Best states to own an e30

[VinniE30]

Lets talk about the best (and worst) states to own an e30.

Things to consider:
Motorist laws
Historic/vintage car laws
Climate (read: susceptible to rust?)
Concentration of e30-people
Local motorsport events (auto-x, local racetracks, etc)
Traffic and driving roads (twisties?, potholes and condition of roads)
Places to buy E30 related things locally (shops, machine shops, or aftermarket manufacturers)
Local e30 availability, condition, and prices

[Cronopoulos]

State - Idaho (Boise/capital)

Motorist laws - lax
Historic/vintage car laws - 30 years
Climate - 5 seasons and very little snow in the valley
Concentration of e30-people - Few and far between
Local motorsport events - Regional Auto-x (tracks are 4 hours away)
Traffic - very minimal at times
Driving roads - Roads are great, lots of twisties/hills.
Places to buy E30 related things locally - Lot's of options
Local e30 availability, condition, and prices - Shitty, people thing they are gold.

[Vivek]

I think California is pretty nice. There's not an abundance of e30's or parts or people but they're all definitely present. And the weather....I haven't had a top on my car for months, and it's been amazing. Also almost no california cars have rust, and if you're lucky you can find one with a crack free dash, which is nearly impossible in the south. BUT the laws here absolutely suck in every way possible. Cops tend to be pretty lenient with traffic stops and highways flow at 80, but a turbo can get your car impounded, and you could face $1000+ in fines on top of having to make it 100% stock. The roads are definitely good enough to be pretty low on, as much as people complain. My oil pan's been fine 2" off the ground so far.

[ohthejosh]

Virginia ;)

[VinniE30]

I think California is pretty nice. There's not an abundance of e30's or parts or people but they're all definitely present. And the weather....I haven't had a top on my car for months, and it's been amazing. Also almost no california cars have rust, and if you're lucky you can find one with a crack free dash, which is nearly impossible in the south. BUT the laws here absolutely suck in every way possible. Cops tend to be pretty lenient with traffic stops and highways flow at 80, but a turbo can get your car impounded, and you could face $1000+ in fines on top of having to make it 100% stock. The roads are definitely good enough to be pretty low on, as much as people complain. My oil pan's been fine 2" off the ground so far.

Cali seems to check off all the boxes except they are the absolute worst for motorist laws, historic car laws, modified cars. Traffic too (or so I heard). Those two things are really major though.

[F34R]

NY is really great!

Things to consider:
Motorist laws
The e30 does not have to have catalytic converters, or be hooked up to a computer to pass inspection.

Historic/vintage car laws
Anything older than 25 years can have Classic plates

Climate (read: susceptible to rust?)
I store my BMWs for the winter and a little into Spring to wait for the rain to clean the roads clear. NY winters can be harsh but the spring-late fall is like no other. late Nov-Feb is my E30 down time. 3 months is not bad IMO

Concentration of e30-people
Mostly old people own e30s in upstate NY. I only know 4 locals

Local motorsport events (auto-x, local racetracks, etc)
Abundant, we have SCCA every other weekend and Watkins Glen International is only 35mins away from me!

Traffic and driving roads (twisties?, potholes and condition of roads)
Traffic is not an issue, and the roads are good ehough for me to DD on one of the harshest e30 suspension on the interwebs. I don't even notice having full poly bushings and heavy spring rates. Now in NYC they could NEVER get as low or stiff as me for a DD.

Places to buy E30 related things locally (shops, machine shops, or aftermarket manufacturers)
Local e30 availability, condition, and prices

The local junk yards used to have 4-6 e30s at all times, they are just drying up now. Lucky to see one or two, they get parted fast(mostly me stocking up for the future).

Replacement parts are bought new from Blunttech or GPS, performance parts are from the best providers on the webs. That is how I have done it.

[camip]

Bro PNW. E30 prices are a little high but oh well shop around, mountain roads to play on, laws aren't to bad, E30 PICNIC, and e30s are everywhere when I'm in Seattle area I at least see 5 a day.

[Bimmerman325i]

CO. Awesome roads, lax laws, and a lot less people than Kalifornistania.

[lambo]

NM has essentially no car laws. However...there is, approximately, zero bmw scene.

[F34R]

NM has essentially no car laws. However...there is, approximately, zero bmw scene.

thinking of moving to NM....wondering if I should not now.

[ssaylor]

AZ - insure as a collectible and the car is smog exempt. Did this for my 89 325is and 91 M3.

[lambo]

thinking of moving to NM....wondering if I should not now.

Albuquerque has a decent car scene...but I don't think I would want to live there...or anywhere in NM. Just my opinion, though.

[Vivek]

Cali seems to check off all the boxes except they are the absolute worst for motorist laws, historic car laws, modified cars. Traffic too (or so I heard). Those two things are really major though.

Northern cali and the bay area don't really strike me as having terrible traffic. Unless it's the morning or evening on a work day, you can flow pretty fast on the freeway. LA is really terrible though basically all the time. I have no real experience with the motorist laws but I know people who daily turbo cars and people who drive insanely regularly and for the most part they're okay.

[e30lov]

Unrelated: I'm currently on tour driving across the country. I've driven over 4,000 miles so far starting in San Diego and I have not seen ONE e30 since I've departed SoCal. In PA I would regularly see a couple of e30s driving around.


I would say Maryland is a great location to own an e30. Plenty of them driving around, good bmw scene around those parts, and its pretty lax in terms of car modification laws.. etc.

[Albuquerque30]

The scene up here in the bay area is better than NM, but NM has almost no laws against modifying cars.

Solution: Keep car registered in NM, move to California. ;)