Thinking about an (a specific) e30 for my dad...

[Farbin Kaiber]

You obviously are not well versed in e30's, and are not willing to listen to people that know more than you. Go ahead, buy the car, then spend thousands of dollars trying to fix the cluster.

[Vivek]

You obviously are not well versed in e30's, and are not willing to listen to people that know more than you. Go ahead, buy the car, then spend thousands of dollars trying to fix the cluster.

I'm trying to learn no need to be so rude. I'm more than willing to listen to people, I'm just trying to understand why EVERYONE is against this car so much with such little evidence against it. Trust me, I look for every reason to not buy a car, but I want to make sure it's a valid reason before I pass up something that could have been a nice car.

I don't get why you're so quick to say that I'm not willing to listen. I feel like everyone was so quick to pass judgement on the car that they didn't even give it a change. Do you not feel that way?


Tell me this: if a PPI finds that the owner is not lying about the cluster, it idles perfectly at 7-800, and everything else is perfect as he says, would you buy the car?

[Danny]

Me, personally? No. Not for that price.

[Vivek]

Me, personally? No. Not for that price.

That's fair. He wants what he put into it which i feel is not gonna happen, but he's obviously not willing to negotiate much.

[RUFFLZ]

are you looking at this car for your dad or more geared towards your taste?..i think it's the latter
chances are your dad knows nothing about e30's and to pick out a car you want is a bit selfish.

sources: i remember being 15/16 looking for what i thought my dad may like which in reality really ended up being what i wanted.

[Vivek]

are you looking at this car for your dad or more geared towards your taste?
chances are your dad knows nothing about e30's and to pick out a car you want is a bit selfish.

sources: i remember being 15/16 looking for what i thought my dad may like which in reality really ended up being what i wanted.

He had a '91 e30 wayyy back when so he knows/likes them. I do understand that he would rather have an e46 for the price of the one that Farbin posted.

[CrusherCurtis]

You do know he said that in a mocking way, right?

I was dead serious.

This guy is on this board:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1988-BMW-325is-classic-Meticulously-Maintained-Excellent-condition-must-see-/270857599605?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3f105efa75#ht_852wt_1165

This car was at $7500 with a few days left before the lister pulled the listing (I'm assuming he sold it locally):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649&item=300664531344&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT#ht_558wt_1165

However for an e30 to be worth $7k it has to have 1 or 2 owners, either has to be mint with low miles or mint with service records. No BS. I see new paint, I instantly assume that the old paint either look like shit because it was not well cared for/garaged or that it was in an accident. I wouldn't want to pay a lot for a car that had even an sub par paint job ($7k is a lot considering you can get a new car for $11k). Lets be honest e30s aren't the most practical daily drivers, so things like paint definitely matter, especially at that kind of price. If your pops is the type who doesn't give a shit about what his daily driver is buy a Honda Civic instead of an e30. FWD, 30 mpg and you can beat the shit of em all the way to 200k miles. If he's considering that kinda money for an e30 you can do a shit load better for $7k. Hell my car was $7k with 120k miles and service records and I have 1 of the 18 authentic 5 spd sterling mtII verts that the us received.

[Vivek]

I was dead serious.

This guy is on this board:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1988-BMW-325is-classic-Meticulously-Maintained-Excellent-condition-must-see-/270857599605?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3f105efa75#ht_852wt_1165

This car was at $7500 with a few days left before the lister pulled the listing (I'm assuming he sold it locally):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649&item=300664531344&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT#ht_558wt_1165

However for an e30 to be worth $7k it has to have 1 or 2 owners, either has to be mint with low miles or mint with service records. No BS. I see new paint, I instantly assume that the old paint either look like shit because it was not well cared for/garaged or that it was in an accident. I wouldn't want to pay a lot for a car that had even an sub par paint job ($7k is a lot considering you can get a new car for $11k). Lets be honest e30s aren't the most practical daily drivers, so things like paint definitely matter, especially at that kind of price. If your pops is the type who doesn't give a shit about what his daily driver is buy a Honda Civic instead of an e30. FWD, 30 mpg and you can beat the shit of em all the way to 200k miles. If he's considering that kinda money for an e30 you can do a shit load better for $7k. Hell my car was $7k with 120k miles and service records and I have 1 of the 18 authentic 5 spd sterling mtII verts that the us received.

Thank you for the best, most respectful advice in this thread. I showed him the brillantrot 318ic on here for 7k, but ultimately, he'd rather spend that kinda money on an e46. Something like http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/2859654016.html would be the best for him, I think.

[CrusherCurtis]

1 point to try to sell him on the e30 is that in the long run he's not going to loose money. The e46 is going to depreciate while the e30 is going to appreciate. I'm 100% convinced that if you buy an e30, you can drive it daily and in 5 years time sell it for more than what you paid for it. So long as its in at least the same condition.

[Vivek]

That's a valid point, but I don't think he'd lose much on the e46. if he buys an 8-9k e46, he could probably get 6-7 back in a few years. I'm not sure what he'd like more, because spending the same amount of money on an e30 will buy him a better condition car (mechanical and cosmetically) compared to an e46.

[e30trooper]

i have a vert forsale under 3k ??? needs some tlc
car in sig minus some parts

[Vivek]

Sorry...no bronzit :-(

[e30trooper]

Sorry...no bronzit :-(

No bronzit sir.

[Vivek]

No bronzit sir.

I'll ask him about it...but a 22 year old convertible DD isn't too practical for him. He needs at least something with a roof.

[e30trooper]

I'll ask him about it...but a 22 year old convertible DD isn't too practical for him. He needs at least something with a roof.

true , just thought id toss it out. Bake on it. Ill be posting a forsale ad soon.