So how did u find your E30??

[Jand3rson]

$0- 84 318i
blown headgasket
bad clutch disc
noisy rear end
stupid crap... brakes, clutch slave cylinder, bad wiper motor, falling apart interior, rust behind left rear wheel/left side floor panel/ underside of hood.
Ive spent about $400 on it and it runs pretty good... but Im hoping something is gonna blow soon so i can get something nicer :mrgreen:

Wonderfully imformative post, but it doesn't really have much to do with the title of this thread.

[cramer]

My story is rather boring, found the M3 on Autotrader out of Seattle, guy was selling it because he wanted a White on Black M3 and didn't need two. Haggled on the price and picked it up the following week.

[cochran]

Found my 88 325 cabrio in the local newspaper. I had a limited budget, the car fit in the budget, and the other half approved. I really wanted the Fiat spyder I looked at first, but she vetoed is as "impractical, and it will break down by the time we get it home." I was bummed at first, but now VERY glad I got the bimmer.

[JJe30]

Mine was across the street from my house. I noticed it had been sittin for 2 months or so and never used. The guy use to drive it daily so I went over and asked if he was interested in sellin it and he was thinkin about it...so, I bought it.

[ZinRot325i]

I got mine for free. Along with two other BMWs.

Someone had to die first though, so I was sad.

[TwoJ's]

my senior year in high school, my girlfriend at the time bought me my e30. It had smashed windows and a broken timing belt.

What a cool girlfriend.

[ZinRot325i]

Maybe she shoulda shopped around first.

[TwoJ's]

that's a wonderfully incorrect response. I was the one looking for the car, and I told her which one to get.

It was exactly what i was looking for.

[Lair]

I think he was talking about you and not the car.

[M42Technik]

My dad is an independent car dealer. I was told by my good friend to get an "E30" and I said "what the hell is that?".

Told my dad I was looking for a 325iS. Of course thats far too fast for an 18 year old kid, so I got a 318iS, and little did I realize how lucky I'd be.

June 13th, 2003 I go to pickup a car with my dad, a common routine, drive out to Northern VA, and I find a black E30 with so much junk from trees, bushes, and its underneath a tree with the branches running against the hood.

July 4th, the car is back in running condition and I receive my car. $2,750 Diamantschwarz E30. And I had euro grilles the next day, and the modding couldn't stop. I couldn't be happier.

[Simon S]

Prerequisites: German. Bucket seats. Rear wheel drive. 4 cylinder. 5-speed. Sporty. Semi-reliable. Fun. Cool. ~$7K purchase price.

I was 944 all the way. Test drove one. A nice, clean, beautiful one. Drove like magic..

But the cockpit was too cramped, and the dash (even in good condition) looked like crap.. and overwhelming maintenance costs spooked me.

Same dealership had an eBay auction on a 318is.. it totally fit the bill. The purchase price much lower – which led to a greater budget for me to ‘recondition’ it as I saw fit.

Love/Hate fun ever since.

.

[Ziggens96]

eBay, beetch. Picked up car on Halloween 2004 from PA; wasn't far, I lived in MD at the time. Did anybody here bid on my car too? Auction was in like sept./oct. 2004, obviously. I haven't seen a better example of a 318is on ebay since then. I paid $3600 with 112k on the odo. I know it's high, I thought the bid i entered would be the max bid...instead the auction price went right to that number...but i got the car. I think its totally worth it.

Apparently my car originally came from (dirty) JErsey, and had two owners in PA...at some point it sat in somebody's back yard, I have no idea why.

[yozsi]

got my supereta off craigslist for 500 bucks, guy said it did not run and it was fucked up. went there with a trailer, cleaned out the injector harness and drove it on the trailer. turns out the car already had an 'i' aftermarket replacement head with 'i' cam, double valve springs, and 153 dme.

[808BMW]

My mom saw an e30 at work and liked it, wanted one as her next car.
My dad started looking for a project car (we couldn't afford a running one) and the main things we needed were: "i" motor, 4 doors, and auto. Preferrably something that needed motor work, but had a good body (cheaper to rebuild a motor rather than get a respray).

One day my dad found almost exactly her car: 4 door delphin 325i, decent body (at the time), and a blown motor.

Went to check it out, ends up the water pump broke, taking the timing belt and valves with it. Nice body, black leather, perfect... except for the 5 speed.


My mom has refused to ever learn to drive a stick, so my dad was kinda bummed, then he suggested I buy it as my project (I was rolling an 88 sentra at the time).

Bought it ($500), fixed it, sold the sentra, and here I am.

[blueapplesoda]

87' 325is- Cars.com hermosa beach, ca

91' 318is- Cars.com Northridge, ca

89' 325is- i had just owned a white van with my first e30 while thinking i was hot shit, so i was feeling the loss of my e30 and all the work i put into it, gone. I and happened to pass by another parked e30 while driving with my gf in Van Nuys on woodman ave. hey! it looks nice, its white and its a 89! left a note on the windshield.....3 weeks later, the morning i decide to get up and go look for another e30, i get a call from this lady telling me she saw my note and was interested in selling her car. 120k, white on black leather...auto....hrmmm..i don't want auto.....what? $1300? Ill be right there. Grabbed some cash, came back with $1200 worth of almost perfect e30. used my tranny from my 87 and swapped in 5 spd.

85' 323i Sport - got lost in Vernon while making a delivery and saw a wannabe e30 m3, put a note on it just because. next day i get a call, go down and check it out. Wierd everything..found out its a euro car with a dogleg tranny hartge wheels and hartge exhaust, maybe a hartge car. works the price down to 1350, buys it drive it home. now parting it. need to check the motor to see whether its a h27 motor or just a plain b23.


see, leaving notes has served me well.