How good is your e30 as a DD?

[bataangpinoy]

been my daily for a month and a half now. mines low, rides stiff, the poly bushings creak and i have to angle up on speed bumps. i love it.

[quikveedb2]

Thanks for the helpful responses guys! Are there any common issues/ failures that'll leave me stranded? Stuff I should just go ahead & replace to avoid headaches?

[Streichholzschächtelchen]

Iono what you guys are talking about e30s are weak.

Lol mine seems pretty solid just wish I had AC sometimes, and I really should get onto fixing some annoying noises, otherwise it's a great automobile.

[BenM]

I don't daily one currently, but have in the past and would do so if my suspension wasn't so harsh. That and New England roads aren't so great.

Replacing all of those things sounds like a great idea IMO, just keep the leftover relays, fuel pump, etc. around as spares.

[Tbolt]

i loved driving mine daily even with race springs. unfortunately I have been running into problems left and right the past month and im pretty sure my hg is blown. doin a 24v swap soon so hopefully its back to DD status =D

[chadthestampede]

I drove mine daily for 3 years, ~35,000 miles, through 3 Buffalo winters, and it performed like a champ. Never had snow tires or A/C, and I had a blast all the time.

I even DD'd it for about a month and a half after I got the m30 in, and it was still awesome, though a gas hog.

It only left me stranded 3 times, twice was the water pump failing (failed once and the replacement failed days later) and the other time was when somehow the battery ground came lose and I couldn't figure out what the hell was wrong.

Iono

Please stop saying this.

[kway]

Are there any common issues/ failures that'll leave me stranded? Stuff I should just go ahead & replace to avoid headaches?

Aside from the normal maintenance items I'd say: fuel pump, fuel pump relay, main relay, fusible link, crank sensor (maybe keep a spare ECU in the car to really cover your ass).

I've been DDing e30s pretty much steadily since 2000 (minus a 2 year stint of switching off between an e23). Bought this latest one 3 years ago at 250k, got it up to date on maintenance right off the bat. Almost 58,000 miles later and it's NEVER left me stranded. Couple roadside fixes here and there, but nothing crazy. Best car I've ever owned.

Current commute is 75 miles round trip to Boston and back. We had some pretty nasty storms last winter and with Hakkas on the car I never missed a day of work.

[nando]

I've put nearly 100,000 miles on mine.. it's never stranded me, always been pretty trusty, I'd drive it anywhere. There have been minor glitches but nothing show stopping.

definitely do some preventative maintenance. That's part of why I don't usually have problems, I tend to replace things a little too soon rather than too late. I hate it when things break, especially if it was preventable by maintenance or a known replacement schedule (like timing belts and waterpumps).

I don't know about replacing relays and crank sensors, but I do keep spare relays in the fuse box. BMW was even thoughtful enough to leave space for them. :)

[ed94r]

E30 S50 driven 12 months a year, 15K a year. Been driving the swap for about 5 years, and before the swap it was my wife's car (M20), which was replaced with a SUV. We bought the car in 1999 with 104K and now it has 260K. I maintain it religiously.

Did I mention that the same car that I DD gave no point-by's in 2 sessions at the last PCA VIR HPDE, and I drove it there and back..consuming nothing but brakes and gas.

It continues to bring me to work, the grocery store, and the track as we speak.

A swap car is the BMW BMW should have built at the time...it would have dominated the world, but yeah, I DD my E30.

Ed

[RickSloan]

A swap car is the BMW BMW should have built at the time...it would have dominated the world, but yeah, I DD my E30.

Ed

i have never put a quote in my sig until now...

[nmlss2006]

...when did a 2.5 litre inline six with 170HP become 'little'? More to the point - when did it become a concern to go UP AND DOWN HILLS in it? BMW sold this car very successfully in europe with much smaller engines - and they regularly went up and down much steeper mountains. I am somewhat at a loss?
OP: apart from the above, get good season tyres, check that your LSD is actually working, watch out for rust (wash the underside frequently) and go to a few HPDEs.

[Nic01101011]

mines good to drive every day minus it being so low. not a problem if you put on a reasonable suspension

[Brian 89 325i]

I have been DDing E30's since 02. Took some time off with a MKIII but then promptly got back into a real car ASAP. My current car runs: IE StgIII/Bilst. crash correction strut mounts, GC rear mounts, stock sways w/new links/bushings.

Nothing new here, but as long as your are up to date on maint. then you should be fine. Just make sure you replace things in groups. If you have to replace one thing, just replace pretty much everything near it, or anything you have to remove to get to the part you're replacing. That way, little things aren't ALWAYS breaking.

If it were me though, I'd get another beater car/truck for winter. That way, you can spend some time and money on your E30, and not have to stress about not being able to get to work when one car is down for serious work.

[lgb240]

My summer daily driver for the last 4 years and 41K km's has been my 325i touring - no issues, just regular maintenance (timing belt, brakes). It's a joy to drive. Even with low suspension and stiff bushings everywhere, it's a great DD.

For the last 4 winters I've been daily driving my 318is. It's cost me more maintanance $$'s, but, it was only a $2K car to start with so it had some issues to fix before I started putting on the miles It's never left me stranded in more than 50K km's, and is about to start another winter season.

Conclusion - E30's are great DD's, regardless of climate, weather, elevations, ect.

lgb240

[Conrad311]

I bought a 87 is about 3 months ago for a grand,216k on it and it is in pretty good shape, and i have put over 4 thousand miles on it, and the only things i have done so far is a new fuel filter, valve adjustment and switched it to Mobil 1. So far it has only let me down once when the soild fuel lines by the filter cracked open, so after replacing a few feet on line, its been a champ ever since, and im not a very gentle driver.
Im working on getting an 89 IX and I dont think ill ever want to drive another car, I love having an e30 as a DD