It's officially a money pit.

[Bearmw]

E30's are not going to be cheap unless you find a deal on an unmolested car without rust and major wiring issues and basically just do all stock type maintenance yourself. Once the modification bug bites it can cost a hell of a lot because as we know just one more mod would make it that much better.

I've got a vert project that started with a purchse price of 2K (had no rust and good intereior) but has many times that into it with a B35 swap but my plan is to never sell it. Also my son has a Schwarz 88is that he got for $1200 (118K very little rust and decent paint and full Hartge exhaust but not running) but has needed a bunch of basic maintenance because it sat for many years. Previous owner totally hacked dash wiring. Now having to replace fuel tank because it sat so long and next spring will need a clutch due to leaking rear main seal and maybe valve seals, etc. We are not going to go crazy modding this car but I have a few upgrades in mind next year. 3.90 small lsd (I already have), shave flywhell, ix rear sway bar, decent 15" rims/tires, replace more bushings.

I also just bought an Burgundrot 85 535iA with 146K and good paint and minimal rust for $1200. This will replace my tin can 01 Saturn as my daily driver. Repaired some wiring hacks and a few other things. Still need replace rusted section in exhaust. I want to do some mild upgrades (H4 lamps, better sways, better 16"rims, new bushings, speakers, budget bbk...and lots more basic maintenance but not this winter)

Probably once I go beyond basic maintenance I won't get my money back but I know that. My thinking now is to go slow on mods, think them out, be creative, wait for a great price on parts, and do all work myself, and hold onto the cars.

I feel lucky to be able to have cars as a hobby and I also know it is a luxury that many can't afford now with job uncertainty and so on. I think that my own car dreams have gotten a bit more modest out of necessity and I like seeing how I can come up with something enjoyable without spending crazy money. Sometimes less is more...and I guess I mean doing more with less... Now maybe my woman will get me that welder for Christmas;)

[mikeedler]

I have atleast $30,000 into my M3 including the purchase price. I have driven it a total of about 4000 miles in the last 10 years.-- so yeah, I'm dumb.

I have about $10,000 into my summer M tech II- yeah, I'm dumb.

My Bel Air that has been driven about 400 miles in the last 25 years is at about $30,000, yeah I'm dumb

the car I drive a ton of miles on every day I have about $800 total into it- yeah, kinda odd now that I think about it.

We do it for the love of metal/oil/rubber, gearheads are strange.

[gearheadE30]

Cars really are about the worst investment ever. It's the enjoyment that you get out of owning it that's important.

[warmseth]

Good responses. Thanks guys. I love this car. I've owned 35 cara and this one is my favorite to drive of all the ones ive owned. I have about $9500 in it total including purchase price. That includes full Ireland engineering suspension, corvette brakes, and a lot of maintenance.

90% of my cars have been old. Chevy IIs bunch of Datsun 510s vintage motorcycles. I like old vehicles. This is why I recently sold the vw r32 and decided to keep my e30 instead. The vw just wasn't as fun to drive.

The only reason I'm tripping on the $ is I'm flat broke, no job, unemployment insurance was just declined for no reason and I spent $2500 on my car today that should have gone to paying rent. So basically I'm scared shitless of my financial state.

Still I've pretty much made up my mind that unless I can find a car that drives better, I'll own this thing for life.

Upcoming things to do:

S5x
Paint
Bbs Wheels
Headliner
Bluetooth stereo
A/c
Cruise control
Proper IS rear seat

In that order.

[James Crivellone]

I have, oh 30k into mine overall, and that's just the e30 lol

[Wh33lhop]

Shit, I bought my car for $1200 and I've got over $7k into it. I don't know how much I could get for it at the moment but I am planning on keeping it forever, so I don't really bat an eyelash when it comes to spending stupid amounts of money making it fun.

[kjlang]

My e30 sat for 2 years before i got it a few months ago, it needs a heater, radio, window switch, decent front seats, new suspension (the old stuff is shot) and probably a new starter, but i love it despite these things. once its all fixed up i doubt ill get break even, how ever, i used to drive a honda which was a year older. it had comfortable seats, a radio and a heater, it never had issues but it was boring. when i got the e30 and let my brother drive the honda. he crashed it into a tree and totaled it (he's fine, not even a scratch). i couldn't have cared less, other then the fact that i could't get any money out of it to work on my e30 . value is in the eye of the beholder man.

[rlddlr53]

Bring Money Willingly

http://silverstone.fortunecity.com/mercedes/483/BMWStandFor.htm

some of those are funny

[Rsully70sev]

Bring Money Willingly

[Threehz]

Many wise words said here, I prefer old cars, and particularly good cars (duh). I could have spent 14k to get the lowest end Japanese car new, then drive it off the lot and have it instantly depreciate to 9k-10k, and in a few years drop down to 4k-5k or less.

But why?

I now own an E30, one of my dream cars, I love it, it has character, it's been down a long road, it's definitely got little things (exterior wise) but all the problems just mean more opportunity for me to improve and my car will only get better the longer I have it. A new car will only go downhill from the day you buy it. I also like the fact that I WANT TO DO MAINTENANCE. I love working on my car and doing upgrades, which in fact become future preventive maintenance.

Here's the bottom line, if you have 14,000$ you can buy the lowest end new cars right now, and that would be if you got a good deal. With 14k I could buy an E30 in good shape for 3k-4k and have 10k left. With 10k I feel comfortable saying you can bring an E30 in good shape to much better then factory bought condition with any number of upgrades, and the cheapest E30 new was what, the 318i at like 20k? The real thing is you have a car you love, know inside and out, have a connection to and it's more of a car then any one of those new cars you could have bought will ever be.

Just my 2 cents ;)

[VinniE30]

I love this thread. e30 FTW. They are worth every penny i've spent on them and more.

[750]

if you're complaining about your car being a moneypit, you're driving the wrong car. buy a japanese commuter, do no maintenance, suck at life.

e30s are hobbies. why are you so concerned about it being a moneypit? it's what you enjoy doing. would you do anything different a second time around? i know i wouldnt.

Well said, I would like to add Life Style Choice and Community.

[IminDiegoTriick]

Why are you stressing about the cost, you gotta pay to play!
No one is forcing you to drop more $$$, and if your the only one stressing yourself, then there's the problem ;)

& if your just dropping money into maintenance, then that is money well spent

[A_Whelan]

Car included about $5700 because I had to ship it 400 miles 3 times now and i'm in the middle of an m50 swap with a lot of fresh parts like all new pads, rotors, control arms, tires (actually rubber, on bottle caps), four struts, etc.

I'm now $1500 in debt paying cc's and it sucks and I just left my job. Now I have to find one after christmas and I'm getting worried.

But during the past year while waiting to get my car working again (broke the m20, swapping m50) there wasn't a day gone by where I didn't think about my car and getting it back.

I'm going home soon and I get 6 days or so to fix a fuel and spark problem to get it to fire. I won't get to drive it because it's winter and I want to keep it covered. I can't wait.

[Blackout]

WTF is OP talking about?
Bimmers have been money pits since the dawn of time.
There is noting to bitch about. Just learn to like it.
LOL.