- A wallpaper worthy photo of a modified E30 (Image Credits- petrolicious.com)

My dream car- 1989 BMW E30

Why I love a car that I have never seen in real life

3y ago
3.3K

As some of you may have noticed, the Drivetribe gods recently bestowed upon us the garage feature. Those who are bored enough to actually click on my profile will notice that I have not added anything under the 'current ride' section. The reason is simple- I drive a Hyundai i10, which definitely makes the list of 100 most boring cars in the world. It does it's job, which is getting me to university and back home, but it does so without any character or personality. It's so boring that I did not add it for fear of being ostracized from the petrolhead community. However, when it came to the 'dream car' section, I didn't have to think too long- a 1989 BMW E30 325i.

An advertisement for the E30 318i (Image Credits- Rob Op de Beeck/Pinterest)

An advertisement for the E30 318i (Image Credits- Rob Op de Beeck/Pinterest)

The E30 in itself is a fantastic car, especially if you fancy a project car. It's built like a tank, albeit one whose power windows will stop working after 80,000 miles. And that's not just my poor attempt at being clever. Certain electrical items such as the windows and interior lights have a tendency to fail on old beemers. But that's something I'm prepared to deal with. As Francis Bacon once said, "There is no excellent beauty that has not some strangeness in the proportion". Talking about strangeness if, for some reason, you decide to buy an automatic, it's likely that it's just going to give up after hundred thousand miles. If that does happen, you have no one to blame but yourself.

An E30 325i that I saw for sale on bringatrailer.com

An E30 325i that I saw for sale on bringatrailer.com

But what attracts me most to the E30 is it's potential as a project car. When I say project car, I don't intend to add gold wheels and a turbocharger. I have neither the money nor the technical expertise to install a turbo. I was thinking more along the lines of new suspensions and chassis braces. Basically modifications that would make it enormous fun to drive.

Another advantage is that the E30 is all machine. It doesn't come with an ECU (Engine Control Unit for all the non-geeks), and not all that many electrical parts. That makes it relatively simpler to work on. And as a person that has very little mechanical knowledge, but would love to learn how to take a car apart and put it back together, this is the perfect car.

Another picture of a sunset with a car in it, for all the instagrammers. In this case, the E30 M3 (Image Credits- thehundreds.com)

Another picture of a sunset with a car in it, for all the instagrammers. In this case, the E30 M3 (Image Credits- thehundreds.com)

That's what attracts me to this whole project car business. I doubt I'll actually follow through with this idea, and even if I do, it will inevitably be more expensive than I thought it would be, and I might not even have the time or patience to learn how a car works.

Yet, the idea of buying a car which is in a horrible state and building her up brings alive the whole concept of falling in love with a car. The car becomes more than just a project, it becomes your baby (just don't imagine the birthing process). And in my opinion, that's why people fall in love with cars, not because they have a 'soul' or anything, but it's something that they have to nurture and take care of. It's natural to feel a sense of affection and protectiveness towards someone, or something, that is under your care.

Anyways, that's my garage. Well, there is only one car, so it's more of a parking space. Why don't you go ahead and fill up your garage? James May is giving away a gift to one Drivetriber, and if you're lucky, you just might get a James May sports bra. Let me know about any of your unusual or uncommon dream cars in the comments below.

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Comments (4)

  • Nice choice. I like your passion.

      3 years ago
  • Very achievable dream car! I think this is how goals should be set.

    The specific E30 you have in mind (M20-powered) does have ECU. It's Motronic.

      3 years ago
    • Does it? I'm sorry, I didn't know that. I picked the 325i because that was the first E30 that I fell in love with

        3 years ago
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