Importing Euro Spec E30

[Zepersian]

verts are always in better shape here since they don't see the miles or the salt. they use them different in europe than they do in north america, but most will be in a similar situation.
i dunno what you are comparing to. last time i was in europe a decent e30, or really any car was about the same or more than here after exchange.

i know someone who just imported a touring. they actually traveled to see the car in person. it was the second one they brought over, the first was riddled with hidden rust. which is why they traveled for this one. a vert is a usually a safer bet unseen. but i still wouldn't bite without getting my eyes on the car.

Half of Europe hasn't seen snow since the last ice age. You have to be smart which country/city you're buying from. But yes there's risk with everything you buy overseas. Need to be smart and a bit luck. But like I mentioned before if you have a 35-40 year old car you have to expect to repaint it and do some rust work sooner than later. They become a labor of love (or wallet drainer as your wife would say lol)

[Vincenze]

Half of Europe hasn't seen snow since the last ice age. You have to be smart which country/city you're buying from. But yes there's risk with everything you buy overseas. Need to be smart and a bit luck. But like I mentioned before if you have a 35-40 year old car you have to expect to repaint it and do some rust work sooner than later. They become a labor of love (or wallet drainer as your wife would say lol)

A good rust-repair and repaint job will easily cost $10,000-15,000 in the USA.

You can probably drive the car to a body shop in Eastern Europe and refinish it much cheaper.

The M20B20 produces only 127 hp.

https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.php/320i

The 320i is not a desirable model of E30 due to its relatively low power (little more than the 318i) but with fuel consumption equal to the much more powerful 325i. Because of this, surviving examples are usually cannibalized for their shells, or have more powerful engines transplanted into them.

There's not much it shares with its engine stablemates either; nothing can be bolted on to improve performance, and only basic engine ancillaries like the alternator and Starter are common with its M20 contemporaries.

There's not much you can do to improve the performance of a 320i. The engine is strangled from intake to exhaust, and once you start looking at bolting on components from bigger engines, you realize it's cheaper and quicker just to drop an entire 325i lump in.

[Zepersian]

A good rust-repair and repaint job will easily cost $10,000-15,000 in the USA.

You can probably drive the car to a body shop in Eastern Europe and refinish it much cheaper.

The M20B20 produces only 127 hp.

https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.php/320i

I have an E46 M3 as well if I want speed. Each car has its own use. Sometimes you just want the top down and cruise.

Not to mention getting a high performance car is a big scam given you can’t even go more than 70 miles/hour on the highway.

If you want a race car best to get a track car, visit a race track and run it turbo there.

Also, spending 10K on a good rust/paint job is probably one of the best and rare upgrades that actually increases the value of your car. Never see it as a waste of money. A waste of money is spending 2K on a magnaflow cat back exhaust.

[cory58]

Basically none of that would be helpful to the Canadian OP unfortunately.

My bad. OP did not state he was in Canada and I did not click through to his profile.

[moatilliatta]

Dang a Spec E30 with Euro bumpers? DANG...

[roguetoaster]

Dang a Spec E30 with Euro bumpers? DANG...

That's how you display your F you money in S30.