It’s September 1984, and you just made partner at Smith, Johanson and Olafson, C.P.A. in Minnetonka, Minnesota. You’ve been driving your tried and true 1972 318-and-TorqueFlite equipped Plymouth Valiant sedan for eight years now, and while it’s been a fine little car indeed, those Minnesota winters have been hard on it. Perhaps your new bump in salary means it’s time for a new car.
You aren’t sure what you want, so you decide to stop at a local Big Three dealership. The salesman spots you right off the bat. “Why sir, come look at this fine Lancaster Coupe de Brougham Special Edition! It has floating-pillow, button-tufted puce velour; the finest maple laminate woodgraining surrounds the two gauges (speedometer and gas, what else do you need?); and TRIPLE-band whitewall tires. It’s the finest car you’ll ever see!”
Yes, it was tough for Brougham-averse Americans to find the right car from a domestic manufacturer. But there were other options…
The BMW 318i (designated internally as the E30) replaced the similar-looking E21 3-Series in 1982. Like its E21 and 2002 predecessors, the new E30 offered BMW ownership to folks desiring a well-engineered, tight handling small sedan with a dash of Germanic efficiency.
With an overall length of 176.8 inches and a 101.2″ wheelbase, the 318i was a very competent compact sedan. Improving on the E21 320i, the 318i (and its 316, 320i, 323i and 325i siblings sold in other parts of the world) received a new yet familiar look, both inside and out. With the 318i, BMW addressed criticism of the E21’s tendency to oversteer by jiggering the rear trailing arm suspension. It helped, but its tendencies to feel a bit light in the rear under certain circumstances was still there.
Under the hood resided the “M10” 1,766 cc (107.8 cu in) inline four found in the cheaper 316 model, but with an important distinction: Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection. U.S.-bound 318is were good for 101 horsepower at 5,800 rpm, and 103 lb-ft of torque. If that doesn’t sound like a whole lot, keep in mind the little sedan weighed just over 2,400 pounds. And if you wanted more power, you were out of luck, at least in the first year (1983). The Ultimate Driving Machine 3 Series topped out with the 318i and 101 hp.
This cruel joke on Americans had been going on since 1979, when the brilliant new M20 sohc six appeared in 3 Series everywhere else, in both 2.0 and 2.3 liter for. The 323i (above), with 145 hp, was the hot compact car, as enthusiastically embraced and loved as the first VW Golf GTI, which also was withheld from Americans. A BMW truly worthy of its blue-white badge. “Not for you pathetic Amerikaner!”
The consolation prize was the 325e, which puttered on the scene in 1984, with its low-rev, high-torque 2.7 L eta engine (CC here). It drove like a little Brougham-era V8; out of breath at 4000 rpm. Maybe that’s why they made it for us. But the Ultimate Revving Machine it wasn’t. It wasn’t until the E30’s 1987 refresh that the echter McCoy 2.5 L six arrived, and then only on the top-line 325i/325iS. With 168 hp, genuine performance was finally on tap, with a 130 mph top speed and a 0-60 time of some 7.5 seconds. It was a long, cruel wait; BMW’s policies in the eighties were a bit hard to fathom. But since the 3 Series had become the yuppie mobile of first choice, sales didn’t exactly suffer as a consequence.
The five-speed manual transmission sported by our featured CC was standard equipment, but an automatic was optional for the shiftless. Other factory options included an AM/FM stereo cassette radio, metallic paint, a limited-slip differential, power windows, central locking, leather upholstery and a manual steel sunroof. The standard interior was perforated leatherette, shown here in Parchment. It seems to have held up just as nicely as Mercedes’ M-B Tex and Pontiac’s Morrokide upholstery, both of which are well-known for durability.
Yes, the BMW interior was a model of efficiency. As stated in the 1983 318i brochure:
“One of the few interiors not left to the whim of a decorator…just as the exterior is uncluttered by fanciful air scoops and the instrument panel is free of mysterious trivialities, there is nothing here that does not contribute meaningfully to performance, safety and comfort.”
That went for the back seat as well. You have a seatbelt, armrest, door handle and power window switch. The rear legroom looks rather lacking here, but the driver’s seat did appear to be in its rearmost position. Remember, this is a compact car. And BMW made sure to increase legroom in every future version of the 3. Which means that today’s 3 is bigger than the 5 Series was during this time.
