/DRIVE e30 series on youtube

[mr2peak]

2.3 million e30's made. There will be a few around for quite a while.

[varg]

2.3 million e30's made. There will be a few around for quite a while.

Very high rate of attrition, between drifters turning them into piles of crushed metal, road salt turning them into piles of rust, and other cars turning them into an enthusiast vs insurance company nightmare.

Not to mention stancekids making oil pans and valences a valuable commodity

And you'd think the rising value would help you out in the insurance company vs enthusiast nightmare, but it's more harm than good, because the cars aren't collectible enough for the insurance company to cut reasonable checks/not total them for a crumpled fender, but the value is high enough that if someone smashes into your beloved $2,000 4-years-ago E30, the insurance payment won't come close to buying you one in the same condition today. Unless you have agreed value insurance, which most of us cannot get.

[MR E30 325is]

Others have already touched on the counterpoint, and Varg hit the nail right on the head.

Just to add on, I still feel a certain way about E30's and their old prices.

I remember when I was in high school and how easy it was to convince all of my friends to buy E30's due to how much awesomeness you got for the money.

Back in 05-06 my friends and I picked up moderately clean E30s' for 2k. We had insane amounts of fun in them together. Lots of late night drives, lots of impromptu meets in prandom parking lots, etc.

I still feel nostalgic about those experiences. And they are becoming more and more difficult for others to duplicate. I made so many friends directly related to E30's and I feel that others are missing out on this, simply due to the cars becoming too expensive for the average high schooler to truly enjoy.

/rant

[dnguyen1963]

Others have already touched on the counterpoint, and Varg hit the nail right on the head.

Just to add on, I still feel a certain way about E30's and their old prices.

I remember when I was in high school and how easy it was to convince all of my friends to buy E30's due to how much awesomeness you got for the money.

Back in 05-06 my friends and I picked up moderately clean E30s' for 2k. We had insane amounts of fun in them together. Lots of late night drives, lots of impromptu meets in prandom parking lots, etc.

I still feel nostalgic about those experiences. And they are becoming more and more difficult for others to duplicate. I made so many friends directly related to E30's and I feel that others are missing out on this, simply due to the cars becoming too expensive for anyone to truly enjoy.

/rant

[Shock(/\)ave]

I still feel nostalgic about those experiences. And they are becoming more and more difficult for others to duplicate. I made so many friends directly related to E30's and I feel that others are missing out on this, simply due to the cars becoming too expensive for the average high schooler to truly enjoy.

That's why BMW invented the E36 and E46. ;D

[estoguy]

E30s are already a rare commodity north of border. Although, the other day I was at a local bone yard, and found a 325i coupe (that was really rough) and a vert. I haven't seen an E30 in that yard for over a year, maybe 2.

[rturbo 930]

the cars becoming too expensive for the average high schooler to truly enjoy.

/rant

To be honest though, that's probably a good thing. High schoolers ruin a lot of cars.

I do find it disappointing that pretty much every decent, fun, affordable car is going up in price, and the only cars that aren't are the ones no one wants. It's heading in the direction of the car hobby becoming a wealthy man's hobby, as I see it.

[MR E30 325is]

To be honest though, that's probably a good thing. High schoolers ruin a lot of cars.

I do find it disappointing that pretty much every decent, fun, affordable car is going up in price, and the only cars that aren't are the ones no one wants. It's heading in the direction of the car hobby becoming a wealthy man's hobby, as I see it.

Egh, you're probably right about the high schooler point.

[Vincent Brick]

I still wonder about this mythical time of cheap E30s I always hear people talk about. I've seen prices go up a tiny bit over the last couple years, and i remember when M3s could be had for $10k or less, but if I had ever found an affordable 325i cheaper years ago I would have bought it because I always liked them but considered any BMW out of my budget (we're talking mid-late '00s living in a part of the midwest they are not common).

I love my E30 but I am all for it going up in value because I have had to spend way more than it is worth to keep it on the road and I'm sick of everything I own depreciating, I'm broke as fuck and can never catch a break when it comes to finding deals or making money in general and I need every little bit of help I can get. The hard part is keeping up on the maintenance with parts so expensive, and I'm not really happy with the performance, I miss the handling of my Neons and wish it was faster.

Cars have absolutely turned into a wealthy man's hobby, when I was growing up it was a mostly blue collar thing that transcended class lines, today too few people have the expendable income. I've worked at several shops and aftermarket manufacturers over the last decade, most of the customers are very well off, and there are always 2-3 customers that do more business than all other customers combined.

[varg]

I'm sick of everything I own depreciating

It's something you should get used to. Except in rare circumstances, cars and pretty much everything that is part of a hobby always have been and always will be depreciating assets. You cannot avoid this. If you like cars and driving them, it will always be a money-sink hobby, and only "collectors" with "collectible" cars that sit undriven except to a show here and there make money off of or break even with appreciating cars.

You can't look at these things like an accountant, the enjoyment you get out of your car has to be worth the financial loss to you.

-poor student with hobbies

[craz azn]

E30s are already a rare commodity north of border. Although, the other day I was at a local bone yard, and found a 325i coupe (that was really rough) and a vert. I haven't seen an E30 in that yard for over a year, maybe 2.

Which yard was this? :)

[Shock(/\)ave]

Which yard was this? :)

Cookstown Auto. Both cars have been picked pretty clean; we got a lot of parts off of them ourselves.

[Staszek]

It's something you should get used to. Except in rare circumstances, cars and pretty much everything that is part of a hobby always have been and always will be depreciating assets. You cannot avoid this. If you like cars and driving them, it will always be a money-sink hobby, and only "collectors" with "collectible" cars that sit undriven except to a show here and there make money off of or break even with appreciating cars.

You can't look at these things like an accountant, the enjoyment you get out of your car has to be worth the financial loss to you.

-poor student with hobbies

I agree with this. At first when I started my build I had this budget that if I sold it I would come out even or maybe make some money.

Then I thought, who am I kidding I am not selling it, so I stopped adding up the numbers, I have an idea of where it is but I just want the car to be what I want it to be.

I think its the way you need to rationalize things as an enthusiast. Unless you are seriously in the business of buying and selling cars for a living dont worry about the depreciation.

[craz azn]

Cookstown Auto. Both cars have been picked pretty clean; we got a lot of parts off of them ourselves.

:(:(:( I need a crapton of parts for this new one I picked up... now I'm starting to regret having sold my euroweaves waaaayyyy back when lollllll... Can't seem to find a normal priced set anymore :(

[Vincent Brick]

It's something you should get used to. Except in rare circumstances, cars and pretty much everything that is part of a hobby always have been and always will be depreciating assets. You cannot avoid this. If you like cars and driving them, it will always be a money-sink hobby, and only "collectors" with "collectible" cars that sit undriven except to a show here and there make money off of or break even with appreciating cars.

You can't look at these things like an accountant, the enjoyment you get out of your car has to be worth the financial loss to you.

-poor student with hobbies

What you say is mostly true, but I am confident my E30 has appreciated in value since I bought it, and it is not unheard of with other cars. It hardly matters though because I don't plan to sell my car, or at least least hope I don't have to, but it's certainly better than even my previous cars that had already hit rock bottom and hardly had value left to lose. Most cars are a financial loss, but appreciation is making this less of one.

-poor old guy who had to give up all his hobbies