E30 Math - 25 months of ownership

[estoguy]

45 month update:

Well, I'm just a few months shy of 4 years of E30 ownership.

Including the cost of the car ($2000), I've spent $30,344.11 and I have driven just over 226,669 km. I'm just over 1000 km from equaling to distance driven by the previous owners - took them 27 years... I've driven this distance in under 4!!! ;D I'm averaging over 60K km per year.

Updated numbers:

6% was cost of the car (-4%)
61.9% of my expenses has been fuel ($18,595.88 - +5.9%)
34% has been servicing, repairs and expenses. This figure includes regular maintenance, repairs, insurance, and licensing fees. (11,748.23 - +4%)

Gas on average has cost me $413/month. My average fuel economy has been 7.795L/100 km (30.17/36.23 MPG US/UK). I didn't post those numbers last time, but they have stayed pretty constant all along. For reference my lowest number has been 6.298L/100 km (37.35/44.85 MPG US/UK) and highest was 9.878L/100 km (23.81/28.60 MPG US/UK).

If I tally the cost of the car, and servicing/expenses, I come out to $305.51/month or just under $68/week. From my last numbers this has been a drop of 15%. One of the drops in expenses has been insurance. I started at over $85 per month (liability only, no comp or collision) and am now at just over $61. (over 25% reduction from time of purchase)

Total cost of ownership per day is $23.13 and per km $0.142.

Since my initial post, my largest expense in servicing was my front suspension (strut inserts, mounts, control arms/ball joints, tie rods) and full brake refresh (remanufactured calipers, pads, rotors, soft lines, brake fluid). This was last November at a cost of about $1200 (labour was DIY). I've been averaging a timing belt job every 18 months.

[ST1G]

Microsoft Excel

gold

[AndrewBird]

How much is gas in Canada?

[estoguy]

Over the last 4 years, the average price has been $1.066 per liter (about $4.03 gallon CDN). That would be about $3/gallon with exchange (based that on 0.75). I just looked at prices in Buffalo, which were around 2.229/gallon. With 25% exchange, it's $2.78/gallon in Canadian funds.

We seriously get screwed up here on gas. A lot of that is taxes, plus we have almost no Canadian refineries anymore.

[Clark]

lol I bought my car like a month ago and am approaching 20k. However I spent 12,500 just on the car so.... Stepped up 16" BBS RS sort springs, koni adjustable, nardi steering wheel, cocomats, euro plate filler, timing belt water pump, almost every hose etc etc... hardly even driven it. but I'm all about my expenses up front so i can then enjoy it.

[dnguyen1963]

Wow, what the hell are you guys doing to your cars? Beside gas and insurance, I spent only $150 for my car last year. But then again, I don't drive much (7k a year) and keep everything stock.

[estoguy]

I drive it every day! LOL Look at my numbers... I drive over 35,000 miles per year. This past fall was a big expense time, because some of those things hadn't been done before or since I took ownership. When I did the brakes last year, that was the first time since I bought the car. I was still riding on the ORIGINAL strut inserts, ball joints and CABs. A timing belt job in parts up here in Canada runs $250-300 average depending on parts needed. I've done 3 already. I don't have any modifications, really, except for my exhaust (no resonator and have a Thrush glasspack). Most of the work I do is maintenance.

My car had only seen 3 season driving (spring-fall) over it's first 27 years, so it didn't see the elements quite the same way as most cars.

[Stanley Rockafella]

Holy smokes OP, that's some crazy mileage! I couldn't imagine doing that much driving in a car that old!

How many kms are on the car in total? Have you driven any other cars prior to the e30 that you drove this much?

Considering your in a part of Canada that gets "real winter", I can imagine the winters are pretty harsh on the old gal.

Anyway, keep up the good work!

[estoguy]

I forgot that part... the car had just over 227K km when I got it, and I'm over 454K km now.

I love driving her every day and she takes it like a champ. My buddy's (the PO) owned a a few E30s and they all went high mileage.

She's only seen all year driving the past 4 years - previous it had been garaged in the winter. I get her rust proofed every year and she'd seen some of that prior to my ownership. Actually, overall, the body and such are in pretty good shape. I got some paint and minor body things to do before winter sets in.

[bangn]

its interesting this as most E30 owners just put fuel in them and drive them and cover them with ebay stickers.

I'm probably hovering in the mid 20s at the moment on one of them but cant really count that on a resto.

in comparison to jap cars ive had in the past E30s are way cheaper to buy parts for and way easier. But you start off with a couple of small things and things get out of control ;)

[Stanley Rockafella]

any pics?

[dnguyen1963]

Yeah, if you go down the resto route then you should not keep track of the cost. $20k is nothing. A local restoration shop quoted me $2K just to do the convertible top (I did the top myself for $300).

[estoguy]

I took that pic last fall, a little HDR action in the fall.

I wouldn't call it a restoration... it was in driveable shape when I bought it. Other than routine maintenance (oil, air filters, plugs), I didn't do anything major to her until about 7 months in when I did my first timing belt and water pump.

I do have some small body issues I really need to look after though. Was a little preoccupied and busy in since the spring.

[bangn]

Yeah, if you go down the resto route then you should not keep track of the cost. $20k is nothing. A local restoration shop quoted me $2K just to do the convertible top (I did the top myself for $300).

Id hate to think where I would be if I paid someone to do the work.. probably 50plus and I haven't even finished

[Stanley Rockafella]

Looking good OP!

what color is that? the simplicity and clean lines remind me of my 86 325es. It was missing the cowcatcher spoiler (so it looked like your front end with the Bosch Pilot driving light covers).

These cars are high mileage monsters!