Hello small Introduction and Question.

[Zaun]

Hello R3vlimited. Cool forum. Well to introduce myself. The name is Spencer. I am 25 years old and have always been in love with the e30's. My dad is a mechanic here and my parents have always had bmw's. My dad currently drives a 84 323 European model, Thing is a beast. Altho i know he did a lot to the car to get it where its at. Freaking love the car. Anyways i dont think he will be letting that car go anytime soon and i am tired of waiting on him, So i have been looking around for my own. This is where the small question comes in. I am about to sell my gas guzzling 4x4 truck. and will probably have around 5k to pick something up. I have been looking around for sale boards and all that good stuff but would like others opinions. I would also ask my old man but he is so tired of cars (been working on them for god knows how long) that when i try and strike up a conversation about anything car related he blows me off. (not always but 9 out of 10 times) On to the question :D. What can i realistically expect to get for around 5k? And i dont just mean which model. I mean condition/reliability all that good stuff. Also guys i look forward to reading all over this board. Have a great day and thanks for the future answers.

[pbr87]

rust-free late model 325is in excellent shape with fairly low miles?

[StereoInstaller1]

rust-free late model 325is in excellent shape with fairly low miles?

Or maybe a beater M3...I saw it happen!

[Red88]

There's an m30 swapped car for sale for like 4300, I think.

[Zaun]

Thanks for the quick replies guys.

[JasonC]

For $5000 you'll get a really good e30 if you use your head when looking for one.

And welcome to the site.

[recall]

Hello fellow TNer. Like everyone has said, $5k should get you a nice E30.

Having looked around Knoxville for the better part of the last couple years, I can tell you that it seems harder to find nice E30s locally here for whatever reason. I eventually found a pretty nice one but had to shell out a bit larger than I should have.

If you see any pop up on craigslist or autotrader or whatever for Knoxville, PM me and I'll try to check them out for you if you'd like. For that amount of money, your best bet is a motivated enthusiast, probably here on the forums, even if you have to drive a few hundred miles to pick it up.

[der affe]

try looking out of state. you will prob get more for your $. the forums are a good place to look, but it will require you travel to get the car. with a good solid car, the drive back should be no problem.

i picked up my 91 325i with a 2.7 stroker, itbs, piggyback, rd sways, strutt tie bars, bilsteins, h&r sports, h-4 conversion all for $4500 in 04.

if you come accross a az car and need someone to check it out let me know.

[Zaun]

Thanks alot guys


@recall Thanks bud, Will keep you in mind for sure. Been checking out Atlanta/nashville/knoxville CL just to see.

@der affe Thanks for the advice and offer :D

Just got done fixing my EGR valve on my truck no more Check engine light YAY :D. Thought i had stripped the bolt last year when trying to fix it last year but i got to looking i had stripped a cheap ass socket set lol. Went this morning thinkin i had a stripped bolt and bought some Grip tite set. Got to the house to work on it and was like ill be damned...haha at least thats done, now to clean her up and get her sold.

One thing that bugs me when it comes to looking for an e30. My dad use to own a shop here in town that all he did was work on bmw (now he did work on a Ferrari or 2 and some other odds and ends when he special customers asked him to.). But the shop specialized in only doing BMW's. any day of the week my dad could find me a damn steal of a deal on an e30. (this was 10 years ago of course). Now that im ready to buy one he has turned into a negative nancy. Last time week i asked him his thoughts on it. And he made a good point but of course he made it very negative. Simply put, He said the majority of the e30's that i am gonna find for sale are going to be wore out. Like i said its a sad thing. My dad use to be an Avid lover of cars period, and 35-40 years of wrenching on them he has turned sour. I hate it for him just because cars where one of his passions in life and now he has no passion for almost anything. At least every once in a while i can have a good talk about cars with him and see that spark i once saw in him when i was younger, Just not near as often.

Thanks again guys for the input, And all and more is appreciated. Well i gotta go clean out my truck so i can try and move it and move into an E30 :D

[StereoInstaller1]

I feel for your Dad. It is so hard to keep your head straight after working on cars for a long time, especially as a tech.

Think of this: no one is truly happy to come see a mechanic. No one says "oh boy, I need a new transmission, hooray!" so generally, people can be surly and kind of subconsciously blame the mechanic for their problems.

Gets to a guy after a while, y'know?

That would be one of the big draws to what I do...everyone is happy to get a new stereo...once in a while, someone will be pissed off about the stolen crap that makes them need an alarm, but what the hell, they needed keyless entry anyway, right?

So if I were to offer advice on how to get your Dads flame rekindled, the only thing that can really do it is seeing you, the offspring, showing dogged determination in learning and doing, not just talking about stuff, but learning and being there.

So, in other words, keep on doing what you are doing. Be very patient, as the man in question here sounds like an incredible guy, and you seem to want to see him feel that passion again. Hopefully, not in just a self-serving way so that he would show you how to build a badass car, but because he is your Dad and you want the best for the man who brought you into this world.

[Zaun]

I feel for your Dad. It is so hard to keep your head straight after working on cars for a long time, especially as a tech.

Think of this: no one is truly happy to come see a mechanic. No one says "oh boy, I need a new transmission, hooray!" so generally, people can be surly and kind of subconsciously blame the mechanic for their problems.

Gets to a guy after a while, y'know?

That would be one of the big draws to what I do...everyone is happy to get a new stereo...once in a while, someone will be pissed off about the stolen crap that makes them need an alarm, but what the hell, they needed keyless entry anyway, right?

So if I were to offer advice on how to get your Dads flame rekindled, the only thing that can really do it is seeing you, the offspring, showing dogged determination in learning and doing, not just talking about stuff, but learning and being there.

So, in other words, keep on doing what you are doing. Be very patient, as the man in question here sounds like an incredible guy, and you seem to want to see him feel that passion again. Hopefully, not in just a self-serving way so that he would show you how to build a badass car, but because he is your Dad and you want the best for the man who brought you into this world.

Well said. And yes not in a self serving way. Just rather see him happy. And nothing now a days really makes him happy. Anyways on a seprate note i am excited that i will hopefully be making the Swap between my truck to an e30 :P Just gotta get truck sold first then i can look more.

[Yage30]

@recall : Woot, knoxvillians unite!

@Zaun : I bought my E30 locally as well, for 3k. I think I got a pretty good deal for it. Swapped with an M50 and most of the major stuff you could want done already did :) Just keep your eyes peeled, man and don't get so much in a hurry to own an e30 that you justify buying a less than acceptable car for yourself.

[txtorquemade]

Patience is the key here my friend. Ive bought a few e30's over the years and I seem to ALWAYS find something I like a lot better than the one I just bought... THE WEEK AFTER I BUY THE ONE I THOUGHT WAS THE BEST AROUND AT THE TIME.

For 5k you ought to get a nice e30. Period. Look around. Expand your search Nationally. Shipping isnt all that bad, when compared to buying something not as nice, modded, or low miles as you can if you look EVERYWHERE!

The ONLY e30 Ive paid over 5k for was the brand new one I bought in 1986. Ive never paid over 3k for any that I've owned since then. I would easily pay 5k for a low miles (< 100k) or more in fact if it was one of my favorites. 87 325is, 91 318is, any that have a M50 swap, or modded tastefully with nice rims and meats.

In fact, I can hook you up with a 87 Black/tan, 325is with 135k miles for about 4500.00. Thinking of buying it myself. Its in Plano Tx, but not listed anywhere. Yet.