How old is the average E30 driver?

[Vincent Brick]

Sad thing is, my first car at 16, a '67 Nova, was newer than my oldest E30 is now. Time really does make fools of us all - as you get older you realize this more and more.

Can relate, my daily-driven E30 is older now than my '73 Plymouth was when I bought it.

39 here, got my first/only BMW 3 years ago. These cars were rare, expensive, and not at all desirable when I was growing up, not even on the radar.

[IceWhite]

My 1st E30 was bought in 1997 and sold a few months after I bought my second E30. My second, which I still own, was bought in 2002.

So... in E30 years, I am 20.

[flyboyx]

old fuck here. 46. bought the first in 2008. i've had countless e30's to this point. more than 20 i think. i have seven of them right now.

i should probably get myself into a 12 step program

[AwakenNoMore]

31, not quite hip, Just like The Offspring predicted . . .

[MrBurgundy]

25 next week

got my first one at 15

[MR E30 325is]

28 now. Got into E30's 13 years ago. Have owned 5 E30's so far, with one of them being in my possession for almost a decade.

[Eric Giles]

I am 46 now. I bought my first E30 in 2000, and joined this site in 2003. I've owned 8 E30's during that time, and still have two of them. My sister bought a brand new '86 325, and I vividly remember driving it and being amazed at how well it drove. I am glad I got to experience driving an E30 when they were new.

[roguetoaster]

old fuck here. 46. bought the first in 2008. i've had countless e30's to this point. more than 20 i think. i have seven of them right now.

i should probably get myself into a 12 step program

Careful with those 12 steps grandpa, you might blow out a hip.

[flyboyx]

lol!

ill get you fucker!

[ryan SF cabrio]

i'm so old that i remember when the e30 cabrios 1st came out ... i was parking cars at the beverly hills hotel at the time ... the cabrio was the hottest rental going ... guest would call down from their suite for their ride & always ask for the top down ... we'd power house through the gears as we'd get them under the portico pronto ... they were all 5 speeds ... billed as a performance job ... as we'd lower the top for the guest, i'd ALWAYS say that one day i'd have one, too ... guys would always laugh because they were so expensive ... but, i got one ... took 20 years ... but i finally got my 1st e30 cabrio

humorous side story ... while working at the BHH one of the tasks was to rotate the cars in their underground garage once a month ... BH fire department regulation ... at that time, those garage spots ran 300 a pop per month (450 in today's money) ... there were nothing but exotics & high zoot rides ... except for one ... & it stood out like a sore thumb ... it was a '76 2002 ... clear coat was shot to hell ... & when you got inside to move it, you could feel the old horsehair padding crunch away under your ass, to the point that you were sitting on springs ... & from the sun visors, hung sheets of green tinted plastic by masking tape ... weird car in such a rarified locale ... i let it be known that i wanted that 2002 if it ever came available

fast forward 4 years ... i get a call up in tahoe where i was dealing blackjack ... it's the guys from the hotel telling me the 2002 is for sale ... so i finally asked what the back story was on it ... it was bought brand new for the BHH's owner's 16 year old sun who demanded one when he turned 16 ... when the kid turned 18, he parked the 2002 in the garage & refused to drive it ... he then demanded & got a brand new '78 928 (black/black) from his parents ... sooooo ... that 2002 just sat in the garage for 4 years until i got my hands on it ... i then found out that the only time the BHH owners ever drove that 2002 was for "their help" ... you see ... they had two little old asian ladies whose sole job was to come to their mansion (right behind the hotel) to polish their sterling silver every two weeks ... that 2002 was their "go to" car ... hence the green tinted plastic hanging from the sun visors ... their heads barely peeped over the steering wheels ... such fun & crazy memories working at that hotel ...

memory lane is so strong that i thought i'd pull out & post a few old pics to show what the 2002 looked like ... thanks for reading ...

btw ... 4 years after buying/selling that 2002, i got another call from the guys at the hotel telling me that the son was now demanding a brand new '88 fire-engine-red testarossa & that his old '78 928 was now available ... i wanted that 928 so bad but i was wallpapering at the time & needed my laredo for hauling work stuff ... always regretted not grabbing that 928 ... that owner's kid was so spoiled ... there is justice after all, though ... a few weeks later, i hear that while the BHH owner's son was sitting in his brand new testarossa at the corner of rodeo drive/santa monica blvd at 3pm on a busy friday afternoon, a thug came up & shoved a sawed off shotgun into the kid's face ... the buzz on the boulevard was that the kid couldn't jump out of that car fast enough before the thug muscled his way in & took off ... never did hear what kinda car that the kid got next ... probably not so high profile ... LOL

[MrBurgundy]

Careful with those 12 steps grandpa, you might blow out a hip.

