Best states to own an e30

[slammin.e28]

Virginia ;)

This, but only if you live in the western part of the state. Not NOVa, not Tidewater.

We have no emissions inspections, many backroads, few cops (outside of the cities).

State vehicle inspection is easy to pass, especially if you know someone with an inspection license. It's also nice to know that everyone else's vehicle had to pass some sort of inspection. Even knowing someone won't get you a sticker if your brakes don't work.

AQ vehicle laws are pretty lax.

Not a huge concentration, but enough people that if you need help they're within a 30 minute drive at most (Inufaye, Stoner Sam, and I all live within 10 miles of each other.)

Insurance doesn't kill. I, with a not so clean driving record, pay $25/month on my e28. I think my e30 was ~$30.

Parts are easy to get as I work at a shop managing the parts dept.

Really, besides a few bullshit things, I like living here and being a car nut here. Sure, it's pretty boring living out in the boonies, but we make our own fun.

Rust, as long as you don't live in Tidewater, no worries, really.

No natural disasters really. Mountains protect us.

Moonshine. Franklin County is here. Moonshine capital of the world. (Anyone going to see Lawless? I am...)

EDIT: Also, we have the cheapest vanity plates in the US.

[slammin.e28]

Can someone from florida comment?

Hurricanes.

/nuff said.

[tonerrrr]

Hurricanes.

/nuff said.

But no snow evar.

/nuff said. (for me anyway)

Other than that, no inspection is nice, no hills is bad. The most fun you can have is going around a roundabout. I enjoy the weather, haven't been to any meets here though so can't comment on the 'scene' here specifically. FL is pretty big.

[slammin.e28]

But no snow evar.

/nuff said. (for me anyway)

Fuck bugs too, and giant ass mosquitoes = SUPER MALARIA.

Can't drive an e30 when your dead.

/nuff said.

[tonerrrr]

Fuck bugs too, and giant ass mosquitoes = SUPER MALARIA.

Can't drive an e30 when your dead.

/nuff said.

Hahaha, very true. I've never been dead but I could imagine I wouldn't be happy not being able to drive my e30. :hitler:

[spike68]

Georgia is definitely up there. Especialy around ATL

There are plenty of e30s around, in some areas you dont need emissions and if you do, any car over 25 years old does not need it (only a few more years left for some!). Traffic is bad in downtown, but the outskirts arent bad at all. Of course it dosent snow often. PLENTY of evens ground on all around. drifting, auto-x, circuit, you name it. Plus awesome twisty public roads up in north GA.
Plenty of shops to get e30 parts. My personally, I went to Markert Motor works. Dae is a great guy and gives you the good stuff. Hes honest too. does everything from maintenance to engine swaps. so pretty much everything. hes definitely recommended. Hes pretty active in here too (328junkie).

[giantkeeper]

State - Arizona (Phoenix)

Motorist laws - lax
Historic/vintage car laws - 25 years
Climate - 2 Hot and not as hot, hot
Concentration of e30-people - Meh
Local motorsport events - NASA, PAS, CCA...... Locales - Firebird, AMP, INDE
Traffic - reasonable (compared to San Diego)
Driving roads - Flat Grid in town, mountains and twisties with 1-3 hours in any direction
Places to buy E30 related things locally - None
Local e30 availability, condition, and prices - Shitty, people think they are gold. Almost all of us go to SoCal for ours.

[slammin.e28]

Also, Va has VIR down south, and Summit Point up north. I'm pretty much smack in the middle of them.

[evandael]

I motion for Pennsylvania:

Motorist laws: simple; don't speed, blend in, know your route, plan accordingly. cops don't have a chip on their shoulder in this state, or at least the one's i've run into. we have pretty low interstate speed limits, but traffic often dictates the speeds. emissions and inspection are mandatory, which is a double-edged sword, but it is nice knowing that most of the cars on the road are in decent working order. Insurance is respectable.

Historic/vintage car laws: if your car is 25+ years old rolling, collector/historic plates are simple enough to get. they do come with some driving restrictions and higher plate fees, so i don't bother.

