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

[flyboyx]

lol! here you go.

https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/6058126474.html

[redsubdivisions]

stop looking on craigslist (not really), because you wont find the deals there unless you are lucky and quick.

your best bet is to find an old person who bought their E30 and doesnt drive it anymore.

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.

[UlrichFennec]

It's all luck.

When I got my vert, I had picked it up for $1000. Then there was all the registration and license plate junk and a couple immediate fixes I wanted to do, so more around 1500. The paint was dead on the rear quarter, there's a huge key scrape on the driver's side and the interior was shot, but the motor was serviced all the time at the dealer and I got maintenance records dating back to 92 when it rolled off the dealer lot.

Not like I could complain about cosmetics, though. I'm just happy it's a manual, has a top that isn't torn up, and has a functioning LSD. Although, there's the initial investment of fixing little things the PO may not have done, and in my case, it was a huge vacuum leak and a slew of oil leaks that had just started popping up months after I got it.

A cheap E30 can make or break you, but so can a normal priced one. Either way, you're gonna spend money fixing a lot of broken or aging junk, so it really doesn't matter. The youngest of these cars are reaching 25 years old.

[Rontgen]

Lots of luck and the willingness to spot a deal and quickly make it happen. Do your research, know what you're looking for, and be patient. Facebook classifieds is a great place to find non-enthusiasts who are too scared or too computer illiterate to use Craigslist.

There's also lots of rose-colored glass situations where people remember their $450 shitbox as being much nicer than it ever really was. Sad truth.

As someone above said - you get what you pay for. In most cases, you are better off with the $4000 car that needs very little vs. the $500 car that needs everything.

[Kershaw]

Luck.

You see the deals people are bragging about because they're crazy, what you aren't seeing is the 50+ sales of e30s for a normal price for each crazy deal.

[Shock(/\)ave]

Now that I've had some time with one, if you're prepared to head south to pick up a car without rust issues an E28 would make a pretty good substitute for an E30, and they can still commonly be found quite cheaply (at least in the U.S.).

[Shock(/\)ave]

My E36 M3 and E30 M3 were both luck bordering on divine intervention by the car gods, but some degree of luck definitely played a part with my other cars. I bought my E34 M5 off of a seller who had posted a feeler thread two years prior and decided to hold onto the car just to give you an example.

What you need to do is get into a routine of looking at least twice per day; that increases your odds of being lucky and finding the bargain before someone else does.

When a car pops up don't hesistate. Commit to buying it pending an inspection in person, offer them a deposit to be delivered in person, and if it's already cheap don't be cheap and lose the car to someone else who pays their already low asking price (or more). If the car isn't local and you want it you need to take greater risks, as most sellers are much more likely to sell the car to a local buyer to avoid risk and hassles on their end.

[flyboyx]

Almost every e30 I buy is under a grand. If you check through the threads i have started, you will see a few of them.

Let's see....


91 318i for 400 bucks. Needed a fuel pump and master cylinder.

87 e with beautiful blue paint and beautiful tan velour cloth sport interior. Wrecked lightly in the front. 400 bucks.

89 is with lots of little issues and an intake leak for 800 bucks.

91 318 cabrio wrecked lightly in the front for 900 bucks

Silver 89 auto with seized engine and beautiful paint for 560.00

91 silver ix manual coupe with transfer case issue, bad interior, and lots of little things needing fixed. 700 bucks. My son and I dove it all the way from charleston, sc. traded this car for the mtech 2 in my signature.

Silver 88 manual coupe bad transfer case and plenty of other issues including a bit of rust. 450.00

87 i sedan with seized water pump. 300 bucks. Traded it for an 88 ix manual coupe.

88 super eta sedan auto. 350.00. Trashed interior. Didn't run. Was severely monkey fucked by its previous owner. My son and I are still to this day in-fucking this car.

Probably several others I can't think of at 2 am. As you can see, the common theme is that they all needed a good bit of work. If you want a cheap e30 it will need a shitload of work too.

Most likely anything you find in your area will be a rust bucket. Do you have any relatives in the south that can look on craigslist for you?

[reelizmpro]

Combination of luck and being diligent yet patient. Then of course, having the money ready in case an opportunity should pop up. I passed up on my M technic when the original owner had it listed locally on CL due to lack of funds. When I got the money, the car was sold. As luck would have it, years later the same car popped up on the forums and I jumped on it. A couple of cars I bought I found simply by mentioning to other enthusiasts what I was looking for. Next thing I know I'm being put in touch with owners who lost interest for whatever reason. So word of mouth has worked well for me and I didn't even really make too much of an effort. That's why being part of the community is so great.

I go to a lot of meets as well. It's not just about being out there showing off your car or whatever but also talking to people and networking. When I was visiting Florida in 2015 I went to a meet and there was a guy who had a nice Henna M3. He wasn't advertising or was even sure he wanted to sell but they say everyone has a number and his was $25k. I got his number but just didn't need another M3 and I was toying with the idea of an early model Henna instead that would cost much less money. I found a deal on my euro 323i soon after. It's not Henna but oh well.

[roguetoaster]

The best move is to check around your local bakeries.

You'll find even more completely unbelievable deals at discount bakery outlets.

[YosemiteSam]

The best move is to check around your local bakeries.

[stonea]

I found both of mine outside official listings. My uncles friend was a 325ix for $1,000 and my friend was selling her 325i for $1,000 (Paid $1,500) 2 years later. Neither were actually advertised as for sale.

[2mAn]

stop looking on craigslist (not really), because you wont find the deals there unless you are lucky and quick.

your best bet is to find an old person who bought their E30 and doesnt drive it anymore.

[87-325ic]

its a combo of luck and e30 karma. with a little bit of people reading and constant browsing too.

i just found a 400 running eta. its been beat on a little, but it starts and runs just fine. but its not the cleanest most pristine e30. it is perfect for what i want it for though.

[Staszek]

I have found a few under $1500 when I was looking, the problem at least around here is they were all rusty. I ended up paying more for a car that had very minimal rust (still rust lol) but less then the others and easier to repair.