I spotted this 318i in downtown East Moline a couple of weeks ago. Aside from a convertible or two, E30s are becoming rather scarce around here. This one is in fine shape, and it’s for sale. As a 1985 model, it sports the “diving board” front and rear bumpers that were added to North American E30s from 1984-1987. In 1988, the 3-Series got a mild refresh and much better-integrated bumpers.
I like these mid-’80s BMWs. All of them, really. They were built with purpose and thoughtfulness. I especially like the clean lines and loads of glass area that are in stark contrast with today’s 3-Series. Seeing this car on a gray Sunday morning made me wish I could drive a stick. Someday…
Yes, automotive design and engineering departments had different ideas of comfort and luxury: Proximity to Highland Park or Munich apparently was a big factor. Just compare these two! Could any two 1985-model cars look any different? Well, maybe a Chevrolet Sprint and a Lamborghini Countach. But I digress…
The interiors are also a study in contrasts. One is a leather-upholstered living room with a steering wheel. Lateral support? What’s that? The other one is more of a place of business–and also of fun, should you run across a particularly twisty road. You can begin to grasp why so many new-car buyers didn’t cross-shop Chrysler and BMW, Cadillac and Mercedes, Lincoln and Audi.
So, which car type would you go for? This Balticbleu-metallic, alloy-wheeled driving machine, or a cushy and comfy, but wallowy, Fifth Avenue, Fleetwood or Town Car? Personally, I think both have their merits.
Notice the cheep plugs on the doors .as this car has power windows . for that kind of money B M W should have two kinds of door cards .one for power windows and one for crank windows.
Beat me to it.
Also note that GM was not the only manufacturer who equipped the dash with a “Mark of Excellence” crack…but otherwise, the quality of the materials in these was first rate.
Yup the ultimate in cheapness, not only did they use cheap plugs for the crank holes, to further save money they used switches straight from JC Whitney and put the front ones in the console so you didn’t need two for the passenger side. They continued that practice at least into the 90’s.
Those plugs are there for a reason. The tool kit in the trunk included a crank handle so that if the electric windows failed you could pull the plugs and manually wind up the windows. I never had to use the window hand crank, but the electric sunroof also had a plug to pull and I used it once with the crank handle to close the sunroof. These cars were built to be serviceable indefinitely. They were pretty much the opposite of cheap.
that’s pretty friggin cool. Wish my miata had that…
My ’91 Volvo 940SE had a plug to manually open and close the sunroof too. I thought it was a neat feature. The tool kit had a special crank just for this emergency sunroof closure.
I was wondering if anyone would remind the crew about the “door window plugs” being a safety feature. And as far as the emergency power moonroof/astroroof/sunroof plug, plenty of American cars had one, too.
Way to drink the BMW Kool Aid the cheap out and don’t make a separate door panel nor have confidence in their electrics either so sell it as a “safety feature” rather than the reality that they cheeped out.
My sunroof never broke, I just messed around with it and read the owner’s manual extensively since my Mom had the car years before I got my license. And it was a Volvo, not a BMW.
I’ve seen a hundred American cars with deceased power windows for every BMW that has the problem but BMW actually took precautions for the eventuality. Why do US automakers have so much confidence in costed out garbage that will break? I worked on these cars having worked on lots of other cars, and generally it was a pleasant surprise to dig beneath the surface and see just how much quality and attention to detail was beneath it. Quite the opposite of cars built by companies that spent all their money tooling four different door panel specs to dazzle the short-sighted.
BMW switched to a different door card in 89, that didn’t have said door plugs, BMWs from the 80s were designed to be on the road FOREVER , BMW was still trying to make their name per say so they built these things like tanks, also if that the only thing you can find to nitpick on these cars thats kinda sad, also BMW put the switches in the console for ergonomic reasons
Agreed!
Obviously you have never owned a e30. The plugs are the access point for a factory tool to roll your windows up if the power fails.
At least the big 3 didnt cheep out this way
My 1980 Firebird had the power window switches in the console.
I have always thought these BMW’s looked like late 60’s cars, especially the Datsun 510 Bluebirds. For me as a Ford-fanboy, I could never understand why anyone would want this cramped ‘brick’ instead of the sleek roomy Ford Sierra, even if there is a certain difference in the perceived quality and material choices in the two cars (they both stayed in production for about the same 10 year period, and the 3-series ended up selling more worldwide)
Not an unreasonable comparison, given that the 510 was inspired at least part by the BMW 1600/1602, this car’s direct ancestor.
“Seeing this car on a gray Sunday morning made me wish I could drive a stick.”
