To 30 or not to 30...

[Iamalexnotyou]

Respectful thank you's.

[BobombETA]

I drove an e30 and then an e28 while I was in college. I had a weekly commute of ~400 miles and they were great cars. They were both eta's so my fuel mileage was exceptional, and they had all the modern amenities I would want wrapped up in a classic design.

Stay on top of maintenance and get a AAA membership. You can find a pretty nice e30 for $5500.

[Ether-D]

Please don't buy a miata. That is all.

[oliver.r]

buy a early 2000s civic

[AdironRider]

Spend $2500-3000 on a Honda, save the rest for if/when you need it. After you graduate and get a job, go buy the E30 you really want.

This is probably what I should have done. Now that Im older owning an e30 is much more enjoyable when Im not pumping my entire summer jobs wages into my car.

Old cars and reliability are never going hand in hand. You come about as close as you can with an e30, but still, no one can realistically anticipate a part failure.

[e30jake]

Buy an early 318i. People practically give them away. I bought mine for $750. After the penny trick it ran fine for a year until I sold it. The m10 is simple and dirt cheap to maintain. It's basically an m30 with 2 less cylinders.

[nando]

a $2500 Honda is going to be a piece of shit. and likely broken into/stolen repeatedly.

[Iamalexnotyou]

I'm looking at the '87 325is DustyRoads bought a while back for under a grand and got running again. He's asked for $3,500.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=287299

[Vtec?lol]

E30's aren't as complicated as bicycles.
I would find the cleanest one you could. There's a few pristine e30's here on rev. You'l need to travel.

[E30 Wagen]

If $5500 is all the money that you have then I wouldn't be spending more than $2500 on any car. Draining your bank account on a car at your age is not a smart thing to do.

[E30beemer]

Worth every penny at 5k, find a good example and do it ;)

[rex]

To be fair, he said his budget for a car was 5500, not that 5500 was every dollar he had

[anabolice30]

For me $5500, could get a STELLAR e30. Of course some guys here have $12k or more spent on their rides. But with $5500 I'd get a clean 325e 5speed for daily use. Get a two door they hold value better. But 325i's also hold more value over the e's, so take that into consideration.

[E30 Wagen]

To be fair, he said his budget for a car was 5500, not that 5500 was every dollar he had

To be fair, I said if.