Anybody know this E30s history?

[Kepes 231]

Evening,

My friend is looking at getting into the E30 game and he's a little concerned about this particular car. He wanted an inspection but I told him it's not worth it. The guy selling it seems genuine, however he has mentioned there is a whine coming from the gearbox at 80km and above. The driveshaft has been re-balanced. Possible diff whine?? 

Anyway, being that this car is in Motueka it's a bit of a mission to check out for us in Wellington. If anybody has any insight on this E30 that would be wicked! For 2.5k, it's a lot cheaper than what a lot of others are fetching. Manual 318i

"My first and definitely not last bmw that i will own, i love this car but i need to redirect my money and efforts into building a house right now...!
Brand neew battery, new oil and filter, new gearbox oil, Rebuilt and rebalanced driveshaft cost $500, new odometer gears, fresh WOF and 6months rego, New fog lights and bulbs. Open to offers...im not out to rip anyonw off, i just dont want to loose to much on the sale."

[zero 1162]

You would have to be mad not to get an inspection done.

[qube 3570]

you would be mad to not buy it straight away for 2.5k for a manual e30. Only thing I would check for is rust and if it checks out okay then you worry about all the other problems later

[zero 1162]

3 hours ago, qube said:

you would be mad to not buy it straight away for 2.5k for a manual e30. Only thing I would check for is rust and if it checks out okay then you worry about all the other problems later

Agree to disagree.

 

I've heard of someone buying an e36, and then finding out the chassis was twisted.

[Olaf 3345]

so it's missing a couple of cylinders, then...

[aja540i 1906]

You know its going to need work, save the cost of the inspection and spend it fixing it up. Just my 2 cents.

[gjm 3258]

1 hour ago, Olaf said:

so it's missing a couple of cylinders, then...

I was going to say M10s are awesome, but it looks to be a facelift so it'll have a M42.

1 hour ago, aja540i said:

You know its going to need work, save the cost of the inspection and spend it fixing it up. Just my 2 cents.

This. It'll need work.

However, at 2.5k for a WoF'd and rego'd manual E30 it's priced pretty well provided it'll not fold in half from rust. You could very, very easily spend $5-6k and more on something that looks and sounds nice, but still needs everything doing. Go into it with eyes open, expect the worst, and you could be pleasantly surprised.

Rust is the big issue. Anything else can be sorted.

[Gabe79 410]

Dunno eh. Yes, you could end up spending a lot to get it going.If you are ready to drop $5-6k in issues, why not drop $230 up front to find out what those issues might be? It is a good price assuming a few very large caveats don't apply. Get the inspection and find out about those caveats. Then buy happily, or walk away happily.

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

Ahhh, I remember the days of buying E30s. Good times.

My approach nowadays would be- not really too fussed what other problems it has as most are pretty easy and relatively cheap to sort, but it MUST be free of major rust. How will you find out about the rust that you can almost guarantee will be there, if the car is not inspected?

[Kepes 231]

Thanks for all of the thoughts, I agree with the majority here, it's an almost 30 year old car of course there will be a lot wrong with it but if it's not rusty then those other things can be fixed.

The seller is being quite strange too, almost trying to talk us out of coming down to buy it, perhaps there is something more wrong with it that he doesn't want to tell us. Who knows. Anyway, he said someone local is having a look at it this weekend and may buy it, if not, we'll be making the trip down next week.

[Olaf 3345]

For a shade under $3k you can buy that e46 328i that's on sale in this parish, avoid e30 scene tax and get a better, safer car.  No, it's not an e30.  But it is better braked, better handling, torsionally more rigid, quieter.  And there's a whole lot less risk.  than buying a 30 year old car of unknown provenance.  

just a thought.

 

PS - it's not missing two cylinders, is more powerful, more efficient, and has lower emissions.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Olaf
PS design

[Olaf 3345]

I forgot to mention - a $3k 6 cylinder 325/328/330 (that seller must be insane™*** ) e46 is massively better value than any e30 at the same price or less.

*** @Young Thrash Driver will get the reference

Edited April 29, 2017 by Olaf
get the reference

[Eagle 1680]

You buy an E30 because it's an E30, while i like the E46 they are nothing like the E30 experience.

A good E30 goes up in value, easier to work on and diagnose, parts are cheaper\less of them\more robust.   

