Is This Where The E30 Market Is Now..?

[Contrails 317]

8 hours ago, Ghost Chip said:

On my hunt for an e30, I was messaging someone on fb and found out that they were selling a M325i. Can’t afford it but I enquired since I was curious, and the price was definitely beyond my budget 😂. They’re definitely out there. 

Is this the silver Mtech 2? 

[Olaf 3317]

1 hour ago, Driftit said:

Curious. For those still trying to buy an E30 in this market. Why?

Investment?

 

 

Because they want one.  Beause they've always wanted one, and can now afford one.  Because they rode in one as kids.  Their parents/relatives/friends/neighbours had one.  Because it's a cool looking car.  Because it's a fun car.  Because VW Beetles & Kombis - also cool cars - are beyond the reach of most, whereas e30's are affordable.

Why does anyone buy a classic or collectable car?!

Do their motives need to be validated, pass some arbitrary bar?

Why do people want to buy a house in this market?  Speculation?

 

[Olaf 3317]

PS:  because the 80's are in again, and who really wants to be seen driving an Audi.

[gjm 3258]

1 hour ago, Olaf said:

Why do people want to buy a house in this market?  Speculation?

That's easy - need somewhere to live and don't want to pay someone else's mortgage and bills! Of course, that's balanced by paying interest to a lender instead.

1 hour ago, Olaf said:

PS:  because the 80's are in again, and who really wants to be seen driving an Audi.

Probably (even?) harder to find parts for, too.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

4 hours ago, Driftit said:

Investment?

I do hope not, the classic car market has always been fraught with danger as an investment idea, with many “crashes” leaving investors well out of pocket.

Any vehicle with an internal combustion engine in it is an extremely risky proposition right now, I can foresee the lunatic greenies only being happy once all such cars are totally banned from use. The ban on sales of such new vehicles is only the first step.

I have seen E30s and other classics converted to electric, but this is not a cheap process and takes away from the classic feel for me. I have been thinking about a possible ethanol (or similar) conversion on a petrol engine but as this still produces CO2 emissions I don’t know if this would be allowed either.

Pretty sure this would have a massive effect on the value of classics, as even if they are garage queen’s, driving them now and again is still part of the point. There are very few cars that could be considered as art and hold value just to be looked at.

[Ghost Chip 188]

8 hours ago, Contrails said:

Is this the silver Mtech 2? 

If you’re talking about the one based in Dunedin then probably yeah.

@Driftit because they look great and seem fun to drive even as a daily. Plus, only a matter of time until we can’t have petrol engines on the road anymore. As per what @E30 325i Rag-Top said I think there was a recommendation that NZ bans new sales of petrol and diesel by 2032. 

[Driftit 2078]

8 hours ago, Olaf said:

 

 

Because they want one.  Beause they've always wanted one, and can now afford one.  Because they rode in one as kids.  Their parents/relatives/friends/neighbours had one.  Because it's a cool looking car.  Because it's a fun car.  Because VW Beetles & Kombis - also cool cars - are beyond the reach of most, whereas e30's are affordable.

Why does anyone buy a classic or collectable car?!

Do their motives need to be validated, pass some arbitrary bar?

Why do people want to buy a house in this market?  Speculation?

 

•  

So all of these people have only come into money and 80s hype in the last 4 years? I doubt that. 4 years ago you could buy the same cars for less than 15k.

They have been cheap for decades. All of a sudden they are not and it's a big deal and they have to have one...

 

 

[gjm 3258]

32 minutes ago, Driftit said:

So all of these people have only come into money and 80s hype in the last 4 years? I doubt that. 4 years ago you could buy the same cars for less than 15k.

They have been cheap for decades. All of a sudden they are not and it's a big deal and they have to have one...

 

 

In NZ at least, a lot of people have holiday money they've not recently spent.

[Olaf 3317]

48 minutes ago, gjm said:

In NZ at least, a lot of people have holiday money they've not recently spent.

no mate, they've spent it all on housing rennovations, boats, cars, or rental properties... and e30's.

[Ghost Chip 188]

1 hour ago, Driftit said:

They have been cheap for decades. All of a sudden they are not and it's a big deal and they have to have one...

Not sure about others but if you really want to know then I’ll explain. Here’s the thing, I’ve always really liked cars. I grew up watching JDMs and muscle cars in films and have always been fascinated by them. But, I have never been able to justify buying anything beyond an economical hatchback import as I felt like money could be better off used somewhere else. I’ve recently had a change of heart as I really enjoy driving, want to learn how to drive manual, and want to learn more about cars in general. I thought, why not tinker around in a car that I’d want to keep and aim to drive daily. I did a bit of research, read up on some cars, and among my list of cars that I liked and that wasn’t too expensive, an e30 was one of them (if you’re curious, I’m also looking for an e36, 635csi, golf gti, MR2, AE86/BRZ, and if it really doesn’t work out then a hilux or a mx5). I’m as fresh as they come to all this and it’s just my luck that the cars that I like have also started to become more expensive + all of the other ones that are just out of reach (260z/280z, 911, old muscle cars, etc...). Other people have suggested 130i which I’m aesthetically not a big fan of but have yet to drive one so don’t want to count it out yet. 135i was also suggested. If you or others have any other suggestions then let me know - will be off-topic for this thread though.

At the end of the day, while I really want an e30, I don’t “have to have one”. I would’ve bought an overpriced one if that was the case.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

3 hours ago, Driftit said:

They have been cheap for decades. All of a sudden they are not and it's a big deal and they have to have one...

