Serious question

they're good

op youre looking at the supra or skyline of the bmw crowd, the question is why are you considering buying one? If its for the "immaterial 80's car status" then it wont be worth it having to work on it, but if its because you realize how good of a car they are than it is worth it. Im assuming its the former. Also they're expensive for well maintained cars so if you dont want to have to work on it at all be prepared to pay a pretty penny. I promise if you drive a nice one youll be determined to get one.

Dunno about the E30s. The E24 however, is the shit. That shark nose gets me very hot and bothered.

No, I mean /why/ do people consider them good cars? I get that they're rwd and mechanically simple, but there are a dozen cars that fit that description.
Are they just the right ratio of street cred/performance/practicality? I only ever see praise for the first part, they've got shit suspension and fuck all power, and if they're breaking constantly why bother? People frequently comment on the seating/steering position which makes it a safe bet to assume they're shit if people notice.
It seems to me they're just as noteworthy as any other regular car from that time period, so why the circlejerk?

Wow, that's actually really nice, looks like it's the 6er from the same period? Why isn't that the constantly shilled car?

Name the dozen cars.

In the winter with no LSD, the E30 is appalling to drive.

BMWs are for niggers

Possibly because they're quite a lot more rare and as a result, more expensive.

And the ix is probably the best awd on ice period.

fuck off you know what I mean, literally any rwd car that wasn't made in the last 10 years

Not a clue. It's a beautiful car with a beautiful straight 6. This shit just screams elegance. Alpina even took this car and slapped a damn turbo in it to really make it haul ass.

I payed $2800 for mine, most I found were cheaper than similar condition E30s

>payed

Are you retarded...

Yea the 635csi you can find very cheap. The M6 however, that's gonna cost you.

First word you are looking for is 'tossable'. With minimum modification the e30 is one of the most 'trackable' cars of that era. Its why car guys who 'like' driving keyed on the e30 even before it bottomed out price wise. Only other era relevant 'light' sports car similar in tossability would be the R32 Skyline.

...

Either way the plain 633/635 is way more car for the money than you can get with an E30 these days.

I love mine but you sound like a whiney bitch go buy a civic.

{you]

having owned both an E30 325is and an E36 M3 there is no question. The E30 is hands down a better car. The E36 is trash build quality wise. The interior fell apart at 100k miles. My E30 was perfect up to 220k when I sold it.

While the M3 was faster straight line... the E30 was like driving a go kart in comparison. A much more fun car. Wish I had never sold it.

Goddamn I could plant my ass in that interior for hours, it's so aggressively proportional. I might buy an 80s bimmer just for that haha
So it's the weight an its distribution? How is is any different than a mustang from the same time?
fuck me a thread on Veeky Forums that isn't shitposting I am SO ANGRYU

It's "paid" you fucking idiot.

The E30 is actually much more roomy than the E24. If you are over 5'10 you need Recaros/sport seats for the E24 for your head to not touch the headliner, and even with those it's tight.

...

I wish I could find these in a decent condition here that arent more than a new car
I guess cause there werent many imported RHD ones theres a scarcity in the market but still

ill settle with my w124 I guess

I've driven both. The Mustang is a great car for straight line acceleration, but it is front end heavy (v8) and sloppy in corners. There was not much hp difference between the two once weight was factored in.

Where do you live? That's nuts
That's interesting. A V8 would be easier to conjure power from down the road though, no? Have you ever driven an AE86 or similar nippon car?

>dmg+ctrl

New Zealand, we only get UK and sometimes JP imports of nicer cars from that era.
My w124 for example was brought over by an expat brit in the mid 90s and he kept it after he retired. only reason it's in good nick

Oh buddy have you seen the rear seats? I've never seen a coupe that made we want to sit in the back.

C-L-A-S-S-Y

If it wasn't for this car I'd rather have a 500E/300E

If you have money to spare and can afford a weekend car, yeah, why not.

If you don't. No, they're not good.

I have $7k and could bus to work if absolutely necessary.
Can you elaborate on "not good"?

