There have been many times people around me has given me advice in scrapping my E30 for some new or even more gas friendly cars... Been thinking lately what makes me love my E30.

My first car was a hand down from my mom, 1993 Toyota Camry, then she got an E30 from a friend who was not using the car for years and just had it laying in their garage. So, had the option to keep the Camry or have the E30, I pick the E30.

From there, just love the car.

One particular reason I love it is just the total control. Especially from curves in freeways. It's meant for coast line drives.

There are many reasons to love an e30, but mostly for me it's the chassis. Light weight, RWD with a decent size 6cyl, and a cool aggressive styling. Easy to work on, cheap as far as BMWs go, great engineering, decent aftermarket support, tons of info for DIY'ers.

I get a good feeling driving it. I feel connected. Other cars (esp newer cars) I just drive it. In an E30, I completely control the car in every way. Feels like an extension of me more than a car

For me, its just the fact they are incredibly fun to drive. Even just driving it to work everyday as just a d.d. do I find it enjoyable. No other car has really given me that feeling before. It comfortable (yes, even for a 6'5" guy like me), timeless styling features and everything is just so simple. I don't need or want all these fancy gizmos and marketing ploys that most car companies are coming out with, that's what I like about the car. Also, as Tony stated maintance is fairly simple and cheap. When I had my civic, parts were about the same for things like brake rotors, pads, etc. As long you stay away from the IX's that is, I feel that parts cost about the same as most other cars.

On the flip side, the car can be taken from being a D.D. car to a full on track rat with minimal modification. I am big into Auto-X and I race my IX. Most people just write it off because its 19 years old, but then it gets out there on the track and it comes alive. All I did was throw a set H&R's and bilstein's in along with a high performance summer tire and I was running up to 2nd place in my class everytime I went out. This was only my first year racing so I have alot to learn, but that's just the thing about e30's. I find them very easy to drive fast and compete with very minimal modification. They are fairly neutral when it comes to understeer vs. oversteer. The IX like to understeer, but what do you expect from an AWD chassis like mine. That also probably cause I come in too hot, but it takes practice. This next year, I am gutting the car and trying to make it as light as possible, then I am going to couple that with more aggressive brake pads and DOT racing rubber. I can't wait till April because I think its going to be a fun season.

So to sum that all up, these are the reasons why I enjoy my car.

- Simple, easy to work on
- Best of both worlds for D.D. and racing
- The car always gets compliments, its styling is one that will always be remembered
- Its a BMW
- Relatively cheap to upgrade
- Reliable
- Great in winter weather, IX FTW!


That's all I got so far....

Biggest thing for me, looks good on jack stands.

That too! Mine is on Jack stands as well!

I wanted an E30 in the worst way for years. Bought a ratty, rusted, busted junker for a daily last year. Nothing really worked in the car, basically an engine and 4 wheels. But it started every morning and still took a beating like a champ, even with 289K on the clock. I couldnt kill this thing. That's when I knew I would be addicted to them.

Bottom line, they've got class, character and history. And that's what I look for in a car.




I was gonna say. Mine saves me a ton of gas money by not driving anywhere lol.

Best thing for me is Fun to drive!

Here's the pic, parked across the street.

'88 325iC

Because you can beat the crap outta them and they "usually" don't give you and headaches...