[Olaf 3345]

oh, I get it.  I've owned an e30, I've driven many.  I understand them and get what they are.  

However in terms of making a rational purchase of a sub-$3k car where the downside is potentially double the purchase price, we're not talking about someone with a $10k project budget where the start is $2500 and there's plenty for whatever shows up.  

I get the sense that $2500 is where it's at... so buy the best car you can.  A 6 cyl e46 is a much better car than a 4cyl e30 with both cars at $3k.  By all means, take the hair-shirt approach, if fashion's more important.  

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

My mechanic told me my one is the best one in the world, and he knows everything about cars...

No, lets not go there

Sounds like we are all agreed then, get it checked for rust? You could pop over on the ferry, Toby. Make a day of it, check it over, and your mate drives it home. So much more interesting than putting it on a truck.

[Kepes 231]

6 hours ago, Olaf said:

oh, I get it.  I've owned an e30, I've driven many.  I understand them and get what they are.  

However in terms of making a rational purchase of a sub-$3k car where the downside is potentially double the purchase price, we're not talking about someone with a $10k project budget where the start is $2500 and there's plenty for whatever shows up.  

I get the sense that $2500 is where it's at... so buy the best car you can.  A 6 cyl e46 is a much better car than a 4cyl e30 with both cars at $3k.  By all means, take the hair-shirt approach, if fashion's more important.  

Yup, on paper the E46 is a much better car for the money, totally. But trendiness is more important, right? 
 

5 hours ago, Young Thrash Driver said:

My mechanic told me my one is the best one in the world, and he knows everything about cars...

No, lets not go there

Sounds like we are all agreed then, get it checked for rust? You could pop over on the ferry, Toby. Make a day of it, check it over, and your mate drives it home. So much more interesting than putting it on a truck.

That will probably be the go next week, provided it doesn't sell this weekend. Will let you all know how things go!

[Olaf 3345]

3 hours ago, Kepes said:

Yup, on paper the E46 is a much better car for the money, totally. But trendiness is more important, right? 

on paper?  no mate, it's had more than a decade's subsequent development experience from BMW engineers - and their partners - rolled into it.  Everything they'd learned from the e21, e30, e36 is in there!  They didn't make a worse car.  They made one with more grip.  More comfort.  Better brakes.  Better steering.  It's heavier, not because they couldn't be arsed making it lighter, but because they needed to make it stronger - and at the price-point couldn't afford to put in more alloy than they already had.  They gave it more horsepower, and 24 valves, and more torque, and all the advancements of fuel injection and emmissions and transmission and traction control.

Most significantly:  although you can't throw the e46 around like an old crisp packet, you arrive in Turangi feeling better for crossing the desert road in an e46 because it's more precise, and because you're worrying less about the previous owner's bodges, and are further away from exceeding the performance envelope of the vehicle.  You know that if that eejit coming the other way gets it wrong and you have a 'coming together' you'll be better off in the e46 when the laws of physics have argued it out, than in the e30.  The e46 fails on the basics of the Lotus approach (add lightness), and some of the "fun" of the e30 has been engineered out in favour of betterment.

There are still some very good examples out there, but their price is climbing well into vaunted classic territory.  By all means, buy an e30 emotionally; but accept that the scene tax has inflated their value and appeal somewhat beyond their current capability.   

[Eagle 1680]

14 hours ago, Olaf said:

oh, I get it.  I've owned an e30, I've driven many.  I understand them and get what they are.  

However in terms of making a rational purchase of a sub-$3k car where the downside is potentially double the purchase price, we're not talking about someone with a $10k project budget where the start is $2500 and there's plenty for whatever shows up.  

I get the sense that $2500 is where it's at... so buy the best car you can.  A 6 cyl e46 is a much better car than a 4cyl e30 with both cars at $3k.  By all means, take the hair-shirt approach, if fashion's more important.  

While i haven't see this particular 3k E46 you gotta admit it could just as easy be a money pit, potentially much more. While the E46 318i M43 is very slow it's far cheaper to maintain and less problematic than any 6 cylinder models if we're talking budget wise. 

For me it comes down to why is the car being bought and what it's going to be used for.   

