're quite tricky to drive (in general, not the touring specifically) and never been sure whether this was down to a fundamental problem with them or a lot of people who weren't used to RWD.
2) If it doesn't kill me, will it leave me stranded? Kept an eye on the e30 board and there seems to be a lot of talk of bits falling off and/or rusting through by this age. I'm not comparing it to brand new cars, but none the less it has to be used everyday for quite high mileages without leading to financial ruin.
Coming back to reality for a second. The decision largely comes down to two things,
1) Will it put me backwards through a hedge at 7am on a wet Monday morning? I've heard a lot of people say they're quite tricky to drive (in general, not the touring specifically) and never been sure whether this was down to a fundamental problem with them or a lot of people who weren't used to RWD.
2) If it doesn't kill me, will it leave me stranded? Kept an eye on the e30 board and there seems to be a lot of talk of bits falling off and/or rusting through by this age. I'm not comparing it to brand new cars, but none the less it has to be used everyday for quite high mileages without leading to financial ruin.
Sounds like you want the one sitting in my garage! e30 touring with the proper m3 wide arches, 5.5 ltr v8,..................., to be honest the cars are great, bit under powered these days but still bags of fun to drive with loads of character, as for them being a bit dodgy to drive? put a nice set of grippy tyres on and not a problem, still loads of nice ones out there for not much more than a grand!
I had an E30 325i touring three years ago.
Much more involving to drive than a lot of newer cars, and very sensibly sized. Sounded great and was lovely and smooth.
Ref the handling, I did lose it once, but bizarrely, it was at 5mph whilst navigating a mini-roundabout on a damp day. I wasn't even going quickly. Never had any other times when it felt close to losing it. Yes I did have some decent Goodyear hyrdragrips on it.
So far so good.
Unfortunately, it was also the biggest dog I've owned as a car. The list of issues it had included:
- Electrical issues with the indicators
- Replacement gearbox
- Replacement front wishbones (a very common fault)
- Something on the engine sensor
- Leaking oil from the engine at a much higher rate than normal
It never actually broke down on me, but cost a lot to maintain and looked like it would get worse.
So I think that it depends on whether you buy a dog like mine (mint exterior though, but dog rough underneath).
Much more involving to drive than a lot of newer cars, and very sensibly sized. Sounded great and was lovely and smooth.
Ref the handling, I did lose it once, but bizarrely, it was at 5mph whilst navigating a mini-roundabout on a damp day. I wasn't even going quickly. Never had any other times when it felt close to losing it. Yes I did have some decent Goodyear hyrdragrips on it.
So far so good.
Unfortunately, it was also the biggest dog I've owned as a car. The list of issues it had included:
- Electrical issues with the indicators
- Replacement gearbox
- Replacement front wishbones (a very common fault)
- Something on the engine sensor
- Leaking oil from the engine at a much higher rate than normal
It never actually broke down on me, but cost a lot to maintain and looked like it would get worse.
So I think that it depends on whether you buy a dog like mine (mint exterior though, but dog rough underneath).
Mr_Sukebe said:
So I think that it depends on whether you buy a dog like mine (mint exterior though, but dog rough underneath).
That's what I'm worried about! The idea is it would provide a fun, cheap and practical stop gap until getting something a bit more focused in the spring, if it costs me thousands in up keep over that time it kind of defeats the object. Possibly slightly tainted by this as my last experience of e30 ownership lasted a matter of days before terminal head gasket failure!Chris71 said:
Mr_Sukebe said:
So I think that it depends on whether you buy a dog like mine (mint exterior though, but dog rough underneath).
That's what I'm worried about! The idea is it would provide a fun, cheap and practical stop gap until getting something a bit more focused in the spring, if it costs me thousands in up keep over that time it kind of defeats the object. Possibly slightly tainted by this as my last experience of e30 ownership lasted a matter of days before terminal head gasket failure!Simple answer to this one really buy a nice one to start with! as i metioned in a previous post there are a lot of nice ones for over a £1k less than this you will end up with a dog!
Not sure I've seen a really nice one yet. Granted e30's being such a cult thing, you see the occasional show car where the owner spends his weekends polishing it and wants £6k or something stupid, but I've yet to see a really solid e30 touring in usable condition with less than 150,000 miles on the clock.
Hmmm, take it back, this one looks promising http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/197615.htm
Hmmm, take it back, this one looks promising http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/197615.htm
Edited by Chris71 on Friday 6th July 11:59
Chris71 said:
1) Will it put me backwards through a hedge at 7am on a wet Monday morning? I've heard a lot of people say they're quite tricky to drive (in general, not the touring specifically) and never been sure whether this was down to a fundamental problem with them or a lot of people who weren't used to RWD.
They're not tricky to drive at all. I suspect those peeps just weren't used to rear drive. That's what caused my beemer/wall interaction on a slippy cat and fiddle road. A distinct lack of talent.Having said that i did have a similar experience to Mr Sukebe on a wet 90 degree left hander at about 10mph. Had to brake hard for a chav running into the road and it swapped ends. Kept it going for a nice little donut. I looked really cool
Chris71 said:
2) If it doesn't kill me, will it leave me stranded? Kept an eye on the e30 board and there seems to be a lot of talk of bits falling off and/or rusting through by this age. I'm not comparing it to brand new cars, but none the less it has to be used everyday for quite high mileages without leading to financial ruin.
Quite possibly. Mine's broken down a couple of time with electrical bits failing and the parts aren't cheap. If you're handy with a spanner and get bits from a scrappy you should be okay.Have a look at e30zone. Loads of info on there.
Chris71 said:
Not sure I've seen a really nice one yet. Granted e30's being such a cult thing, you see the occasional show car where the owner spends his weekends polishing it and wants £6k or something stupid, but I've yet to see a really solid e30 touring in usable condition with less than 150,000 miles on the clock.
You obviously have not seen mine. Just over 70k on the clock with every MOT to prove the mileage. Its my only car and used regually. Three camping trips this year including Le Mans, very reliable.http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by Cotty on Sunday 5th August 15:16
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff