the search continues: pre 89 vs 89 and on

[silversleeper]

In my opinion, '89 is the best year for e30s. They had plastic bumpers, ellipsoid headlights, no airbag...

+1

Makes me feel special about my purchase of my 89 325i. That leaves me with only two major flaws now, 4 doors, and Bronzit paint. Ya can't win em all, can ya?

[bmwmike]

looking at two in the chicago area, good prices and i also dig the 89 the most. Only problem is they're 7 hours away.. The one plus is that mapquest tells me they're 30 minutes apart. I might go in the next day or two, we'll see?
heres the ads:

http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=192959063&dealer_id=39035538&car_year=1989&bkms=1134521338942&model=&lang=en&isp=y&start_year=1981&certified=&search_type=both&distance=300&make=BMW&min_price=1&sort_type=make_modelASC&address=55437&advanced=&end_year=1991&max_price=3500&cardist=300

http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=193695747&dealer_id=1151027&car_year=1989&bkms=1134521338942&model=&lang=en&isp=y&start_year=1981&certified=&search_type=both&distance=300&make=BMW&min_price=1&sort_type=make_modelASC&address=55437&advanced=&end_year=1991&max_price=3500&cardist=300#vdptop

carfax says the more expensive one has had few owners, sounds more promising. They're both at some kind of dealerships. Anyone in this area ever been to either dealership? Or close?

[Julien]

try contacting "blunt" on this forum, he lives in MN and usually has his hands pretty deep into the e30 community and whatnot.



Julien

[bmwmike]

well looks like ill be going to chicago, ill let you guys know what happens..

[CleanAzzE30z]

I personally think that it is better to spend the premium and get the car you want, than it is to never be really satisfied every time that you look at your ride. Just my 2 cents.....

Listen to this man. Peace of mind is worth so much more when you know your car is in tits condition. After youve paid for it, you forget how much it was and relish in the fact that its a well-sorted example. The pain of payment is once. But the peace of mind lasts for the time you own the car.

[uofom3]

'89 is the best year - hands down.

You get the plastic bumpers, elipsoid headlights, no airbag.

-Charlie

exactly. It seems to hold true for the m3 as well - 7/89 m3's (sold as 90 model year) got the evo airbox, fixed rear windows, and no airbag...

[bmwmike]

in chicago as we speak and the proud new owner of a white E30. (its the more expensive one of the two listed). My only complaint so far is that the interior is a very boring cloth, but that can be easily changed. Well it also has slight bubbling rust in a small spot or two, but im not that concerned about it as it seems solid otherwise. So far runs very well. One thing is the temp gauge seems to twitch at times (maybe over bumps). Is that normal? Wish me luck on my trip home to MN tomorrow. Ill post pictures then.

[bmwmike]

for the first part, the temp needle would twitch. I pulled up at a toll booth and suddenly it twitched its way into the red. After I gave the lady the money for the toll I pulled forward and was about to pull over when the gauge moved back to normal? It never acted weird again or twitched the rest of the trip. I dont know if maybe air in the lines could have caused this? But anyway I made it back fine. The car was from a place called Sound Performance near chicago. They had some pretty amazing cars. A few supras and other high end japanese cars. They also told me they made the worlds fastest sc300 (ran like mid 9's in the 1/4). Anyway they were cool guys and gave me the car very cheap. Finally I have the e30 home! That spot is where i got a ticket for parking, look at the signs and explain that to me?

[erik325i]

congrats! looks clean

-Erik

[Marvin_Hecht]

Congrats - your new white 89 looks really nice. Glad you went with the "i" and non-eta car--you won't regret it. And white is a classic color and the best color for older cars --apparently white can hide many bodywork flaws.

Now that I am deeply familiar with E30's, I don't like my diving board bumpers and eta engine (naivity is bliss--and hey in 1986 when we bought the car the eta was the only 6-cyl available). A chip makes the engine acceptable.

Silversleeper--I am not really a Bronzit fan but a really clean Bronzit is nothing to be upset about. My neighbour has an e30 bronzit convertible and it looks fine. And my new Honda minivan is Bronzit, err "Sand Beige" --whatever its ok. Even Porsche Cayenne's are Bronzit colored very often these days--hey its a color thats coming back in the 2000's.

I have both a (non-running) 2-door and a 4-door and I do think that the 4-door E30 looks more "balanced" than the 2-door, and I remember some car magazines commenting on this two once. Relative to the 4-door, the 2-door's doors look just a shade to long. This is my own opinion and despite that I might by selling my 4-door and picking up a 2-door because I no longer need 4 doors with the minivan.

[bmwmike]

Im surprised by the midrange power of the little 2.5. And actually it moves pretty good to 60 with the stock 170 hp. I cant wait for 400..

[Marvin_Hecht]

I believe it is actually a 2.7 L engine, at least the eta (mine) is. Not sure why they called it a 325. The eta has lots of power / torque at the very low end so you drive around town feeling like you have lots of power, but it kind of lies to you because on the highway you step on it and ..wait. The "i" engine which you have is slightly less torque at the low end but comes to life on the highway really nicely and/or if you rev the crap out of it in the city...

[ColdAccord]

If I were to buy another e30, (which i wont, besides an m3) I would buy an early model

early model with painted euro bumpers is so hot to me,a nd I love the higher arches. get valances and skirts, and it looks hottt