Looking to buy a project

[csp713]

Hi all,

I am somewhat new to the e30 world. I have owned one before. As it was my first car and I was 16 I was ignorant to what I was buying and only knew I had a cool e30 that was supposed to have a lot of available mods. However, after a couple months of owning it the tranny crapped out and I was stranded and forced to sell it. Now that I have had some time to look over my mistake, I realized a couple things:

1. I bought a pre-1987 (is this right year when it changed?) chrome bumpered e30 which had few upgrades available and looked bad.
2. I bought not just any 325 but the 325e which had the low-flow heads.

Now that I am a bit wiser about automobiles I am looking for a good, and first, project car. I am looking into buying an e30. I plan on getting the car in good working order (everything working and running smoothly) and then do a possible engine swap somewhere down the line in a few years.

My question is, which e30 should I look for? Mostly, what are all the differences between model years that I should take note of?

I don't want to buy the wrong car again. Thanks.

[grippymonkey]

http://www.e30info.com/pages/diff.htm

[absolutdog]

^^ nice site hadn't seen that

OP: you still want a 325e.... search 2.7 stroker
and it cheaper to buy a running project
are you close enough to buy this one:
It LOOKS clean

[Roysneon]

Buy anything that's rust free and has plastic bumpers, then buy a 24 valve engine. Always the right combo.

[Vivek]

http://www.e30info.com/pages/diff.htm

Best post so far. I even learned a couple little things. OP: just buy a 325i or is. A healthy m20 is a great engine with enough power to have a lot of fun. You have to remember that these cars will never be drag cars and don't think of it as one. But also remember that an m20 shouldn't feel slow. I test drove a few tired m20's with tons of miles (250-300k) and they just felt powerless. Not too sure what it was, but they were fucking SLOW.

But I'd just buy that m30 swapped one. Looks like an awesome car for the price.