How much worse do iC's handle than hard top E30's?

[Joey Link]

As I've said in my other thread, I'm looking to purchase an E30. I'm curious to know how much worse the convertables handle than the hard top E30's. Are they alot heavier? They seem to turn up alot more frequently than hard tops.

[Werksmini]

The roof of a car is an integral structrual part. Missing it creates flex n shit. You can make your own conclusions.

[Julien]

what i noticed more than the handling difference between my 88 325is and my moms 91 325ic is the power.. the car does feel quite a bit heavier. I'm sure this can be remedied with a couple bolt on modifcations. for chassis flex.. it is not that bad. maybe front and rear strut bars + a butt strutt will remove a sizeable amount of it.



Julien

[Steve30]

If you're driving it around town then it shouldn't really matter...I'd be more worried about a leaky roof than how much more rigid it is than the hardtop ;).


But if you have inclinations for a more dual purpose car then you'd be well advised to get something with a roof.

[318driver]

i had a ic with a rebuilt upper end of the motor too, and ill tell ya that they deffinatly are a bit more sluggish due to the weight. Ive been in some coupes that felt alot faster. As for the flex, there deffinatly is some added flex. im now driving an 85 318i and it is much tighter than the convertable was. Its now lowered and the car is 100times more fun to drive then the vert was even thought its got like 70less HPs hah.

[ping65810]

I know the e36's iC's had lots of FLEX...

I had a 98 323iC (actually one of only 3,000 e36 323i Cabrios ever made, worldwide), and it looked great, but handled nothing like a BMW should.... at least in the e36 you gave up a lot, and they would actually even rattle sometimes. I personally won't buy another Cabrio anthing again, b/c the handling was so poor for a BMW. Just my 2 cents....:D

[AdamF 88iS]

It depends on how hard it's life has been. I've driven a couple that are pretty solid, and I've driven others that you can see daylight between the tweeter pod and the windshield frame when you take a hard corner.

[Jon '92 325ic]

The convertibles can't have rear strut bars as the bar would pass through where the top compartment is. Which would be fine if the top were always up (and therefore the top compartment was always empty), but then why buy a convertible if the top is always up. You can get a Butt-Strut instead though (Strong Butt Strut). But a convertible still wont handle as tight as a hardtop and will always be heavier and they sometimes leak and the tops are problematic sometimes and require maintenence and are easier to vandalize and.......

But for me, living in Los Angeles, I'll take the convertible everytime.

[motorprestige]

if you are serious about driving... dont get a convertible anything (unless its a purpose built roadster, z3,s2k,mx5,etc...)

[benDASHDASH]

question:

i know a butt-strut will help stiffen the chasis more in a convertable than in a coupe (because the vert is has a weaker chasis). what about a front strut bar? i know it would help in both cars, but would it help a vert more than a coupe? im guessing not because this is near the front of the car and the missing hard top is way behind it. but if someone knows from experience, id like to know for sure. i mainly ask because im on a tight budget, but the sparco group buy looks way tempting.

[Justin B]

I drive pretty hard sometimes, and granted I did springs, shocks, different tires and the strut bar all at the same time but it definately does feel a little sturdier. Whether its due to being a convertable or not, theyre nice to have and if I hadnt gotten one already I would jump on this GB now.

[parkerbink]

My cabbie is tight. maybe it's the 53k Mom driven for 14 years deal but I love it!

[///M42 sport]

I would only get a cabby if its a mtech. Which is why I have one right now. There's a mtech for sale right now on roadfly with some goodies installed for 8K. I think rsheiring, one of our members is selling it.

[Jordan325iC]

I actually don't mind my convertible. Despite all the 'vert bashing that goes on, they are still e30s.