thinking of buying my first bmw. need advice

[x2n]

i am thinking of buying an e30, or an e36 for a weekend car, any advice? im worried about the whole banyak makan wang thinggy, since im not a really huge salary guy, but really love to drive a bimmer, basically, does it have lots of problem even if i do the regular maintainence? mainly whats the problem with most e30? does less driving it, less problem? sorry, im a noob, really need advice.thanks in advance ^_^

 

[AlexNg]

Hi!

soon you'll have all the E30 and E36 sifus / gurus come to help u!

i personally love the E30 to bits... but heard its hard to source a relly good car

 

[Abe Jak]

..follow ur heart dude..duit boleh cari maaaa....

 

[meanguy]

You can learn a lot about E30 & E36 in the forum. There are write-ups on spare part pricing, reliable workshops to go to, maintenance and mods!

Do your homework and go for it, bro! The experience of driving the UDM - Priceless!!!!

 

[ramsing]

take u're time to find a good model. make sure the owner has a good service record, at least 2 years. dont go with first impressions. some cars look damn good, but breaks down 5 minutes later.

but its worth the hassle and buy. once u try black, u can never go back. oopps, wrong line.

 

[astroboy]

E30 has been around for quite awhile now.. any spare part problem? I think chop shop also not much E30 parts lio..

I once shop for E30 many years back.. that time the 1991 model is going for around RM30k, test drove it, felt the brake tak makan and the brake vacuum pump is situated on the firewall in front on the passenger side with a metal link connecting to the driver's footwell side... Is it memang like that one? or was it a LHD conversion? Looks weird and did not pursue further after that because don't like that bit of the design.. and settled on a used Wira 1.3i A/B... for RM32k that year. I think its 2002... 2 year old car vs 11 year old car.. What a kiasi loser..

Also most E30 has crack dashboard problem.. very sien.... what about rust issue? izzit bad for such an old car?

How much are those car going now le? I mean standard one, say 1991 model.

I personally love the look of the car.. especially with the M wide body front/rear fender and the raise boot lid.. very unique :love: I think this conversion only available for E30 Coupe... hardly see any around.. If I see one parking around, I sure jalan pergi dekat dekat and check her out..

How much money do we need to set aside for such a beauty, with the //M engine of course ?

 

[cempaka]

E30s after mid 87 dont really have rust probs because thats when they started galvanizing the body. pre 87 can have a lot if not carefully looked after.

No problems with most spare parts, at least in KL. huge supply of ori, OEM and 2ndhand. I think you've heard wrongly about the chop shops, ab. While E30 halfcuts are harder to find nowadays, if you just want parts there's tons especially since some are interchangable with E36 and others.

BMW themselves even have a whole division dedicated to making new genuine parts for all their older models, so the E30 will be taken care of for a long time to come, not to mention its massive OEM industry.

Crack dash is common but possible to rewrap.

It's possible to run an E30 on a tight budget compared to later models, but spending a bit more can make it much more reliable and enjoyable to drive. If you find a good mechanic and do all the necessary maintentance (especially preventative) it'd make a great weekend car or even a daily driver. Try to save yourself the headaches and look for one with a service history.

 

[astroboy]

They u have it, great advice from cempaka..

Thanks cempaka!

What about the brake pump, is it really at the passenger side wan? Farnee heh! and not very makan wan.. got such problem ka?

Some more with such an age, the longitude drive shaft maybe ada loose and "king-kong" bunyi lio.. costly to rectify?

 

[AlexNg]

wah AB,

u wanna buy another E30 for weekend car ah? hehe.... go and re-build 1!

 

[astroboy]

Thinking... Insurance 3rd party nia... cheap cheap... just pay road tax can jalan d.. Can pasang cage, can go for the HPC track event..

Otherwise, my weekend car is an E90 and that's enough..

 

[cempaka]

Brake booster is indeed on the left side, same as the hood release. BMW didn't really bother changing much from the LHD version. The location doesn't really affect braking power though, as both LHD and RHD drivers complain about the stock brakes!

Anyways a lot of people replace the stock servo with one from 7-series, then makan very well.

 

[rrr3]

Hello all .. i am new here .. followed my heart and got myself a 523i (1997) .. of course i dream of owning the E39 M5 .. but that is near to impossible .. .. eventually i will be needing advice(s) from the "veterans & professionals" in this club .. so i am introducing myself ... ... oh yeah .. HAPPY CHINESE YEAR 2008 .... !!

