What else is in the Garage?
Posted by Earendil
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If you have someone besides an E30, list it!
A few of us have known second cars, be it because it "replaced" an E30, or because it's a BMW that you thought was worthy of adding to your tag. Others of you drive cars that you've never mentioned. I will accept what your wife drives as an answer. Basically, any car that, if it were involved in a hit and run, you would end up being questioned by an office over 
Personally, I'm a proud new owner of a 2000 E46. It's a good solid car, but I took the E30 out for a spin today, and even with the slipping clutch, it had the feel of a "machine" that the E46 just doesn't have. Anyhoo, I'm not looking for opinions or comparisons so much as just curious what y'all have if anything. If you want to elaborate on why you have it, I won't stop you ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles 
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My collection (besides the E30):
1965 VW Deluxe Microbus with the sunroof (aka 21 window bus). Owned it since 1980. Purchased with 135,000 miles. Currently at about 460,000 miles. 1965 VW Crewcab Pickup. Bet you didn't know they made those. Owned it since 1990. Lots of miles and lots of rust.
1965 VW Deluxe Microbus without sunroof (15 window bus). Purchased a couple of years ago from the original owner. Complete with the dealer window sticker and original title. I call it the "down payment." I got a deal on it and I intend to sell it to raise money for a house down payment. Anybody want a bus? 
1994 Saturn SL2. What my wife drives. It's a better car than I hoped it would be. Looking forward to seeing what the rest of you all have to dodge in the driveway. John |
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2004 Mazda6 wagon. Mostly my wife's car. It's the kid hauler we got after we finally ditched the minivan, and the only car I've ever bought new. It has been a great car. It's appalling how difficult it is to buy a station wagon with a manual transmission in the U.S., but that's what this is. It's nice to have a grocery getter that is comfortable and quiet for Mom, but still fun to fling around when Dad decides to wring it out.
1990 Mazda Miata. It has become mostly a track toy now, but it still gets registered and inspected every year, and I still drive it on the street. It's worth noting that on the Miata forums, there's probably more love for E30s than any other car. Whenever people ask "what's the car that's as fun to drive as a Miata but seats four people?", the most popular answer is invariably "BMW E30." __________ Dave '91 325iX |
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Renault Scenic, the better half's grocery getter.
Bought it because with the seats folded flat it is HUGE inside, so I can transport motorcycle frames and the such like off to the powder coaters. ;-) It is a 1.6l and the Renault's are known for their good gas mil age, but using it this last week while the e30 is sick, it amazed me that my e30, still does better on gas than the Renault. All round though, it was a good buy, lots of car for relatively little money. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E30'S AREN'T BUILT, THEY'RE CAUGHT IN THE WILD!!! 
When in doubt, use full throttle, it may not improve the situation, but it will end the suspence. |
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Mr. G, you are a man after my own heart, I think that Mazda has to be the most under rated car out there, I think they are fantastic.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E30'S AREN'T BUILT, THEY'RE CAUGHT IN THE WILD!!!
When in doubt, use full throttle, it may not improve the situation, but it will end the suspence. |
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Hmmm, lets see, what else do I have in the drive way/garage? Not much really I'm boring, just a bunch of Bmw cars and a few motorcycles. But all the cars are E30's and all the bikes are fun!
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Hey now! List them off! We all have just "E30" questions. I didn't know you had multiple E30s, so list them off! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles
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My car Eubie- 1988 325is stick 230k Janet's car- 1987 325e auto lsd 170k driveway- pair of 325es stick coupes; one my first E30 and the other 80% finished project car one 1987 325e parts car, 1987 325is red auto 100k project car I bought for back-up Garage 1985 Suzuki GS700e, 1985 Honda Nighthawk 650sc, 1985 Kawasaki GPz550, 1991 Nighthawk 250, 2007 Honda 230crf |
Rick, do you visit the GS Resources forum, plenty good info there for your GS. I am busy with a, from the frame up restoration on my '81 GS1000G, which has ground to a halt with the Beemer being sick and all. I bought the bike in '82 with 15000Km on the clock, I still own it, 29 years later with 375000Km on the clock now, I love that bike. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E30'S AREN'T BUILT, THEY'RE CAUGHT IN THE WILD!!!
