OK, so I've found an E30 325i that's got all the bells and whistles I'm looking for. It's a drop-top. It's that sexy charcoal color. It's got under 100k miles (holy cow!). It's got thorough maintenance receipts. It has LSD. It's unmolested.
The catch? It's an automatic (DOH!)
Now, I'm hoping to autocross this car at some point, but it's mainly going to be a daily driver. The asking price is reasonable ($3250, but flexible I think), and of course a mechanic will check it out for me to make sure it's the real deal before I make an offer. How much of a PITA is it to swap in a manual transmission somewhere down the road? And is an automatic transmission just going to kill my acceleration (I don't know if it's the 4.10 rear end or not)?
I'm beginning to realize it's *very* difficult to find an E30 as clean as I'm looking for, and I'm thinking I might be willing to settle for an automatic if it's got everything else. Assuming (fingers crossed) I find a wrecked E30 with a good transmission/driveline, would it be worth swapping them out, or am I asking for a world of hurt?
Should I hold off on buying this car, and hope a 5-speed comes along?
The catch? It's an automatic (DOH!)
Now, I'm hoping to autocross this car at some point, but it's mainly going to be a daily driver. The asking price is reasonable ($3250, but flexible I think), and of course a mechanic will check it out for me to make sure it's the real deal before I make an offer. How much of a PITA is it to swap in a manual transmission somewhere down the road? And is an automatic transmission just going to kill my acceleration (I don't know if it's the 4.10 rear end or not)?
I'm beginning to realize it's *very* difficult to find an E30 as clean as I'm looking for, and I'm thinking I might be willing to settle for an automatic if it's got everything else. Assuming (fingers crossed) I find a wrecked E30 with a good transmission/driveline, would it be worth swapping them out, or am I asking for a world of hurt?
Should I hold off on buying this car, and hope a 5-speed comes along?
Comment