Thoughts on swapped E30s and traveling back in time (long)

[Marcos]

Ooh ooh ooh, get a clean, stock, ix. done

[nrubenstein]

nonsense. I've been doing it for years. Mechanically and electronically, the E30 is simple, and the things that do typically fail aren't the same sorts of things that leave you stranded in a parking lot somewhere. All a swap is doing is adding a more reliable motor, that also happens to have more power out of the box.

as for a PPI, it's up to the OP to find somebody qualified to inspect it. It wouldn't be that hard - I live in the ass end of nowhere and there's a local shop I could get it done at. It's not like these are custom swaps, most of the parts are original BMW.

While I will certainly agree that my E30s have never stranded me, there have been occasions where the rational thing to do was park them and come back later. Sometimes it was minor stuff, sometimes it was something worrying, but either way, life is much simpler when you can just swap out another car.

Not to mention that when you *are* working on the car, it's good to have a vehicle available for parts runs. That's why the brilliantrot car is tagged instead of stored.

[BrewCity11]

Make your wish list, get out your check book and do this: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=205157

He'll sort out something nice for you.

[Vince30]

geeze, some of you guys make the E30 sound like an unstable death trap. semi-trailing arms or not, these things aren't mid-engined turbo porsches. They're quite forgiving if you're not a total moron.

I always thought my e30 was very forgiving, but I only had the eta.
I vote e36, its like an e30 with 24v swap, 5 lug swap, traction control. I think the biggest problem with their chassis is the stupid rubber rear trailing arm bushings, but polyurethane bushings can be found for under $50.

[Morrison]

I would recommend having the E30 in addition to a second newer car for daily driving and weekend outings with your possibly soon to be fiance. While E30's are fairly reliable, when they do break, they can sometimes be down for a while if you have to special order parts for them. This is more applicable especially for my ix which has been down for the past month while I order parts to rebuild the transfer case, all new exhaust, and sending off the rear driveshaft to be rebalanced.

It helps me to not get overly frustrated with it by having a second vehicle, 2003 X5 3.0i. It gets decent milage, is all-wheel drive, and has room in the back for bikes, etc., plus room for friends to sit comfortably with their legs still attached.

Trust me, there is nothing worse than having it be 10 below zero outside and you've only got one car which needs to be fixed by morning so you can get to work.....I've been there!