Bring a Trailer Auctions, E30 edition

[IronJoe]

Dear Mr Guibo,

Thank you for your email.

Unfortunately it's not very much we have in our archives about the US BMW 318is. The only differences between the 318i US and the 318is US were in the Spoilers and some different upholstery for the "is". Therefore both types used the same number range and we cannot find out how many were "i" and how many "is". The total production numbers for the BMW 318i/is US models are:

Four door sedan: 6.730 from May 1990 until May 1991

Two door sedan: 9.779 from December 1989 until May 1991

We hope this is helpful for you.

Yours sincerely,
BMW Mobile Tradition
Group Archives

Hyper inflation. Sure, they are low in production, but not exactly "special."

Agree 100%. Reading between the lines here, BMW never really considered these cars to be anything special or different (other than spoilers and interior). It's not like there was a "iS" package created like ZHP, ZCP, etc.

Considering this, save yourselves thousands of dollars and buy a 318i :p

[reelizmpro]

Damn $25.5 for a 318iS?! pretty wild. It looks practically new at 40K miles and in good condition but damn that's only a few K less than what some M3's have sold for on there.

[reelizmpro]

Agree 100%. Reading between the lines here, BMW never really considered these cars to be anything special or different (other than spoilers and interior). It's not like there was a "iS" package created like ZHP, ZCP, etc.

Considering this, save yourselves thousands of dollars and buy a 318i :p

The 91 318iS wasn't like the 325iS either. This iS package is basically as stated by BMW but at that time BMW also started designating all 2 door E30's (except convertibles) as "iS" models. Same with the E36.

[djjerme]

I wonder if Buyers remorse will set in shortly..

That's steep.

I also suspect that car is going to go in a bubble/time capsule for the time being.

[jhaurimn]

Agree 100%. Reading between the lines here, BMW never really considered these cars to be anything special or different (other than spoilers and interior). It's not like there was a "iS" package created like ZHP, ZCP, etc.

Considering this, save yourselves thousands of dollars and buy a 318i :p

And the LSD.

[c0rbin9]

So a top shelf 318is sells for $25k. wow.

[2mAn]

If I remember right, there was a lot of 318iS that had the sport interior and still didn't have the LSD

[djjerme]

....and it's going overseas.


into a collection.

Never to be seen on the roads again.

[mr2peak]

I thought there were more like 40k 318is cars built. Crazy. They don't seem rare around here at all.

M Technic cars still represent less than 1/10th of those numbers..

Don't forget the other things like the lighter carpet. They are special cars.

[Tremelune]

Bummer, but I guess that was to be expected. I wonder how many E30s have less than 50k miles on them. 1%? Even the M3s you find tend to have over 100k.

I think I'd rather have put 100-200k miles on it over a couple decades instead of selling the car for more than it sold for new (in the 90s). The cost of insurance, brake fluid, coolant, gaskets, seals, and a parking space probably wind up making it quite a losing proposition.

Drive your classics.

[djjerme]

..no kidding.

Something low mileage you don't buy to drive. You buy it as an investment and hope that it's value never goes down. I actually wonder what kind of shape the motor truly is in. Seeing as how it's basically sat for most of it's life.

As has been beaten to death - it's not just the miles, it's time that also is the enemy. Would you trust gaskets that had been sitting on a shelf for 20+ years?

[Powling]

I thought there were more like 40k 318is cars built. Crazy. They don't seem rare around here at all.

M Technic cars still represent less than 1/10th of those numbers..

Don't forget the other things like the lighter carpet. They are special cars.

Tell me more about this lighter carpet...

[Rusty.Piranha]

....and it's going overseas.


into a collection.

Never to be seen on the roads again.

25.5k and taken off the road....what a disappointment

[roguetoaster]

Tell me more about this lighter carpet...

318s have carpet with little to no backed sound deadening. So, it's lighter, but it's really just a cost saving measure.

[reelizmpro]

The carpet texture is different as well kinda like shorter high-wear carpet vs plush knit.