https://vancouver.craigslist.org/rch...609423175.html


so pretty... if the guy can wiggle a bit on the price.... will be a nice turn key to drive E30..... (with a Z3 steering rack and Z3 1.9 shifter of course :lawl: )

^^ this car has been vouched for by some of the E30 homies.

I couldn't spend it - but if you really want an E30, may as well.

Can someone school me what's so good about a E30? I've sat in one briefly and just remember they aren't fast and very sparse, cramped and tin can inside. They are almost a 40 year old car by now. Most I've seen for sale have rust like miatas, and I'm sure old BMW parts are much more expensive and harder to come by. I'm even having trouble finding parts for early 2000s cars. E36 is already very dated and falling apart by now. And why you would not have a mt e90 for 1/3 of the price.

I'll take a stab at this but I'm sure the other guys will be able to answer better than me.

1. It was never fast to begin with, but "at the time" they gave their competition a run for their money. These are momentum cars. Is a GR86 fast? No. But driven properly, it can be.

2. Sparse and cramped - I never felt this way about my E30. Far from tin can. Tin can for me is any Subaru.

3. Rust - Mother nature can be cruel.

4. Parts hard to come by and expensive - Quite the opposite. There are so many aftermarket and original parts still avaialble.

5. E36 has so many parts, it's disgusting.

I bought a 325e during the pandemic without really driving it, I just wanted an E30 all these years... some things were wrong with it, but driving it home I couldn't get over just how pleased with myself I felt in it in a "true gentleman" kind of way... everything just felt "right" about it... the greenhouse is amazing, it was quiet and smooth, nothing overwhelming about it in any way but it just did everything "well" and felt so confident and competent. Super well balanced car.

Everything about the driving experience just felt satisfying in some way to me. It's not tin canny at all, quite perfunct thud from the doors and everything minus a few centre console plastic bits feels like it has some heft. It's really spacious too.

It's been parked ever since awaiting an engine swap, but I'm excited to drive it again soon.

Parts are not expensive at all as dukes said, I bought all new shocks and brakes and engine gaskets and other tune up stuff for it from rockauto for like $400.

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/pml...609567857.html

Pretty nice deal for a 6MT 330ci with low-ish mileage.

The thing about the E30 is that it was sold during a period in time when mainstream cars were actually pretty terrible to drive.

Once they put in the free-revving M20 inline six engine that was found in the i/iS cars, that was what made a car with a good chassis really great. The fact that 40 years later, there is a good number kicking around is a testament to the old BMW quality. They're light, but they're very solid. The problems are rust and that they're not for the faint of heart - if you don't know what you're doing, you could take a corner too fast and easily kill yourself (trust me - I know).

The E36 is also a good car with a far more forgiving rear suspension design, but that's when BMW started using plastics and de-contenting the interiors. The interiors on the earlier E36s are particularly prone to poor quality construction with sagging door panels and headliners. The later 96+ cars seemed to have held up better over time.

The E46 got a bit more flabby, but it's still analog compared to the later cars. Plus, the interiors have held up much better than the E36s.

About 10 years ago I got a E30 325e (auto) as a loaner from BJ BMW and it was such a sweet drive. It was great through that southbound Boundary-Joyce-29th Ave sequence - light, nimble, lots of signals through the wheel. Not much else to the car though but it'd be a blast around UBC or to Horseshoe Bay or Stanley Park (even at 40kph). I'd probably find it too much of an empty tin can nowadays (like how I felt about my NB) but I'm jelly of those of you who drive a clean one.

I took everyone's advice... sorta. I offered 11k pre inspection, and the seller said no thanks. The search continues.

Must... Resist...

doooooooooooooo itttttttttttttttttt.


@jdmdreams - it always (to me anyways) was the perfect amount of car (2dr, 325is coupe)

- It was reasonably dailyable - comfortable enough for drives around town, road trips yet also entertaining enough on the twisties or even light track work/ autocross. superb chassis balance means it was great in the snow with good snow tires. 4x100 bolt pattern means an abundance of cheap 15-16 wheel options and tires too.

- visibility is unbeatable. lots of glass. One of the few cars where I actually like the sunroof and use it. full window down, sunroof open, cruising around during the summer

- well documented and can easily do a lot of DIY repairs. Parts are still aplenty online for both stock replacements or aftermarket mods.

- classic looks yet the interior is modern and functional enough to not feel like you're in a third world car. HVAC works as it should. original tape deck can be upgrade by single din units easily or even get one of those tape decks that look OE with hidden bluetooth streaming functions.

- Rust - as for that issue, if you get a post 88 or later car, they are more rust resistant, but of course, quite a few over the years have been neglected and are prone to common rust. thats where buying a slightly pricier one will save you a lot of headache tackling body work or rust issues. you will enjoy the car more!

- powertrain options - stock M20 on the 325i are excellent. the eta cars are ok... but feel lazy. the slightly harder to get 318i / 318is cars with the latter M42 are fun, peppy and feel ok, but are slow for modern standards. the standard motors are very robust and can take quite a beating if looked after.
of course with a big engine bay, swap limit is basically your imagination and how deep your pockets are... some folks even shoehorned V10's and V12's into the front end of these cars.

- Build quality - never felt flimsy for a car of that era. Built like a tank. Try opening the doors, trunk and the hood and slamming them shut. super satisfying clicks and WHOMPs.

