My thoughts on the 1991 BMW 318i with the 1.8L Inline 4 cylinder engine and 5 speed manual transmission:
I’ve always loved the E30. The boxy shape, the peppy engine, well mostly the boxy shape. Nick’s E30 is the best E30 I’ve ever driven. The interior is beautiful and the engine is adequate. I love the gauges. I love the info center on the dash. I love the rear seating, how it sits slightly taller than the driver and passenger. I love the hood, how it pops forward then opens the wrong way. Well it opens the same way my Rx7 does, so I guess it opens the right way. I love the E30, and I hope to won one one day.
The problem with the E30 is it’s now users. E30s can make good drifting platforms, so people use them. It’s happening to all BMWs now. E30s, E36s, and E46s are not safe. The drifters will find them, buy them, and kick the tail end into a pole. So unfortunately, clean E30s are going away. On the other end, try buying an E30 M3. Nowadays an E30 M3 will go for more than my 4 years in college. Granted, I don’t attend an ivory league school, but $25,000 for an almost 30 year old car is a bit steep if you ask me. People talk about the middle class going away, but people need to talk about the middle class E30s that are going away.
I don’t have much more to say about the E30. I love it. It sits up there with the Miata on the best cars that can be obtained by anyone with a savings account and half a brain.
