opinions welcom: best year of the e30?

[Lenwood]

whats the best year e30? late model or early?

[stonea]

This is VERY opinion based and has been discussed many times on here. Personally I think both early and late models have their advantages and disadvantages styling wise.

[ELVA164]

I vote '87. Better stock ECU, more functional bumpers, better looking iS body kit, nicer rear, chrome trim, no airbag... that's all I've got off the top of my head.

[djjerme]

That's splitting hairs.

I mean if you started filtering down the specific years and model's, eventually you could probably come up with a year, but why?

An E30 is an E30. It doesn't matter what it came with, they are at that point now where it's a blank slate, and you can do anything with them..

[ClayW]

1991

I've always been a fan of the latest year of a run. The manufacturer usually figured everything out by then, so the wiring harness, tune, and body are all in the best possible form. This is true for the E30: best wiring, had leather comfort seats, and made the most stock horsepower in the run, save for the M3.

Also, I like the smaller bumpers. the big ones are functional, but they're usually so low that even small SUVs miss them entirely.

[Danny]

Your mom

[5Toes]

best year... well lets look at this a little bit

1984 - 318i m10 and 325e... haven't seen many 1984 cars that are "fully loaded". many m10 cars are base model with manual locks and windows, I really like driving them, definitely the easiest e30 to drive IMO. The first year cars have small differences like grooved door handles, etc.
1985 - same story
1986 - debut of 325es. Many eta cars this year are top optioned with rear headrests, 13 button OBC etc.
1987 - first m20b25 cars, only year of m20b25 with early model chassis. These are cool cars and many people love their 87 325i
1988 - Inbetween year and last iteration of the "eta" engine. First year for convertible and 325ix IIRC. These cars feature late model chassis with diving board bumpers and ellipsoid headlights. Pretty neat cars, but I am biased because of my 88 325is. Pretty much everything on these is late model: things that come to mind include the cooling system, tail lights, etc.
1989 - only year of plastic bumper with ellipsoids standard. No airbag steering wheels typically and just a great year for e30s. m20b25 was only available in the US this year.
1990 - back to ellipsoids and airbag wheel standard. still only m20b25 cars. Some m42 cars were sold as 90's I believe. First year for plastic bumper convertible
1991 - m42 318 cars and m20b25 cars available. Great year for e30s because the m42 is just a sweet spot for the chassis
1992 - mostly convertibles m42 and m20
1993 - same

M3 was imported from 12/86 (1987 model) to 12/90 (1991 model)

you be the judge. I like '88 as a whole because the e28 was still around as well as the e24 and the ///M car lineup for 1988 features all three. Im no expert but if anything I said here is wrong please correct me.

[ST1G]

Your mom

Over 13,000 your mom posts are hidden throughout r3v.

[Kershaw]

It's either 88 or 89. 88 was definitely the best year for IXs though. Full disclosure, my ix is an 88. But that's the only year they all came fully loaded.

[stonea]

It's either 88 or 89. 88 was definitely the best year for IXs though. Full disclosure, my ix is an 88. But that's the only year they all came fully loaded.

I find it ironic that the only two things missing from the 88 ix are heated seats and ski pass seats. Probably the two things that should have come standard on the ix. I don't know if those were options for the e30 in 1988 though.

[ST1G]

I find it ironic that the only two things missing from the 88 ix are heated seats and ski pass seats. Probably the two things that should have come standard on the ix. I don't know if those were options for the e30 in 1988 though.

I commend you for your proper use of irony.

[88BlackS-ETA]

1988 - 2.7l engine and the diving boards that arent sticking out to far like early models.

[c0rbin9]

It doesn't matter what it came with, they are at that point now where it's a blank slate, and you can do anything with them..

They are at the point now where you can't find nice ones because everyone looks at them as blank slates.

[ELVA164]

The 153 ECU makes more usable power and gets significantly better mileage than the later ECUs. You can only use it on '87s. QED.

[Das Delfin]

I think a better way to look at it would which car was the best in any given year. Like this:

84/85 - 318i, lightest production car, good for swapping the suspension and motor
'86 - 325es
'87 - 325i or 325i convertible
'88 - SETA
'89 - 325i (first year of plastic bumpers)
'91 - 325i convertible (plastic bumpers)

As far as '90 and '91.. are they that much different? When did the M42 come out? I think the 318is was only for one year in 1991. Someone who knows more about late models could chime in. I have an early so I never bothered to look into it..!