Not the same dude but they aren't much of a daily driver nor are they cheap to maintain. It's more like a toy then a car and you shouldn't rely on it if you don't have the money for costly maintenance

So you don't have any other car and you only have 7K and think it is a good idea to splurge that on a 30y+ car and you're still asking why that is not a good idea.

K buddy. Good luck with your life.

What exactly isn't supposed to be cheap to maintain on an e30?

Have you ever maintained an old vehicle in decent condition?

Naturally we all have different perceptions of what is maintaining... try to think about what is decent. Not borderline. Not half assed, not claptrapped, decent.

I bus anyway, I have a license and I'd like to have a more fruitful time-consuming hobby than carving fruit or watching chinese cartoons.
The plan is already to buy a classic in okay condition and refresh everything. How hard could it be? It's not like there's no documentation for how to replace bushings and bearings.

>rear air vents that face forward
For what purpose

BMW seriously underestimated the a/c capacity needed and had to add a second evaporator in between the back seats. It blows forward to help cool the front of the car but is still marginal in anything but the northern tier of states. OK it just flat out sucks in the south and is merely tolerable in the north.

Yes
Replace all the suspension bushings and motor mounts with polyurethane equivalents and you're good to go

This guy here I daily my E30 and did exactly what you're planning to do. Plan out a couple weekends if you're familiar with mechanic work, otherwise you may be in for more than you think without a proper garage. I did a complete undercarriage rebuild and some general engine stuff (timing chain tensioner, spark plugs, coolant flush, etc) and it took me 3 weekends and about $2500 in parts altogether. I kept a chicken-scratch record of everything I added on that I'll tack on here. That being said, if you don't have any mechanical knowledge or aptitude, please don't get an 80's car.

Don't listen to this mongoloid , take it from someone who daily's an E30. They're fun, surprisingly practical, and not much more expensive to maintain than any other 80/90s car.

I am a total Benz fiend and I would own the shit out of a 6er coupe. They are one of the most handsome cars to be made in the 1980s

Good visibility and astonishingly good handling for the price. You have to remember these things drove circles around all the anemic shitboxes of its era like the Cavalier and the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Civic

too bad they only made like 50 of those, ever

No, not really. There is always a couple ix's listed here and there for sale. Rust is the only concern with those.

...

E30s are for normals

Correct

I've never seen a 635csi for less than 10000 euros

OP an e30 is a great car but you need to pick one up before they go in value.

This is my 5th e30 5spd and every single one ive bought were under 1700.00. Hurry up and buy one

Hello I just bought this E30
This is what my post-purchase inspection came back with
How easy is this all to DIY without any experience? Which task is easiest? Hardest? Are the part cost quotes accurate?

I bought this 87' 325 like 3 weeks ago for $200 and it's been sitting in my garage while I'm away for training.

It's beat as fuck, but god damn, once this thing is back on the road, it's gonna be awesome.

>choosing the 3er with the worser suspension, interior, build quality and engines.

sure lad

you cant go wrong with an E30, its that simple. Even if it turns out to be worn down to shit, just hold on to it, maybe swap in a new engine, maybe dont, but wont lose money on it

They're literally miatas with boot space and room for the family and you don't look like a fag driving one. Stock they're pretty slow and floaty, but they're an incredibly balanced base to work with for basically any racing discipline you decide to throw one at.

Different markets have different availability. Here in Australia any 6 series will set you back $15k minimum for a running car. Meanwhile I got both my E30s for less than $3k

Mechanical work is easy enough but rust and rubber shit breaking down all the time is frustrating as fuck. Also they're not THAT good without mods so be prepared for the itch to turbo it and slap on some coils.

R U S T Y B O I

Oh boi

I grew up in my daddy's various e30s and his 635csi. My daddy had alpina rims and sheep seat covers in his majestic shark-nose 6 series. One day I'll graduate from my awesome obd1 no-vanos issues e36s to the big daddy 635csi like my daddy did and I'll make the family so proud.