Best states to own an e30

[VinniE30]

What do you AZ and NM people have to say about AZ vs NM? They seem like basically the same to me but with NM having more freedom but being more remote.

[future rs]

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

rust is very uncommon here.

albuquerque has a good VW and slim BMW scene. Within city limits there are some emissions laws but pretty lax. And modified cars get very little attention from law enforcement.

traffic is nothing compared to other states.

beautiful 5 seasons.

very minimal snow if any.

lots of outdoors life.

low cost of living.

I enjoy albuquerque a lot. snowboarding/skiing hiking backpacking mountain biking road biking (rated one of the top bike friendly cities) plus the balloon fiesta is pretty cool. (if you into gambling there are tons of casino's on the outskirts on the reservations.)

[VinniE30]

and guys don't forget to add yourself to the r3v members map!

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=233590

[kwill22]

Yea but that happened in south Florida. Here you only worry about the police of you're doing somthing with drugs or violence. They could car less about your car but they will not hesitate to shoot, tase, beat, tackle, drop kick, etc... Lol hence why highnakedcrazynegro isn't around to tell his side of the story.

[VinniE30]

Seems like there's no state without some major bad sides. Just as I thought.

Now it's time to do Maryland. I moved here from NJ about a year ago or so and I know it pretty well now.

Motorist laws
Pretty bad. Way too many cops patrolling and they aren't out to protect, they are out to meet quotas and bring in revenue. Many speed traps.(and many speed cameras) Many red light cameras.(with "shortened" yellow lights to get extra revenue)
One of the worst "police states" if not the worst.
Maryland is significantly worse than other states in this regard.
Here's one example of how police are here, trust me there are many more examples i've seen...

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2008566,00.html

And here's an article on how the states compare to each other in regards to motorist laws and motorist freedoms(or lack of). Maryland is third worst!!!

http://www.motorists.org/press/watch-your-wallet-in-these-10-states

Historic/vintage car laws
This is actually really good. A vehicle only has to be 20 years old to register it as historic. You technically by law can only drive the historic registered car to events, only occasionally, not to work or daily, etc. But this isin't enforced in my experience and they don't even ask or check to see if you have another car to daily when you register the historic car. I see many old cars with historic plates when i'm out. You don't have to get the historic car inspected or emissions tested and get a cool, minimal, plain white license plate.:D

Climate (read: susceptible to rust?)
Maryland is in the rust belt. We get snow and they salt the roads.
It's not the worst by any means though. We don't get as much snow as some other farther northern states and don't get salty corroding wind from the ocean, at least not in my part of the state.
High humidity though which contributes to rust in the summer as well!!!

Concentration of e30-people
Very good, one of the best. Probably only behind washington state and cali.
We have weekly meets near DC (though that's a bit far from me) and I know a lot of people near me in the baltimore area and also nearby in delaware, PA, and NJ.
The mid-atlantic forum on here gets more traffic than most other regions.
Also many events. Bimmerfest east is here, H20, and many more.

Local motorsport events (auto-x, local racetracks, etc)
I'm halfway between NJMP and summit point, two well known tracks. There's also VIR in northern virginia. I know theres auto-x events closer to DC area too.
Overall one of the best areas on the east coast in this regard.

Traffic and driving roads (twisties?, potholes and condition of roads)
Near Baltimore and DC traffic is very bad but there's a lot of rural areas where it's not that have great twisties and scenic driving roads. Road condition is typical of northeast states - bad; there are worse states though. I came from NJ and it's definitely worse there.

Places to buy E30 related things locally (shops, machine shops, or aftermarket manufacturers)
getbmwparts.com is located near DC. Not any major well known places I can think of. Guten parts is about 3 hours away up in NJ. Not sure about shops because I do everything myself but I believe it's good in that regard.

Local e30 availability, condition, and prices
Good e30 concentration so good availability but usually rusty condition. Price for a non rust e30 is significantly higher than the west coast.

[slaterd]

Move to Phoenix broseph. There's a pretty big scene out here and the dry weather is really easy on our older shells.

[CrusherCurtis]

Worst place: Chicago
No modification laws and no emissions for e30s

But: Roads are shit, front plate law, super weak e30 scene, harsh winters with salt.

[slaterd]

AZ, NM, TX ftw.




everyone loves to buy DESERT cars.

fixed

[slaterd]

^But you get your face eaten off by a high, naked black man.

[kwill22]

Northern Florida.

E30 scene isn't that big. Mostly japanese and v-dubs.
Laws. They don't give a F what you do to your car pretty much. I've never known anyone to get pulled over to check their car outside of tint.
No emissions, roads aren't bad.
Yea Mosquitos and yellow flies can get bad. Depends on where you live though. Gets hot but not like Orlando and tampa. Hurricanes don't touch north Florida. The most we get is some wind and rain.
Vintage cars have to be 25 years or more and not be a daily. I forget how many miles allowed a year.
Bottom line. Move to north Florida an let's get the scene up.

[Robotin]

CA ftw.




everyone loves to buy CA cars.

[PNWDan]

Nothing beats the PNW.
The e30 capital on the US

[Mr. Tasty]

fixed that for ya. It's a shame it gets much too hot to live without AC.

toon your m50 swap came without A/C?

[eskimo810]

Vermont sure as hell isn't. Only thing I have here is ethanol free mid-grade from canada. Inevitable rust, lots of 10-under-the-limit subaru and prius drivers, and twisty roads covered in ruts and potholes kind of outweigh that.

[Eric]

Colorado has some pretty killer mountain roads... you just need to know where they are

I wish California would break off and drown in the ocean already, not only do their people infest Denver and vote Democrat, but now their laws are migrating as well. Classic car registration used to be a rolling 25 year landmark. Since 2009, it is now required to be pre-1975 to get Colorado collector car plates and be emissions exempt. All in the name of raising revenue by taxing for emissions on (mostly poor) people who drive cars from the 80s... not that the average "collector car" plated vehicles are actually collectible in the least. Lucky that my e30 is an '84 and turned 25 in January '09, got my collector plates, and then they shut the window in September of '09. So basically according to the state of Colorado no mas collector vehicle e30s, except anyone like me who slipped in right before they shut the door.

True, I haven't found any really great mountain roads while here, but the few that I've been on were just meh compared to any of the good CA roads.

The problem with CO is that you are starting at 6,000 feet. When I went over the pass to winter park earlier this month my M5 was seriously wheezing! In CA the foothill roads are amazing and you don't loose engine power.

Plus there is all kinds of different stuff. Canyon roads, foothill roads, mountain roads, forest roads. Man I miss that place!