Yeah, that's right... we have an E30 now!

[Jon K]

Picked it up this evening... $1700

It's an '87 325e 5 spd with 230k on it. I am going to do the general maintenance stuff soon, and turn it into a daily driver for my mother who is going to commute ~65 miles one-way, and a Land Rover ain't gonna cut it in mileage

http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20BMWs/e301.jpg

http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20BMWs/e302.jpg

http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20BMWs/e303.jpg

http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20BMWs/e304.jpg

[Ross]

You dog! I love those little buggers, the e is nice and torquey for city driving too. Looks great, especially for 1700 bones.
Don't spend too much time behind the wheel or you'll be poppin' that new motor in this one.

[Jon K]

You dog! I love those little buggers, the e is nice and torquey for city driving too. Looks great, especially for 1700 bones.
Don't spend too much time behind the wheel or you'll be poppin' that new motor in this one.

Haha no turbos in this one. The E30 is too light to have too much torque in, personally. E34 is the right wheel base for traction. You guys should have seen my face when I spun 3rd gear in my E34 from 70 mph on the Turnpike. I looked down at the tach with a, "Hm... misfire?" look. Then I floored it again and shooooot up goes the speedo and tach at rocket speed. Holy crap.

[Ross]

"Too light", "Too much torque" I like the old Jon better.

[Jon K]

"Too light", "Too much torque" I like the old Jon better.

It gets scary bro. 2300 lb GTI with 550whp is one ting. a 2300 lb E30 with 550whp is a whole 'nother ball game.

Don't get me wrong - I am not afraid of torque :) After I do my M50 build up I am thinking of an S38 turbo setup.

[repenttokyo]

dude, too much torque, shouldn't be in anyone's vocabulary on a rwd machine :p

[Jon K]

dude, too much torque, shouldn't be in anyone's vocabulary on a rwd machine :p


Oh ya? Seriously, spin wheel at 70 - 80 mph. It'll change your mind.

[Ross]

550 hp?

[Jon K]

550 hp?

That's as few as I will settle for in my new engine.

[Ross]

At the CRANK that's 220hp/liter! A 3200# car, if it hooks, that's enough power to be DEEP into ten second quarter mile times.
Gotta say I'm skeptical. But would love to be proved wrong.

[Jon K]

At the CRANK that's 220hp/liter! A 3200# car, if it hooks, that's enough power to be DEEP into ten second quarter mile times.
Gotta say I'm skeptical. But would love to be proved wrong.

E34's are more like 3600 lbs stock, mine is prob closer to 3750. 550 whp is not a big deal at all. PPF regularly makes 880 whp out of the '92 Non vanos motor. Boost or Bust :)

[attack eagle]

Oh ya? Seriously, spin wheel at 70 - 80 mph. It'll change your mind.
amen...

try a hotted up chevy 350 in an mgb sometime... there is such a thing as too much power.

220 per liter? shouldn't be too hard.

[repenttokyo]

Oh ya? Seriously, spin wheel at 70 - 80 mph. It'll change your mind.

I've been there, you just need to tune your chassis to the amount of power you are running. I'm not saying it's simple, but there's no reason to be afraid of power if you can build the chassis and suspension to handle it.

My definition of too much power is when you start overpowering your suspension setup.

[markus]

nice man. i miss my E30 im still looking for one. I might have a buyer interested in my 540 but i would like to replace my E34 with another E30. I wish I never sold mine.

you also forgot to mention that the E30 will also beat the land rover in not only mileage but also in reliability

[Jon K]

you also forgot to mention that the E30 will also beat the land rover in not only mileage but also in reliability


Yep - we got the E30 so I can take the land rover off the road replacing the abs modulator, shuttle valve, etc., in attempt fix "the 3 amigos" error haha.

[E34 530]

Jon, how are the Land Rovers Disco's in maintenance? I've heard some horror stories, others say they will never buy anything else. Lookerd at a few for my sisters first car.

[rob101]

I've been there, you just need to tune your chassis to the amount of power you are running. I'm not saying it's simple, but there's no reason to be afraid of power if you can build the chassis and suspension to handle it.

My definition of too much power is when you start overpowering your suspension setup.
thats in fact exactly (I assumed) what john was talking about. e30 yaw inertia is lower and its wheel base shorter than the e34, which makes it less stable at high speeds and more "twitchy". being RWD it will power oversteer rather than power understeer like a FWD (gti would) (oversteer is what they call divergent meaning it does not come back into control (yaw rate increases in oversteer without input of the driver) whereas understeer naturally tends to come back into control (slowing of yaw rate and "understeer drag")

I see Jon K's point but it also depends on the balls of the driver.

[markus]

all i know is the parts arent cheap nor easy to get. if your sister wants an SUV for her first vehcile get a toyota 4runner. built tough and reliable.

[MBXB]

I had one just like it in black, before I got my E34. That thing was one tough fun ride.

[MTechnik540i]

Looking very clean.

Congrats on the steal.

