BMW 318i Touring (E30) | Shed of the Week

[Leins]

s m said:

That Alpina much more my thing Leins

It’s sitting in with a couple of E30 M3s and a load of other stuff that the owner has these days sm

Despite 190hp, I’m not sure it’d hang on to a new 318d these days sm! But then that’s not really the point of stuff like this these days I suppose

I get where you’re coming from on the slow steering though, but as payback it really did communicate its intensions well

[Deranged Rover]

Turbobanana said:

Normally I'm all in favour of "older" Sheds but I'm struggling to find much to love in this tired looking, poorly presented example. Love the back story though, a man in a real shed...

Indeed. It gets a resounding "Meh" from me, too.

[Court_S]

Leins said:

Love an E30 Touring, and still do miss my old Alpina



This one for sale however... living on the streets, no interior pics, etc. I'd be very surprised if this isn't rotten through, arches, sills, jacking points, base of windscreen, blocked sunroof drains, cracked dashboard. If not somehow and it's only the tailgate that's suffering, then it's well worth Shed money

That is absolutely stunning.

I like the E30 but tend to prefer the two door versions with a six pot.

[el romeral]

So much glass on cars of this era, compared to more recent ones.

[s m]

Leins said:

I get where you’re coming from on the slow steering though, but as payback it really did communicate its intensions well

My E21 323i was just as arm-twirlingly slow but whether it was because the back end seemed a lot more mobile ( and indeed was on skinnier tyres than my 325 Sport ) it always seemed to turn in a lot better than the later car

I’d certainly have done a Z3/Griffin rack if I had one now

[anonymous-user]

I had a 325i M-Tech 2 touring back in 2007 and although it was nice enough to drive and well built, it was bascially just a heavy wafter of a thing.

I wasn't sorry to see it go after someone reveresed into it and sent it to the scrap yard in the sky.

[ballans]

el romeral said:

So much glass on cars of this era, compared to more recent ones.

That’s exactly i how remember them too. Like driving a green house compared to modern stuff.

I had a 1987 325 a long time ago and loved it even though it was a heap. Sent to the scrapyard as it was totally rusted and beyond saving by the late 90’s.
The touring is my favourite shape and I like the look of this one. Not sure it’s the absolute basic version as it has a few nice trinkets - sunroof, alloys, some colour coding. Might even be some velour left on the seats!

[tomic]

Didn't realise the autoboxes killed the performance so much on these.

I had a 1990 318i Manual in 1996 - that should do 0-60 in 10.3 seconds but it felt faster. I had a mk2 Golf GTI 8v immediately before it and it certainly didn't feel any slower than that. Was an 8v engine so didn't need to be worked too hard. Obviously compared to a modern Turbo Diesel with similar power output it'll feel a bit slow, but I never struggled in any situation with a lack of power.

I've still got an E30 325i sitting in the garage - it sounds lovely but with the 6 cylinder cars and you really notice the weight of the engine when cornering.

[mark1970]

Although I adore the E30 two door the look of the estate with the rear hatch open makes me want to throw up. A two piece Range Rover style tailgate would have been much more pleasing to the eye. Also, if BMW had made a two door version I'd have been on to one like a tramp on chips. Imagine a Lancia Beta HPE/Reliant Scimitar for the late 80s? Yes please!

[Dickie-D]

I loved my old E30 325i Touring. The steering was too slow as already pointed out, but the ride was so comfortable and speed bumps could be driven over at 30 mph. It was ideal for daily driving in an idiocracy like London.

[N111BJG]

I had K reg one of these, 316i, a bit slow, & real poverty spec, I bought it off my then employer at 3 years old for £5250 at the end of its lease. My wife (at the time) drove it for a couple of years. I sold it for a profit

I see that it went to its grave showing around 167,000 miles some time in 2007

A good car, nice & solid, always looked smart in plain black with steel wheels

[J4CKO]

alex.baker89 said:

A lot of people are - as expected - commenting on the M40 being gutless and the car needing a transplant for a 6 cylinder.

I've owned my E30 318I 2 door for a while now and it is not gutless. A healthy, well maintained M40 runs well and keeps up with modern traffic. It feels normal and not under-powered, unlike the 1.6. The 1.8 is good for 120 ish mph, and feels relatively nippy if it wants to be. E30's are pretty light and small by today's standards. Put it this way, it weighs about the same as a 1.8 mk1 Ford Focus with almost exactly the same power output... more than enough.

Compared to the M44 in my E36, the difference wasn't as great as people make it out to be.

Haggle a bit and get it for a couple of hundred quid less, then enjoy it for what it is.

Edited by alex.baker89 on Friday 10th January 12:39

Yeah, but the 4 speed auto is the killer and if you are going to do stuff to it, may as well go a bit spicier..

[Mr Tidy]

That doesn't appeal to me at all, even if it is a good looking car.

The performance has gone missing - I had a 1970 1600cc Fiat that could get to 60 as quick as that!

But if it is a good shell it could be a donor for a straight 6.

[BFleming]

Mr Tidy said:

The performance has gone missing - I had a 1970 1600cc Fiat that could get to 60 as quick as that!

124 or 125?

[Amirhussain]

Leins said:

Love an E30 Touring, and still do miss my old Alpina



This one for sale however... living on the streets, no interior pics, etc. I'd be very surprised if this isn't rotten through, arches, sills, jacking points, base of windscreen, blocked sunroof drains, cracked dashboard. If not somehow and it's only the tailgate that's suffering, then it's well worth Shed money

Looks the business

[Mr Tidy]

BFleming said:

124 or 125?

125.

[Leins]

mark1970 said:

Although I adore the E30 two door the look of the estate with the rear hatch open makes me want to throw up. A two piece Range Rover style tailgate would have been much more pleasing to the eye. Also, if BMW had made a two door version I'd have been on to one like a tramp on chips. Imagine a Lancia Beta HPE/Reliant Scimitar for the late 80s? Yes please!

This was the original E30 Touring prototype, as built by a BMW employee in his own time. I don’t believe it had a split tailgate though, ala the E34 Touring, just that he only put in a small boot opening which was subsequently motified:



There was a Dutch firm who converted early 2-dr E30s into a form of shooting brake, but I can’t remember their name

Interestingly (to me anyway!), the Touring has separate buttons on the dash for rear wash and wipe functions, as instead of on a column stalk

[Cotty]

Mine still looks good.

[BFleming]

Mr Tidy said:

125.

Sweet. Love them (before they became a Polski-Fiat / FSO & their reputation was ruined).

[s m]

Mr Tidy said:

That doesn't appeal to me at all, even if it is a good looking car.

The performance has gone missing - I had a 1970 1600cc Fiat that could get to 60 as quick as that!

As JACKO said earlier, the auto box really knocks the edge off the performance on these.
A friend’s dad had the saloons - manual they were markedly faster - we all had old Escorts and in manual form they were almost RS2000 acceleration - whereas autos were like 1300 engine pace

Modern cars don’t suffer much if at all with an auto - often they’re quicker