[Olaf 3345]

6 minutes ago, Eagle said:

While i haven't see this particular 3k E46 you gotta admit it could just as easy be a money pit, potentially much more. While the E46 318i M43 is very slow it's far cheaper to maintain and less problematic than any 6 cylinder models if we're talking budget wise. 

For me it comes down to why is the car being bought and what it's going to be used for.   

I think we'll agree to disagree there.

E46:

"Auto sedan, well looked after.

I've had it for over 2 years, and replaced:
-Radiator, 
-Thermostat 
-New shocks all round 
-Front lower control arms 
-Oil filter housing gasket 
-AC leak fixed and regassed 
-Transmission fluid and filter replaced. 

Basically everything that needs replacing in a 200,000km+ E46"

Summary:  has had plenty of reasonable maintenance, by account.

e30:

"The guy selling it seems genuine, however he has mentioned there is a whine coming from the gearbox at 80km and above. The driveshaft has been re-balanced. Possible diff whine?? 

"My first and definitely not last bmw that i will own, i love this car but i need to redirect my money and efforts into building a house right now...!
Brand neew battery, new oil and filter, new gearbox oil, Rebuilt and rebalanced driveshaft cost $500, new odometer gears, fresh WOF and 6months rego, New fog lights and bulbs. Open to offers...im not out to rip anyonw off, i just dont want to loose to much on the sale."

Summary:  likely drivetrain thrashage, evidenced by a rebuilt driveshaft (?!!) and the diff's whining... it's had an oil change, a battery, and bulbs to get a WoF.

Is any car likely to be a money pit?  Yes - other than a toyota corolla.  Is this e46 likely to be more of a money pit than this e30?  No, clearly not.

What it's going to be used for?  Forgive me, I assumed reliable transport was the first order of the day!  

[nick496 269]

Figured I'd chime in here, seeing as I own both, and that's my E46 for sale.

I purchased that a few years ago for about 4k, and have spent over 3k on it.
From what I've seen, the M43 does have a few less hassles than the 6 cylinders, but if the rest of the car needs the same maintenance (shocks, bushings).
The fuel economy is definitely more, 2-3L depending on how you drive it, but it does have almost twice the power.

I also purchased an E30 for 5k a few years ago, spent close the 3k on it in maintenance parts on it, and would say it's gone up in value (mmm E30 tax)

Both have been reliable to drive.

I don't enjoy driving the E30 in the wet, so I'd take the E46 out instead for the points mentioned previous by Olaf.
But when the weather is good, it's E30 all the way. (My wife wasn't too impressed the other night when we went out in the E30 because it currently has no heater haha)

I haven't encountered anything yet that is significantly harder for the home mechanic to do on the E46 vs the E30. But the E46 has been a bit more annoying (Had a leaking oil filter housing unit, no it wasn't the gasket...), but would say the E46 is a better all-round car, but E30 is what I love.

But back on topic
You've take the advice, and looking to check out out physically for rust, as that will be the biggest issue with E30's. Everything else is pretty easy to spin a spanner on.
But depending on what your mate wants to do with it, could empty his wallet quickly (but that's more the point with project cars)

[Eagle 1680]

4 hours ago, Olaf said:

I think we'll agree to disagree there.

As i stated i had no info on the E46 you were comparing it to. I agree on the face of it the E46 is the better buy but if id have to look at both to confirm.

Quite a number of M52\M54 engines ive driven have had been lacking in power due to bad vanos seals. May not be obvious to the average person but once you've driven a sorted one it's quite obvious.

 

[qube 3570]

4 hours ago, nick496 said:

but would say the E46 is a better all-round car, but E30 is what I love.

 

this pretty much sums it up.

[Olaf 3345]

4 hours ago, Eagle said:

Quite a number of M52\M54 engines ive driven have had been lacking in power due to bad vanos seals. May not be obvious to the average person but once you've driven a sorted one it's quite obvious.

Good point.  I *think* mine's okay - page euro checked it out at my request recently and said they're okay - I'd love someone who's driven both to try mine.

[Kepes 231]

Well unfortunately the car sold over the weekend, and it wasn't to my friend! Really appreciate what every had to say. A manual E30 for $2.5k is great provided it's not a rust bucket. This is the second one he's missed out on. The trouble is, his budget is only around $3k, and at that price they get snapped up pretty quick. So, still in the market. For an E30 that is, not an E46, sorry, Olaf