Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
The E30s are indeed being snapped up, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some still hiding out there to be picked up by enthusiasts. Today’s is a pretty blue example with the M-Tech bodykit and has covered a reasonable 150k miles. It’s a little too nice to go the racer boys, but with a 5-speed manual and the classic 2.5l inline-6, it has years of fun weekends left in it. It will be very interesting to see where the bidding lands to give us a new baseline for decent, original E30 pricing.
I was joking around with our editor, Paul, saying that I was pretty sure we could just feature E30s all day long and everyone would be happy. There’s a seemingly endless supply of examples that come to the market every week. There are the normal S50/S52 swaps, some crazy turbo editions, mint condition original examples, tired daily drivers and everything in between. But occasionally something special pops up that really makes you take notice. Much like earlier’s H26 modified 325i, here is a 325i that was apparently originally modified by Hartge in Germany. Sporting some of the really tasty Hartge bits but not a full H26 conversion, the Coup de gras has to be the Weismann hardtop:
The Euro-spec 1987 BMW 325i with period Hartge H26 modifications and M-Tech pieces is back up for sale on eBay. It’s not a huge surprise given the original quite high and optimistic asking price, but the new price is down 15% to $22,000. That’s still a lot of money for a non-M3 E30, but what price would you pay for this neat piece of kit?
As with earlier’s AMG clone 300CE, this 1987 BMW 325i presents a bit of a problem. This particular car also visited a tuning shop in Germany, one that like Ruf and Alpina can be considered to produce its own cars. In this case, this car – had it been fully built and titled – would be considered a Hartge H26. But, also in this case, the car is not fully built and consequently not fully titled a Hartge. What you have, then, is a very good looking 325i sporting one of the less usual engines to see – the 2.6 inline-6 rated at about the same 190 horsepower as the early M3s. Now, perhaps it doesn’t matter to you that it’s not a full Hartge car – but it matters to the market:
Most of the time we’re writing about 1980s E30s coming up for hassle-free importation we’re looking at tourings, as they were never brought here. Today, however, reader Bruce has alerted us to an intriguing E30 convertible from Japan via Canada. It’s still left-hand drive, but is in great condition after 90k miles and comes with the same plaid cloth and leather interior that was in the S38 M3 featured earlier this week. The biggest detraction is the automatic, but if you’re looking for some classy and easy top-down cruising, this would be a nice option.