So how did u find your E30??

[EtaSport]

Does the dealership count? Thats where I found my e30, or my dad actually. I was barely 2 years old in Nov. 1986.

Bought new, put rediculous amount of miles on it, had trouble with payments on car and tons of other stuff, so it was subleased to some dude in rockville who skipped on payments and did a number of nasty things to it including dying the dash and consoles grey, adding grey seatcovers, and basically breaking lots of stuff in the car. Repossed by my dad in 91 with a spare key and brought back to original condition, I think it was around 3000 in damage.

After that it got some body mods and wheels, lots more miles. Then in 95 it had electrical issues, dad went to bmw and came back with a 318ti. Sold for 5,000 with around 300k on it to a friend. I was looking for an e30, after driving an e28 for awhile, to replace my cherokee. Wanted an iS with not more than 150k. My car came available and repurchased in Feb 2003 for $2300 with a "couple extra miles".

[RobertK]

Local Knoxville, Thrifty Nickel free Classifieds Newspaper. An older lady had it listed for $500. I had luckily noticed the ad by searching there online ads before it hit shelves the next morning. I immediately called her and picked it up for $400.

She was a typical woman driver who had neglected the car by fixing problems only as they happened. Tires were almost bald, every fluid imaginable was leaking, idle was horrid, muffler was rusted out and full of holes.

Once I got it home it went up on jack stands where my buddy Josh and I spent the most of that summer replacing all the belts, hoses, gaskets, seals, and other misc maintenace items. We also went ahead with a 5 speed swap because we were able to get the parts off a donor car for $150.

[88325isboy]

I get all my from were i work people dont want to fix them so i offer the little money and pick them up! HAHA

[turnofftheradio]

I traded my favorite truck.
but it was well worth it.

I had an 86 Bronco that I just loved, but had tired suspension. Due to gas prices (33gal tank at 10-12mpg on the street) The only time I drove it was once a year at our dunes trip. In my local forum that I visit with my prelude, I found my eta for sale. I did a straight up trade with him (I had paid 3k for the truck 7 yrs ago). Rebuilt the engine and did a whole lot of other work. I really enjoy this car. one of my favorites so far.

[AutoM3otives]

BMWCCA.org classifieds.

[Court M3]

Got the ///M from Yahoo Japan Auctions.
323i from another guy in Japan

[bimmerdreamer]

got mine from a friend who had 3 e30's and 3 other bimmers, i just turned 16. I had wanted a bimmer since i was like 10 or so. Got it for $1000, good condition 124k mi Z3 ssk, stereo, newer paint, new interior. and only two days later i got hit by an excursion- got a settlement for $1800. so not bad!

[SA E30]

Give the leg humping a rest already, she's f-ing married...

I got my E30 from Ted's (uofom3) dad in Eugene. It was previously owned by 2002 Restorations in Eugene. It was hit in the rear and totalled at one point, and was rebuilt, and now has a salvage title. Doesn't matter to me though, there's no frame damage, so I could care less what the title says. The car was and still is in immaculate condition, with basketweaves, an iS front airdam, ellipsoids, and a Z3 1.9 SSK. I paid $2500 with 219k on the car, and a little less than half that on the head.

U crack me up Mr.Eurospeed... :) but it's true it's a car website, not a dating hotline.

My car.
1990 325i 4dr

My father bought it 2nd hand at the end of 1990, with like 10 000km, Dunno the whole story, but it was a guy from Coke Cola, it even says in the car manual owner Coke Cola :p .

It's been in the family since then. My mother drove it for about 5yr's. Then my sister also drove it for about 6yr's. When I got my hands on it.

Motorwise it was perfect, when I stripped ot 2 build the 2.9lt , after 300 000km the bearings were still perfect.

Although, it went through a bit of hammering, when I crashed it... twice it was only body damage, and was a blessing in a way. As the car needed new paint.

[Tarn]

I was browsing auto trader and saw the car for a good price, went to see it and bought it the next day. Paid $3000 Cdn

Oh by the way im new here to the forums. Have had my 325 for about 5 months now and I love it. Suspension and breaks are next on the list then I start with some body work. Been looking is the picture forum and a lot of you guys have hot E30's, there may still be hope

[ColdAccord]

still got it? what'd you end up paying if you dont mind?

bmxer -is that the concrete mississauga park that opened a year or two back? never made my way down there. how is it?

yea i can see oakville being too tight for bikes, but i always see a million of them whenever I'm there

bastards with no brakes tailwhip out of that little miniramp/snakerun thing right onto the platform where everyone's standing, all day long, lol. till the cops come and they scatter

[Ray Smoodiver]

325iS Evo 1:

Saw it on a lift at my Father's mechanics workshop.

I said to him that was a pretty cool E30, and he said "want to buy it? Its Derek's" (Derek being one of the mech's there)

So I ended up talking to him for an hour or so and he wouldn't sell it to me, as he wanted to do some more mechanical maintenance to bring the car up to standard.

Now, at this stage, I thought it was just a NZ spec M325i (leather sport seats, LSD, m-tec 2 kit). But it had a 325iS badge on the back, and this definitely caught my eye.

I later learned all about South african 325iS' and saved like mad to get the coinage required for what I thought would be a resonable offer for the car.

I then saw the car on a lift (a reccuring theme!) with centre caps off and I noticed the 5lug wheels, at that stage i was going without beer to save up.

Finally Derek relented and we agreed on a price, even after someone tried to buy it from under me but Derek wouldn't sell it to him as "he's some punk and you've been pestering me for over a year"

So my first E30 was one with an alpina spec 2.7, M3 suspension and brakes, alu body panels, leather and m-tec 2. Not too shabby i'm sure you'd agree!

[BMW BMXER]

oh damn i never even realized you were so close.

whats up

edit: bmx'er? you ever go to Oakville? i actually had mike (mr m tech) meet me at that parks o Ic ould skateboard while I waited for him when we met up to buy his ground controls

Very occasionally I go there. The trannys real harsh, and iceland is close to my house.

[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.

[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.

[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.