As I think I’ve said before, we need to stage some kind of intervention to teach Tom what his left foot is for. 🙂 I guess JPC is closest.
Really, we all could benefit from tutorials from other members of the Cohort. I want BigOldChryslers to give me a C-body crash course. Then I’d be happy to fly to BC so Len Peters can teach me to ride a bike on those mountain roads. I assume this is all in the budget, employee training is essential, right Paul?
Tom, next time you’re out Olalla way, a drive in my RX7 awaits….
I know you could get nicer interiors as you went up the options list, but the base interior in these has all the charm of soviet port-o-let.
I concur. I started becoming interested in these things around this time, and I must say the interiors, although very functional, were a little homely-looking.
The interiors of these cars was supposed to be all-black. A friend had a 325es with the black leather Recaros and everything else black vinyl. The interior looked great because if focused your attention OUTSIDE the car.
You could also get cloth seats in actual colors (well, blue at least), only a slight concession to Broughamity.
My goodness this car looks so much better than the BMWs of today. This edition still carried on the svelte good looks of the 2002 series but with even more panache. Why did the Munich boys decide to bloat up the size and fussy up the styling? I was never so disappointed with BMW when they announced the 1-Series. I thought they were going back to their roots of Form Follows Function and were going to deliver a worthy successor to the 2002 or these 80’s E30 3-Series. Nope. What a waste. Hope they wake up and recapture their essence while there are still people working there who remember what they used to be.
I guess this was when BMWs were BMWs…
As a driver’s car, I have never driven one, so I don’t know if they are or not. The older ones do have a certain “charm” to them that exudes performance, but perhaps not so much in the comfort department.
As far as the interior went, our 1984 E-Class sure out-classed this…it just didn’t didn’t run as fast…
Back then, that wasn’t an advertising slogan. It was the truth.
I can’t say about BMW cars either, as I have also never driven one…but I owned a BMW bike, and there is no question: it’s a ten-tenths machine. Exudes quality and durability; designed with purpose and environment in mind.
ALSO like BMW automobiles, the new ones are maintenance nightmares – compared to the simple R50 of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Two wheels or four, today’s BMWs are high-upkeep mistresses.
It probably was different thirty years ago.
I’ll take the cross-fire/tune-port Vette across the street for $1000 Alex.
Soviet port-o-let! Now Carmine, that was funny! Had a friend come into some money back in the day. This was her car of choice. I was a Manager at a car rental company and was probably driving a V6 Thunderbird, Crown Vic or if the General Manager was not looking a 5.0 Mustang.
Your last line is really true, Tom – the Broughamy cars and these purposeful, subtle “driving machines” both had/have their merits. It’s interesting how extreme the two types were back then, as now the characteristics of both have really blended together in today’s cars (for better AND worse, IMO).
Count me as one of those who really appreciated both. I loved that 1983 Eldo in the post from the other day, yet I also really liked the less flamboyant Euro cars of the day. Having grown up with American cars and a Toyota, I would grab at any chance to drive someone’s BMW or Saab or Mercedes. Living in NYC after college, I had no car, so I’d borrow what I could. A friend of mine had a 1987 325is, with a stick, and I still think this was close to automotive nirvana. My brother had an ’89 (or so) 325ix automatic, which wasn’t quite the same, but still really enjoyable to drive. I yearn for a BMW like these – clean, good looking lines, pure driving feel, just the right amount of equipment (ok, well, maybe bluetooth and ipod would be nice!). Equip one of these with black leather, and it doesn’t feel so austere inside.
I’ve really come to the conclusion that BMW today is really just an entirely different company, and while they may make some great cars still, the philosophy is just different (in spite of the same tag line).
Became a CPA in 1987, driving a base 84 Camaro for work. Never made partner or any other lofty position, but bought a 93 Cadillac Deville in 1995. Would have never looked at a BMW, a good car, but not for me.
I never really liked the 85 era Fifth Avenues, but they are starting to look good to me now.
To beat someone to the punch, maybe I didn’t make partner due to my taste in cars. Some of the guys I knew in the 1980’s did not know there was an American big three.
This car shares more of its DNA with the 2002 than it does with any modern day 3-series. I’m not sure the curb weight though was only 2,400 lbs.
The way this piece started, I was afraid for a minute that you were ghost-writing the JPC COAL series. I graduated law school in 1985 and had spent 5 years with a 71 Scamp. (And through some odd circumstances, I also had a 77 New Yorker sedan).
