WTB/WTT: e30 BMW

[jesseealexander]

yep, its true. like the title says im looking for an e30 to trade my miata for. i know, i know. lol.

but if theres anybody who has or knows someone who has an e30 and they would like to trade for a miata, LET ME KNOW!

IT MUST BE A 5 SPEED CAR!!! and must be in GOOD mechanical condition, and at least reasonable aesthetically. preferably a 2 door, with sport interior (any xxxis model), but ill take a look at anything thats a 5 speed.

thanks guys. (puts on flamesuit... :whistle:)

[jesseealexander]

BUMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[amaff]

That was quick.

[jesseealexander]

what was?

[MeFryRice]

E30's are played out. :(

[Sawyer]

E30's are played out. :(


Word!

[jesseealexander]

E30's are played out. :(


so are s2k's... lol

theres nothing that hasnt been done yet, but i like e30s so im gonna get one. :)

[metalman]

...says the guy who cant afford a sealed beam headlight for his Miata. :lol:

[RotorNutFD3S]

lol Owned.

[MeFryRice]

E30 M3 FTW!!!

[amaff]

so are s2k's... lol

Don't hate. I'm going to be picking up an AP1 in a couple months here to replace my daily driver.

[nderwater]

I've owned three e30's, an e36 and an e39. Why are you looking to trade?

[MeFryRice]

^^ I've had two E36 M's myself. '97 Dakar II and '97 Cosmos. :)

[Sawyer]

I really want an e34 M5!
Yeah, I know. Not gonna happen.. :(

[RotorNutFD3S]

HEY! You want to talk BMWs, go to a BMW forum!!!





:lol:

[metalman]

Yeah...its bad enough we got Hondas in here! :lol:

[jesseealexander]

hi haterzzz.

lol dont worry, im gonna have a hard time letting the miata go, and im not sure i wanna get rid of it anyways. i would have to find a e30 that runs REALLY good, and theres none of those for sale ATM. hell, i might just start working as much as i possibly can and just buy one as a second car.

[jesseealexander]

bumpage

[Roadster]

Having had both cars...going from Miata to E30 seems a step in the wrong direction. Just no way a strut/trailing arm suspension is ever going to be as good as double wishbones. Not to mention the sucky weight distribution of the massive iron block I6, the two piece driveshaft, the wonky clutch hydraulics, and expense of parts (even if you had connections as I did).

I'll always have a soft spot for them, being raised on German and Swedish cars...but the Miata is leaps and bounds ahead of them in terms of purpose-built engineering..

E30's definitely have a cool factor that most Miatas can't pull off, though. They look the part.

Hopefully you can find a small-bumper 325I or IS. They're getting pretty rare it seems. :)

[jesseealexander]

Having had both cars...going from Miata to E30 seems a step in the wrong direction. Just no way a strut/trailing arm suspension is ever going to be as good as double wishbones. Not to mention the sucky weight distribution of the massive iron block I6, the two piece driveshaft, the wonky clutch hydraulics, and expense of parts (even if you had connections as I did).

I'll always have a soft spot for them, being raised on German and Swedish cars...but the Miata is leaps and bounds ahead of them in terms of purpose-built engineering..

E30's definitely have a cool factor that most Miatas can't pull off, though. They look the part.

Hopefully you can find a small-bumper 325I or IS. They're getting pretty rare it seems. :)


well im not worried about the expensive parts too much because i have a small hook up, and parts for them arent much more expensive (if any) than a miata, at least in terms of new parts.

one thing i am slightly worried about is the reliability factor. i have heard GREAT things about e30s, but i have experienced the reputation that bmw leaves for itself in the form of a AT trans failure in my e32 740i (i know, the worst bimmer ever made lol).

im not worried about the suspension geometry stuff, because this will serve as my DD/occasional autocross & track car. im going for cool factor and civilization factor. the miata supplies the cool factor for me, but i want a car thats comfortable and, well, more civilized. i love the interiors of the e30 and just the way the cars are put together. and they are sickkkkkk slammed on some nice 16"s. :)

if anybody knows of one for sale thats close to 2gs, point me their direction.

[nderwater]

Do you know Bobby Thrash at Strictly German? He's in your area and collects cheap BMW's to part out - and often has running vehicles for sale.

Another good contact is an ex-BMW mechanic named Paul who now fixes up and sells used BMW's in Cherokee County. He's a good guy and often has stock which he hasn't yet listed for sale on craigslist. http://atlanta.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=bmwsalesandservice

[jesseealexander]

^^ thanks man. i hadnt even thought to call SG yet lol.

[MeFryRice]

I would personally never buy anything from SG after a couple past experiences with them.

[jesseealexander]

elaborate? ive known they were there but never done business with them.

[nderwater]

Did you have trouble with Bobby or a guy who worked for him? It's been a number of years, but Bobby has hooked me up on two occasions when I had a part failure with one of my E30's during a track event at Road Atlanta. On another occasion, one of his mechanics even let me borrow his car to get home while he replaced the head on my car.

[jesseealexander]

well i called and he said that he doesnt have any running cars.

i found a car FT yesterday but it needs interior stuff. and SG doesnt have that either.

[MeFryRice]

elaborate? ive known they were there but never done business with them.



The issue wasn't with Bobby himself but his employees. A friend and I went to their shop to check out a car that they were selling. We had made plans with them the night before to let them know that we'll have cash in hand if everything turns out right (they said it'd need to have different wheels put on as the ones that were currently on the car were flat). We get up there to see that the car is still sitting in the back with the flat tires still on it. The guy (I won't mention names) couldn't find the keys and took forever even doing this. 20 mins later he finally comes back out with the keys and lets us start it up. We asked to drive the car (who wouldn't buy a car w/o test driving it first) but he told us he'd swap the wheels only if we were serious; we told him the night before we'd have cash in hand. He then has to find a set of wheels in that junk yard of theirs to get the car on the road. After driving the car and fully looking over it to make sure everything was legit, we told him we'd take it. His response was, "well let me run it by my wife first and make sure she approves". WTF?? So he "attempts" to call his wife with no luck and about 45 mins later saids "if you want, let me talk to her about it tonight and if she approves, I'll meet you half-way". Um, well we just drove a god hour and a half to get the car and now your giving us BS". Needless to say, the stupid *** never did give us a call nor would he answer when we tried calling him.

So would I buy a car from that shady place? NO. It's amazing how one employee can give your business a bad reputation. :(

[nderwater]

You're not the first to have a bad experience with one of the guys working there, which is why I asked. Bobby has has a fair amount of turnover at his shop and the quality of the help he's able to round up varies greatly from time to time, so it's often the luck of the draw in terms of who you're working with when you get there.

[nderwater]

well i called and he said that he doesnt have any running cars. i found a car FT yesterday but it needs interior stuff. and SG doesnt have that either.

Call Paul. Even if he doesn't have an E30 on hand right now in Holly Springs, he goes to at least two auctions a week and can help you look for one. He's told me in the past that E30's come up all the time, but he usually doesn't pick them up because there's no profit in turning them over.

[jesseealexander]

well i found another car, and the guy wants to trade, so its gonna happen on monday or tuesday.

thanks to all who helped me, and i hope to see you around. the e30 will be rocking mx5atlanta.com decals and ill be on here posting as usual.