People who got dirt cheap E30s, how did you do it?

[Stanley Rockafella]

https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/rch/cto/6067709878.html

roughly 1700 USD

Full OBC, factory cloth seats

[Swoozley Macklin]

Craigslist, Facebook, just knocking on peoples door.
Got my daily 325i/4/5 for 1,000 off craigslist. Mind you the ad had no pictures, the description said "good running car" and was 2 hours away.
And just recently picked up a bronzit 88 325i/4 for 600 that jumped timing, otherwise minty.

[tiger_e30]

There are still tons of e30's that people aren't asking 10k for. Search at least once if not twice a day, have cash in hand (I mean actual cash) and be willing to drop everything and hope on a train or a buss to go get it.

Plus, there's no point in buying a e30 that someone else modded or a clean stock car if you're just going to change everything. Get a $1k-2k CL running car, and mod away.

It use to be buying a clean stock e30 was great, cause you would have good paint to deal with....but let's face it, unless it's been in a garage all it's life, most e30's paint are starting to fail.

I set up a variety of Craigslists searches and it emails me the results

[george graves]

There are still tons of e30's that people aren't asking 10k for. Search at least once if not twice a day, have cash in hand (I mean actual cash) and be willing to drop everything and hope on a train or a buss to go get it.

Plus, there's no point in buying a e30 that someone else modded or a clean stock car if you're just going to change everything. Get a $1k-2k CL running car, and mod away.

It use to be buying a clean stock e30 was great, cause you would have good paint to deal with....but let's face it, unless it's been in a garage all it's life, most e30's paint are starting to fail.

[helalo]

Dont live in north america, they have the shittiest bmws and tuning shops and everything related to bmw is expensive there.

[Alpinweiss II]

Craigslist has been good to me. You have to be quick on the draw though and remember cash talks. As many others have said it also helps if you can find a fixer upper. It cant hurt to monitor the cl auto parts section. You'd be surprised how many cars around here I have seen parted out or scrapped because of a fixable transmission/engine issue. A deft craigslister could arrive and perhaps purchase the car outright before its been stripped. You wont find anything if you never try.

There is that a guy locally that I used to see on cl that would frequent auto auctions and somehow scoop up e30s cheap. Unfortunately, as far as I could tell, he was turning running cars into a piles of parts and selling them off piece by piece. Cant blame the guy for wanting to turn $ into $$$ but damn, those cars could still be on the road...

[thankyoubasedjosh]

Found a guy selling for a friend, ended up paying 500 without a title, and it's gonna take 3-4 to get it legal, 1986 325e sedan, I love the thing but the tires were done, suspension is done as well. Motor has 300k plus miles and it still runs strong and transmission shifts smooth.

[tiger_e30]

seems like an eta, not an i.

Yeah the debadge is always suspicious

[Stanley Rockafella]

110 k $1200 in Georgia looks like a clean running car.

https://nwga.craigslist.org/cto/6066581255.html

seems like an eta, not an i.

[Klug]

I got lucky and acted quick on my two e30's. Found my vert in the back of an old MB shop that I pass off daily. Take the back roads, look in the back yards....you'll get lucky eventually

[tiger_e30]

I second that one...I have passed on a few good deals simply because I couldn't get a trailer in time.

110 k $1200 in Georgia looks like a clean running car.

https://nwga.craigslist.org/cto/6066581255.html

[haaken675]

You have to have a trailer, and be able to go pick it up the first time you look at it.

That works.

I have purchased 3 E30s so far. Total cost- $1250. One even had an engine in it...

t

I second that one...I have passed on a few good deals simply because I couldn't get a trailer in time.

[TobyB]

You have to have a trailer, and be able to go pick it up the first time you look at it.

That works.

I have purchased 3 E30s so far. Total cost- $1250. One even had an engine in it...

t

[haaken675]

So. Much. This.

I think it was early 2002 when I bought my first E30 and the prices for really clean examples were quite reasonable. When it came to finding the E30s I've owned (3 in total), in two cases it was good timing in responding to local Craigslist ads and having cash in-hand. The other was by word of mouth.....one of those friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friends'-roommate things.

You know you've been in the E30 scene a long time if you're spending mid-teens for a really nice, tastefully modded example of a standard E30 when back in the day the E30 M3 had the $15,000 rule.

Times have definitely changed.

I bought my first e30 that was cleaner then the one I am building up currently for $200...That same car now would easily sell for $3k+...Wishing now I had bought an m3 several years ago when it would have still been a possibility...

Jon

[E30 Wagen]

Now that I think about it I've gotten a few e30s for less than $1000, but they were absolute basket cases.

$700 318is slicktop. Rusted bad, not a single good panel except for the trunk lid, but ran and drove. Needed new diff and brake line so i parted it. Wishing now i had just fixed it and used it for a winter beater.
$350 318i m42. Extremely rusted, not a single good panel except for driver fender
$300 318i m10, first e30 back in 2001ish. Body and engine toast. Terrible 1st e30 experience as a 14 year old.
'87 and '88 325is automatic, both for $1000, both complete basket cases, ended up selling or using parts off them and scrapping the shells.
$750 89 325i, my parents minty car that i bought from them after it was totalled this fall :(

All these e30s were complete wastes of time and money, except I did learn a lot while working on them. The last e30 I drove regularly was a rusted out '86 325es that i got for $1400. Living in michigan is the worst if you like cars from the '80s