When in doubt, use full throttle, it may not improve the situation, but it will end the suspence. |
I do use that source for the GS. I understand the attraction. I rode a 1993 1150g a few summers ago (I thing that was the engine size), that was an interesting bike to ride; all the power you'd ever want any time you needed it. I never rode a superbike before, it was a thrill. I understand the older litre bikes like yours are a real treat too, unfortunately a little heavy for me. I've owned Norton 750's all my life, altas, P11 and a Commando. I love motorcycles
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I would sell body parts for a Norton Manx 500. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E30'S AREN'T BUILT, THEY'RE CAUGHT IN THE WILD!!!
When in doubt, use full throttle, it may not improve the situation, but it will end the suspence. |
Did we know this? I don't think I did... Congratulations! Cab 
1990 325i(s) 2004 325XiT |
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1990 325i with various mods. Has been sitting neglected since August 2006. I miss it something fierce. My plan is to install a modified S52B32, but that is a very long term project, both in terms of available time and money. Although it's in pretty good shape (doesn't even have much rust despite being a northeast/New England car its whole life), I took it off the road with ~161k to save it from exposure to winter driving and also so my daily driver would be something newer that I wouldn't have such a large emotional investment in. There were times when some repair on the E30 forced me to blow a whole weekend or more getting it back on the road, and with the family situation what it now is (two very young kids), I just don't have the luxury of that kind of time anymore, so I wanted something I felt would be a little bit more consistently dependable. Someday (sigh) I will get it back on the road and it will be my fun/weekend/autoX car.
2004 325XiT, 5-speed (unfortunately had to get the AWD in order to get the manual... it was really hard to find a wagon with a stick). This is the "family" car, meaning my wife drives it most of the time. It's getting small now that we have two car seats in the back seat. It's basically impossible to go anywhere with both parents, both kids, all the "stuff" that accompanies kids, and the dog. A minivan will someday be the next car but for the last 6 years the E46 has been wonderful. We have no immediate plans to replace it, but as mentioned, it is getting small... 2006 Mazda3 hatchback with about 75k. My daily driver, occasionally used by my wife when she goes out and I'm home with kids. It can accommodate the baby but not both kids at once due to lack of car seats. So far it's been a good car as a DD. I wanted the smaller engine, but in the US only the 2.3L was offered in the hatchback. I was not willing to get the sedan to get the 2.0L. I get about 28mpg on the low grade fuel, which makes a noticeable difference in the wallet as compared to the 22mpg on premium that I was getting in the E30. 1972 VW Bug with about 115k. It was my grandfather's car, he gave it to me in 1998 when my grandmother was no longer driving. They have both since passed, and I've been hauling the car around with me to various residences since. I did DD it for a few months after I first got it, but it's been idle for most of the last 13 years. I feel badly for neglecting it such, but it's another restoration project. My grandfather used it almost exclusively for playing golf. When he gave it to me, it had ~104k in 26 years. He said the headlights and windshield wipers had never (!) been used and it had never been over 60mph, since he just drove it to play golf during the day to local courses on days when it wasn't raining. It spent all of those 26 yrs in California and as a result has no rust. As a tribute to him, I would like to get it restored to nice condition (mechanically it's not bad, it has mostly cosmetic issues) and drive it once a week in the summer on my golf league days. But again, with current time and money conditions, that's a long term project as well. *sigh* So two daily drivers and two project cars. I'd be thrilled if both my project cars were complete, or at least complete enough to drive. I'm not a huge sufferer of Car Acquisition Syndrome, and there isn't much on the new market that I'm very interested in. If my E30 and Bug were in good shape, I think I'll be a happy car guy for pretty much the rest of my life. My DD doesn't have to thrill me, and the family car should be practical and meet our needs above all else. As it is, the Mazda3 is a pretty good DD, it's even fairly fun. So I can see myself having my two "toy" cars, a DD, and a family car for pretty much the foreseeable future. The DD and family car will be interchangeable parts over the years and aren't terribly important to me, so long as they meet certain criteria. I'm not one who needs my DD to be a super-duper set of Hot Wheels, and I don't have any ridiculous