eurospec e30s aren't worth it.

[AndrewBird]

Just do what I did and buy a car that was imported to the US when it was new. ;-)

[Wega]

Thanks for the support guys!
To clarify some points:
- I'm mostly referring to german/dutch/french/english/belgian e30s that make their way to the united states.

One thing I forgot to add, many of these countries have special consideration for cars older than 25 years old (less road tax, less frequent inspection, etc) so, the nice ones are more valuable there too.

On the german to other european country comment: It's no secret that germany has the largest portion of well optioned-out, biggest motor'd e30s in europe. This is very attractive to many people who will go hand pick their cars there. But, many people got scammed by german imports because of less than honorable importers over the years so just be careful :)


and yes that thread did spark this one, whoever i've been meaning to write this for a while.

And it's a fine warning for those in the US considering buying an import. I just really dont like to be compared to the Frenches

:-D

[Mr. Tasty]

I've never heard of this having to happen? why did the us make them put in a b27

Emissions, I don't know. That's the mystery. The import date was the same day as the m20b27 swap done by BMW. Maybe it wasn't forced by BMW, maybe the owner asked for it.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Although the prospect of owning a euro market car is cool, my buddy has a 323i. When it was imported from germany, the US had BMW swap in a m20b27. He has the documents of BMW swapping it in. Cars imported get so fucked up, they end up with a lot of mix-matched items.

I've never heard of this having to happen? why did the us make them put in a b27

[Mr. Tasty]

Although the prospect of owning a euro market car is cool, my buddy has a 323i. When it was imported from germany, the US had BMW swap in a m20b27. He has the documents of BMW swapping it in. Cars imported get so fucked up, they end up with a lot of mix-matched items.

[jhaurimn]

Good info. I'm not into euro cars for the sake that they are euro....I just love all the goodies you guys got that we didn't. Rear window shade, manual windows, power headlight adjustment, headlight washers, etc

[M-technik-3]

Amusing thread. Only a few e30's I would ever consider importing. Most stuff swaps over as we all know. E30's are dying off fast in Germany. I travel a lot and hardly ever see one on the road and when I do it's on a repair or temporary tag.

All e30 are suffering from drift/stance tax it seems.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Good Info there. My euro spec got brought to the states in 87 and lived in nor cal and Oregon for 75 percent of its life then it spent 12 years in Wyoming and now its with me. So all the rust mine picked up which is indeed a fuck ton was from the Wyoming winters. I wish I could find where my car was from in Europe.


Edit: Always wondered Do the European e30 guys drool over us spec e30's the same way we drool over euro spec e30's and do they even take the time to import them like we do?

[Julien]

Thanks for the support guys!
To clarify some points:
- I'm mostly referring to german/dutch/french/english/belgian e30s that make their way to the united states.

One thing I forgot to add, many of these countries have special consideration for cars older than 25 years old (less road tax, less frequent inspection, etc) so, the nice ones are more valuable there too.

On the german to other european country comment: It's no secret that germany has the largest portion of well optioned-out, biggest motor'd e30s in europe. This is very attractive to many people who will go hand pick their cars there. But, many people got scammed by german imports because of less than honorable importers over the years so just be careful :)


and yes that thread did spark this one, however i've been meaning to write this for a while.

[ELVA164]

To be fair, the OP did use the words "sometimes" and "probably" when referring to cars shipped from one European country to another. So he effectively agrees.

Great post, very informative. Rust spots are key to look for; they can really make the car "not worth it" if you're not inclined to fix it, or willing to pay someone else to do it properly.

While true, I found this comment hilarious when placed directly above a picture of your car. :)

[Der Ruffian]

Yes in Denmark most of the imports from Germany are really nice cars.
I have two imports, this Cirrusblau 318i with 147.000 km's behind it, 1(!) little rust spot that needs to be taken care of, and a flawless original paint.

It sits like this right now, while I'm in the process of making it a AC Schnitzer S3 spec car.


Then I have this Alpinweiss II 320i touring, with two little rustholes, it was checked by a mechanic, so it is as I say.
It is one of the nicest tourings I've seen in a while regarding rust.


Rear hath is imaculate, even under the plate filler.


So not all imports are exported from the motherland, because they're wrecked, rusted away or didn't pass TUV.
Some of them are imported, because they're in really good shape.

[BUDNUNTA]

I love the euro cars, I've had 2 now while living In australia.
For me the less options the better, rhd is so cool, euro bumpers, headlights, weird colour combos the US didn't get, In aus the cars are way less rusty but all the dashes are totally cracked. The cars cost the same here too
How much is it to import from Europe? It costs like 4k to ship from aus

It's all what you want but a true euro e30 will always be cool stateside

If I have to move back to the states I'll ship my little 318 home with me

[Liquidity]

Why do people want a european market car? Is it so they can bring it to a VW event with a "euro plate" on the front?

[Mr. Tasty]

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=334335

what sparked this thread.

[flyboyx]

interesting thread.