[steveo86]

Hey dudes and dudettes,

I was wondering what year/model was the best for the E30 besides the ///M. I am getting interested in a 87 325e. But I want to do some serious research first. My neighbor has a E30 325is in Alpine White with some tacky chromies, so I am wondering if I can make him an offer. What is a good price for an E30, and what are some things to look out for when checking one out to buy? Is there any good sites that I could visit to get some info on the E30? Thanks guys and gals.

 

[MrM3]

if u care about looks theres a pretty big difference between -87,88,89+ E30's. 83-87's had large aluminum bumpers frequently termed 'diving boards' with no rear apron. 88 E30's had the same aluminum bumpers as the 87's but had new bumper shocks so they dont stick out as far. 1989 was the best year for E30's, they had brand new plastic bumpers, had ellipsoid headlights standard, & it was the last year for the M-tech 1 steering wheel (on the iS'). 1990's and newer had the same plastic bumper, 1 airbag (E36 steering wheel), and no ellipsoid headlights, also i believe there were no pop-out rear windows on the coupe. 1990 was the last year for the E30 325is. 1991 brought about the new 318is with the same E36 M42 engine (although some 1991's were built in 4/90). the 318i Convertibles lasted until 1993.

if u dont find a 87 325e, just a plain 325 means the same thing. no 'e' just means less options standard, but has the same 2.7L eta engine. they started putting the 'e' on the car later in 88+. the e's followed the same evolution in appearance as the other e30's, and all have a rev limiter at 4500rpm, unless u get a JC chip which brings it up to 5k.

there's alot more to tell, just ask if i didnt cover something u wanted to know

 

[e36_m3_Turbo]

i would go wit a 325 not the 325e..i know the "e" is slower

 

[MrM3]

Originally posted by e30_325_s52@Jun 6 2003, 05:09 PM
i would go wit a 325 not the 325e..i know the "e" is slower

not necessarily, it may be slightly heavier but has the same engine. the only thing that would hold it back is the differential which is geared to take full advantage of the low-end torque

 

[El Presidente]

i thought the XXXe was used to denote the car as "environmentally friendly" or something like that. I thought the engines and exhaust were tweaked to provide better fuel economy instead of power.

And by tweaked I mean ruined.

 

[MrM3]

Originally posted by El Presidente@Jun 7 2003, 12:57 AM
i thought the XXXe was used to denote the car as "environmentally friendly" or something like that. I thought the engines and exhaust were tweaked to provide better fuel economy instead of power.

And by tweaked I mean ruined.

the 'e' resembles a ETA engine, and the letters ETA are latin for 'efficiency.' they are built for good fuel economy, and "they provide good torque at low rpm" was a common saying while it was in production.

 

[Spetsnaz Op]

someone i know bought a 87 325 cabrio a few months back.....of course he SOLD it right before i got my learners permit

he decided to take the wife on a spirited drive and scared the shit out of her, and she made him sell it. he is getting a saab now i think. poor guy, he really loved the car too. said it was loads of fun :yup

 

[MrM3]

Originally posted by Spetsnaz Op@Jun 7 2003, 06:31 PM
someone i know bought a 87 325 cabrio a few months back.....of course he SOLD it right before i got my learners permit

he decided to take the wife on a spirited drive and scared the shit out of her, and she made him sell it. he is getting a saab now i think. poor guy, he really loved the car too. said it was loads of fun :yup

exactly. it may not handle as good as a E36 or have practically non-existant body roll like the E46, but its still a bmw. stock handling is very good, and the M20 has alot of pep. E30's are very fun cars :bow

 

[Fox]

personally... (yay saturday off...watch me whore,, er... roar) Im real big into autoX, and if i had to get a car to run just for that id say the almost perfect platform is a 325es. Its got the stiffer suspension and the LSDifferential (even though i would swap the suspension with m3 springs and shocks anyway) But the engine makes lots of torque down low and thats what autoX is... lots of fing turns. Soooo... put on some heavy heavy roll bars like sway barbarians or the ones from ireland engeneering and then swap the differential from 2.91 or whatever it is to the is diff which is 3.73:1 ohhh shit thatd be a kick in the pants. then empty out the car. No carpet no dash no side or rear seat, no spare tire or hitch... hrmmm remove A/C... aohhh nice car. but then again this is your beater... not an AutoXer... so nevermind

 

[bimmergurl10]

i just bought an '87 325 for $1200..i think you can find them in 1200-5000 range, so its not too expensive. Before you buy the car you should check for rust in the engine bay and around the suspension because i've looked at over 50 '87 325's and i've found a lot of them to be rusted. If i were you i'd look for a 325ix (all wheel drive if you didnt know), just so you dont have any problems getting around in the snow. Let me what you find i'm anxious to see what you get. If you have any questions PM me, my dads a mechanic and he can answer questions and i'm a car freak as well lol. good luck in your searching!

