Is an E30 for me?

[InuFaye]

'Verts are for Englishmen when it decides to stop raining for a few minutes.

A gentleman does not motor about at night.

-Joseph Lucas

[slammin.e28]

Its never too cold for the top down.

Put on more clothes.

I drove in the winter with my top down....I think....wait....no I sold that turd before it got cold.

[slammin.e28]

'Verts are for Englishmen when it decides to stop raining for a few minutes.

[InuFaye]

Its never too cold for the top down.

Put on more clothes.

[Vivek]

Buy an e30 vert. Trust me they're awesome. How slanted is your driveway?

[Ricapar]

You want an e28.
E30s are childish.

You want an E36.

I do love the e28, but I really do want a convertible :)

And as much as I hate to say it, the E36 is my least favorite looking 3-Series design. Something about it just doesn't sit right for me.

Thanks for the positive responses so far though! Hoping to get a few more :)
Downside of all of it is that by the time I'm ready to buy one, it'll probably be getting close to winter, and a 'tad too cold to run around with the top down. But we'll see. 'vert prices will probably be cheaper around then.

[slammin.e28]

You want an E36.

E36s lead to worse things. Gateway BMW. Next thing you know you'll be driving an E60.

[InuFaye]

You want an E36.

[slammin.e28]

You want an e28.

E30s are childish.

[ohthejosh]

You wont regret it, if you were to buy one.

[InuFaye]

You can do most e30 stuff in your driveway.
Its fairly simple to work on.

Although late model verts are brining alot of money.

[Ricapar]

I'm the current proud owner of an '07 525xi (E60) that I use as my daily driver. Beautiful car, handles like a dream, etc etc - as you would expect a BMW to.

But I've gotten a bit of an itch to get myself a second car, and the E30 seems to have won me over. This was after considering older Porsche Boxsters and BMW Z3's/Z4's.

I'm quite capable of doing mechanical work (already have had to replace a few things on my E60, as well as doing work on many other cars). I've never done anything super-crazy though, like taking apart the engine, swapping trans, etc.

I've done a lot of reading here on R3V, e30tech, and a few others. I'd like to say that I have a good understanding of the work involved, but from experience, that's never true until you actually get your hands dirty.

My biggest problem right now is that I don't have a garage, and my driveway is slanted, making it a bit annoying to do regular work on. Anyone have experience with that situation?

And based on my reading, I've come up with this as my conditions for what I'm looking for...

• East coast, the closer to central NJ the better. Willing to travel a few hours though.
• No rust/good paint. I've seen plenty of examples of the work required to get rid of that stuff, and I'm not sure I have access to the resources for that kind of work.
• Convertible. I really want a convertible.
• Interior.. I'm fine with buying new seats, replacing/washing carpets, etc.
• Manual. Auto = bleh, no soul, etc. I don't feel like doing a swap either.
• Working engine. I'd like to be able to drive it home.
• Not red. Not black. Keeping one black car clean is enough work.

Of course, those are worst-case scenario. If seats are in nice condition, that is certainly not a problem :)




However... how realistic is all this?


Any E30 owners with similar stories situations?