Be realistic: What IS a car that is a good replacement for a E30?

[Exodus_2pt0]

On that note, one can snag a great condition stock B5S4 for a little more than some of you are paying for E30's nowadays!

[Todd Black 88]

I have a 135 msport cab, and if I were going to replace my e30 I would seriously consider a 135 coupe/stick. It's a fun car.
If I could swing the cash, a 1M in that orange/red colour.

[lukeADE335i]

2 series for me down the track I think, once the e30 has run it's course - which will probably be in another 5 years or so... I'll pick up a 5 year old one.

[Vincent Brick]

I'm hoping to replace my E30 with an S2000 in a couple years if I can come up with the money and a place with a garage. E46s are getting affordable now, but I'm not sure if I want a car that complex and large, not sure I want to continue owning German.

[rturbo 930]

If anything happens to my E30, a Miata or an S2000 is likely what will replace it. An S2000 is the only 'new' car that I really want, and it would be really nice to be able to buy a car and just drive it for once.

[whitebulat22]

Now that I've thought about it, many cars check most of the boxes but none check all. Except the e36 compact, but who wants to admit that one.

The svt focus is a nice little low cost secret. Handling, good engine, 6 speed getrag.

The Fox horse is the e30 of mustangs. Next gen is the low priced e36, then the svt cobra is the coveted e46 csl, the fat one after that is the e90 stang. They all line up nicely.

The two 240s are definitely the closest things to e30s ever made. Just the stereotypical cultures are all completely alien to one another.

[TimKninja]

You should try one, best 8K I have ever spent.

Hard to work on maintenance whores blah blah blah.

We are all hear because of the love of machines. How can you hate on a Twin Turbo v6 that is capable of 500AWHP on stock internals, with a 6 speed bulletproof transmission and AWD? If you say that without the Audi emblem 90% of you fuckers would be watering at the mouth.

And for the record, I have put 30k on mine since October and while it hasn't been without some issues, it has reliably gotten me to work each and every day.

And no, I ain't mad. I'll purchase a Candlelit massage by none other than Slammin' himself for each of you fuckers if you keep me around with my blaspheming mouth.

EEEEETA, I'll even throw in a happy motherfucking ending.


I'm going to whore this car until I get 3 R3V'rs to buy one.

No . Don't buy one of these .

Great great car in theory . Bullet proof engine , bullet proof Trans , fast as fuck . But it ends There . A B5 S4 will completely fucking drain your wallet all of the time . All of the time . It's been rumored Audi put a $100 bill slot on the dashboard that just takes your hard earned money and burns it .

-11286 front Control arms
-Rear wheel bearings every 20k
-aux water pump . Fucking terrible
-EGT Sensors ($500 a peice)
- turbos will eventually go. Drop the engine cradle to replace them
-etc Etc


NOT. A good replacement for the e30, something you'd need to consistently be working on and dumping money into all of the time . You'd end up driving the e30 more . You could buy a set of coilOvers for your e30 for the cost of the EGT sensors on your Audi . What sounds better ?

I don't give a crap what emblem is on the front of the car . It depends on what the car actually is on the inside .

[Exodus_2pt0]

Have you owned one?

Because yes I work on mine a decent bit, but it is still light years ahead of my e30. Also, I put over 100 miles on mine every day. Still in love.

[TimKninja]

Have you owned one?

Because yes I work on mine a decent bit, but it is still light years ahead of my e30. Also, I put over 100 miles on mine every day. Still in love.

No but I work at an Audi/BMW performance shop. And i work on them oftenly.

Would rather have an E30. I can see the appeal to B5 S4s I understand it. But you need alot of money to maintain them. MUCH MUCH more costly then an E30 to maintain. Hence not a good replacement.

I barely have to work on my S50 swapped e30 at all and I drive it 100 miles a day as well.

[varg]

Seems like either I misinterpreted the question being asked in this thread or a lot of you are. I have no idea how anyone considers an expensive, maintenance intensive, high performance AWD car an "E30 replacement." When I read the question I thought of comparable cars, not cars that are so different it's insane to compare them.

[Exodus_2pt0]

I talked my brother out of dropping $6500 on an m20 e30. He ended up spending that money on a 4 door e36 m3 manual.

If people are dropping 6k on clean e30's, than a b5s4 is a suitable replacement.

Disclaimer: Everything I have said in this thread is assuming the person is mechanically inclined. If not a DIY'er, ignore me. Also I have to admit, if I were broke as fuck this car would be sitting. Truth be told though, I manage a single income household with a child and another on the way on a 5 figure income, and manage to keep the car on the road.

The reward these things give much outweighs the negatives.


Also, if anyone in my area wants to test drive one before switching, hit me up.

[TimKninja]

I talked my brother out of dropping $6500 on an m20 e30. He ended up spending that money on a 4 door e36 m3 manual.

If people are dropping 6k on clean e30's, than a b5s4 is a suitable replacement.

Yea the E36 M3 is a good car to replace an E30 with . He probably made a good choice there.

But a $6,000 S4 is gonna cost you alot more in the long run then a $6000 E30. Its a way different animal. Your gonna be sinking a fuck ton lot more money into a $6000 S4 then a $6000 E30.

[Exodus_2pt0]

You do have me there. He hasn't had to do anything to his BMW.

[varg]

I talked my brother out of dropping $6500 on an m20 e30. He ended up spending that money on a 4 door e36 m3 manual.

If people are dropping 6k on clean e30's, than a b5s4 is a suitable replacement.

Like I said, maybe I misinterpreted the question, but I was thinking comparable cars, and E30 to B5 S4 is like NC Miata to FD.

[King Mufasa]

I only drive BMW's or Toyota's and I'm FIRM ON THIS!!!

I'd buy a matrix fun reliable cars and you can buy it in awd or a trd supercharged!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrgaSdUN0lo

second choice is a Celica early 90's with GT4 looks and you can can find them AWD too!!