Last week’s post generated some healthy discussion and each of the six contenders had plenty of things in their favour and supporters in their corner, but in the end my choice was the one that I felt best meets my needs out of a hobby car at the moment.
Like a lot of you who commented, I absolutely loved the Cappuccino and actually committed to buy it at a price that the owner indicated he would accept, but it turned out that he was simply playing a few buyers against each other and another guy offered him significantly more for it than I could justify paying, so I missed out. That was sad, but on reflection the Cap would not have been a great choice considering its tiny size and complete lack of safety, especially since I want to be able to take my wife and kid out in the car for a drive.
The 155 was sorely tempting but parts availability is rather patchy and I feel like I would just wish I bought a 156 instead (the 156 is a bit out of my price range). So the decision ended up in favour of the small Bavarian, and I’m hoping it will be the right one. 80’s BMWs have always appealed strongly to me; a friend of mine who was a few years older used to own an immaculate E28 5 series back when I was around 16. It really was a beautiful car, a 1988 South African built example so at the very tail end of E28 production, I would drool over it every time we met. It was nothing special, just a 520i automatic, but man I loved that car!
Photo circa 2002, excuse the quality, had to pinch it off my friend’s facebook
He sold it within a couple of years, but of course I had no money to buy it at the time and the car has now disappeared. But it left a huge impression on me and because of this,I was drawn to the E30, which had many of the same qualities but was a lot easier to find than the E28, of which Sri Lanka only had around 5 cars at most. In fact when I wanted to move on from the Beetle I really wanted to replace it with an E30 and looked at several, but the financial equation didn’t work out so that idea was sadly forgotten. By 2021 good E30s had become very rare indeed, so much so that I didn’t even initially think about it as an option.
Then this car popped up one Saturday evening on Facebook Marketplace when I was idly looking around. It was advertised as “Immaculate” but even from the pictures that description was not quite right. Still I had nothing much planned for the next day so I enlisted a BMW enthusiast friend and went to have a look, not expecting much. In person, the car looked ok but certainly far from “immaculate”, with a dent on the right side front fender, a missing front lower lip and a hideous set of Chinese knockoff alloy wheels.
On first glance, not that great.
But on closer inspection things started looking surprisingly good; the engine bay was extremely tidy, the interior looked pretty decent and all the fragile plastic bits that most Sri Lankan E30s had long since lost were all present and correct. Even the dash was mostly in good order apart from a couple of tiny cracks. The 1.6 litre M40 four cylinder fired up instantly and idled fairly quietly without the tappet noise that 99% of them seem to have, and there was no smoke or anything leaking.
The owner volunteered a test drive and on it the car felt very decent, with good power and smoothness and no suspension issues. The shifter was a bit sloppy and there was a clunk from the front end over certain types of bumps but otherwise it felt really nice indeed. The basic excellence of the E30 chassis shone through, with lovely and talkative steering, eager turn in and well controlled body motions. So overall, it seemed like a solid car.
My friend quietly told me that it was the best E30 he’d seen in years and if I didn’t buy it he probably would. So after having another poke around and a check underneath (which revealed no rust, again very surprising for an E30), we started negotiations. The owner wanted a price that was very high indeed but he was willing to talk sense so we managed to settle at a figure that was a bit saner but still high for an E30. Nevertheless, the fundamentals of the car were solid enough that I felt it was worth it.
This view looked pretty good.
The first order of business was getting it looked at by a BMW workshop, to sort out all the small annoying issues that I noticed after picking it up. Only one of the four electric windows was working, the fog lights were not either and the driver’s door lock had an issue that meant the door needed to be slammed multiple times to close it. So I ran the car over to a workshop that my friend used and got them to do a drive and an in depth inspection. That inspection turned up a few more items but the main takeaway again was that it was one of the best kept E30s they’d seen in years. The sloppy shifter needed new bushings, the engine mounts needed replacing because although the previous owner had put new ones in they were bad quality parts and finally the steering clunk was revealed to be a worn U-joint. So I left the car with them with instructions to take their time sort it out.
That turned out to not be the best idea, because they certainly DID take their time and it was just under a month later when they had run through the majority of the list. Three of the four windows were now working (fourth needs a new motor), the shifter was much better, and all the other electrics were checked and working. The sound from the front end though, was an issue because they did not have the U-joint in stock and had no way of getting it because the part is no longer manufactured by BMW.
The great thing with the E30 is that there is an overwhelming amount of information online and parts are also not at all tough to find, especially in the UK. So I got in touch with a company that specializes in parts from the UK and within a couple of days they had managed to locate a good used part. Since my steering rack also had some issues, I asked them to find me a good unit as well, which they managed to do and as of today I’m waiting for the parts to arrive, which should be in the next week or so. In the meantime, the car drives fine.
Used, but said to be in decent shape. Fingers crossed.