One of these was on my lust-list. I could not pull the trigger on a $16K 318i when a $12k GTI did everything almost as well. The 325, however, was another matter, but I could not justify (or afford) the nearly $20K that the car was running. I never got to drive one either, as the snooty BMW salesmen ignored me as I spent 20 minutes in the showroom looking. I decided that I had had enough and left. (Got the same thing at the Honda dealer, too). I bought the GTI and enjoyed it (and a payment book) for two years until I reverted to type and bought my 66 Fury III.
A sister in law later bought a used 87 325 automatic that she drove for a long time.
I have to admit I had you in mind…a little bit.
I think it’s safe to say we’d all love to read the JPC edition of COAL, whenever you’re ready!
Ah yes, (amongst) the last of the REAL BMW’s. Once they went to the E36 in 1992, it was no longer “The Ultimate Driving Machine”. It was “Lexus Mit Handling, And We Won’t Scare You With Too Much Performance”.
Ten years after the brougham finally died in America (thank ghod), BMW goes and brings out their own versions of the brougham – which they’re still doing today.
I had a ’90 325is and still think of it fondly. In my eyes, that’s the perfect interior: Power window, power sunroof, manual everything else.
The thing is about these, is there never really was “too much performance”, so I don’t think that’s what really changed. To me, it’s the FEEL that changed over time. These E30s just had a pure, connected, tight feel, which all contributed to a really satisfying driving experience.
Syke,
I agree with you. I bought a new 318is in 1991, the only year for that model in the E30 body. I still regret selling it. There was nothing in it or on it that wasn’t needed. There were a few small things (like door cards) that they could have done a better job making, but some parts were made very well (the turn signal stalk was a stout piece of metal that will probably outlast the car).
The 3 series…the new F30 included is still the best performing car in its class
Skye has hit the nail right on the head, having beat me to the punch. BMWs are now a cruel joke compared to what they once were. The featured car was a really nice car to drive, with excellent handling, solidity and sight lines. No fat or flab on the car, a really nice car to have around with excellent, understated handling.
Fast forward to today: we have a bloated 3 series that is only concerned with keeping Shanghai housewives happy by providing plenty of flat spaces to apply Hello Kitty decals. Is this broughamification? Darn rights it is, but just a Detroit learned in the 1970s, this stuff sells and the BMW 328 Hello Kitty is selling very well.
Just stick a BMW roundel or a three point star on the hood and half of China will beat a huge furrow to the stealership. That’s how BMW does business and it’s making the Quandt family an enormous pile of Euro.
For now, anyway.
“BMWs are now a cruel joke compared to what they once were.”
I believe that’s true, and the price reflected that. Probably why so many Yuppies that didn’t quite make BMW-money bought Pontiac Grand Ams instead! At least they looked the part…kind of…
In the US, the E30 was introduced as a 1984 model, initially just as the 2-door 318i. 1985 brought the 4 door and the luxurious 325e. 1987 saw the 318i replaced by the eta engined 325 with 318i equipment levels while the 325e was replaced by the 325i with the high performance 2.5 liter. 1988 bodies were updated with integrated valence panels, bigger tail lights and elipsoid headlights, but the 5 mph bumpers were still in use. 1989 was the year that body colored 2.5 mph bumpers came to the US E30s. The 325 was dropped that years too and the 325i lost a bunch of standard equipment. My favorite BMWs are the ’88 models, with the big bumpers and highest equipment levels.
I had a 1984 325e, so that must have been the first year for them. I bought it in 1990 used for $10,500 (traded a 1987 V8 T-bird for it). It was a nice car, champagne exterior loaded with power windows, locks, trip computer, power antenna and nice brown cloth interior. I was a stick and I loved that car. It also got great mileage, 30+ on the highway. I wish I still had it!
Interesting. Somewhere I still have the Motor Trend which had their test of the new 1985 4-door 318i as well as the introduction to the 325e. Maybe the top model was a late intro-’84 and the 4-doors were called ’85s.
Could be mine was a 2 door 325e.
As mentioned before yesterdays post Citroen will blow past these things in the twistys
And which of the plethora of desireable well regarded 80s Citroens would that be ?
I was always partial to the E36 instead of the E30 (except for the original M3). I bought a E36/5 (318ti) only just recently (August)… It has aged a lot better than the E30s have… BMW NA pretty much killed ‘roll-up window’ BMWs in this country… (switch) in the center console aside the shifter!)
BMW deliberately killed any chance of ever buying a car from them for under $30,000.00. When you’re insistent on that kind of money, fat and toys irrevocably follow.