 

[Jay Bigbang]

Go for it dude!!! Racun.racun. haha.. :top:

 

[astroboy]

Brake booster is indeed on the left side, same as the hood release. BMW didn't really bother changing much from the LHD version. The location doesn't really affect braking power though, as both LHD and RHD drivers complain about the stock brakes!

So that confirms my fear.. the first time a test drive the pre-owned car, I hate the brake feel.. I initially thought something was wrong with that car, so I passed without even discussing the price, the brake felt worst than a JDM.. And I was just driving it around housing area.. already I felt unsecured with the brake..

Hello all .. i am new here .. followed my heart and got myself a 523i (1997) .. of course i dream of owning the E39 M5 .. but that is near to impossible .. .. eventually i will be needing advice(s) from the "veterans & professionals" in this club .. so i am introducing myself ... ... oh yeah .. HAPPY CHINESE YEAR 2008 .... !!

Bro. please go to the newbie section and do a short intro properly.. its a unique forum culture..

 

[cempaka]

Well the e30 stockers aren't the most powderful brakes around, especially if with rear drums as the 318i had. But they aren't as terrible as the ones you describe, probably the car you drove had a problem. maybe air bubbles in the brake lines or bad pads or something.

 

[jagmalhi]

yup cannot be the stock e30 is that bad la..haha..mine i changed to ventilated disc with better calipers and pads and the breaking is good enough for a 1.8..next gonna change rear to disc and change the booster will be awesome..but i feel e30 is cheap to maintain comparatively.not much more than a JDM

 

[x2n]

hi guys, thanks for the quick reply, i dint manage to go only for the past 2 days, on holiday

yup im most likely to go for an E30, i like the way it looks.

money is always an issue, i had a talk with my older brother (he's like my personal financial advisor ) about this. he suggest me to gain more money like investment instead of buying an old car since im soo young. owning two car is always a heavy responsibility, eventho i hardly use one of em. even one car, i already having a hard time maintaining em. at some point, he's right.

but i dont want to waist my time waiting for something soo long, and get it by the time im old. i always imagine myself driving an e30, with my gf, at a really young age hehehe. BJM 7978, i totally agree with u, duit boleh cari, but not time... argh headache

back to buying an e30 discussion,

in terms of buying from a guy, how to arrange it? sorry, i never bought a car before, my current car was a gift (one of ther reason im looking for a car, im loan-free ) how to change names and all those stuff? do i need to do it, or the buyer? i dont want to get cheated hehe

loan probably cant go, since the car is more than 10 years d, im thinking of rhb bank personal loan. or is it still possible to get car loan?

i prefer to get a stock standard e30, even the rims. but an extra like bodykit would be nice, especially m3's bodykit. how to know whether its a stock car, or have been modified?


p/s: jay bigbang, u racun me kaw2 d la bro, since the day we went lunch wan haha

 

[rrr3]

Bro. please go to the newbie section and do a short intro properly.. its a unique forum culture..

ok .. thanks .. will do .

 

[crusher]

I doubt any bank will loan you money to buy that car

And taking a personal loan just to buy a car is kind of suicidal, if you know what I mean. Don't forget you still need a tidy sum to do the repairs.

 

[Jay Bigbang]

hi guys, thanks for the quick reply, i dint manage to go only for the past 2 days, on holiday

yup im most likely to go for an E30, i like the way it looks.

money is always an issue, i had a talk with my older brother (he's like my personal financial advisor ) about this. he suggest me to gain more money like investment instead of buying an old car since im soo young. owning two car is always a heavy responsibility, eventho i hardly use one of em. even one car, i already having a hard time maintaining em. at some point, he's right.

but i dont want to waist my time waiting for something soo long, and get it by the time im old. i always imagine myself driving an e30, with my gf, at a really young age hehehe. BJM 7978, i totally agree with u, duit boleh cari, but not time... argh headache

back to buying an e30 discussion,

in terms of buying from a guy, how to arrange it? sorry, i never bought a car before, my current car was a gift (one of ther reason im looking for a car, im loan-free ) how to change names and all those stuff? do i need to do it, or the buyer? i dont want to get cheated hehe

loan probably cant go, since the car is more than 10 years d, im thinking of rhb bank personal loan. or is it still possible to get car loan?

i prefer to get a stock standard e30, even the rims. but an extra like bodykit would be nice, especially m3's bodykit. how to know whether its a stock car, or have been modified?


p/s: jay bigbang, u racun me kaw2 d la bro, since the day we went lunch wan haha

It's my pleasure bro. Sape lagi nak racun kalo x kawan2!!haha.. I hope one day u'll achieve ur dream to owning a Beemers dude. Cheers!! :beer: See u @ office. haha.. :rock: