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

[stairmast0r]

Key when the market is inflated right now is to find one that needs ton of mechanical work but has fairly good body and minimal rust. Once you find that, make sure the person is not asking too much depending on the amount of work. Reasonably about 1500 would be good for one with some concerning issues but still driveable. When you see those, go for it. Just ask yourself if you are willing to put in the work. Buying is just half the battle.


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That's pretty much what I've been hoping to do. As long as it can get me to work and back with a reasonable chance of not breaking down, I can tackle everything else as time and money permit and eventually be left with a really nice car to be proud of. Not to mention learning all about it as I go...

There's an '87 325is 5MT an hour or so away from me that has a "rough idle" and "needs O2 sensor", for $1200. I should probably already be driving up to get that one...

[Downshift-E30]

Key when the market is inflated right now is to find one that needs ton of mechanical work but has fairly good body and minimal rust. Once you find that, make sure the person is not asking too much depending on the amount of work. Reasonably about 1500 would be good for one with some concerning issues but still driveable. When you see those, go for it. Just ask yourself if you are willing to put in the work. Buying is just half the battle.


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[gte175x]

"cheap" is a relative term too....in several ways

Sometimes - "cheap" is a basket case & ends up costing you more in the long run.

Sometimes - "cheap" was expensive when you bought it, but by today's prices, it was a steal.

Just buy the best one you can afford...

[LateFan]

"I doubt you'll ever find a good deal on craigslist nowadays. "

^^ tru.

As others keep saying - patience, look hard, talk to people, luck. We looked in a 3 state area over a year, passed on some beaters, and found a nice-looking one with mechanical neglect 45 miles away.

Taco - that is a good looking car.

[TheTacoMan]

A little bit of luck and being the first guy to call. Ive seen a manual 91 325ix for 300$, 300$ for a 1985 325e, 800$ for a manual 1989 325i. They are far and few between but its out there.

[MrBurgundy]

I doubt you'll ever find a good deal on craigslist nowadays.

All the great deals I've gotten on e30s where found places other than craigslst.

[nrubenstein]

The answer is either a shit ton of footwork, or luck.

My 325is was offered to me by a friend after I made a joking comment about wanting it, for example.

[e30austin]

Right place, right time. I think that goes for anything in life. Rarely do I buy a car off CL. It's usually people that know of me that call, or a friend calls and says "hey, so and so has ___ for sale".

Though, I got my insanely nice one owner Schwarz SETA and my basket case M-Tech cab off CL for stupid cheap...

[MR E30 325is]

Definitely luck involved, and the ability/desire to put in a little elbow grease.

I still run across sub 1500 E30's on clist in my area.

Problem is, most are early 4 door autos that have an issue that keeps you from test driving them (i.e. fuel pump bad, blown hg, etc.)

So you have to take the risk of getting a junker. It's all a part of the game to me. The prices are trending upwards, but you can get lucky, if youre in the perfect situation.

They are definitely out there, but to quote Kershaw, you aren't hearing about the dozens of sales of 6-10k E30's that occur weekly. So don't get confused and think half of us are buying running clean E30's for 2k.

[FireFight]

I paid $400 for my 318i, it was a basket case, nothing electrically worked inside, the struts where so blown, if i hit a bump it was bouncing for blocks down the road hahah.
it ended up overheating because the radiator cap was broken.
but it was straight.
I drove it for awhile and fixed all the problems, sold it to a buddy for $1500, then he bought a different BMW from me so he gave me that car as partial trade.
my lady started drving it for a couple years, then blew up the m10.
tossed a m20 in it, she drove that for a couple more years then I got a hair up my ass to put a m50 in it, that's where I'm at now,
but that price was clearly years ago.

I check craigslist all the time for a cheap e30, but the market has changed, with the "VIP" thing getting popular, and every kid with a flat bill hat thinking he is a drifter, the cars get getting fewer and far between. and in return, supply and demand drives the cost up.
Watch auction sites like Copart, that's where you can still get good deals, just know there are fees, if you win a car for $70, its more like $240 to get it out of the lot

[ZekeTheSneak]

2010 was the year. Alpine white foliage moss green. Kid didn't know what he had. I sent him a picture of it buffed out and he was like I fucked up lol. It's all dumb luck.

I have first dibs on my neighbors one owner e39 m5 and that's only because he's still in the piece of paper in the window phase of selling. It's all right place right time.

[flyboyx]

QFT!

If you search the term "E30" on craigslist, chances are you won't find anything affordable. When someone calls it the internal design code, chances are they aren't asking a fair price at all. If you do hunt on CL, put in "BMW", "325i", or whatever is relevant. I have found that the only time "E30" is somewhat useful is for someone parting out one for a decent price.

The days of cheap E30's are gone, in my opinion. I sort of lucked out because the E30 I have was serviced at an indy shop where I worked at the time. This was also almost 7 years ago. Combine that with people crashing theirs or getting into minor accidents and their insurance companies totaling them out almost immediately, the prices will continue to rise until they become scarce and by then it will take a high amount of money for someone to sell theirs.

there is a lot of truth in what is posted above. the good news is that as priced rise, less and less of the remaining examples are monkey fucked by retarded 16 year olds. somehow this thread kind of makes me wonder what the op's intentions are......

[cheffy30]

i've been putting a card on the windshield of a few here and there offering to buy for cash.
no luck yet but you never know...

[AwakenNoMore]

Got my car from a friend in the local RX-7 club back in December 2010 for $1,000. Prices weren't too bad back then and it used to be much more trashed, and automatic.

[flyboyx]

this one

https://waco.craigslist.org/cto/6027634043.html