E30 buying advice

MancRover - My exhaust was fitted by Powerflow in Burnley, it consists of a Magnex backbox (looks the biz and dosen't sound like a rally car - just a nice 6 cyl warm note) and the rest was custom made and fitted by themselves all for £190 or£250 including cat replacement box. I have this setup on both cars. The guys at Powerflow know what they're doing and I was well impressed. My exhausts were'nt initially replaced for the performance, I just felt the sensible option would be to rule out the need for a new exhaust every 2 yrs with a stainless setup, looks better too!

The chip and filter came with the car-not sure which one it is, one of the receipts quotes "ECU engine management upgrade". My first 325i sport was standard and, from what i can remember, felt just as quick. They are still very quick as standard cars. I agree with paul325i that some chips have been reported as making things worse. 

An old performance BMW magazine i owned tested 10 chips, including the standard BMW version, and run 10 individual 0-60 tests with each; some achieved 6.7, others 7.35. Averaged over the 10 tests (believe it or not) one of the best was 7.05 from a standard 325i sport. They then went on to test the overall driveability and throttle response and apart from the 'Superchip' version 'coming up trumps' the standard came out one of the best again; some made the car worse. I am quoting a 5 yrs+ old magazine here so things may have improved since.

Too be honest the standard manual car is more than enough to keep me entertained. With speed cameras and all that stuff its hardly worth spending hundreds to gain half a second. Without BIG money you probably won't achieve a major difference. I've pipped the older standard impreza and a boxster , kept up with my mates prodrive version impreza, matched a friends moded cav turbo 4x4 so that will do for me.

My convert is a nice looker as its the ltd edition mauritius blue/full Lotus white leather motorsport, colour coded hardtop etc but is just sh*te at getting away as it is the ltd automatic version(escort si convert 'had me off' up to 70 the other day),great once over 30mph and on country lanes. Once on the move its alright, the kickdown will stick you in first at around 20-25 for example, you need to learn a lot to use the automatic well and get the right rev ranges. So again just the exhaust for the lifetime thing and a set of 17" alpinas (when the missus can be arsed keeping them away from kerbs)will do for me.

Bit of advice- keep the original suspension setup, it works the best all round. Trust me on this as i've spent a bomb in the past on variations from the norm. My 318is and 325 sports had mtech and always felt the best, its not everyday that you want to drive like a looney, sometimes it's nice to be comfortable. Even the 17" don't look that much better than the cross spokes and comfort is lost.

I have owned a few E30s over the years and found them all excellent, taking great pride in the "Sunday wax".

Here goes-1996 318i 2 dr - great 1st BMW, 1989 325ise 4 dr - loads of comfort with all the bits and performance, 1991 325i sport - just amazing in every way, a real solid and sure footed feeling compared to the se model ( I changed my 944s for this car after one wasted me). 1991 318is - fantastic compromise but proved a bit tempramental and expensive for bits & to look after.

After owning some fairly newish cars i have gone back to what is best -E30s: 1991 325i sport (again) & a 1991 325 ltd motorsport edition convert. I hope these things last as i never wanna part with them after spending some good money getting them to drive and look like new. 

My advice due to experience is buy a MANUAL 325i sport and look after it, you wont be disappointed. When i had other my other E30s i was always planning an mtec kit with all the sport bits, then realised I might as well buy the real thing. £3500 should get you a real cracker. Replacement bits are reasonably cheap aswell. This car will keep up with most modern sports. Mine has a chip,stainless and filter and flys whilst still looking very standard.

Regarding the suspension, since checking with BMW, the inserts for the 325i mtec setup are the same part number as the standard 325i ones. It is only the springs that are different. £240 all four. I have found the mtech the best.

I also understand that the tourings have the sport spec set up fitted as standard where the suspension is concerned. But I suppose the additional weight can make them a little more unwieldy!

My wife currently has a 316i Touring, a late one (L plate) and although just a 1.6i, it's fairly frugal, and does return a good performance when a standard load is in (2 adults, 2 kids) however, even though we've had a new rack fitted the steering is quite light and vague at times.

I had a 325, 88 with very low spec. It was great to drive, you could find the limit if you tried without the LSD, great fun. Bags of torque.

Upgraded to an E30 M3, not as much torque when standard but mega fun to drive.

Steve J

These are a bit more than 'quite good' - these are what soem buyers have said - and our BMW Guides are generally longer as we developed them later  ( and teh Club would'nt have them on teh site if they weren't worth teh money!):