My E30 was on Jalopnik

[kingston]

The author is a local photographer and aspiring writer, Andrew Fails. I felt like he captured the spirit of my car pretty darn well! He submited it to RightFootDown.com and oppositelock.com, and it ended up being on the front page of Jalopnik for a day :D

I had mentioned this on my build thread, but I think 3 people still occasionally look at that, LOL!

Anyway...
oppositelock.kinja.com/my-torrid-affair-with-a-bmw-e30-track-car-1730953311

[Nesset]

Hmm... Four doors for more... whores. On the track! I like it... Heh

Gorgeous car.

[agent]

A friend linked me to the story on RightFootDown since he saw it was an E30... last week? Maybe the week before? Anyway, it was a good read - congrats on the write up!

[kickinindian]

i was waiting for this to pop up when i read that, nice to see some e30 jalop love.

[Cephas]

A friend linked me to the story on RightFootDown since he saw it was an E30... last week? Maybe the week before? Anyway, it was a good read - congrats on the write up!

Same here. Congratulations!

[e30onBBSs]

nice! That was fun to read while taking a shit at work

[kickinindian]

nice! That was fun to read while taking a shit at work

i guess jalopnik hit their intended audience!

[kway]

Please, tell me more about the springs on the shifter linkage...

[nando]

cool story.

I like the line

It has one purpose: be as hilariously, irresponsibly as fun as possible. Not the fastest. Not the best cornering. Not even the loudest. Just the most fun.

Last year I got an E90 330i to daily drive. It's a really nice car - I enjoy driving it. I didn't touch the E30 for a year. It just sat in the garage, I didn't even work on it. I considered selling it a few times, I thought I was enjoying the E90 just as much (it was "new").

I spent some time tuning the E90, took it to the dyno, considered headers and an LSD. I enjoyed the heated seats and comfort access, the fuel economy and lack of rattles & smells. Having A/C was pretty nice in our record summer temperatures this year. I'm a fan of the N52 - but maybe not in a car the size of an E39.

Then, this summer I fired up the E30 and drove it to work every day the sun was out. Basically, it ruined the E90 for me. I don't think it's quite as fast (certainly not the top end). The steering feel is definitely worse, and the turn ratio is like driving a bus. It leaks oil, there are funny smells, and my seats are (still!) in awful shape. I averaged 15mpg.

But it begs you to attack every corner, to pull out from every stop sign at 10/10ths. You can bury the throttle and shift 3 gears without breaking the speed limit. The engine is loud, responsive, and mechanical sounding (TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK). Everywhere you go people stare at it. It doesn't slap you in the face if you get a little squirmy and cut the throttle to 50%. oh, and it has LSD, stock..

All thoughts of doing any mods to the E90 have faded. It'll stay stock. I still like the car - I just don't really care about it much. It's not special, I see 10-15 of them every time I drive, and it just doesn't beg to be driven in the same way as the E30 does. If it were a 335i, I'd feel the same way. Actually, I don't think it even needs more power, at all - the chassis is just too much of a "land barge" IMO. With the DSC & lack of limited slip, let's say that cornering while at full throttle can be unsettling, another 50hp wouldn't help that at all. All it would do is get you to "take me to jail" speeds half a second quicker. the 335i would be a great straight line "I can beat your civic yo!" with an automatic and AWD. ZZZzzzzzzzz...

the newer cars are what I take my wife to dinner in because she has a bad back and I don't like driving over speed bumps. the E30 is what I drive if I want to put a smile on my face..

[ahrensNW]

Please, tell me more about the springs on the shifter linkage...

I laughed. I was wondering the same thing.

[kingston]

Please, tell me more about the springs on the shifter linkage...

I think the author got a little confused by 2 things. I mentioned that I had done the shift detents on the ZF, and the car runs a solid mount shifter, similar to an AKG part, that does away with the shifter carrier arm and other things that cause slack in the shifter, and that it runs a DSSR.

That minor technical oops aside, I honk Andrew did a really nice job capturing the spirit of the car!

[glucklich21]

I was on jalopnik a while back too. :)

http://jalopnik.com/the-ten-most-hellish-automotive-repairs-youve-ever-atte-1728396569

[kingston]

I was on jalopnik a while back too. :)

http://jalopnik.com/the-ten-most-hel...tte-1728396569

Hah! I remember that one! The interior on your car is TITS!!

[glucklich21]

Danke!

[Nesset]

cool story.

I like the line


Last year I got an E90 330i to daily drive. It's a really nice car - I enjoy driving it. I didn't touch the E30 for a year. It just sat in the garage, I didn't even work on it. I considered selling it a few times, I thought I was enjoying the E90 just as much (it was "new").

I spent some time tuning the E90, took it to the dyno, considered headers and an LSD. I enjoyed the heated seats and comfort access, the fuel economy and lack of rattles & smells. Having A/C was pretty nice in our record summer temperatures this year. I'm a fan of the N52 - but maybe not in a car the size of an E39.

Then, this summer I fired up the E30 and drove it to work every day the sun was out. Basically, it ruined the E90 for me. I don't think it's quite as fast (certainly not the top end). The steering feel is definitely worse, and the turn ratio is like driving a bus. It leaks oil, there are funny smells, and my seats are (still!) in awful shape. I averaged 15mpg.

But it begs you to attack every corner, to pull out from every stop sign at 10/10ths. You can bury the throttle and shift 3 gears without breaking the speed limit. The engine is loud, responsive, and mechanical sounding (TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK). Everywhere you go people stare at it. It doesn't slap you in the face if you get a little squirmy and cut the throttle to 50%. oh, and it has LSD, stock..

All thoughts of doing any mods to the E90 have faded. It'll stay stock. I still like the car - I just don't really care about it much. It's not special, I see 10-15 of them every time I drive, and it just doesn't beg to be driven in the same way as the E30 does. If it were a 335i, I'd feel the same way. Actually, I don't think it even needs more power, at all - the chassis is just too much of a "land barge" IMO. With the DSC & lack of limited slip, let's say that cornering while at full throttle can be unsettling, another 50hp wouldn't help that at all. All it would do is get you to "take me to jail" speeds half a second quicker. the 335i would be a great straight line "I can beat your civic yo!" with an automatic and AWD. ZZZzzzzzzzz...

the newer cars are what I take my wife to dinner in because she has a bad back and I don't like driving over speed bumps. the E30 is what I drive if I want to put a smile on my face..

I spent about a month and a half dailying a 328i sedan. (E9x) Got back to Washington and sat in my 2002 thinking... Oh god, this is all wrong. Everything felt so odd, out of place. After driving it once down the backroads balls out to clear it's throat a little. I remembered why I love the thing so much. It's not as much of a car as the E90, but dear god it's enjoyable. Granted, my car needs a tune up bad, has an exhaust leak and stinks like gas. But the smell, road feel and driving experience is what makes it such a good car. It begs to be driven hard. It wants to be thrown into corners like a bat out of hell and it has no problem tapping the redline every once in a blue moon. If I had the means, I would keep that car with me to the grave. It's such a delight to have some perspective on what other people are missing out on in life. If you ask me, my generation is going to be the last generation where true driving is possible on a budget. Sooner than later classic cars are going to be unattainable. The good ones that is.. And if you ask me, knowing my kids won't know what it was like to really get out and drive. Is a crying shame. They won't relate to the stories I have of going sideways around roundabouts with my girlfriend at 2am because I felt like having a little fun. Hell, eventually no one will. The very car makers we praise to this day are the ones that will be ruining the automotive industry for future generations to come. I really do hope eventually car makers hit a point when they look back, and see all the great cars from the past and realize...