What would you consider a major fault with the E30's

[Stanley Rockafella]

-Cracked Dash's (unless you live in Europe; they seem to survive there)

Come up here to the PNW, all the e30's I've ever seen all have uncracked dashes...esp those in the wrecking yards.

Heck, up here a crack free oem dash is usually the LAST thing pulled from a parts car, as nobody wants/needs one. As a result, they usually sell cheaper than elsewhere

[UlrichFennec]

The fact that when you take ownership of the car with the M20 motor, you have to do the Timing Belt/Water pump irrespective of what the PO says.

Well, that's just general preventative maintenance. Maybe I'm just anal, but I always try to get the most important things done to prevent a failure later on when I get a different car.

It's also a fun learning experience.

[E30 Wagen]

Battery box rust in late models. Steering rack. Sport seats self-destructing. Dash cracking.

But mostly the fact that many seem wind up in the hands of some retard who was too cheap to fix things the right way.

[agent]

the fact that many seem wind up in the hands of some retard who was too cheap to fix things the right way.

/thread

[Kershaw]

The use of steel for brake lines and fuel lines instead of an alloy.

The design of the "bitch tube" on the M20 engine that requires massive effort to change the 50 cent rubber O-rings on it.

Zip tie the spring compressed and its a piece of cake.

Here's an ix specific fault. Really short suspension travel in the front.

[slammin.e28]

But mostly the fact that many seem wind up in the hands of some retard who was too cheap to fix things the right way.

Like this??

[jan318]

But mostly the fact that many seem wind up in the hands of some retard who was too cheap to fix things the right way.

and the M42 ?:

[Vincent Brick]

Zip tie the spring compressed and its a piece of cake.

But you still have to pull the intake though, right?

[Bmwdayz]

Nope and i've never had a problem with the so called bitch tube. haha

But you still have to pull the intake though, right?

[Bmwdayz]

If you change all the shifter parts including the piece on the trans that the selector rod connects to e30 shifters are pretty tight.

I'd say the most annoying is the crappy coolant systems they came up with and The timing belt on the M20.

[Kevinl]

I don't really recall any 80's cars having cupholders

Shifter is fine for me actually feels easier than my e90's shifter

steering rack is a joke although it still has more feel that any american or japanese car

I wish the seats went back further

My E30 has zero rust maybe its where you live not the cars fault

[whitebulat22]

The fact that when you take ownership of the car with the M20 motor, you have to do the Timing Belt/Water pump irrespective of what the PO says.

POs are the worst part. One of mine attempted to wire a sound system in, and when I put a head unit in to try it out I found that the headlights turn it all off.

[AntiScope]

POs are the worst part. One of mine attempted to wire a sound system in, and when I put a head unit in to try it out I found that the headlights turn it all off.

Ahaha the same thing happened to me with my first touring. Such a frustrating experience!

[varg]

and the M42 ?:

The M42 has more design and build flaws than the rest of the car around it.
-Oil pan bolts that weren't threadlocked from the factory
-Critical oil passage runs through the oil pan and when said bolts loosen can cause oil starvation
-Insufficient half-shell thrust bearing causes crank walk
-Timing chain idler gear is a common point of failure and the casting that it is mounted to is weak
-Profile gasket fiasco could have been avoided altogether by using a different cooling passage design between head and block
-Valve cover fastener design sucks, should've used bigger studs instead of weak little M6 threads in aluminum
-The under-intake hose mess
-3 piece Timing case design is very leak prone
-7mm exhaust studs

[ST1G]

Did you switch your power source to the headlight switch from k30(Hot at all times) to k15(Hot in acc., run and start)?

Both my e30s do this. I don't think they have been modified.