LOL

[2mAn]

Countless other e30s in between then and now

(estimated 100 since 2010)

doesnt count when you just part them out.... :)

you need a new title for killing so many E30s, you've helped kick start the bump in value

[flyboyx]

i'm so old that i remember when the e30 cabrios 1st came out ... i was parking cars at the beverly hills hotel at the time ... the cabrio was the hottest rental going ... guest would call down from their suite for their ride & always ask for the top down ... we'd power house through the gears as we'd get them under the portico pronto ... they were all 5 speeds ... billed as a performance job ... as we'd lower the top for the guest, i'd ALWAYS say that one day i'd have one, too ... guys would always laugh because they were so expensive ... but, i got one ... took 20 years ... but i finally got my 1st e30 cabrio

humorous side story ... while working at the BHH one of the tasks was to rotate the cars in their underground garage once a month ... BH fire department regulation ... at that time, those garage spots ran 300 a pop per month (450 in today's money) ... there were nothing but exotics & high zoot rides ... except for one ... & it stood out like a sore thumb ... it was a '76 2002 ... clear coat was shot to hell ... & when you got inside to move it, you could feel the old horsehair padding crunch away under your ass, to the point that you were sitting on springs ... & from the sun visors, hung sheets of green tinted plastic by masking tape ... weird car in such a rarified locale ... i let it be known that i wanted that 2002 if it ever came available

fast forward 4 years ... i get a call up in tahoe where i was dealing blackjack ... it's the guys from the hotel telling me the 2002 is for sale ... so i finally asked what the back story was on it ... it was bought brand new for the BHH's owner's 16 year old sun who demanded one when he turned 16 ... when the kid turned 18, he parked the 2002 in the garage & refused to drive it ... he then demanded & got a brand new '78 928 (black/black) from his parents ... sooooo ... that 2002 just sat in the garage for 4 years until i got my hands on it ... i then found out that the only time the BHH owners ever drove that 2002 was for "their help" ... you see ... they had two little old asian ladies whose sole job was to come to their mansion (right behind the hotel) to polish their sterling silver every two weeks ... that 2002 was their "go to" car ... hence the green tinted plastic hanging from the sun visors ... their heads barely peeped over the steering wheels ... such fun & crazy memories working at that hotel ...

memory lane is so strong that i thought i'd pull out & post a few old pics to show what the 2002 looked like ... thanks for reading ...

btw ... 4 years after buying/selling that 2002, i got another call from the guys at the hotel telling me that the son was now demanding a brand new '88 fire-engine-red testarossa & that his old '78 928 was now available ... i wanted that 928 so bad but i was wallpapering at the time & needed my laredo for hauling work stuff ... always regretted not grabbing that 928 ... that owner's kid was so spoiled ... there is justice after all, though ... a few weeks later, i hear that while the BHH owner's son was sitting in his brand new testarossa at the corner of rodeo drive/santa monica blvd at 3pm on a busy friday afternoon, a thug came up & shoved a sawed off shotgun into the kid's face ... the buzz on the boulevard was that the kid couldn't jump out of that car fast enough before the thug muscled his way in & took off ... never did hear what kinda car that the kid got next ... probably not so high profile ... LOL

thank you for sharing. good story and good pix.

what is a bhh?

[gwb72tii]

I'm old enough it hurts a little to admit it........63
I'm on my 8th e30 (among about 20 different BMW's to date) that I may sell to a nice man in FLA

the first was a 86 325e sedan in 1988. Tires for the time looked way too big. Got into the throttle on a cloverleaf heading to Tacoma, hit the highway and smashed into the rev limiter. Like I hit a wall. Started looking for a different 325.

And Ryan thanks for the memories. My first bmw was a 1970 2002 that I bought in 1977. It burned so much oil I had to rebuild the motor. I learned to skin my knuckles and also learned I like swearing at cars. Got the motor back in and showed a small bearing to my friend and asked him what it was. "Throwout bearing" he said. Live and learn, but so many good memories.

[jmg]

thank you for sharing. good story and good pix.

what is a bhh?

Beverly Hills Hotel...

and GREAT story OP!