Worth Considering?

Awesome. This is now at the top of my list. Simple, cheap, reliable, and fun... great combination right there. Hopefully I'll find a nice one with the late 80's style bug eye headlights. 90's headlight are so blehh:barf:

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Different generations - E30 vs E36. Very different cars.


An LSD in a Miata or E30 is not going to make much a performance difference to you unless you plan to do an S50 swap :D
I've been obsessing over just that for the last few weeks. I must have a S50 or S52 E30. I just have to.
 
I've been obsessing over just that for the last few weeks. I must have a S50 or S52 E30. I just have to.

Oh, and there are so many good candidates, S50 swaps are common and there are lots of guides, you could do it yourself! Probably for less than $10,000 all told. :angel:

And p51mustang23, avoid E36s. Also, as cool as the '91 318is is, don't get a '91 MY E30 as they have unique parts that are rare and hard to come by.
 
So, what's the most efficient way to insure a car of this type? I'd rather not pay $2500 a year for a car that costs $2500, know what I mean? :p

For shits and giggles:

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If you can qualify USAA is the way to go.
 
you're in mass, right? whereabouts?

der stig - you just have to look in the right places :p

Home is in Norfolk County. I'm at bridgewater state college the other 8ish months of the year.
 
Apparently my parents are only paying a little more than $1000 a year to insure me, on quasi-expensive new cars. An E30 will be less, so I'll definitly have money left over... which brings me to the next thing... SOUND SYSTEM :) Ever since I got a 200watt sound system in my room with a powerful 8" woofer, those wide-range speakers in my CRV... well they suck. 80's speakers won't be any better so what do you all think I should do about replacing the system? First order of business is definitely a 1-DINN head unit with USB, 3.5mm aux, and that comes in (somewhat, it will look too new to match perfectly) matching matte black.

I should be able to find a head unit myself without any problems, what I'd like to know is how easy will it be to install it myself? What about installing composite audio?

Feel free to go into as much or as little detail as you like. thnx :)
 
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Other bmws

Other bmws

Been looking at E36's, E32's, and E34's. Opinions?

*Also to a less serious extent the old 6 series coupes.
 
Been looking at E36's, E32's, and E34's. Opinions?

*Also to a less serious extent the old 6 series coupes.

Not a BMW expert here, but I don't think it's far fetched to say that older Bimmers will likely be very expensive to maintain (reliability, parts, labor, etc.) and to insure. So unless you either have the financial means to do so or you are really in love with Bimmers, it may not be the best choice. There's actually a few E36 M3s on my local craigslist for around 6500 (most are at least 7k though), so some of them may actually be around your budget.

Another thing with insurance is if you let one of your parents hold ownership to the car (title/registration in their name) they can simply add you as a driver to their insurance policy which I think is much cheaper than getting your own insurance.
 
Been looking at E36's, E32's, and E34's. Opinions?

*Also to a less serious extent the old 6 series coupes.

E36's are not worth your time. Too complicated, not the best built and will break expensively.

E32's, well, ask Spectre about his opinion. :p Suffice to say, it's the same story as the E36, but worse.

E34's are a good choice. Solid 5er, but some of the engines may have VANOS, IIRC, which will be expensive to service/fix. The VANOS can fail, with symptoms showing at any where from 90-100k (usually due to poor maintenance and/or abuse).

E24's while pretty, are also not a good choice. Limited parts availability, expensive to service.

Also, if you decide to get any car, do not cut out the speaker holes to expand them, it will ruin the originality and look of the interior.
 
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Actually, you should just quote the infamous wooflepoof post after he bought his E32. It summarizes it neatly.
 
soo

soo

soo E30's are definitly the best? That's good because they are my favorite of the bunch :) I've spent a lot of time reading the forums dedicated to them, and every1 praises their reliability. And when they do break it's a $25 fix half the time ;)

I'll keep my eyes out for a good deal on the E34's as well now too, though.

Oh and M3 style body kit when I get the cash :D Not the real thing, but I can still *feel* special.

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Seriously, find me a better looking 80's car :p
 
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Whats up with all the convertibles? East coast I'm assuming there's a good chance you're gonna have a lot of snowy days. And it'll just make insurance an even bigger nightmare than it is for a guy buying a 2-door sports car.
 
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