While the car was at the workshop, I wanted to do something about the wheels and tires which were both Chinese and to put it mildly, quite crap. Since the look I wanted was factory, the “bottle cap” BMW alloys were what I decided to go with. These wheels were everywhere a few years ago, since E30 owners pulled them off for upgrades but somehow they all must have been turned into scrap metal, because nothing could be found.
Then I enlisted my friend who spends a lot of his time on wheels and tires and we spent one weekend visiting every single alloy wheel shop in Colombo and turned up nothing. However my friend was not ready to give up and after badgering a shop he knew well to look harder, managed to turn up a set in the very back of their long term storage, so that was a score! Ebay helped me to replace the missing bumper lip, which I found for a reasonable price in the UK. There are aftermarket alternatives but this was a good condition original BMW item, which is said to be more durable and fits better. Those two simple changes and a good clean and wax improved how the car looked by an incredible amount.
Not bad…
Not bad at all actually.
Another rather odd issue that I discovered was that the car seemed to be infested with ants. There was no clear reason why, but there seemed to be hundreds of them. Multiple vacuuming attempts didn’t entirely solve the issue so I decided to take it to an upholstery shop I know to sort out. The guy ended up having to yank everything out to get rid of them, so since it was out we decided to do something about the upholstery. The seats had a set of covers on them that were kind of like the original pattern, but not quite and they were fitted quite sloppily.
I was hoping the original fabric would have survived underneath but it turned out to be unsalvageable, being ripped and discolored beyond redemption. So the only option was to re do the seats completely, which was done using material that was as close a match as possible. The end result is pretty good, if not exactly identical to the OEM fabric. The owner of the shop also took it upon himself to sort out my door lock as well, since he took great offense at the price of a new lock. After a bit of machine work and several hours of adjusting, it seems to be sorted for now, but I suspect I will eventually need a new one anyway.
I’m pretty pleased with how these came out.
As it stands today, the E30 is running and driving well and is doing what it was supposed to do, providing a fun but also practical alternative to the daily drivers that gives me a genuinely pleasant feeling every time I get behind the wheel. Speaking of wheels, the standard four spoke steering wheel feels just a bit bus like, so after almost overpaying on Ebay, I got lucky and found a used M Tech 1 three spoke wheel for a pretty good price through a cousin in the UK, which is also on the way down. Since it will likely arrive at the same time as the other steering parts, they’ll all go on together. Until then, I’ve been enjoying driving the car and getting to know it properly.
The M tech 1 steering wheel.
Every expert online seems to say that the 316i is underpowered but honestly because the car is pretty light it feels fine, especially from the perspective of a classic car on Sri Lankan roads. On a recent classic car drive I got to open it up a bit and it had no problems whatsoever showing a clean pair of heels to the majority of the pack. That doesn’t mean I haven’t started thinking about upgrades of course, since it appears that almost every engine imaginable has been dropped into an E30 somewhere in the world, there’s plenty of inspiration!
If I do eventually decide on an engine upgrade, I’ll stick with BMW parts and put in one of their six pots, or a twin cam 318is engine, which is a lot less work. Of course if that happens I also need suspension and brake upgrades and so on so that can turn into a bit of a rabbit hole which will probably result in needing an entire car to be brought over. Given that I have plenty of other things to focus my attention on at the moment, this won’t happen any time soon and I’ll just concentrate on keeping it maintained and driving it as much as I can.
Photographed on a recent drive.
Well, that brings us right up to date as far as my COALs are concerned, so I guess this wraps things up. I really enjoyed sharing these stories with everyone here at CC and hope that you enjoyed reading them as well. Thank you for all your comments and the great discussions, and of course for reading in the first place. I hope to bring you more CC content from our sunny island and COAL updates if and when there is anything new. Until then, happy motoring, and see you around!
Aha, I just knew you’d get the Alfa.
Oh!
Still, this was my second choice for you, ahead of the 155, and I’m glad you followed my wise advice. Or not.
I once had the E36 318i, and even in that heavier car, the engine was perfectly ok for getting along quite well. Vastly better than any 4-cylinders Mercedes chose to excrete upon its many low-level buyers for far too many years, all of whose gutless NVH could grind your coffee and get you off (and that was just inside the cab). BM completely re-did their four in about ’88 for this edition – till then it was all variations on the original 1600 motor – and it’s a great deal nicer.
Moons and moons since, I drove a manual 323i of your car, and it was (when revved madly) probably from heaven. But can I be so bold as to say don’t go changing this car? It seems a really sweet original, and anyway, the fours DO feel better for balance.
God, middle age. I sound like some elderly effluvia at a car show, you know “they are perfectly good as they are, just need setting-up right, kids now don’t understand”, ad infinitum. Ignore me, please.
Anyway, good choice, a really nice car. And get that dent fixed.
After all, the Germans keep their shoes in nice condition, and have more fun in them than many might suspect.
Haha believe me the Alfa was very hard to resist! But being located several hours’ drive away, as well as being more likely to have issues conspired against it.
