Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
The search for the elusive, clean E30 continues, and this Schwarz example appears well cared-for with only minor cosmetic modifications that are fully reversible. The look is very lippy and very low, and I think with the ///M badge removed and some slightly more subtle wheels, this would be a very clean daily driver. The price is right but the transmission is unfortunately wrong, making this more beauty queen than canyon carver. Maybe it should keep the oversized BBS wheels after all?
The BMW E30 3 series has become a kind of German 1950s Chevrolet in a sense. With a thriving aftermarket scene, plenty of enthusiasts have undertaken projects to reinvent this compact executive car in their own right. From M3 clones to V8 engined barnstormers, the sky is the limit. With many of the Touring models eligible for US import, this has given enthusiasts a whole new canvas with which to work, as well. It’s not too often that we see the convertible variants breathed upon, but this particular 1990 325i Convertible from our reader Chris in Northern Virginia has had an upgrade to the M50 inline-6 from the later E36 3 series, along with suspension, steering and brake upgrades to handle the increased power.
E30 fanatics (am I automatically considered one for using alphanumerical platform codes?) love digging deep for special editions and casually name-dropping things like “Sport Evo,” “Cecotto,” and “M-Tech 1” or even “M-Tech 2!” Today’s right-hand drive Sport Edition is a new one for me and was available in Europe, Japan, Australia, and South Africa. If you like shifting out of “Park” with your left hand and enjoy constantly wondering where the double yellow lines are, this special-edition 325i could be yours for just a bit more than a standard E30. That’s right: as bonus feature, it has a rebuilt Sport slushbox! The 325i Sport’s autotragic was way before its time, incorporating BMW’s now-ubiquitous and seemingly-endless shifting options in the form of 3 settings – choose your adventure! Redlining the M20 isn’t just for clutch-capable teenage hoons anymore, Americans! With moderate mileage and the subdued Delphin Grey, you can confuse children in a car that appears to have no driver while appearing to enthusiasts like just another dude in an E30 with a mediocre bodykit and some rust bubbles.
We (along with every BMW enthusiast site) go through so many iterations of E30s, but if you could finally go out and get one, how would you want yours? The answers are as diverse as coffee preferences. Sure, the starting point is energetic and standard, but there are a million ways to take it.
Personally, with the E30 M3 boat sailed, I think I’d want to get a little crazy with an engine-swapped example. While the E28 M5’s S38 is a dream, the E36’s S52 is among the most popular choices and readily available (as well as significantly cheaper to maintain). Today’s 325i has some issues that will make it continue to be a project, but the heavy lifting has been done to make it a true hoonmobile. A PPI has been done, which is more than many of the passed-on projects we see here can offer. Once the to-dos get sorted, it’s a good-looking E30 that is ready to be made great.
The 2001 BMW 325i Touring we featured earlier in the month is back up for sale at the same price, but this time with a few more pictures to tell the story. Those folks seeking a rear-drive BMW Touring with a manual gearbox will want to take a closer look at this one.
