questioning my E30 faith././././././././././././help

[browntown]

I understand your pain. Just go buy a honda. They last forever, parts are plentiful and cheap, and working on them is so easy that engine swaps are easier than fixing a bad engine. All the wiring harnesses are color coded and will only fit one way. OR go domestic and old like an old chevy truck. Will remind you why you enjoyed wrenching in the first place. Bimmers are a pain in the ass, but it is a labor of love. If it makes you feel better -- Volvos are worse.

[marcreid]

Sounds like you could use a Honda ;). I have found the E30 (and my E34 before it) incredibly easy to work on, and relatively cheap. Being a 20+ year old car I've had to replace a lot of things, but nothing out of the ordinary for a 200k mile, 20-year-old car. And as for metric tools, I think that's a bonus because the sizes are actually logical. If this car is hard to work on, I can't imagine easy...

Anyway I can think of very few (if any) cars that are as fun and interesting as the E30 for the price. Two weeks after I bought my POS car out of a field I autocrossed it and still had a blast. Inline-6, RWD, limited slip, manual trans, BMW, runs forever- all for the a tenth of the price of a new Kia.

[GOOBER]

I feel ya OP. In my mind you just gotta keep on truckin'. My e30 was a nightmare when I first got it. It was very poorly maintained and not only needed a full mechanical overhaul but a complete interior refresh because of how piss poorly treated it was. I've had it now two years and I've finally got it to the point where I can pretty much enjoy it and bump it to daily driving status. I must say since I've got to this point I can't look back. Yeah the work sucked but oh how it was worth it when I push my car into the twisties on a beautiful sunny day :)

[worangejuice]

haha Thanks guys! I see you've all been across this great river before :)
Of course I shall soldier on! Just bitchin and whinin on a crap day of workin on the e30.
Why else would I still have this E30 :)

[ChaseN]

That's the spirit :D

[Need4Speed1299]

I will gladly trade my e36 for your e30.

[HarryPotter]

Baahhh! You should stop putting all those stickers on your poor bimmer. Maybe he wont hate you so much?

[qu4ttro]

sounds like your about as mechanically inclined as a three toed sloth... sell the car and buy a bicycle...save yourself and the rest of us the aggravation of trying to read another post like this ever again.

[KillaCams]

sounds like your about as mechanically inclined as a three toed sloth... sell the car and buy a bicycle...save yourself and the rest of us the aggravation of trying to read another post like this ever again.

+1 it seems you haven't caught on to the addiction yet, when one breaks you buy another E30 to drive until the 1st one is fixed (i'm on my 4th one so far)

[RainierHooker]

Jeeze... metric tools? Oh teh noes... Wait, what car made in the last three decades uses anything but?

Small cramped spaces? Sorry, I can reach and fix just about every thing with my meat hooks and rudamentary tools. Forget Lego Technic, e30s are Duplos...


...the best Duplos ever!

[worangejuice]

I will try and keep in mind that the e30 is a Duplo sized car :)

[fiftytakedowns]

yes I know its the ultimo driving machino

wow

[braytonia]

Im on the fence with this one. I had an S13 for 2 1/2 years with no problems what so ever and I agree suspension work is cake on S-chassis along with any other work/ maintenance. But then I bought an E30 to get out of the "scene" and I wanted something new, but again I had no problems with it and working on it wasn't too terribly hard (wasn't as easy as the 240 but still.) Who knows maybe I just got lucky with the 3series. Long story short I traded the bimmer for an S14, that Im am now content with... BMW's just weren't for me I guess.

[e30huh]

wax on / wax off..............be patient, worangejuice-son and you will win the fight.

[325ix]

what are these small nooks and crannies your complaining of? the e30 is one of the easiest cars to work on!

Thats exactly what I was thinking! I can't even find the oil filter on my dad's new legacy.