Retrospect; What would you do with your E30 if..?

[spiDmang]

If I could change one thing, it would have been to swap an S54 into my E30 instead of an S52. The S52 is a wonderful match for the E30 and has more than enough power, but I wish I bit the bullet and just did an S54 swap.

Aside from that, I've built my car to be a super reliable daily driver with all the creature comforts you'd want. But since I have my E46 M3 now, all i want to do is turn my E30 into a super light weight weekend car....or sell it and buy property

[CorvallisBMW]

I'm really happy with my e30, and honestly I've been able to do with it most everything I've wanted. But I suppose there are a few things I'd do differently if I could.

- The turbo m30 is awesome, but part of me wishes for V8 on-demand torque. I think an m60b44 would have been more fun, but also more difficult.
- I wish I had spent more $ on my interior reupholstering. I didn't have the funds at the time to blow on $3-4k of super high quality work, and the leather quality and wear shows it.
- I wish there was a real way to improve chassis stiffness; when I had the entire car apart down to the chassis, I should have welded in some custom reinforcements and then fit the stock panels and interior around them.

All-in-all it's pretty nitpicky shit, I love my car :)

[stonea]

I just want my e30s to be finished :(

[Mike_z]

Thanks for all your replies guys, and looking forward to hearing even more!
Its very interesting to see what you guys do with your cars and even what you regretted doing.
I definitely somewhat regret buying an ETA as my first E30, but then again thats what sparked my love for the E30 in the first place hahah.

Its kind of scaring me how you guys regret repainting the cars or restoring them, since thats what I was planning on doing from the get go. I don't want it to become the car i'm scared to take out because of the outside world factors hahah, aside from that, I think I'll stick some bucket seats in it which I've wanted to do for a long time, and maybe a cage and that's as race car as it will get hahah. (besides the S50)

P.S. Vancouver Real Estate is also very interesting :D

[bangn]

would of probably kept it bronzit if I was to do it again instead of doing a colour change.. Big PITA

[mrsleeve]

Would have kept it..........

[MC Hammered]

If I had to start all over I would find a clean e30 wagon, swap in a s54 and then do all the OCD work.

[Matt-B]

id have waited for a cleaner shell

[cale]

Would have kept it..........

This

[Fsnow]

I should have quit driving garbage and got an e30 sooner.

[lukeADE335i]

If I could go back, I'd do my swap on a coupe rather than a sedan.

I love the sedan - it's a great reliable daily, fun to drive & is practical for hauling my kids around, which is why I went from an e21 coupe to an e30 sedan in the first place. The kids are bigger now, so a 2 door wouldn't be a problem.

The prices of coupes have risen to a point where I probably can't justify buying one vs. other options though.

I'll probably end up with an e46, e39 or e91 touring eventually as a much more family focussed daily & the e30 will end up either a weekender or sold.

[Bearmw]

I would have bought a clean example with a few tasteful mods and driven it all over hell and back during the years my project has been on jack stands.

[LuisA2B]

would rather have bought a car that had a straighter body and more mechanical issues. will probably end up buying a shell and swapping the good stuff from mine over

[Mike_z]

I should have quit driving garbage and got an e30 sooner.

Hahah totally agree!

I'm loving the responses guys, very interesting stuff to see how people feel about their E30s both good and bad! Keep em' coming!

[Gerta]

If I could change one thing, it would have been to swap an S54 into my E30 instead of an S52. The S52 is a wonderful match for the E30 and has more than enough power, but I wish I bit the bullet and just did an S54 swap.

Aside from that, I've built my car to be a super reliable daily driver with all the creature comforts you'd want. But since I have my E46 M3 now, all i want to do is turn my E30 into a super light weight weekend car....or sell it and buy property

As I said previously: "Quit being an adult and go hoon around."