buying an e30

[jack gaines]

I am interested in buying an e30 coupe or sedan (not convertible) preferably white with auto trans. What are the pitfalls peculiar to this car? What's the best way to find one? How many miles can I expect to go before an engine rebuild?

[Dohc120]

I am also in the market to buy another E30. I've owned two in the past and they were both awesome cars. The 84 318i I had was 17 years old. It had very bad rust in the trunk where the wheel wells are located, and on the floor of the interior. This seems to be a problem with older BMW's.
My '87 325es was not immaculate by any means, but I never had any major issue with it. It was 14 years old when I owned it. There were little things like the driver side door lock was inoperable due to age. This is a very common problem with these cars.

Hope this helps, good luck!

[Mazen]

I have a 91 cab. I had the car for about 11 years and hooked on it. My recommendation is that you buy one from seomone who has taking care of it to the fullest given its age. Make sure you go through service records. ie. Timing belt, tune up, water pump, any vaccum leaks. If you want an automatic, found out if the tranny fluid was changed at some point. If not, well, i would revisit. These cars are great and engine is bulletproof and if maintained well, the car can last you for some time. Try to get a descent milage and i would not go for any over 175k or so. There are some weak points to these cars and would recommend to search the forum for such....

[jackbaggins]

They are great cars, BMW had excellent build quality in the 80's. My current daily driver is an 84 325e closing in on 200k on the original engine, trans, etc. The auto-trans was a weak point with these cars, I don't have much info on that as I have only owned manual shift. If you can work on cars yourself, owning an e30 becomes even easier.

84 325e (190k)
87 535is (225k)
90 325is (parted @ 132k, still have engine and trans)
85 535i (parted @ 240k due to rust)