E30 M3 Answers

[Jonathan Porath <Jporath@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From: Zamani Zambri <zzambri@domain.elided> had a few questions

>	I'm interested in purchasing another car. I was looking around for an
>E30 M3 and came across 2. I test drove both of them. Here are my
>observations:
>Pros:
>1) Beautiful

Beautiful? Well, that's certainly subjective. Some around these parts think
they are ugly bastardizations of the purity of the E30 three box shape.
Others of us feel these folks wouldn't know beautiful if it slapped them in
the face. Which it probably quite frequently has in the past.

>2) Handles extremely well

Yup. BMW got that part real right.

>3) Good power above 5000 rpm

Gotta go looking for it, don't ya.

>Cons:
>1) They are somewhat rough (engine is quite rough and driveline seems
>to be vibrate)

Rough, like beauty, is subjective. If you compare it to the silken big
sixes or even the V12, the S14 is, well, agricultural. If you compare it to
farm implements, the S14 feels quite refined. I, for one, like the feel of
the engine.  It's got that desirable 'Magic Fingers'  quality that is so
lacking in the cars of today.

>2) Not much power below 5000rpm

Gotta go looking for it, don't ya.

>
>I am used to driving an '90 E30 325i and a '96 E34 525i. They are both
>much smoother than the E30 M3 being 6-pots. I have driven other 2.2-2.5
>litre cars before and the M3's lack of low end grunt really
>disappointed me. 
>

It's a feature really. It sees to it that you don't get in over your head
while cruising around town. Once you hit the road where you can use the
power, it's there for you. Besides, you wouldn't want the power without the
feel of that big four vibrating away in front of you, would you?

>However I think I cannot get over the E30 M3's looks. And the handling
>is also superb. It looks great stock and with 16" E28 M5 wheels and
>lowered coils it would look even better. So my question is, are my
>observations uncharacteristic of the E30 M3? 

Nope. You hit it squarely on the head.

>Which models are best
>(between 1987-1992)? Should I get one with the OBD ? Any info would
>help.
>

Get the one that has the least mileage, that has been treated the best and
has the most complete history. The best model to have is the one in your
garage that you bought for a price you felt was fair, that had no stories.

Sure there are some features the early ones lack. The 87-88 didn't have the
aluminum control arms, nor the evo airbox. The late 90 and 91 had airbags
of the original, bigass, good sized explosive charge leveled at your nose
variety. But overall, it really comes down to condition, options added by
the previous owner and how much you can afford.

You will quickly find the lack of low end power is not an impediment.

Regards,

Jonathan Porath
'90 E30 M3 Sharked and whole bunch of other stuff

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