1990 BMW 3 Series Reviews, Pricing & Specs

I have owned several BMW's including several E30's. This by far is my favorite style and one that will always be a classic. The lines of this series will never go out of style. Parts are reasonable and repairs are much simpler than today's modern cars. E30's are easy to drive which gives plenty of feedback from the road. Handling is fantastic and there is ample front leg room even for two tall adults. The visual field is excellent with little or no blind spots. Can easily be upgraded and wheels and tires can go to size 17 w/o spacers. The exhaust tone is natural and true.May 23, 2014

The legendary BMW 3 series is widely regarded as one of the greatest cars ever conceived. As far as pure motoring goes, the second generation E30 was arguably best in the history of the series. The 325IS model, especially, with it's sports trim bumper covers, sport seats, improved handling and, of course, peppy, 2.5L inline six had been refined to nearly the point of perfection especially by the end of their run by 1989-90. The E36 that replaced it, while a fantastic machine in it's own right, was a bit heavier, suffered from build quality issues especially in the early years, and was clearly a break from some of the pure sporting values that BMW had created around their brand. The E30 of 1990 Had most of the positives of what it would become; ride comfort, safety, features, but also everything that was great about what it was built on; great build quality, refined engineering, classic looks, light weight, and very little in the way of negative traits. The biggest one of those negative traits is actually not peculiar to the E30, but to all BMWs. It is both what makes a BMW a BMW, and a BMW's Achille's heel. That is, the way BMW loves to build their rubber bushings irremovably into the metal. It makes for an amazing driving experience, but when the parts inevitably begin to wear, the party's over and the entire part must be replaced. Like any older car, keeping it on the road is a labor of love, but the build quality of these late 80s & early 90s BMWs is second to none. If properly maintained, these cars will be on the road for a lifetime or maybe two. But sadly, fewer and fewer people appreciate these classics and they become more scarce every year, especially when the collector's eyes are more focused on the golden child of the family; the racetrack destroying M3. The peasant's model is often snapped up by tinkerers and modified within an millimeter of their lives and sorely abused. As a consequence, it is also getting harder to find an E30 that is unmolested. Anyone who appreciates older cars could do much worse than find an E30 to put in their garage. Considering the reasonable prices these cars can be had for, their reasonable reliability and iconic looks, not to mention the E30s even feel more modern in many ways than the Accords and Jettas of the late 90's, the E30 is truly a poor man's collector car. And who knows, considering all the great things about these cars, they could turn out to be a great investment.Sep 29, 2013

Perfomance - accelerated nicely, beautiful engine sound. gas pedal was not very sensitive. braking was strong and the handling was great. Quality - The struts were worn out but I never replaced them. The engine ran very well. Appearance - Gorgeous car, red with black leather, paint was in perfect condition. Cost - gas mileage was average, around 19-21 mpg. Maintenance wasn't too much for me.May 24, 2011

Family saloon that scares pedestrians and makes old comunist granddads jealous big time because they never owned it and never will. Cheaper to run than ANY of the VW and audis, and its not because its cheap to run, which it is, its because it doesnt break down. It looks great, it drives great and it is something that neither Skoda nor Kia or other plastic stupid dull cars made by farmers of melted down toilet seats is. Its fun and yet relaxing to drive.Jul 08, 2010

This baby is my daily driver, and a damn fun one at that! Absolutely phenomenal handling ability, being only 1100kg, RWD and having a close-to- 50:50 split for weigh distribution, it really is fantastic Fuel consumption is low too but that is expected of a twin-cam 1.8 4-cylinder - If I'm honest I wish the fuel consumption were a little better but then again I do rev the engine out a lot so I am being a bit unrealistic. Performance in a straight line is not amazing but it definitely feels brisk, the engine absolutely loves to rev and this along with the car's nimble handling makes the car addictive to drive. The powerchip helped a lot in the car's performance - pulls stronger. I do a lot of maintenance work on the car myself too and it is very simple to work on. Parts for this car are cheap and the engine responds well to basic modifications such as chip, exhaust and intake. If I were to complain, its that the engine is more fragile than the M10 powered 318i I used to have before this - I therefore change the oil very regularly, about every 4-5000km. Overall though, amazing car for the age, price and spec.Apr 21, 2010