 

[MrM3]

Originally posted by bimmergurl10@Jun 14 2003, 06:39 AM
i just bought an '87 325 for $1200..i think you can find them in 1200-5000 range, so its not too expensive. Before you buy the car you should check for rust in the engine bay and around the suspension because i've looked at over 50 '87 325's and i've found a lot of them to be rusted. If i were you i'd look for a 325ix (all wheel drive if you didnt know), just so you dont have any problems getting around in the snow. Let me what you find i'm anxious to see what you get. If you have any questions PM me, my dads a mechanic and he can answer questions and i'm a car freak as well lol. good luck in your searching!

hey welcome bimmergurl10, its good to have another E30er on the board B)

if your going to look into getting a 325iX, just know that it is such a PITA modding them. suspension is deffinately harder and more costly, those iX's were meant to be kept stock. but they do look slightly better than a common E30 with their stock side skirts and fender flares.

 

[steveo86]

Cool, so are you saying, MrM3, that the '89 E30 was the best year? All of the models, or just one? I could use some links also guys. Thanks for the info.

 

[MrM3]

Originally posted by steveo86@Jun 17 2003, 06:00 AM
Cool, so are you saying, MrM3, that the '89 E30 was the best year? All of the models, or just one? I could use some links also guys. Thanks for the info.

umm i think the best non-M E30 is the 1989 325is, but if your going with a sedan then 89-91's should look great and be virtually the same. but hey i got a 87 325is and love it, its just the small details that make the newer ones more attractive. although if you really wanna go for the best looks try to find a 1991-1993 318iC with the factory M-tech 2 kit.

 

[will1506]

well in regards to the rust under the hood near the shocks, my car has the. In fact it's rusted so bad on my left shock that I could see right through to the ground. But inorder for anything to happen it's goign to have to rust all the way around and I don't thik I'll have hte car around for that long.

 

[OreoGaborio]

hey guys... i was on here a while back but haven't been here in a long time...

i'm not sure if this got cleared up or if some of you guys are still a little fuzzy on this... so i'll give u these links -

http://www.geocities.com/empower99/differences.html
http://www.geocities.com/empower99/differences2.html

a quick summary about the 325 and the 325e differences.... they are basically the same car, minus some interior options, but it's the same eta engine (m20b27). as for weight, my car is prety much stock, and with me in it w/ almost no gas it weighed in at 2850... not sure how the 325e compares, but i'm sure it'll be SLIGHTLY more... as in probably less than 50lbs, since it just has premium speakers, electric sunroof (as opposed to manual) and leather... that's about it (may have missed a thing or two)

btw... i love the torque of my 325 B) and it feels 1000000 times better w/ a chip, no doubt about it, and everyone w/ a chipped eta will tell u the same thing... out of all the engines BMW has made, it responds the best to a chip (becuase it was so tuned down from the factory)

 

[OreoGaborio]

Originally posted by MrM3@Jun 7 2003, 07:52 AM

the 'e' resembles a ETA engine, and the letters ETA are latin for 'efficiency.' they are built for good fuel economy, and "they provide good torque at low rpm" was a common saying while it was in production.

close... but "eta" is the Greek character for efficiency... but i'll give it to ya since the other stuff was right B) i dunno about this part though -

"'they provide good torque at low rpm' was a common saying while it was in production."

yeah, that's a true statement, but it still holds true today, not just back when it was in production

 

[OreoGaborio]

*damnit.. can a mod delete this for me? i dun messed up :cry

 

[MrM3]

Originally posted by OreoGaborio+Jun 24 2003, 08:03 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (OreoGaborio @ Jun 24 2003, 08:03 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-MrM3@Jun 7 2003, 07:52 AM

the 'e' resembles a ETA engine, and the letters ETA are latin for 'efficiency.'  they are built for good fuel economy, and "they provide good torque at low rpm" was a common saying while it was in production.

close... but "eta" is the Greek character for efficiency... but i'll give it to ya since the other stuff was right B) i dunno about this part though -

"'they provide good torque at low rpm' was a common saying while it was in production."

yeah, that's a true statement, but it still holds true today, not just back when it was in production [/b][/quote]
man i knew it was either greek or latin, took me forever to decide which one to go with i know the 'good tq at low rpm' still holds true, i just remember seeing that line in a old bmw brochure. B)

btw its good have your input around here oreo, i know you from E3S, u should come by more often :thumbs B)