Is it a case of supply versus demand? More and more E30s have got to the point where they are beyond keeping road-worthy, either in accidents or rust / wearing out and gone to the great wreckers in the sky. And there’s no new ones being made.

At the same time, the interest has spread from the core group of E30 fans out to a far wider group, to drifters, boy racers even hipsters looking to get some old school cool.

Yes, prices seem to have rocketed recently, but they have been climbing noticeably for a long time.

Now there is a very, very small pool of good examples of desirable models, being chased by larger numbers of eager buyers.    Existing Fans who had a 320i before are now maybe looking to “move up” to an M325i or M3.

The knock on effect is that then even poor examples of desirable models (US$20k for a rusted out M3 roller..) and trickle down to other models as buyers can’t find / afford what they really want and settle for something a little lower down the pecking order. 

All of which then fuels the feeding frenzy.. sounds familiar?

Would I pay big money for an E30? yes, if the right M325i or M3 came along. As an investment? No, to drive, and fix, and polish and look at.

 

[Driftit 2078]

Fair enough.  Curiosity satisfied.

I guess I struggle with the pricing because I have had so many E30's.  And I just don't see them being worth more than about $15K.

Well I feel sorry for those that missed the good old days when they were sub 10K.

[Ghost Chip 188]

@Driftit Mate, don’t worry, you’re not the only one struggling with the pricing 😅. I wish I had a change of heart 5 years ago rather than now. But it is what it is.

[Eagle 1662]

Besides the pricing, E30 technology is quite old these days. Can be great from a cost and reliability standpoint, but for learning things the E36 is the far better car for your requirements.      

 

[KwS 2425]

2 hours ago, Eagle said:

Besides the pricing, E30 technology is quite old these days. Can be great from a cost and reliability standpoint, but for learning things the E36 is the far better car for your requirements.      

 

Even an E46 is a better all round car. A nice 330i manual coupe is cheaper than an E30 and so much more car. There is something to be said about the simplicity of the E30, but prices are just to the point of being stupid now and it doesnt make financial sense unless you wanted one for certain reasons (M3, sentimental value etc)

[str8_6 275]

1 hour ago, KwS said:

Even an E46 is a better all round car. A nice 330i manual coupe is cheaper than an E30 and so much more car. There is something to be said about the simplicity of the E30, but prices are just to the point of being stupid now and it doesnt make financial sense unless you wanted one for certain reasons (M3, sentimental value etc)

You’d hope the e46 was an improvement on the previous generation. The e46 is considered by most the sweet spot of 3 series and they’re great value. That being said, driving both an e46 (330ci) and e30 (325i) back to back recently, the e30 is just👌... It probably is sentimental and I quite like that it’s not particularly fast by today’s standards however BMW and financial sense. Not sure those two things go together. 

[Ghost Chip 188]

1 hour ago, KwS said:

Even an E46 is a better all round car. A nice 330i manual coupe is cheaper than an E30 and so much more car. There is something to be said about the simplicity of the E30, but prices are just to the point of being stupid now and it doesnt make financial sense unless you wanted one for certain reasons (M3, sentimental value etc)

Yeah, have been thinking about getting an e46 330ci or an e87 130i. There’s just something about the simplicity of an old car that I really like though. It’s always been a dream to own a classic that I can enjoy as much as possible.

[Contrails 317]

I think an E28 is a great buy in comparison to an E30 especially considering the prices are very reasonable for them.  

[gjm 3258]

19 minutes ago, Contrails said:

I think an E28 is a great buy in comparison to an E30 especially considering the prices are very reasonable for them.  

I do like the E30. I'd like a 4-cylinder one.
But a 6-pot E28 would also provide a very interesting platform.

[Sammo 2544]

E34s are looking like good value to scratch the quad headlight boxy BMW itch too.

Can’t imagine they are as fun to throw around a few twisties though.

[Cammsport 390]

21 minutes ago, Sammo said:

E34s are looking like good value to scratch the quad headlight boxy BMW itch too.

Can’t imagine they are as fun to throw around a few twisties though.

E34 touring would be so good. But again, getting expensive. 

[Driftit 2078]

27 minutes ago, Sammo said:

E34s are looking like good value to scratch the quad headlight boxy BMW itch too.

Can’t imagine they are as fun to throw around a few twisties though.

Dump some weight out of them and they honestly feel the same.  Having moved from an E30 Series car to an E34 535.

I think my E34 was just over 1200kg's last on the scales.  My Series car was whatever the series weight was.  Jon might remember.  1175kg's with me in it?

The extra size takes a bit to get used to though.  And the steering is very light and needs to be underdriven.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

Blimey, now you’re asking. That was a long time ago that we were weighing E30s all week-end. It was somewhere around the 1100kgs mark for the six-cylinder cars, it changed a bit over the years for parity across the models. Good work getting the 535 down to 1200kg, as you say not miles away from E30 weights.

[qube 3570]

The E34 535i I used to have was one of the most tail happy cars I have ever owned. It’s heaps of fun.

[Eagle 1662]

21 hours ago, KwS said:

Even an E46 is a better all round car. A nice 330i manual coupe is cheaper than an E30 and so much more car. There is something to be said about the simplicity of the E30, but prices are just to the point of being stupid now and it doesnt make financial sense unless you wanted one for certain reasons (M3, sentimental value etc)

Purchase price for 325i\328i 6 cyl manual and repairs id still go with the E36 myself, last BMW with glass headlights too.

The E36 Ti is the closest BMW ive driven that felt like the E30.