The E30 really is very sweet indeed to drive, nowhere near as smooth as the Six pots maybe, but the chassis really is something special. I get why people call these “god’s chariot”.
I don’t think I’ll go as far as putting a six pot in because I rather like the balance of the car. Maybe look at the twin cam IS engine at the most. Overall I do prefer to keep the car close to factory spec, especially since it’s survived in this shape for 3 decades.
Thanks for a great series. Do you have any particular roads or drives you enjoy?
One of my pastimes is “exploring” the world through Google Streetview. Besides the sights I see lots interesting cars. I also go down weird rabbit holes based on things I see (like learning that Singer Sri Lanka is a large electronics retailer and financial services company, where in the US it is known only for sewing machines. Singer TVs? Stoves? Air Conditioners? Mind blowing).
Thank you for reading! I also like to check out other parts of the globe on street view and Google Earth from time to time, always pretty interesting.
There’s one particular stretch of road (the B445) about an hour’s drive from Colombo that is really nice, used to drive it a lot when I had the Miata but have not been back since I sold it. Must eventually take the E30 on it.
And yes, Singer is a large conglomerate here, in a lot of sectors. I always assumed they were the same in the US, so it’s news to find out that isn’t the case!
Great series! Thank you for sharing and wishing you many happy motoring miles ahead!
Thank you for reading, and wish you the same!
Even though I prefer the later e-36 3 series, just by looking at the before and after pictures of your car, I can sense the feeling of joy that the car brings to you! To me, it looks great! I’ve done the same on cars that I’ve bought and brought back up to an enjoyable standard. Best of luck in your continued travels and future purchases! 🙂
Thanks Moparman, it really does generate joy despite the remaining niggles, and I do find myself staring at it on and off, which is always a good sign.
Good choice, there must be huge piles of these cars somewhere because they are scarce on the roads now, my late brother was fixing a 320 as a get to work beater his FPV XR8 Falcon used a fantastic amount of fuel commuting and he figured an old BMW could do better, he never got to find out though.
Thanks bryce. I guess all the marginal ones must have been taken off the road. They were really pretty common sights even here, but most have just gone now.
Sorry to hear about your brother.
Thank you for sharing! Brought back fond memories of my ’91 318iS, which I drove for some 20 years, maintained in original condition. The twin cam M42 engine was still running sweetly, but other parts needed refurbishing. Happily, handed over stewardship to a young enthusiast who did all that and more, transplanting a 2.8L M52, turning it into an “328iS”. He even custom fabricated that emblem, gave me “visitation rights”. Photo from small cruise event in Calgary, with my color matched LeMond bike on top.
E30 328iS
Peter, thank you for reading!
So great to hear that your car is still in great shape and well cared for, always gives a good feeling when you know an old ride is still being loved.
On another note, do you think he still has the M42 and might want to get rid of it?
No, the M42 was given new gaskets and mild overhaul, then transplanted into a 2002! I encouraged the new owner to keep the M42, as the handling really was wonderful, but he couldn’t resist installing the 2.8 L M52. Then he lowered it too much, as he admitted, said he was planning to raise it back up a bit. Not crazy about the wheels, but he did source a more original set after photo taken.
You might notice my T shirts sports the Alfa Romeo emblem. Had a 1979 Alfa Romeo Spider, but it wasn’t practical to keep here in snowy Calgary. Would love another, or a modern Giulia sedan !
Such a clean and timeless design. Thanks for sharing your journey to get here and your thought process. May you have clear roads and memorable drives!
Thank you Ed. Although it’s not exactly “flashy”, the E30 just seems to get better and better with age.
Good luck with your 3 series Bimmer! It is a clean, timeless design that won’t grow “old”! Enjoy the car: easy on the eyes and no doubt fun to drive!! 🙂
BTW, I’ve enjoyed your COAL series, too! DFO
Thank you for reading Dennis!
“[A]lmost every engine imaginable has been dropped into an E30 somewhere in the world ….”
How about a small block Chevy? I kid. More power is always nice, but cars like this are about handling, not brute power. I don’t think the aftermarket wheels were so terrible, but the OEM ones are much nicer.
Last week I had reservations about this car because of its condition and the number of previous owners, but it sounds as if it was a good choice. Enjoy!
The thought of an LS series engine in there has certainly crossed my mind! But as you say, the balance of the thing is what makes it fun, so any upgrades that may happen will probably look to keep that intact. Even the Six pot ones are said to be heavier in the nose and less sweet handling.
On the wheels, the previous ones were a Chinese knockoff of a Japanese Rays wheel, with the wrong centre bore size as well. All in all, I’m glad to be rid of them.
The car was certainly a bit of a gamble, but as long as I stop myself from trying to do everything at once and remember that the plan is not to make a show queen but a fun classic driver, I think it should be all right.
Pity you didn’t link last weeks post in the text. Now I have to go searching for it!