What irritates you the most about e30s?

[dnguyen1963]

I am way passed the annoyance stage. It is a 30+ years old car...what do you expect?

[Italian_Tuneup]

Posting from 5+ years ago? Living in that mythical place I'm seeking where they're still showing up in junkyards for picking?

Who is scrapping an E30 for minor problems now? I haven't seen one worth saving in a junkyard in years, all smashed up or completely rusted out. These cars, being unibody cars with more advanced construction techniques, aren't going to be as easy to save with severe rust or body damage as the crazy muscle and prewar classic car restorations we've been seeing in the past couple of decades. They aren't yet rare or valuable enough to motivate people to spend tens of thousands of dollars on fabrication and body work in any large number.

I see people parting out straight shells all the time, watch the PNW E30 group on facebook, there's been at least 3 super straight shells parted out in the last 2 month.

[Conrad311]

I am way passed the annoyance stage. It is a 30+ years old car...what do you expect?

I guess the point of the thread was that for a 30+ yr old car there is not much to complain about for me. The idea was not made clear by the title, but the idea of the thread is not so much what irritates you about being in E30 owner but about the actual driving experience itself.

Like if your car was brand new out of the show room what would you want changed about it?

[roguetoaster]

Well, we could just list the mods on our cars if we want to talk about what changes we would make, but that's not to say those items changed annoyed us, just that we wanted something different. For me, I first set the car up as stock with zero mods, and as the years wore on I'd say I went to stock plus (is lip, H4s, chip, COP, MT1 wheel, stereo/speakers, houndstooth interior, H&R/Bilsteins, cat back, 4.45 LSD, Euroweaves). Both forms of the car were fine in their elements, and the only items I wouldn't go back to would be the stock radio, an open differential, and sealed beams (although I still have sealed high beams).

Clearly the E30 was pretty much spot on for me as a car as those mods, or things that were close to them, were pretty much things you could get from the parts catalog.

[e30finatic]

Mostly the guys trying to charge top dollar for rust boxes.

[IncogutheIII]

I bought an iX, but its also the reason I love it.

[Conrad311]

I bought an iX, but its also the reason I love it.

I see you are in Detroit so you know about snow + iX. I had an 89 iX sedan when I lived in MA, and even though it was an autotragic as soon as the snow hit it was hammer time. the other 3 seasons I questioned why I owned it.

[roguetoaster]

I see you are in Detroit so you know about snow + iX. I had an 89 iX sedan when I lived in MA, and even though it was an autotragic as soon as the snow hit it was hammer time. the other 3 seasons I questioned why I owned it.

All seasons = hammer time in RWD, and in winter you just have more fun.

[Conrad311]

All seasons = hammer time in RWD, and in winter you just have more fun.

This is absolutely true, but an iX with blizzaks on it gives you a much better chance of getting out of a snowbank when you have too much fun

[roguetoaster]

Cartridge style front strut housing, the e36 style strut assembly is much nicer to remove and install since no ball joint have to be separated

Positive this was posted before, so spammer?

[Vincenze]

Technology will eventually fix that issue. Once large 3D printers capable of printing car shells become affordable enough, which will happen in the future, then you will be able to 3D print your own E30 shell (or any other classic car shell for that matter) for pennies on the dollar. You can even print out all the parts needed to build an entire car. We're still at least 2-3 decades before that reality however. In the meantime, the existing pool of clean E30 shells should be enough to last for another 2-3 decades.

Here's an Argentinian replica of the Bugatti 35 on Bat.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1927-bugatti-pur-sang-type-45/

And the company doesn't use any 3D printers to create parts.

[Andrew325is]

E30s are probably the most trouble-free BMWs, so this thread is kinda dumb IMO. There are a few things that bug me though. The power antenna that gets stuck, leaks in the trunk, lack of proper or correct maintenance by previous owners, poor availability of many new parts, ridiculous pricing of M3s and S14s.

[Conrad311]

E30s are probably the most trouble-free BMWs, so this thread is kinda dumb IMO. There are a few things that bug me though. The power antenna that gets stuck, leaks in the trunk, lack of proper or correct maintenance by previous owners, poor availability of many new parts, ridiculous pricing of M3s and S14s.

If you had read the thread you would see that is literally the whole intention behind it, we are all on r3v presumably because we love them and choose to drive them, but just because they are great it doesn'’t make them perfect.

This thread is just to see what few things aggravate us or what we would like to be different. And many of the things you shared have been said by others, so clearly they are an annoying reality of e30s.

[IceWhite]

R3V's new/recent update.

[doctorx]

Price and availability of parts. $120 for a weather strip... really? I dont really have a choice if i want to make my vert waterproof... but wow. Some of the weird electrical decisions. BMW were absolute geniuses on mechanics... electrical...not so much.