considering an e30 purchase

[ryanOC]

i've to get a decent daily driver since my '02 is falling apart

something with all the creature comforts... would be nice to have a car with a/c once again

is it difficult to find a 325is in decent shape for cheap?

im sure the later years are a bit more pricey

i saw a super clean arctic blue (or something) 91 318iC 5spd for 3k.... now i can't seem to find it again!

i dearly miss driving a sporty stick car

i've heard 325 cars are notorious for popping head gaskets on that m20.... what's the deal?

bah.... need.... car....

[yert315]

e30's are excellent cars, especially for a daily driver. You can find a solid early model example for a good price (<$2500). It seems as though clean late model cars have jumped in price in the past year.

The m20 engine is a "bullet proof" platform and should run for hundreds of thousands of miles when cared for. Therefore, you would want to replace the water pump/timing belt as soon as you buy it.

Good luck!

[Harv]

Ooooooo. A reason to post a pic of my 91 318is!

I love mine. Get the best one you can.

John

[HarryPR]

First time I hear about an M20 head gasket problem (and I have owned five M20-powered cars).

As they said above, change the timing change and water pump and go to town. If you want really cheap and very reliable, get an eta one, preferably an '88, which had the Super Eta engine.

[KFunk]

Our 24 Hours of Lemons car has an eta M20.... its first race it went for about 23 hours jammed in 2nd gear, bouncin off the rev-limiter... it was still running at the end... down a couple cylinders, but running and no head gasket issues... for its 2nd race, we swapped in a different M20 bottom end, and it went all 24 hours straight with heavy abuse, and no problems .... we've been meaning to RallyX, but everyone's too lazy to get it ready for it. It's been AX'd recently, though.

[c.d.iesel]

there was a batch of head bolts

that would loose the HEX HEAD off the top of the bolt,

find them laying in the oil return well

Check yer BMW Service Bulletins.

Pretty reliable - like anything else - look for oil change,

valve adjustment, Timing Belt replacement records

and reciets

[robspeed]

do it! so cal should be lousy with nice ones. i got lucky with mine, a basically all-stock 91 325i with factory-optioned limited slip, leather seats, GLASS (very rare) sunroof--although mine is sitting in my inlaws' garage, cruise, etc. Actually I just found out my cruise control was operational this past weekend after putting 40,000 miles on it in 18 months without using the cruise once. I tried it when I first got the car, it didnt work, and i forgot about it. I guess the column switch had a bad connection because i was fooling around with it trying to get the windshield wipers to work (one affects the other it turns out) and suddenly the car started driving itself.

last weekend the odometer died ($65 for a new set of gears), the fuel gauge doesnt work (not a big deal until the odometer died, although the low-level warning light still works), its developed a small fissure in the driver's seat leather, and it leaks oil like it was once owned by Tony Hayward. The shifter likes to be rowed slowly, i have a vibration probably due to a bent wheel, and the replacement steel sunroof (original glass one flew off on the freeway, was rescued by the P.O. but replaced by a black steel one) needs adjusting. Other than stuff like that, its been dead reliable. Like I said, 40,000 miles in 18 months, on top of the 145,000 it had on it when I bought it. I may buy another running m20 just to keep on a stand in case this one dies.

e30 = Buy one.

[ryanOC]

good to hear

i've always been an e30 fan..... and of course my pipe dream is to get an e30 m3

it's crazy thinking you could actually own your dream car, except i'm broke as shit to start off with

i've really been missing the dohc smoothness, so at first i was first thinking more about the late 318s

i have driven a couple 325 and it still feels real good to me.... even the auto sedan 325 cars go like stink

how difficult is it to find/install the later style bumpers on the earlier cars? i like the earlier car tail lights, but the later style bumpers (obviously)

i suppose it would have to be a 325iS or bust... gotta have the lsd, bucket seats, etc...

i've been really missing a sporty car to get in trouble with. i went from my street sporty '74 02 to my auto cruiser '69, and although i love the relaxing drive i need some action!

[robspeed]

good to hear

i've always been an e30 fan..... and of course my pipe dream is to get an e30 m3

it's crazy thinking you could actually own your dream car, except i'm broke as shit to start off with

i've really been missing the dohc smoothness, so at first i was first thinking more about the late 318s

i have driven a couple 325 and it still feels real good to me.... even the auto sedan 325 cars go like stink

how difficult is it to find/install the later style bumpers on the earlier cars? i like the earlier car tail lights, but the later style bumpers (obviously)

i suppose it would have to be a 325iS or bust... gotta have the lsd, bucket seats, etc...

i've been really missing a sporty car to get in trouble with. i went from my street sporty '74 02 to my auto cruiser '69, and although i love the relaxing drive i need some action!

just keep an eye out on craigs, etc. BMW made a hundred trillion of them, and probably 75% were shipped to california... dont insist on an is just to get the limited slip; mine was optioned with limited slip, rear seat armrest, leather seats (non-sport "comforts" with THICK buffalo hide leather), the glass roof, maplights in the rear view, cruise, etc., so you dont need an is to get limited slip and the buckets can be had on ebay, e30tech, r3v, etc...

[ryanOC]

well what do you know.... Something managed to present itself to me in these past couple of days.....

a 1987 325es white 5 spd with.... Wait for it... A blown head gasket was offered to my brother by a former acquaintance..... And now it's mine!

....for $50!!!

no major body damage,but needs some work of course

rarely do I find fortuitous events such as this occur in my life.... Can't wait to spin it around

[Harv]

Time for an M-50 swap.

John

[gwb72tii]

T U R B O !!!!!

[ryanOC]

nno, no, no.... None of that.

a look in the truck tells me there's a new belt/pump/tensioner, new brake pads, spare headlites and the previous hose set...

guess I'm already near prepared for the job

$50 !!!!

[M3M3]

ahhh...e30's...owned and loved several. sometimes i think i should have kept this last one, but the sale funded an S14 for the 2002!

[ryanOC]

not bad for $50, huh?

seems the trunk had in it a new timing belt, water pump, tensioner, oil filter, and a set of brake pads all around.

just prepped the manifold tonight before taking the head off in the next couple days