Picked it up this evening... $1700

It's an '87 325e 5 spd with 230k on it. I am going to do the general maintenance stuff soon, and turn it into a daily driver for my mother who is going to commute ~65 miles one-way, and a Land Rover ain't gonna cut it in mileage

http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20BMWs/e301.jpg

http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20BMWs/e302.jpg

http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20BMWs/e303.jpg

http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20BMWs/e304.jpg

[MTechnik540i]

It gets scary bro. 2300 lb GTI with 550whp is one ting. a 2300 lb E30 with 550whp is a whole 'nother ball game.

Don't get me wrong - I am not afraid of torque :) After I do my M50 build up I am thinking of an S38 turbo setup.

Turbo S38...I sincerely hope you've got some deep pockets.

[Ferret]

Jon, how are the Land Rovers Disco's in maintenance? I've heard some horror stories, others say they will never buy anything else. Lookerd at a few for my sisters first car.

I used to have to maintain my parents first generation Disco over here in the UK for a few years... If you can put up with the constant water leaks and electrical problems they're cracking cars. My mother used to joke that it had a built in foot shower...

Dont slam change the heavy clutches though because we had to shell out £7k to have a new gearbox fitted after my mother tore through the box input splines :/ They got the hard coating on the soft alloy splines faaar too thin.

Other than that they're a piece of cake to maintain, makes life easy when you can just slide under the car rather than having to put it up on ramps. If you're after an older one, avoid the TDi200 engine and get the TDi300 - the 200 needs a rebuild every 70k miles, wheras our 300 was still going strong at 200k when it got sold.

[Jon K]

Turbo S38...I sincerely hope you've got some deep pockets.

I'll tell you a secret that most people don't understand.

M50 CP pistons, arrow rods: $2100
S38 CP pistons, arrow rods: $2100

:)

S38s are cheap used.

[Jon K]

I used to have to maintain my parents first generation Disco over here in the UK for a few years... If you can put up with the constant water leaks and electrical problems they're cracking cars. My mother used to joke that it had a built in foot shower...

Dont slam change the heavy clutches though because we had to shell out £7k to have a new gearbox fitted after my mother tore through the box input splines :/ They got the hard coating on the soft alloy splines faaar too thin.

Other than that they're a piece of cake to maintain, makes life easy when you can just slide under the car rather than having to put it up on ramps. If you're after an older one, avoid the TDi200 engine and get the TDi300 - the 200 needs a rebuild every 70k miles, wheras our 300 was still going strong at 200k when it got sold.


We don't get the diesel turbos over here in the states :( The Disco 1's are a little quirky and have a bunch of issues. The Disco 2's like my moms ('00) are pretty good mechanically. She has an issue right now with the hill decent, traction control, and ABS lights being on all at once. It's termed the "three amigos" its so common. However, it can be a $10 shuttle valve, or a $1200 ABS modulator. Either way, I need to take the car off the road to fix it so having a back up for her is great!

[Ferret]

We don't get the diesel turbos over here in the states :( The Disco 1's are a little quirky and have a bunch of issues. The Disco 2's like my moms ('00) are pretty good mechanically. She has an issue right now with the hill decent, traction control, and ABS lights being on all at once. It's termed the "three amigos" its so common. However, it can be a $10 shuttle valve, or a $1200 ABS modulator. Either way, I need to take the car off the road to fix it so having a back up for her is great!

You dont get the TDi's?

They're the best of the bunch! You get 35-40MPG out of them and they pull like trains :s

Much better offroad than the petrols/gas too!

[Jon K]

You dont get the TDi's?

They're the best of the bunch! You get 35-40MPG out of them and they pull like trains :s

Much better offroad than the petrols/gas too!

I know man - the US never got 'em :( I am on discoweb from time to time and see people raving about them.



OK good does Re: our E30. I was going to drop all my projects for my moms newly acquired beauty, and then today when checking things out, I noticed:

http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20BMWs/timingbelt.jpg

Nice!

I checked the coolant level because the check control says coolant light is on, coolant is fine, harness to sensor is cracked and old. The idle valve is giving me a little trouble starting - I have to give 'er some gas, but otherwise it's fine. This is great news!

[Turbo Ready]

Jon,

I am addicted to e30's and that's a very clean one you got there, nice to see some still in that condition.

Hats off to your Mom for driving standard and for giving the little 20yr old e30 a shot. Ask MarkD for a chip the m20 gets a few more grunts from it :D

The handling of the little e30, stock they might not be the greatest, but with a few little mods, they can be quite nimble.

Looking forward to more posts about it.

[Sam-Son]

E34's are more like 3600 lbs stock, mine is prob closer to 3750. 550 whp is not a big deal at all. PPF regularly makes 880 whp out of the '92 Non vanos motor. Boost or Bust :)
My 5 is 4575lbs how is it yours is so light?

[Jon K]

My 5 is 4575lbs how is it yours is so light?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_E34


I guess mine didn't come with the +1,000 lb option.

[attack eagle]

mine came with the +400 LB option... it's called a Touring.

[Jon K]

Yeah I am still trying to figure out where he got an extra 1,050 lbs.

[94_e34_525i]

Damn, that paint looks pretty shiny for an 87, nice find.

[winfred]

probably looking at the door sticker for max gcvw


Yeah I am still trying to figure out where he got an extra 1,050 lbs.

[Ross]

That is gross weight, fully loaded. Deduct the loads indicated for empty weight.