Gutmann pug

As a cheap performance car

Not interested in MPG

what are they like to run ?

2000 track miles per year
or
2000 road miles per year.

Cost of spares?

availability of spares?

Time bomb parts to look for?

would you , wouldnt you?

Gary

Andy M3

Hello

I had one of those.

Head gaskets are the biggest worry on those. I also had a loopy ECU on mine which was easy to replace. Rust is a major pain in the ***, it gets in the strangest places like around the windscreen, lower front wings, filler cap area.

My father in law is rebuilding a 318is at the moment - and they are easy to strip and re-build. I prefer the early chrome bumper stuff - the later stuff covers all the rust so be warned. Mileage wise, they should go on forever and ever.

I had a 325i [non sport] but it was speced up from new with LSD and 'sports box' - I was very lucky [eBay special] All the sports have LSD's but they are expensive. Trawl e30zone.co.uk for LSD'd non sport bargains. I have a few useful contacts if you want to PM / email.

Andy

brybusa

Great fun cars, the sound fantastic and dont go too bad too...we've had our 325 in our family for the last 10 years and all its cost us apart form servicing and tyres is a battery

Parts are not as expensive as people think and apart from some of the rarer m power odds n sods you can get everything off the shelf from places like GSF, they also make a great cheap track car

As Andy said the E30zone will have ALL the info, quite a few guys on there use them on the track as well.

Downers? As Andy mentioned, watch for rust and as standard the road holding / braking isnt brilliant ...there are fiesty lill buggers in the wet......

Gutmann pug

Not really worried about the dreaded rust unless it starts getting to MOT failure standard.

Will have a peep on E30zone, cheers guys.

Whats an 325i SE by the way?

webby v7 slipperwagon

iTrader: (2)

It's usually got c/l e/w rear head rests s/roof and sometimes leather. I've had a couple of 325i's and found the touring to be the best. All in all they are great cars and put BMW on the map.

kin quick

iTrader: (2)

A friend of mine posts on the E30zone, not sure what as but his name is Jon, might be worth contacting him.
He has a 318i E30 but has recently fitted a 2.5i with LSD diff from a 320i on his own. The 2.5 had 174k miles as an automatic (less revving) and he is using it for everyday use and drifting!! The engine sounds as sweet as a nut, goes like stink and is great fun when sideways.

He knows a fair amount about the engines and drivetrain.

Just a thought!

Jontyclassic"00"

Had a 325i Sport about 10 years ago, and apart from the Scoob was one car I bitterly regretted selling. Was fitted with all the Sport goodies inc LSD.

Was a great car to drive, so much so that looking at getting another one for track use myself. There's a cracking one on e-bay, steep at £8.5k but it's fitted with an M3 engine.

Camshaft and tappet wear is common, along with cracked manifolds. Rear shock absorber top mounts go, resulting in a knocking.

Had to replace the engine mount rubbers on mine, as they seperated and the engine shifted forwards and rested up against the radiator.

Electrics can be troublesome, especially dashboard and the OBC. Usually dry solder or the battery pack on the circuit board.

Drivers seat bolster usually knackered, but as it's a track car, probably not a worry.

Common rust place's include rear arches.

Hope this helps

Jonathan

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Always wondered, do the bigger Sizes i.e. the 3.0 and 3.5 drop straight in ?

Andy M3

yes they do Jacko.

Alpina did a B6s. There is a guy local to me that has one, as well as several E30 M3's, and RS4, X5 and a CSL <lucky *******.

http://www.bmwpower.cz/magazin/m3-e30/image076.jpg

The common mod is to use the E28 525e [eta] which is a 2.7. Add this to the bottom end to make a 2.7 lump which adds power and torque [around 200 for both]. Alpina used the same trick to create the C2 2.7.

There have been lots of different conversions using this car - including the E36 M3 lump - which is spice !

http://www.tuning-bmw.ru/alpina-c2-27-1.jpg

Graz

Had a standard 3dr E30 325i before I bought the Scoob.

Fab car, foolishly traded in for a few £ against the Scoob and now really wish I had been able to keep it. Would have made a fantastic track car. Just didn't have anywhere to keep it. Doh!

Had it for nearly five years and the only major bill was due to the exhaust manifold blowing. Most of the studs holding it on to the head had broken. Had to have the head taken off the engine, all the studs drilled out, the gasket surface skimmed on the head and manifold, then new studs fitted. Cost a fair bit along with a service and MoT. Worth it though, ran superbly after. Stretch bolts on the head should be changed as early types were prone to fail, suspoect most would have had this done. Look inside the rocker box, old type head bolts had a normal bolt head, new type were Torx (or some kind of splined affair).

Had a new clutch, that was about £300 fitted.

Dodgy fuel pump relay caused a bit of head scratching, would randomly cut out or cause massive flat spot in acceleration.

Had the oil filter bypass valve stick open causing it to make a strange noise.

Several wheel bearings replaced.

Was a bit of rust starting to appear, worst bit was where the battery tray was welded into the boot (battery in the back for 50:50 weight distribution!).

Handling was interesting in the wet but good in the dry. Should have changed the 14" wheels for something a bit more sensible. Brakes were okay. No LSD on mine.

But all told an enjoyable ownership experience

Gutmann pug

Thanks for the comments guys.

Going to look at one on Sunday hopefully. It should be MOT'd by then.

Spec looks nice including an LSD, buckets, harness and half cage.

Watch this space

Gary

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

so 500 quid 320 + 300 quid 735 off Ebay, bit of work and you have a 230 bhp 3 series, cant be that simple can it ?

matchmaker

Fiesty? Try an original E21 320i in the wet

Most terrifying roadgoing moment of my life was when I got one sideways at midnight on a remote, wet Shetland road with a 200 foot drop to the sea on the left. Every orifice was going

Andy M3

Almost yeah ! There is a bit more weight to it of course - but for a track day ****ter - it would be amusing enough

Mike123

Or even better, one of the E21 323i's - very easy car to get sideways, esp on the std 185/70x13s!

rb5_336

i've had 2 and love them. Getting on a bit now and plenty of tired examples around. e30zone is a good place and plenty of good examples for sale over there

eliters

had a 325i sport a few years back,best sideways fun i had,better then my old cossie and my old 328 e36,had all the recaros etc,only fault was the injector loom plug under the inlet manifold burnt out caused smoke to come from behind dash and wiped out my service indicator as well,really scary while i was driving it other than that,get one service it fit an lsd and go sideways all the way

also rb5,i notice your from sussex,do you know of any local meets heard of one at beachy head,just wondered if you knew if it was true and if so when?cheers,and sorry to hijack the thread for a sec...

matchmaker

Had both. I can assure you, the 320i (especially on 205/60/13 on 7" rims) was a hell of a lot more twitchy than the 323i

Gutmann pug

Bought one .......

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

double yellows!!
Very nice.

Andy M3

lush mate

ScoobyJawa

Looks tidy mate - what the details/spec?

Mate of mine had one of these a few years back - hustle decpetively well

Gutmann pug

325i SE
113K pretty much fsh
Full leather
Air con
cruise control
heated seats
computers
huge stereo (which was fitted to the car almost from new and its coming out soon )

Drives really nicely, just needs a new battery and the cooling fan is up the swanny I think.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

how much did that set you back?

C2forWRX

not the one with the cage harnesses and buckets then?

looks good mind.

this replacing the pug?

ScoobyJawa

scoobfan

The e30 M3 was, and still is one of the best handling cars ever made !!

Rob

Bat-Fink

Always liked the E30 Bimmers.