E30 M3

[cmr2payne]

Been looking at a 1988 E30 M3 can someone point me in the right direct for a buyers guide and a price guide,

Cheers

[M3John]

cmr2payne said:

Been looking at a 1988 E30 M3 can someone point me in the right direct for a buyers guide and a price guide,

Cheers

There can be a lot of variation in these as there were some models that are worth nearly 10k more than some. A rough guide would be in the region of 7k for an ok example but as mentioned this could rise to well over 15k for some examples !

[belleair302]

Go and buy a copy of BMW Car magazine and look in the back for when they published a buying guide.

[iguana]

heck of a variation, can get cars that are not utter cack even at the £5k level, at the other end is this type of thing!

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/333822.htm

[skh]

Great choice of car. remember that history if vital and since the pedigree has evolved from touring cars most have been hammered and hard!! suggest you speak to specialists ie Moseley motorsport Telford, Munich Legends,and google for tons of articles. Total Bmw, BMW car and BMW Car Club (01225 709009) worth checking out for buyers guides, running reports and owners views etc.
Having prev. owned six incl. cabrio and two mint sportEvos prices vary but like most things in life you pays your money and takes your chance. I would set budget and go for best you can afford.
Under £7k and you will no doubt have to spend again. At £8-9k then should get very good well kept std 2.3car. Limited editions Ravaglia/ Ceccotto/ Europameister etc up at £10k. concour examples start at £12k. High mile sportevos start at £15k rising to £25k for the very best low milers. so plenty of scope dependant on your monies available.
colour wise black is stunning when mint but a real pain to keep that way. Reds fade, white will come back into fashion as they have today.
all in all good luck and enjoy.

[RLK500]

One piece of advice I would give is don't get bamboozled with buying low mileage cars. Sure if you are looking to keep it for a long time and never drive it, (sacrelidge..) then low mileage may be a good option. However, if you want to enjoy the car they have to be driven, the harder the better. If the car is well maintained they can take a real thrashing. I have seen lots of garage queens that get driven once or twice a year, get 5 miles down the road and all the hoses start leaking, header tanks split etc etc. They like to be used, so don't get hung up ones that have been.

[M3John]

skh said:

.....Limited editions Ravaglia/ Ceccotto/ Europameister etc......

Well done sir, these were the one that i was trying to think of !

[andye30m3]

great car, i've had mine for 5 years. Mechanically very reliable but they can suffer from rust on the reare arches, around the number plate and under the fuse box. From what i've heard the gearboxes can be a week point.

They seam to be getting quite rare at the moment, doesn't seam to be as many cars for sale recently but find a good one and you won't regret it. Good luck.

[RLK500]

I haven't experienced issues with gearboxes,(I think this is the same box that's in the E28 M5, with significantly more torque to deal with). However, they can be noisy, which may be interpreted as being shot. Particularly the lay shaft at tick over, they rattle away merrily but quiten down once progress is being made. Obviously, the box will take some stick as it's a high revving engine that neeeds to be made to work to extract the best. But the change should be neat and tight. Also noise from the gear lever area can be down to worn bushings in the lever mechanism, a common issue, not a show stopper.

[PPPPPP]

http://www.s14.net/forums/

[houlbt]

Just get it inspected by someone with genuine experience in thse cars. I would agree with the comment above about not focusing on low mileage but rather condition and how it has been looked after/maintained.... in the South East I would recommend these guys

http://www.bmsport.com/project-cars-3.htm

[oltarmac]

i owened an e30 m3 early model,1987. superb car and still miss it to this day,they have week gearbox syncros.drive down the road at 40mph push your clutch in and check 2nd and 3rd that there is no crunching,also check them under the number plate lights,bottom of windscreen,and under fusebox,also remember the timing chain issue at 100,000miles although if i remember correctley you can fit an upgraded chain tensioner off i think an e36 m3.i did this with mine and it cured it.
good luck.
go for the evo sport. (if you can find one)

[funkyboogalooo]

Ive owned 2 of them and loved them both. The first i wrote off after only 25 minutes of owning and the second blew up just after I sold it. Apparently the main bearings failed and it was knackered. They suffer a problem with oil starvation if they are used on track days and dont have a baffled sump as the pick up can't get to the oil.
Hope that helps
Mike