Climate: yeah, we have winter, and salt. cars rust here. that's one downside. but the other 8 months of the year are wonderful.
Concentration of e30-people: i've seen my fair share. it's a big state but there are concentrations around philly and pittsburgh, as well as in the central areas.

Local motorsport events (auto-x, local racetracks, etc): SCCA, BMWCCA, PCA are all pretty big in PA, and we have PIR (formerly BeaveRun) and are within 4 hours or so of Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glenn, VIR, Summit Point etc, depending on where in the state you reside.

Traffic and driving roads: so many good roads all over the state, specifically through and along the appalachian mountains. there are potholes but honestly, it's not any worse than anywhere else. i love driving in this state.

Places to buy E30 related things locally: i don't know. i buy most of my stuff through ECS which is in Ohio, and i work on my car myself, but i know there are shops around.

Local e30 availability, condition, and prices: i see plenty of deals in the tri-state area, and decent e30's seem relatively abundant (though nowhere like the Western states). prices are on the lower end of the spectrum, thankfully. e30's are hard to come across in yards, though, or so i've found.

[capitoljake13]

Minnesota: This is a difficult series of questions up here depending on your circumstances. I garage my vert in the winter and use my pickup until the first rain runs the salt out. If it's your only DD, however, you're dealing with ice, salt and potholes until about April.

On the other hand... if you're me;

Motorist laws - No smog/emissions testing.. don't speed around troopers, do wear your seatbelt, don't text.. and if you're in a small-town tint and loud exhaust will get you pulled over (i'm talking glass-packs and civic fart-cans, but who does that anyway?)

Historic/vintage car laws - every E30 today could be licensed as a Collector (unless you have a 93 vert or a 94 touring), one time fee

Climate - there are two seasons: perfect driving weather, and awful driving weather

Concentration of e30-people - I see a couple on my short commute to work occasionally but haven't spotted them on here. Usually older folks driving stock mint. They live on the lakes, and drive them when it's nice out

Local motorsport events (auto-x, local racetracks, etc) - I'm not familiar enough with this scene so to me it seems non-existent. Would have to ask some one else

Traffic and driving roads (twisties?, potholes and condition of roads) - Unfortunately the perfect driving season is also the construction season so stay out of the metro if you can. Long open cruises on the farming side of the state. Fun, winding cruises around the lakes on the vacation side of the state. Potholes get filled in April. If you're lowered and hit one before then you're definitely smacking your oil-pan or worse. But if you're patient it's well worth the wait. North shore lake superior, narrow covered roads wayy up north, limestone cliffs, river bluffs, scenic lake byways, ka-blam

Places to buy E30 related things locally (shops, machine shops, or aftermarket manufacturers) - Two good import shops and a BMW dealer will get you the hard to find stuff. A few big pick-n-pull sites will have 3-4 e30's on hand. And then there's Ebay...

Local e30 availability, condition, and prices - Some people think they're gold. Some people don't know what they have. But there are always several for sale on craigslist.

[e30jake]

Virginia roads spoiled me. Ive been in ohio for school less than a month and already miss the hills and curves I drove on every day at home. The one thing about VA is that about one week out of every month cops pull you over for basically nothing because they have a quota to meet.

Sent from my ADR6325 using Tapatalk 2

[richardb]

Connecticut:

*20 years gets you classic status with "Early American" plates
*Tax assessment at no more than $500 (incentive for preservation of vintage cars)
*Emissions exempt after 25 years old

[dannyyisntt]

Michigan:

No emissions or real modification laws
Lots of curvy hilly roads

Horrible rust
Shit roads from winters/state having no money
Not a lot of other e30 owners

It's a great place to own an e30 seasonally.

[Mr. Tasty]

Arizona, but not in the summer, extreme heat and the e30's air conditioning sucks.
Really relax emissions testing (only required in PHX and Tuscon)
Not bad penalizations

[slaterd]

Take all that ish out of it and Arizona is the best. There's a healthy concentration of e30's running around in Scottsdale/Phoenix area. Also you can find minor rust/rust free e30s that are complete or just shells. Mine's been an Arizona car throughout it's life, there's pretty much no rust at all from what I've seen. Plus, no snow plus RWD 5spd equals happy driver ALL YEAR LONG!