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

[tiger_e30]

seems like an eta, not an i.

Yeah the debadge is always suspicious

[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.

[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...

[helalo]

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

[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.

[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

[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.

[Stanley Rockafella]

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

roughly 1700 USD

Full OBC, factory cloth seats

[FireFight]

Im winning in an auction right now for a 84 325e for $70.
This will be a part out car if I win
auction man, way to go

[Metallated]

Damn FireFight, hope you win, that'd be a steal.. Where do I find such auctions?

[bmwstudent]

Cheap convertible in DE right now.

[BoulderE30]

Working for a dealer helps. We get a lot of people who have owned them since new and don't know what they really have... Although these days they have become more rare I still see a couple a year in the shop.


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[ThatslammedE30]

Bought this one as my first e30. 1989 325iS . With a lot of mods and veerrry clean. 1500$ CDN so like what, 1000$ USD?

[Colbatronbmwes]

I got my e30 for $600 in 2009. the only real problem with it was a blown shock on the front. Now its e36's you can get cheap. I just got 2 for $500 each. One was a mess but the other one is doing perfect.

[FireFight]

Damn FireFight, hope you win, that'd be a steal.. Where do I find such auctions?

Try Copart.com, the problem with that is there is a lot of wrecked ones, the ones I buy are "donated" so usually they have mechanical issues (i.e. Volvo i bought had a bad distributor, e34 had a bad rear wheel bearing)

You can also find your local tow truck companies have auctions usually once a week. these can bring really good deals as these either parked in an illegal way or abandoned, the problem is alot of the time they dont come with keys.
Locally I use speeds towing.