It is BMWNA (a dealer network) and not the German BMW Company that controls what cars ‘we’ get or don’t get. The dealers order the cars to sell. The first 318ti, in 1995, stickered for $19.995 (base), but the dealers hated them because they made larger profits on more expensive models… They then added ‘packages’ Active & Sport – pushing the price up, of course!
Like the 1-series now, they were actually faster than ‘bigger’ the 3-series with the same engine. Smaller means lighter/cheaper/faster. Now they actually put the six cylinder in the ‘1’. The 323ti never made it to the USA (People do ‘mod’ them here that way though)
This car (the 318ti) is my favorite recent (or semi-recent) BMW, aside from maybe the “clown shoe” Z3 coupe. Thinking about finding one for my daily commute. I just need room for my briefcase and myself. The Subaru can be saved for dog hauling and Costco runs.
I don’t understand the automotive press’ fascination with these things. They’re sort of ’55 Chevys in a more modern vernacular, but equally unexciting. In the Intermountain West they are rare since these things refuse to go in snow.
Interiors have always been the weak point on BMWs. A former coworker was the head of the BMW account at Designworks (now fully owned by BMW) in California. We went to dinner in his leased 530 (this was in 1995) and I noticed that various dash components had wildly varying textures applied to them. He told me that BMW had hired Designworks to redesign the interior of the 850 (I could be wrong) because at over $100,000 it wasn’t attracting customers. Designworks vastly improved the interior, but the car remained a piece of crap.
Oh how I miss my ’87 325 coupe. It got expensive to own at a bad time for me financially.
It was such a blast to drive. It was the last BMW with a bit of that 2002 simplicity to it.
I routinely check classifieds for another one. I’d like a bit of a later one at least an 88.
I also don’t see the point in criticizing a 27 year old car for having a cracked dash. The damn thing is almost 30 years old!
They do it to the American cars….
After 20 years, sun damage shouldn’t be criticized.
Now my dad’s ’85 Mustang that had a terribly miscolored dash (I would say faded but it looked burnt) after it was just 4 years old, not cool.
A friend bought at tired ’88 325is in high school and proceeded to drive it for almost a decade. I always thought it was a cool car, especially since it was black/black with those great sport seats. At the same time, it was also the most miserably small car I’ve ever ridden in and its (admittedly worn out and abused) driving characteristics were nothing special compared to the nearly-as-beat Accord I drove at the time.
I think these things were created as yuppie toys of the eighties, much as today’s Beemers are for contemporary yuppies. It’s a shame they are so ridiculously expensive to repair. It’s kind of a “6 to one/half a dozen to the other” scenario: Either $500/month payments for a new one, or a smaller payment on a non-warrantied model and a small monthly allowance for repairs-your pick.
Anyway, the 2012 BMW 335i Sedan:
Does it have the optional Hello Kitty Package?
I would urge anyone who must have a BMKitty to lease one new. Out of warranty repairs are absurd for these cars and way beyond “a small monthly allowance.”
When I was looking for my first new car it was in the summer of 1985. Being a subscriber to both Road & Track and Car and Driver, I certainly wanted one of these (318i), but at $18,000, I couldn’t afford one. Instead, I did some car research and found out that the 1985 Honda Prelude accelerated faster, ran the slalom faster, pulled more “G’s” on the skidpad than the BMW. In-fact, it outperformed the 318i in every way except top speed. Plus, it was only $12,000.
I jumped on the Prelude and drove it for 12 years and 213,000mi it was a fantastic, handling and driving car.
I had a friend who drove a ’86 325e and now drives a ’90 325ix. He’s had an interesting experience with his BMW dealer. When the car was newer, the dealer gave him good service and treated him as a valued customer. As the car got older, his treatment by the dealer got poorer and poorer, with implications that he was wasting their time trying to keep the old car on the road. However, at some point the dealer started seeing him as a curator and protector of a classic BMW and started treating him like a king.
A couple of examples of this: When the engine computer died, they told him that they’d have to source one from Germany and it would cost nearly $2,000. They said to get one from eBay, they would test it and if it passed would install it for $100. One $50 eBay computer later and his car was back on the road for $150. At some later point, his ABS wiring to the right rear brake either corroded or wore through until it broke. In the world of BMW, this required a whole new wiring harness and untold hours of threading the new harness into the car. They said don’t worry, they had a parts car around that they would clip the end of harness off and splice it into his harness. Back on the road for about $100.
I never got treatment like that from any dealer that I went to.