Performance: the best L6 sohc engine ever made. Solid performance and durability, Extremely tough and economical. Braking is extremely good and it can even outhandle the newer models of the 300 series. Build Quality: extremely high! Germans really outdid themself with this one, 20 years and they are still runing like new Appearance: Seeing that its 20 years old the car still looks good retaining that square look of the 80s yet adapting modern technology by using plastic bumpers and projector lights Cost of ownership: very low for these old cars their parts are cheap, if well mantained they can really outlast the owner, as of gas mileage its as economical as it newer models. Fun factor: extremely fun! you can daily drive it then track race it and go back to its daily routine. Not to mencion the torque happy engine and its extreme handling capabilitiesOct 21, 2009

Number 73 of 210 ever made as part of a homologation series. Racey performance, a real drivers car. Some of the alpina parts are hard to find though and to get one of these in good condition is hard as it is. Very reliable as far as BMW's go but not the lightest running vehicle on the road either. Hard suspension intended for track driving makes it a bit bumpy on south african roads however even with a bad back I have no problem driving it for long periods. Original alpina mags and body kit make this E30 based race car a real stunner to look at. Also due to the small amount made they are highly collectible.Aug 11, 2009

Performance – acceleration is outstanding for a 4 cylinder BMW - the M42 4 cylinder inline DOHC engine is reliable and revs up to 8k rpm with minor tweaks Build Quality is ex cellent as you would expect from a BMW Appearance is beauttifull in BMWs brilliant red and complete with the M Technics 2 aerodynamics package Fun Factor – there is no better fun ride than a e30!Aug 06, 2008

It is a black four door E30 BMW 325i. I love it. It has lowering springs, black 17" wheels, K&N intake and much more. It has a black interior which sucks sometimes when its hot but looks great on a black car. The car is a dream. It handles amazing. There is almost no body roll at all any more, with my suspension upgrades, and is pretty fast in the straights. But what I really love is the noise. It creates the best noise I have ever heard. Especially after the cold air intake. You hit 4 grand on the tach and the things sounds like a monster about to kill you. It scares me sometimes. I love it. But the best part of it all is the looks. It got a beautiful paint job before i bought it and it looks gorgeous! With the Eibach springs it sit nice and low and tucks over the beautiful black BBS style wheels. Occasionally i will stop while walking away from it, turn around and just stare. The coolest thing about it too, is that I paid only $2250 for it. Only had to drive a few hours to get it. Right now i could sell it for around $5000, (but never would). It was a great deal. I love this car so much, some people are worried about me, but truly it is a fantastic car!Aug 03, 2008

I know I gave it all 5's, but this truly the best car I have owned. Every time I drive it, I am satisfied with it's performance more and more. The addition of 15x7 wheels and bilstein/vogtland suspension makes this car an incredible driving experience on the road. I have had to make a few repairs over the course of my ownership, but even replacing the clutch bearing was an easier job than I had thought. E30s are renowned for being hearty cars, and the M20 will run forever granted you periodically replace the timing belt/water pump, adjust the valve gaps, and keep the crankcase filled with fresh oil. Jul 25, 2008

I loved it because it was very rare. It was only made in Europe and never imported to the U.S. NOTE THE EURO BUMPERS AND BODY KITS!! FRONT AND REAR FOG LIGHTS!!! It handled amazing for the massive amount of miles it had. The gas mileage was not the greatest, and the engine was the (small 6) aka m20b23 inline 6. It had a noisy valve train and injectors but it was so fun to drive. It got a lot of looks too. The styling was full European. It was the base model (rare) no power options at all except mirrors. It had the no-hole center console manual steering rack, euro model only lsd differential and short shift package. Man, I miss this thing. Parts were very hard to find, and the thing was not easy to work on. It had the euro only fuel injection set up with an airflow meter that you could not find anywhere. Infact, I called a dealer and they located one in Germany!! it was $1100. Thank God I had a spare.Jul 23, 2008

1990 BMW 325i. All stock except a few unwanted exterior parts. interior is immaculate. no cracks on dash, no rips or worn spots on seats. absolutely love it. still has work to be put in to get it where i want it. wish list: new suspension new headers, catback, muffler...basically new exhaust cold air intake filter new ECU front and rear struts anti-roll bars lightweight clutch and flywheel 4.10 lsd about it for nowMar 06, 2008