Non M3 e30's Finally Getting Some Respect

[Kershaw]

Bro, you are delusional if you think that is a thing. I'd rather have a 318 than a eta.

Damn straight shots fired.

Out of the 6 or 7 e30s I've had so far, my 87 325es was by far my favorite. Current ix is just too much damn trouble and it's cost me twice what all the others have cost combined.

The perfect time to buy an e36 m3 was 2 years ago. They are rapidly increasing in price nowadays. In 5 years a clean e36 m3 will be $20k.

edit: $25k e36 m3. hahaha. http://enthusiastauto.com/qsearch/?i...orm_display=51

[nando]

is it surprising that a bone stock modern barge is barely faster than an e30 with suspension mods and slick tyres and slighty modified engine? nope put street tyres it will get hosed, same as the e30m3 would but thats just how things have advanced over 25-30years. of course you can make a e30 fast but most importantly its fun

it has twice as much horsepower - even if you had a stock 325i and the same tires on both cars, the land barge BMW wouldn't be twice as fast.

[digger]

it has twice as much horsepower - even if you had a stock 325i and the same tires on both cars, the land barge BMW wouldn't be twice as fast.

you know it doesnt work that way. An F1 car would be lucky to be twice as fast with 4 x the power

[varg]

"Finally getting some respect" means "driving the prices up and making them more scarce because people are going to hoon and crash them." I'd rather they get no respect at all. More for me.

[downforce22]

"Finally getting some respect" means "driving the prices up and making them more scarce because people are going to hoon and crash them." I'd rather they get no respect at all. More for me.

if prices go up, they wont be crashed as much because the entry cost isnt as low as it was say 3-5 years ago

[Schnitzer318is]

if prices go up, they wont be crashed as much because the entry cost isnt as low as it was say 3-5 years ago

Agreed. I've had a bunch of younger guys wanting to buy my eta... but can only do payments or offer something ridiculous for it. We'll see fewer 18-22 year olds entering the community in the next few years I think.

[nando]

ultimately I don't think that's a good thing. Fresh blood is what has kept this community alive. A lot of the older guys moved on a long time ago, but they have been replaced by lots of new and productive members. Just look what happened to E30tech when registrations were effectively closed off indefinitely.

[Schnitzer318is]

ultimately I don't think that's a good thing. Fresh blood is what has kept this community alive. A lot of the older guys moved on a long time ago, but they have been replaced by lots of new and productive members. Just look what happened to E30tech when registrations were effectively closed off indefinitely.

Good or not, that's what I see happening... And it's not really surprising. I think it happens to most of the cars with this type of following. Eventually the cheap supply will run out, no matter how many were originally produced.

For better or worse, that's how it goes.

[Kershaw]

The r3v fb has a lot of activity, that's where the younger guys are, but the format is just not conducive to retaining a large amount of information. It's the mcdonalds of r3v. Fast food forums. Even guys my age (late 20s, early 30s) say they just use fb now. That kills the forums. No searching for answers.

[nando]

yeah but that's the blind leading the blind. I know a lot of guys that only post on facebook but there's not much substance to it.

If you do a google search on E30 related topics a r3v thread will almost always be near the top of the results. Unless something significant happens I don't see that changing.

[Kershaw]

but there's not much substance to it.

just like fast food. :)

[varg]

if prices go up, they wont be crashed as much because the entry cost isnt as low as it was say 3-5 years ago

Rising prices didn't stop the humongous attrition for Nissan 240s, it just meant the drift kiddies were a little wealthier instead of flat broke.

[downforce22]

Rising prices didn't stop the humongous attrition for Nissan 240s, it just meant the drift kiddies were a little wealthier instead of flat broke.

there were only about 240,000 s13s produced vs over 2,000,000 e30s... that's like 9 e30s to 1 s13

http://www.240sxforums.com/forums/off-topic-chat/124494-s13-production-numbers.html

I think it will be ok, this isnt m cars we are talking about here

[mr2peak]

The perfect time to buy an e36 m3 was 2 years ago. They are rapidly increasing in price nowadays. In 5 years a clean e36 m3 will be $20k.

I'm no too sure about that. They made 70,000+ E36 M3's, and they share many more parts with regular E36 cars to keep them going. It's not a bespoke chassis, and they didn't have the same level of factory racing that the E30 M3 enjoyed. Yes they are great cars, but they made too many of them for them to be $20k cars in 5 years.

[rwh11385]

I'm surprised there aren't more articles about the undervalued E36 M3 since one can pick one up for about the same price as a clean E30 318/325.

Yeah, there's been some. They have been on decline and thankfully high schoolers have moved onto 335s instead, so aren't ragged on as much (though you certainly see some in pitiful condition). Nice ones still go for $15k as they have for a while but higher mileage or rough can go for a song. They are filled with plastic and more complex and heavier, but I like the steering and better rear sususpension. I do miss the e30 feel around town at times tho, even the sewing machine charm of m20s. The newer cars with more power and better suspension can be faster (look at the newest M3) but might not get people passionate as much as the classics (look at air cooled 911s). Thankfully even the E30 tax hasn't gone that wild.

RE: Eta love.... etas do the job - we enjoy our LeMon, even when it was auto. Its torque out of corners does well, even if can't scream to the end of the straights. It being such a simple and robust chassis but still fun and good handling is why so many end up with racing cages