If you had the choice what would you buy?

[BeirBrennerE30]

'89 325is... best combination of factory equipment.

plastic bumpered 325ix... best snow car and a little different (do you get snow in norcal?)

[craiggroves91]

I voted 4dr 325i because it has the M20, but I would rather have a 2dr

[ejnight]

318is from what you describe in your post.

[mikeedler]

none of the above.
I would wait to find a nice '90+ 2 door 325i or

[///e30freak]

I voted IX. A plastic bumpered sleeper saloon with a big ole' turbo and show those sti's who's boss!

[AC Nico]

i'd take the 318is... its cheaper with gas and the engine is great. if you want more hp then put a turbo on the m42 ;)

[Jonny Cash]

89 four door.

Ive owned two M42 cars, the motor never grew on me, but theyre fun to toss around. They say they handle better.. Im not a beleiver. As far as the IX goes, well a big reason I drive an e30 is because its cheap to maintain.

[z31maniac]

The 318iS. All of my experience with E30's has been with the I6 M20. I really want an M42 car, and then I want the DASC kit.

I love my slicktop M42 car. I can't wait til it warms up and I can throw my Kosie/RT-615 combo on and take it to some autoX's.

Nicely balanced, good gas mileage and a hoot to drive.

It's just too bad you can't buy the DASC kit new anymore, from what I understand.

[Brian 89 325i]

I would say to go with an M20 4dr car. That'll get you enough power for around town etc... and if you need to haul people you won't have to avoid going UP hills. lol
There really isn't much point to having an ix for you, and there is a lot of limitations to them.

Brian

[Hick]

see my sig.

+1

...?

[Farbin Kaiber]

See my sig.

[Hick]

Its a toss up between a 325i/4 with sport seats and a 318is

The 318is is a great little car, but lacks [a lot of] power. The 4 doors are nice, but the seating position bothers me; b pillar makes it feel claustrophobic.

Outside of the list... an 88.5+ 325is with all the goodies. full OBC's are fun to play with, cruse [which no 318is came with] enough power for DD use, the same looks of a 318is.

If i had to choose from the list 318is.... unless you buy it from me

[TDE30]

Conversely, in a two-door, you have to go through the age-old "oh you wanna get in the car, hold on let me get out of the car so you can get into the car" routine. In a four-door, if you are rolling three, or even four, deep, it's a cinch and none of your crew has to exit the vehicle.

Plus, judging by atan88's previous rides, a well modified four-door always seems to look better (more sleeper/stealth) than a modified two-door. IMO.

[FredK]

That was a very skillful use of quotes.

The only benefit of a four door, as I've previously described, is the ability to lay down some street justice when you roll four deep. You don't want your homies tripping over the seatbelt with a balky retracting mechanism and smashing up his grills.

[TDE30]

^^^ I agree that most enthusiast-owned E30s are two-doors. The four doors were owned by milquetoast yuppies who let the timing belt snap and got the car towed to the boneyard in 1997.

wat