What was the E30's Rival...?

[kendogg]

Wrong. It didn't. Notice during the scene where they show the car "breaking down" it's a slow motion version of the previous scene where the cop almost rear ended the M3 because the Camaro had drums and the M3 has real brakes. hehehe

I hear they went to his house later and arrested him. They just didn't want to show that someone evaded the cops - much less a 15yo. Frankly, I wasn't all that impressed by that cop's driving. Why did he have to swerve last minute around the spike strip? He doesn't communicate with his officers to say what lane its in? HAHAH

Not that this hadn't been discusses ad nauseum, but from what I remember reading many years ago, kids dad was a club racer/instructor, and kid got away scott free. When dad found out, he took kid to jail and mad ehim turn himself in.

[2slowe30]

Lee's right. The E30 M3 and 190E 2.3-16 languished on dealer lots. Your typical American BMW and Benz buyer simply didn't "get" these cars. My understanding is that things were the same at Porsche dealers: the 964 RS America was a slow seller.

That's why the M3 and 16V were loaded to the gills with every option available, despite how much the hundreds of pounds of added weight damaged performance. No one was in the market for a stripped-out homologation special; BMW and Mercedes needed to stuff them with luxo accessories to justify the premium price.

So Northamerica got fucked over with the E36 M3? That fucking sucks. i know canada did get i think 36 or something like that Euro E36 M3s part of the deal between them and europe. but this kinda sucks, now i feel like the E36 is kinda underrated and has alot of hate for no reason.

[Simon S]

the e30 never had a rival.

[325ix]

just look at the old DTM videos.

the old 5.0 stangs
Ford Cosworth Sierra
Opel Kadett GSI-- the U.S. version was the Pontiac LeMans ca. 1989
Merc 190
the Golf II GTI- was over here the enemy of the e30s

Thats what I was gonna say! Although these are more of the M3's rivals.

[TopOfTheLine89]

Mk2 GTI 8V vs. eta and 318s. 16v vs. 325is. How I wonder what lap times would look like. I know my 8v is faster then my 325e when it was stock.

[dkbmxer002]

If i had the money and was back in the 1980's looking at new cars. Eventhough i am a domestic car guy. I'd say i'd buy a domestic car over an e30. To me, there's just not that much there thats worth the money in an e30 brand new. I'd be looking at Monte Carlo SS's or over at Dodge looking at the FWD Shelby products. But thats just me.

that's true, there were alot of odd ball domestic cars that had plenty of potential back in the day that so many people overlooked usually in ignorance. they were too ahead of the game on turbo cars.

[dlhoovler]

I had a Volvo 740 turbo (5-speed) a few years ago, and I remember a circa-1985 ad for the turbo model that touted being faster than the 325e. Not much of a boast, actually, but I thought that was kind of odd, since the 740 seemed more similarly sized to an E28. Of course, a 535is would probably eat the Volvo's lunch in every performance category except fuel economy...

-Dave

[Emre]

If this is true. now it all makes sense to me.

Lee's right. The E30 M3 and 190E 2.3-16 languished on dealer lots. Your typical American BMW and Benz buyer simply didn't "get" these cars. My understanding is that things were the same at Porsche dealers: the 964 RS America was a slow seller.

That's why the M3 and 16V were loaded to the gills with every option available, despite how much the hundreds of pounds of added weight damaged performance. No one was in the market for a stripped-out homologation special; BMW and Mercedes needed to stuff them with luxo accessories to justify the premium price.

[JasonC]

thanks! i would put their price in close relation to a c4 corvette... later years at least.
early years are too far off in prices to compare but an early e30 would probably compete similarly to a 350 camaro or a 302 mustang. (personally being a domestic person i would take an e30 over nearly any 80's car though)

If i had the money and was back in the 1980's looking at new cars. Eventhough i am a domestic car guy. I'd say i'd buy a domestic car over an e30. To me, there's just not that much there thats worth the money in an e30 brand new. I'd be looking at Monte Carlo SS's or over at Dodge looking at the FWD Shelby products. But thats just me.

[Aptyp]

You guys are forgetting that BMW was major upscale yuppy cars back in the day. Way more than it is today.

It was the p-cars, MB and BMW - that's it. Audi's were an odd duck. Not only that but whole unintended acceleration thing back then.

Secretaries drove drove VW's. Hondas/dautsun/toyota were once a pile of shit, but had just turned a corner and were now better than American cars. And American cars were a total POS - the K car at that point had been around forever.

Oh and sabb 900, volvos, and alike. They sold them to all the hippies getting liberal arts degrees that didn't really care about what they drove as long as they were different.

There was no such thing as an SUV outside of a Jeep and the occasional old scout or something.

Most people keep their car for 10 years back then. There were repair stations EVERYWHERE. Gas stations didn't have stores - they had 2 lifts, and they were busy night and day.

You can tell George was wiping nostalgia tears as he wrote this.

[harv]

I like the Alfa Milano as my choice as a competitor. In 87 a Milano Gold 2.5 was 13K.

900 Turbo...

Volvo 240 and then the 740 Turbo GLT.

I had looked at a few Milano's before I bought my e30.

John

[2slowe30]

Actually, there were tons of unsold e30 M3s in dealer showrooms for a few years. Which is why BMW NA didn't offer the e36 M3 in its original form when it was available in 1994 in Canada. Instead, there was a cheaper e36 M3 with a stroked M50 motor.

If this is true. now it all makes sense to me.

[Emre]

The Mercedez 190? Nah... It can't be...

That's a very strange thing to say :loco:

The W201 range was the natural rival to the E30. The Benz 190 model line-up matches the E30 line-up pretty closely:

E30 316 vs. 190E 1.8 (stripped-out 8V tax specials; both available in carb or FI versions)
E30 318 vs. 190E 2.3 (8V four-banger budget models)
E30 325e vs. 190D (high-efficiency models)
E30 325i vs. 190E 2.6 (12V sports sedans)
E30 M3 vs. 190E 2.3-16 (Group-A 2.3L 16V touring cars)
E30 M3 Evo vs. 190E 2.5-16 Evo (2.5L evolution touring cars)

Hard to think of a model line-up that gets any closer.

[5Toes]

^ cant see thread homeboy

[freeride53]

Tell him its from another Peugeot owner haha
peugeot owners are very off point

http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=195536