Where can I find a nice E30 BMW?

[turbo6bar]

I'd like to find a clean, well maintained, E30. Tennessee isn't exactly the mecca of clean Euro cars, so I need to expand the search. I notice significant price compression. I've seen clean E36s for under $10k, but I've read the E30s are more DIY-friendly. Any brave E36 DIY guys in here?

I've been scanning Craigslist, bimmerforums.com, e30tech.com, Pelican BMW classifieds and local newspaper ads. Anywhere else?
jurgen

[Overpaid Slacker]

I kid you not: ebay. Specifically you can find several good ones, with a bit of patience. You will find many cars to avoid. But there are many more to avoid out there than there are nice ones. Welcome to the efficient market.

If you're looking for a specific model (like the beloved and universally coveted E30iX) then go for a specific sub-forum.

I have no familiarity with the E36, but the E30 is very DIY friendly. Wayne may even have a book on that...

JP

[many944s]

I actually picked up my '90 E30 on Ebay about a year ago. It was located in Massachusetts, so I had a friend out there inspect it for me. It even came with all the maint records! All I can say is, it was a GREAT deal. The day after I won the auction, I flew out to Mass, called my insurance company, and drove it home to Indiana.

I couldn't be happier with it!

[VincentVega]

Clean e36 for under 10k? You can get a nice one for less than 5k. Are you looking at m3's?

e36's are generally pretty simple to DIY

[einreb]

Originally posted by turbo6bar
I've seen clean E36s for under $10k, but I've read the E30s are more DIY-friendly. Any brave E36 DIY guys in here?

No reason to be scared away from an E36. Especially if you go with '95 or earlier and go OBDI.

[wludavid]

Clean e30s are getting more and more rare. It's sort of sad, since they are such great cars. But they fell into high school student price range and started getting wrecked and neglected.

E36s aren't DIY unfriendly. Wayne just wrote a book about them! They do have some weak points though, so you have to be careful.

[the]

Like said above, E30s were awesome cars, really a golden age for BMW, IMO.

But they are generally treated as "drivers," and are quickly getting used up, so finding a good, clean one with lots of good life left in it is getting harder by the day.

Heck, even the E36 is starting to get to that stage, esp. on the early ones.

If you aren't dead set on an E30, I wouldn't be afraid of an E36. (I've had both). There is a jump in complexity. The E30 is really the last of the "old school" 3 series BMWs, i.e., cars of the 70s and 80s. Minimal electronics and power stuff, single coil DME, regular style valve train, etc. And the E36 is the first of the "new school" 3 series BMWs. But the E36 is by no means an overly complex car, not by a long shot.

[Gene Wilkes]

I just found a killer deal on a 92 325is with 62,000 original miles! Car is immaculate and will make a great driver!

[speeder]

Bad news: They are ultimately disposable cars, and most have given their lives to shuttling someone else around at this point.

Good news: They sold about 8 billion of them and some good ones are still around. $3-4k would get one in absolutely shrink-wrapped condition out here in SoCal, most of the drivers I see are in the under-$1k range these days. As in equal to a 1982 Tercel.

[CurtEgerer]

I'm getting mine out of winter storage tomorrow. Yippee!

[turbo6bar]

Thanks guys. I've seen a lot of crappy cars. I've also seen plenty with an absurd list of mods. I just want a well-maintained example that can last many more years without a total rebuild from top to bottom.

I'll expand the search up to 95 models with OBD1.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

VERY nice M3, Curt.

[berettafan]

www.s14.net


Curt i thought i saw an ad for yours? Assumed it had been sold?

How about a comparsion vs. the 911 for us!

[techweenie]

So Cal is the home of so many E30s that they are aggressively priced. Not convenient to Tennessee, but you can fly out here, find a goodie, catch up on maintenance and drive it back.

For instance:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/car/297596362.html

[Sarc]

Here's a pricey one

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2509623

[Don Plumley]

Nice M3 Curt.

[speeder]

The M3 is beautiful, Curt. But that's a whole different animal.

[MotoSook]

Jurgen, you can find nice ones for around $3500 if you're willing to fly out to get it. If you look long enough you might find one locally. I just picked up a rust free 91 E30 with a bad engine (one broken camshaft..very replaceable) for $750, but a replacement upgrade drivetrain was found for less than the car cost me. I'll have less money in this thing than it will cost me to rebuild my 915 tranny!

Here's one in Texas...maybe rust free:

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38384

Keep an eye on the E30tech.com ads, also check out r3vlimited.com. I've got some others that I drop in on, but most are frequented by the same people, so the cars usually appear in them all at the same time.

The E30 is very easy to work on. It's a light car and more fun to drive than you would think coming from a 911 background. I have an e30 325e that I'm parting out. It's a runner, but too rusted for most people...but even it (eta engine with a Jim Conforti chip) was a blast to tear up my back road test loop.

[turbo6bar]

Thanks for the help. Some time on the boards and craigslist will uncover the right car. I've found several nice examples, but nothing perfect. Knowing there are tons of these cars available, I won't settle for less than perfect (for me, that is).

The car on cardomain and e30tech.com are close to what I want, but I'd prefer fewer mods, and a different color.

[wludavid]

turbo, are you a member of BMW CCA? The ads on their website turn up some really nice cars.