expectations of autoX or canyon-carving ability in a family car. I do have automotive dreams... I'd like to believe that both kids will be interested in helping Dad work on cars as they get older, and ideally when they're a year or two away from getting their drivers license, I'd like to find them decent cars that could use a little work and build them up with their help. The idea is that when they have their own car that they've put time, blood, sweat and tears into, they'll treat it better and appreciate it more. Plus I'd like them to be handy enough to be able to address basic car issues and not have to rely on roadside assistance to change a tire. I'd also LOVE, someday, to take long trips with my wife and/or kid(s) in the E30. I think circumnavigating the lower 48 with one of my kids for a couple of weeks (obviously when they're quite a bit older) would be a lot of fun. Of course, I picture them being teenage at the time, and for them, being stuck in a car with Dad for a couple weeks in their summer vacation might not be appealing. But anyway, we'll see. Or possibly taking a long trip up the Al-Can highway, but I'm just not sure that's a drive fit for an old E30. By then the car will be 30+ years old, and that may just not be smart. But I love road trips, and I think it would be fun and educational to show my kids parts of the country that are best seen from ground rather than flying over. An E30 is not ideal for long trips with more than 2 people, IMO, though, so maybe one year I go with my daughter while my wife and son have their own time together, and the next year we switch kids. I don't know... just sounds fun to me. We'll see... Cab
1990 325i(s) 2004 325XiT |
Really, you want an old British single, heavens. I'll admit, an old Manx would be a pisser to have but I don't see myself spending much time on it, I would however never get anything done; I'd be staring at it all day! |
It's funny Cab. My oldest daughter would come in the shop and make all kinds of things but never wanted anything to do with cars or even driving; she took public transportation everywhere after I stopped driving her! My younger daughter loved cars and started driving when she was able to be shimmed up to the wheel with pillows. I would ride the motorcycle along side Zephyr in the 2002 around Sagaponack telling her what to do, and when. Zephyr, unlike Faith, wanted everythng to do with anything that had wheels!, and we had a great time together. They're both gone now (took a lot of pictures) perusing their dreams but those times we had together are something I'll have forever, my only regret was that the kids and I didn't do any racing together. We went to a few though! and we did sail quite a bit too. Good luck Cab, hope you have all the things Y'all find fun
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It completes the journey to some degree  good luck
Rick |
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Hey there!
I've locked out this forum for some time. Tried it today and it works! I have a Citroen BX16TRS, year 1987 and wife drives a Renault Clio 1.2 year 1995. I guess people from North America have no idea what I'm talking about...
The bmw323i had to go, it needed quite an investment to get to the shape I wanted it to be, and I had no money at hand... It was the best car I had, one of the best I ever got to drive. JP |
I only vaguely know what you are talking about, but only because I spent a month in England and Ireland. Was the 323i your last E30? The one you were trying to restore? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1989 - E30 - M20 - Manual. Approximately 270,000 miles 2000 - E46 - M52TUB28 - Manual. Approximately 110,000 miles
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The BX: 
The 323i was driving good, it needed some "touch up" at the rear and right quarter, the "rain roof" leaked, the interior was a bit used, plus a quantity of small things...Small things that add up to be a project I wasn't able to throw money at. Plus it wasn't the most economic thing to drive out there and gas prices are bitting hard... |
The odd thing was it only happened when it was raining... 
PS: I love the new smileys! 
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Nice to see you back Jose, what do you mean locked out. We would never do such a thing  yes, the new smiles are fun! 
I had a 323 back in 1983, it was a grey market Baur. That car was the fastest little thing, faster then any of the 325's that I've driven 
Cheers, Rick |
Hi Rick! Someday I tried to open the forum and it keeps reloading the page and nothing shows on the screen. It happened twice. It was like that for several months. Then I tried yesterday (after a long absence) and it worked again. Go figure! I miss my old 323i, it went to a good home, far south of Portugal, never saw it again, hope all is well. JP |
I use Firefox, and MS IE. When it doesn't work, it's the same for both browsers and at home or work. 
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