- Pedigree- E30 M3... most successful touring car of all time... kind of related to that, you sort of get the looks without the box flares and without the upper five figure, six figure m car tax.

verdict: the late model cars with the i monkiers are really the ultimate driving machine especially with some light mods (and an LSD...)

Still miss my old red coupe dearly... sacking myself for letting it go to HR manager for $2500 to this day (back in 2011)

reference: 89' 325is coupe (light mods) + 91' 318is coupe + 87' 325e S52 swapped + 90' 325i cabrio 5mt


Standard issue must do mods: Z3 steering rack, Z3 1.9 shifter, E36 M3 front lower control arm lollipops, Bilstein HD/ Sport all around, H&R springs, Euro grill + projector lights, M Tech 1 minimum steering wheel, factory sport seats, Medium Case LSD


Good god I miss my E30.

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/pml...605162443.html


on another topic. I can't quite gauge a price on these........ but I still find these moded ones pretty damn cool

Not really related but if you guys want to experience a newer maserati come to the event on the 22nd. Not sure if you actually need an invite to get in. I rsvp’d but I’m just there to eat their food and drink their booze.

https://i.postimg.cc/wMx1VJsL/IMG-2927.jpg

If I want to look at stuff I can't afford, I'll just go to Aberdeen or Parker Place mall.

Or just any mall in Richmond for that matter.

Yeh but you get food here. And you can talk to me trolly !!!!! If you bring your damn Datsun I’m sure they’ll just bow down and let you walk away with whatever shit prizes they have in store anyways

Don’t forget the gas station

Where's the best place to look for a Z3 rack locally tofu? my power steering rack is fubarred anyway and I read this is a good replacement for much quicker steering... but coming up dry looking at used parts sites etc.

Why would a dealer have an E30 as a loaner in 2013? :suspicious:

Sounds like you're really trying to either hype up the E9Xs or you should just go buy one since you think it's so good. I personally am not a fan of the E9X and on products, but I despise the F30s even more.

If you care about spec, this car isn't it. It's 5MT btw, but the ZF5 is better. Non m-tech aero. Looks like an early 02 build as well. The wheels are reps and it doesn't instill confidence in me that it was well taken care of to an enthusiast stand point. Screams more Surrey to me (which is what my E46 was when I originally bought it) which means it could be more headache than not. Manual seats are a plus, but something about the front lip puts me off. The ASC being disabled might not be as simple as coding it back on. This usually indicates an issue with the ECM which is very costly to fix and most owners just leave it. Or an issue with the ABS module.

The seller doesn't list any maintenance and a BMW that doesn't leak is pretty much a lie. I'll nitpick but the PS reservoir is sweaty as hell.

In today's market, it's a decent buy. If this was 5 years ago, I wouldn't even have clicked into the ad.

If mileage isn't a huge issue, this would be a decent buy at $11K or $12K - https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...59423242796933

For an E46 to even get to 260K, it would have had to had major maintenance overhaul or you feel it right away. New clutch is a plus. My clutch was going around 220K. All the maintenance items listed here, especially the small things look like they've been addressed and you'll find that by buying the silver example that you originally posted, you'll have to do these too.

I owned my E46 330Ci from around 190K to 260K. Some small bullshit items that needed replacing were: interior door handle (it snapped lol), window regulator (common problem), wiper relay (wtf - wipers didnt work in the middle of a snow storm), passenger and rear window switches (they snapped), e-brake cable (it also broke lol), the fucking hazard button/central locking system (it just disintegrated lul).

Yeah it was weird. I was getting my TSX serviced at Brian Jessel's pre-owned shop and that's what they gave me. I didn't know much about E30s at the time so thought about going back to them to ask for something else cause who the hell gives a customer such an old car to drive? Maybe it was an employee car?

affordable auto parts / prestige auto parts

should call.

Alpi may have an odd bmw now and then too.


the quicker steering and shorter shifter really enhances the E30 experience.


@supafamous - that was probably back when it was still the Autohaus building if it was 2013. I remember they retailed a few E30's too plus they built their own S52 swapped E30 325 (which I ended up buying)

Yup, that was the building. I dug into my emails and it was Nov 2012 when I was there.

Maybe they were out of loaners so they slapped a plate on an "old" trade in.

I was close to pulling the trigger on a e90 330i mt last year or the year before? I've had e36, x2 e39 mt, e53, looked at quite a few and driven e46 m3, had a e93 335 for a week.

It seems like the na e90 is the logical choice as there's no turbo crap to deal with, usual BMW issues but nothing too electronic related and you get a relatively modern car. E46 felt dated and most of the ones I've seen doesn't seem to age well, worn leather interior, typical BMW broken plastics etc. Need $ to re condition immediately after purchase. Meanwhile e90s since they were newer they are relatively in better condition.

I think there was a period where e46 and e90 were pretty much the same price, still is now, so I'm not sure why you would want the older one. E90 just seems newer more refined and slightly better put together.

E30 Rental car definitely a cooler experience than an Enterprise fleet Altima !

E46 and E90 are at a clash on prices as the E46's regardless of model is climbing back up in prices and the E90's are still steadily dropping - hence you can cross shop between the two solely based on price.


Personal preference E46 LCI just looks better. Just need to hunt for one in good shape, especially the interior.