People who got dirt cheap E30s, how did you do it?

[e30austin]

Right place, right time. I think that goes for anything in life. Rarely do I buy a car off CL. It's usually people that know of me that call, or a friend calls and says "hey, so and so has ___ for sale".

Though, I got my insanely nice one owner Schwarz SETA and my basket case M-Tech cab off CL for stupid cheap...

[nrubenstein]

The answer is either a shit ton of footwork, or luck.

My 325is was offered to me by a friend after I made a joking comment about wanting it, for example.

[MrBurgundy]

I doubt you'll ever find a good deal on craigslist nowadays.

All the great deals I've gotten on e30s where found places other than craigslst.

[TheTacoMan]

A little bit of luck and being the first guy to call. Ive seen a manual 91 325ix for 300$, 300$ for a 1985 325e, 800$ for a manual 1989 325i. They are far and few between but its out there.

[LateFan]

"I doubt you'll ever find a good deal on craigslist nowadays. "

^^ tru.

As others keep saying - patience, look hard, talk to people, luck. We looked in a 3 state area over a year, passed on some beaters, and found a nice-looking one with mechanical neglect 45 miles away.

Taco - that is a good looking car.

[gte175x]

"cheap" is a relative term too....in several ways

Sometimes - "cheap" is a basket case & ends up costing you more in the long run.

Sometimes - "cheap" was expensive when you bought it, but by today's prices, it was a steal.

Just buy the best one you can afford...

[Downshift-E30]

Key when the market is inflated right now is to find one that needs ton of mechanical work but has fairly good body and minimal rust. Once you find that, make sure the person is not asking too much depending on the amount of work. Reasonably about 1500 would be good for one with some concerning issues but still driveable. When you see those, go for it. Just ask yourself if you are willing to put in the work. Buying is just half the battle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[stairmast0r]

Key when the market is inflated right now is to find one that needs ton of mechanical work but has fairly good body and minimal rust. Once you find that, make sure the person is not asking too much depending on the amount of work. Reasonably about 1500 would be good for one with some concerning issues but still driveable. When you see those, go for it. Just ask yourself if you are willing to put in the work. Buying is just half the battle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's pretty much what I've been hoping to do. As long as it can get me to work and back with a reasonable chance of not breaking down, I can tackle everything else as time and money permit and eventually be left with a really nice car to be proud of. Not to mention learning all about it as I go...

There's an '87 325is 5MT an hour or so away from me that has a "rough idle" and "needs O2 sensor", for $1200. I should probably already be driving up to get that one...

[MrBurgundy]

There's an '87 325is 5MT an hour or so away from me that has a "rough idle" and "needs O2 sensor", for $1200. I should probably already be driving up to get that one...

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yeah, you're talking about not finding a good deal and you're talking about one right now. lol

[MrBurgundy]

go there with 900 cash and I bet he'd go for it.

[czkb]

found mine when i went to drink @ a friend house,
her neighbor had a e30 in her driveway he gave up fixing it & accepted my 300€ offer,
some gaskets later she was drive-able.

so yep as others pointed out,
luck.


bought another one 250€ another guy who gave up on fixing it,
electrical problems...
infact it was the plastic end of the ignition barrel being rounded,
you can turn ignition on but could not make the starter turn. easy fix.

[varg]

Key when the market is inflated right now is to find one that needs ton of mechanical work but has fairly good body and minimal rust.

That's what many of us hope for, but it is quite rare. When I was searching for an E30 I was hoping for a nice body with a toasted engine since it was going to be a project from day one, but every E30 I found with a toasted engine had a really rough or just abused body. Most neglected engines are in neglected bodies, and with engines and drivetrains as durable as the M10 and M20 it's always going to be easier to find something that runs great and has a rusted body than a perfect body and bad engine. Even more rare is getting something where the issue is fuel pump or ECU.

[jllphan]

Yep, just a matter of timing and a bit of luck. I bought my 87is Alpine / black manual coupe from a Mexican gentleman that didn't know what he had. Found on Craig's. $1100 later, I drove it home with only a parking brake to stop and $8k later have one of my favorite toys. If your impatient, come to TN, I still see them fairly often around the $2k mark.

Today's CL offerings in my vacinity:

https://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/6063965684.html

https://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/6035353934.html

https://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/6038237267.html

https://huntsville.craigslist.org/cto/6062769428.html

[tuckerware]

This is more from the perspective of wanting a driver than a track/project car:

I'd be a lot less concerned with price than value. When a "perfect" E30 was only worth a few thousand there would be very little logical reason to keep it going. Porsche 944s and 914s were in a similar spot. All of these are now appreciating enough to justify caring for these cars.

There is a balance between stupid BaT money for ~ $15K and $1K basketcases. Rust free examples at $4K - $5K that have not been overly modded/neglected/abused are tough to find but those are likely where the best value is. You still have to be persistent to find clean E30s but quality 318s/325s are still attainable unlike M3s.

Also, BRZO people.

[Julien]

having a driver's license in 2001 helped me get a cheap e30