Trololol Highly sought after 325E on CL!

[E30nub1]

Oh I'm....around.. lol had one.. a nice one at that..

but apparently my christmas present was a guardrail at 55mph ..:( i was quite frustrated especially since i was under the speed limit and it was raining..:(

but I'm back on the prowl i want another sedan for sure.. i miss my old e30 and it will be better than the old one..


ps ill be back in cali this summer hopefully....:shifty as long as my job pans out (which it should)

[iamsam]

ok i caved and sent an email with my regular email address. Hopefully he doesn't go to town with it.

"Hi, not sure if you know this or not but the "e" is not the sought after E30, as it has the much less powerful and lower revving engine out of most of the E30s. The 325i and 325is are much more sought after, in fact, the 325e is relatively shunned in the E30 world, along with the early 318i from '84-'85, as the 325i, 325is, and late model 318i and 318is are all more powerful than the 325e.

Just figured i'd give you a heads up, from one enthusiast to another."

Got a response:

"While it is less powerful horsepower wise and lower revving that is the point of the "e" model. It is the economy version of the 325 and thus reached peak torque output at much lower revs than its counterparts. This is what makes it a highly sought after model not because of the base hp output. The "e" is a much rarer trim to find let alone finding a sedan is good nick. You can find an "i" or an "is" anywhere and are not much more sought after at all. The 325e is not shunned in the E30 world and if it is, it is by people who do not realize its potential and focus solely on hp ratings vs similar models. The "e" is a daily driver car and is not meant to be an "i" or "is" by any means, they are different animals altogether. I do agree about the early 318s, I am not a fan of those but again not because of lack of power, but because I feel the M10 was a terrible engine. The M20 was a great engine and I enjoy the lower end torque and the 2.7 more than the 325i's higher hp and 2.5. I appreciate your opinion but I do not agree with your take on the 325e at all."


Honestly, I am not sure what to say at all, other than to ask him to please point me towards the plentiful and non-sought-after 325i/is cars, because there sure aren't any from where I am looking, maybe my view is blocked by the plethora of overpriced "e" sedans crowding craigslist...

[Fleksta]

"The 325e is not shunned in the E30 world and if it is, it is by people who do not realize its potential and focus solely on hp ratings vs similar models."

This I can actually agree with. In my experience, most of those who write off the "e" cars are those who have never driven one.

I'm not sure where he got the idea they are rare though. I couldn't find a single decent i/is when I was back in the market.

[fronton]

I believe a non bronzit 325e is in fact scarce.

[Wh33lhop]

No he's right, the eta is very sought after......... as a lemons car.

[iamsam]

I believe a non bronzit 325e is in fact scarce.

by what standards? Every E30 i find on CL is an eta, and few of them are bronzit. Maybe I'll try the DC CL.

[Varinn]

My old eta was hennarot, and if not for the absurd levels of rust I would have kept that car. Slow? yes. Fantastic daily commuter? yes.

[agent]

Bosch platinum +4 spark plugs in an M20, and an eta at that? We obviously have a lot to learn from these true enthusiasts.

[reelizmpro]

ETA's were never sought after. They were a good middle ground between the 318i and the more expensive 325i. This is why BMW did away with the 318i in 86 and created the ETA powered 325 base model to take it's place as the new entry level 3 series.

My first car was an ETA that I chipped, swapped the diff on, converted to 325i spec with 2.7 super ETA bottom end, etc, etc. I did this because I liked to go fast and in those days, the ETA's were much cheaper than the 325i's so it was justified modding one. These days the prices are damn near the same. It just doesn't make sense to buy one today unless you get it cheap for it's body and do an engine swap or something.

The ETA engine was built for efficiency, not performance and has marginally more torque in stock form. The 325i gets the same torque to the wheels via more RPM, HP and shorter final drive ratio. You can get more pep out of an ETA but it'll run out of breath and still come up short vs a 325i. A performance built ETA engine is just a 325i engine with longer stroke. Mind as well start with the better car.

[tonerrrr]

I DD mine and am glad it didn't sell... drive the chassis I love @ consistent 27+ MPG and 25+ if I have a full commute week racing Fiat 500's at red lights.

People who want "fast" should change their car choice, diff, turbo, or all of the above.

It's so funny how people act like the i engine is somehow night and day. Both cars are slow. The e30 M3 is SLOW. Please don't talk about "on the track blah blah blah" this isn't about the track, I'm talking about on the steet! All these cars are fun to drive and I love em all.

This argument is like saying the n64 without the expansion pack is crap and blah blah blah then saying the n64 with the pack is awesome, has super great graphics compared to the one without! At the end of the day they are both obsolete tech wise but you will have fun with both/most will cherish both for what they are.

[5ickride]

looks clean. I'd rock it.

[reelizmpro]

I DD mine and am glad it didn't sell... drive the chassis I love @ consistent 27+ MPG and 25+ if I have a full commute week racing Fiat 500's at red lights.

People who want "fast" should change their car choice, diff, turbo, or all of the above.

It's so funny how people act like the i engine is somehow night and day. Both cars are slow. The e30 M3 is SLOW. Please don't talk about "on the track blah blah blah" this isn't about the track, I'm talking about on the steet! All these cars are fun to drive and I love em all.

This argument is like saying the n64 without the expansion pack is crap and blah blah blah then saying the n64 with the pack is awesome, has super great graphics compared to the one without! At the end of the day they are both obsolete tech wise but you will have fun with both/most will cherish both for what they are.

Have you owned a 325e/325i/M3? Calling all of the cars "slow" does nothing for this thread. Compared to the stock ETA engine, the M20B25 practically is night and day. Better Motronic, better head/cam, dual valve springs, bigger intake/exhaust, dual exhaust, bigger throttle body, more fuel, etc. etc. This makes sense as the ETA engine was built for efficiency while the M20B25 was built for more performance. This is just fact.

Apparently, E30 M3 by your definition is slow. Remember, it was built for the track, not the street so how could it be "slow" with 192HP? It's slow if you drive it like a 325. The M3 is fast on the street, but you have to drive it like you are on the track. Are you talking about stop light racing?

[ZekeTheSneak]

Im sure the eta is great for the mileage but I bought my e30 to be driven fast. If I did have an eta it would be head swapped on the cheap!

[iamsam]

Trying to state something absolute using relative terms is meaningless.

Example 1: "The E30 M3 is slow" is meaningless. Slow compared to what?

Example 2: "The E30 M3 is slow compared to an E46 M3" makes perfect sense.

Therefore: "The eta is slow compared to an M20B25 powered E30" is a true and valid statement.

[ohthejosh]

i lub my eta but i hate it also. The dilemma of an ETA owner.