This brings back so many memories…my father kept a 316 (the very basic version) for 21 years…it had less than 70000 miles when we gave it away as my father rarely used it until it became the family daily driver in its last 3 years…and that’s when thing really started to go wrong…the 316 had the same 1,8 liters engine of the 318i but with an electronic carburetor instead of fuel injection and it was a NIGHTMARE…talk about german reliability, that thing was always on repair and it was shitty to drive too as the engine suddenly lacked power when you stepped on the gas, pretty scary in an overtake…handling was quite tricky too…my father got scared many times under the rain and we’re talking about the 90 hp 1,8 version…talking about optionals? Alloy wheels, right electric mirror and…nothing else ! The interior was well made but also pretty crude…however I miss that car, it was almost like the 5th family member and it was pretty beautiful (much more than every 3-series that followed)
Aw, *SWEEET!* Thanks for this write-up, on my favorite car (series) of all time. I actually did have a 1984 Balticblau 318i for a short time, then sold to get my current E30 (#4): 1987 Lapisblau 325e, manual. Yes, there will always be some maintenance happening here or there, but honestly, it will always be worth it to me.
—*E30’s FOREVER!!*—
[OO=[ ][ ]=OO]
“Once they went to the E36 in 1992, it was no longer “The Ultimate Driving Machine”.”
I have to disagree. You can still get a base sedan with stick shift, leatherette, no nav. And I haven’t read a contemporary review yet about the 3 series that says they’ve lost their way.
Still too expensive? My buddy’s strippo 1 series is a hoot to beat like a rented mule.
BMW’s are funny in that there is so much impressive engineering detail mixed in with the odd flash of cheapness. Look under the hood or under the car and you see where the money went, and then you encounter an uncharacteristically chintzy piece of interior trim. Doesn’t matter what year. At least the crappy stuff won’t leave you on the side of a road.
I guess it goes back to the 2002 or even before. That car was no luxobarge but it was premium where it counted.
Just as today’s journalists are afraid to badmouth Ferrari, criticisms of BMW tend to be muted. Occasionally someone will sneak in a lament that they’ve become too sophisticated for their own good. E21 and E30 purists say their cars are built better and are truer to BMW’s core values. They were also too small, cheap and stripped down to compete in the price segment they were drifting into thanks to fluctuations in exchange rates. Stripper cars stayed home, only top-spec cars made it here.
The outward visibility in this car, especially towards the rear, is far better than any modern coupe or sedan (although not quite as good as a 2002, maybe the all-time outward visibility champ). I miss big windows, slim pillars, and low trunklids that didn’t necessitate rearview cameras to see what’s behind you.
Whatever you think of the Fifth Avenue’s styling, you gotta admit it cleverly wringed substantial profits and years from a 1976 Volare platform and body.
In fact, neither “typical mid-80s” car really is, in the way a thirdgen Civic or original Taurus or even a GM N-body is. They’re both mid-70s designs – Chrysler, as you said, piling gingerbread on a Volare to make a full-size-car substitute, BMW having apparently forgotten to style the E30 and simply run a picture of an E21 through the copier.
Thanks in part to this post, I picked up a 1990 325i sedan (5-speed, of course) as my winter car so that my Challenger isn’t subjected to road salt and cinders used in PA. I paid a bit of a premium, but it’s a one owner car and looks to be in very nice shape.
It’s my first BMW, so I’m looking forward to experiencing one from the “golden era” of the marque.
This was my second BMW (a few years after I regretfully sold my beloved 1974 2002). Mine was a stripped Euro-variant. No power anything, hard top…only nod to “modernization” was the A/C. The suspension was gutted and improved on, which while making the ride a tad, um, harsh assured that I could just about out-corner anything on the road. While some criticize the 318i for being cheap, I loved the simplicity and solidness of that car. It was, connected…I’d drive it for hours just to go find backroad switchbacks to toss it into. Hasn’t been a car in my driveway that much fun since then. Imagine a car you could actually SEE out of the windows! Was it fast off the line? Um, no…but that misses the point, I think. I’d still love to have a well-preserved E30 in my garage for fun-time duty.
A so-called friend tried to sell me one of these years ago. I could not believe how tight the interior was with bugger all elbow room to move in. I never even test drove it and ended up buying a 1987 5 series. It had it’s problems too. Could not move the seat far enough back to make it comfortable to drive; and I’m only 5’8″.
I’ve owned a e30 for the past 25 years. They are great cars. My new favorite is e46 M3.