Throughout its long production run, the E30 would be available in a wide range of body styles and with a varied selection of drivetrains. The humble 3 Series would spawn more than a few icons M3, is in its decade-plus run, displacing the easily forgotten E21 generation that came before it while carving out a fresh identity for the brand around the world. As might be expected from a vehicle with such a diverse number of models produced, pricing for the E30 is all over the map.
The Spec E30 road racing series and a surging interest in these cars has driven up values even for ratty examples, so the time is now if you want to get in just above the ground floor on the most popular 3 Series. The — BMW 3 Series was offered as a coupe, sedan, convertible, and wagon also known as the Touring model. The latter was never officially imported to the United States, but given their age, they are increasingly found for sale thanks to the year exemption rule.
There are two distinct versions of the E those built between —87, and those offered from — Models were named loosely after their engine size, with a suffix i, e, es, is, or ix providing further details. Initially, it was coupes-only, with i four-cylinder and i six-cylinder models leading the charge. The M3, built so that BMW could participate in touring car racing, also debuted in These round out what was sold at American dealerships, and while there exists a splendor of Euro and South Africa-only E30 models, they are beyond the scope of this buying guide.
Globally, there exists no shortage of these cars: more than two million were built. Just under , of those were sold in the United States. In America, i models are by far the most common, followed by the i. Outliers include the M3 only sold here, out of just over 17, worldwide , the ix, and the is.
You may or may not find VIN stickers elsewhere on the vehicle, depending on how the BMW in question made it into the country, if it has been repainted, or if it has had certain body panels replaced. There is also a build plate affixed to the passenger side shock tower.
The next few steps are where it starts to get complicated, because BMW built the E30 for a global market which led to a lot of overlap in coding. The BMW E30 was offered with a variety of fuel-injected four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines, each an inline design. As mentioned above, the number on the back of the car loosely ties to the displacement of the engine under the hood.
The two most common engines are the M10B18 1. Later is models switched to the M42B18 edition of the 1. Dashboard It is critical that you inspect the dashboard. These are notorious for cracking and can make or break any interior. A cracked dash is not a big deal, but you will probably need to do a fair amount of searching before you find a replacement.
These were all R12 systems, so recharging will not be easy. Converting to R is possible and can make daily driving your E30 immensely more comfortable. Radio See if your antenna works by turning on the radio. Play some music through the speakers if possible. Though easy to replace, a big kicker for any car that is intended for road use is a working sound system. Under The Hood Cooling System With the interior and all interior functions checked, the E30 should have been running for more than a few minutes at idle.
Check your temperature gauge and watch it closely. If the temperature starts to creep up, you can expect to have one of a number of issues with the notoriously weak cooling system.
A bad fan clutch, broken auxiliary fan, clogged radiator, failing head gasket, or stuck thermostat can all be possible causes for cooling issues in these cars. New hoses, a new thermostat, possibly a new surge tank, and possibly new radiator along with fresh coolant should be high on your list unless they have been recently serviced.
Engine Bay The next area to inspect if the cosmetics and interior are to your liking will be the engine bay itself. Keep an eye on the ground for any leaks while the engine is running. This is a good time to test your fan clutch as well.
Take a rolled up newspaper not too tight, just loosely rolled like you would use to swat a fly and hold it to the spinning fan. If the fan stops, your fan clutch is bad. If the newspaper is shredded, your fan clutch is doing its job. Listen to the engine as well. Too much lifter noise will mean a valve adjustment is needed or that there could be valvetrain damage. The timing belt and water pump should be replaced every 60k miles or seven years and can mean life or death for your engine. If your engine seems to idle happily without too much chatter, give it a rev and check the condition of the engine mounts.
If your engine torques over heavily, you will want to replace those mounts. Before You Drive After checking to make sure the engine is going to stay in the car for your test drive, go ahead and close the hood and hop back in the car. Now is time to check the transmission and clutch. Each gear should engage smoothly and the shifting mechanism should feel tight. Shift bushings and the carrier bushing are easily replaced and make shifting gears much more pleasurable and easier, but see if your car will need them by rowing through the gears a bit before you drive off.
Then, put the car in third gear and try to let the clutch out and drive. If the car starts moving forward, it is probably time for a clutch and accompanying accessories. This is not a terribly demanding job, but it is also not exactly the easiest DIY procedure if you are new to working on cars. Proceed with discretion if you think the clutch or transmission will need to be replaced immediately upon purchase.
The Test Drive Parking Lot If the car moves under its own power, give it a drive around the parking lot or neighborhood slowly before taking it on some real roads. You will want to listen for any squeaks from wheel bearings, do a tight-radius turn and see if the power steering protests, and listen for the telltale pop of a bad tie rod or ball joint.
Once you have circled the parking lot, go ahead and hit the road for a real test drive. Around Town A best practice is to drive the car hard. An easy way to check for any problems in the suspension, brakes, or drivetrain will be to give it a hard test drive. Accelerate quickly and bang through the gears.
You can quickly determine the condition of the drivetrain mounts and Giubo in the driveshaft by doing so. If you feel clunking, especially from the rear, you will definitely need to service those bushings and mounts. While not the end of the world, this can be a good point to bring up to the seller when you return from the test drive as replacing the bushings and mounts means a good bit of work after you take the car home.
Brake Test From about 60mph, hit the brakes hard. If your pedal starts going to the floor, chances are your booster and brake fluid are not doing their job. If the car pulls to one side or the other, then you may have uneven brake pressure or some worn suspension components.
Highway Test After the brake test, get out on the highway and cruise around. Watch your temperature gauge the whole time and see if it stays in the middle or starts to creep up as you drive it hard. Make sure the engine feels healthy at cruising speed and that the suspension feels supple over bumps.
It should not feel floaty, nor should it feel too bouncy. Suspension strut cups suffer blocked drain holes that cause them to rust out and require rebuilding. The battery tray in the boot rusts badly, too.
Where fitted, check the sunroof slides; repairs are expensive. Check the dashboard for cracks, seats for tears and floor for damp. Being rear-driven, the E30 became intimate with more than its fair share of hedgerows. Advertisement Back to top How much to spend.
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