Should I Restore My Rusty E30?

Over the past twenty years or so, I've had some pretty cool cars that were no big deal and not worth restoring when I had them, but in retrospect I should have restored and held on to. I have a feeling that in the years to come, E30s might become unobtainable and I don't want to make the same mistake I made with my $2200 1972 911T (in the mid-90s, it wasn't worth restoring because it was "just a T model" and perfect ones didn't often crack ten grand, or my $300 1968 Mustang Fastback that wasn't worth putting floors in because, back in '99, it was "worthless" as a non-hi-po, non-GT model. There was also a $3000 1965 Lincoln convertible, an $800 1968 Dodge Dart GTS and a $5000 1971 Dodge Charger R/T 440 that "would have been worth doing if it were only a year or two older."

I kind of doubt my 250k mile 1985 318i 4dr will ever be worth as much as those cars, but I do love how it drives, it feels somehow inherently special and I wonder if dumping it quickly for a grand right now will seem like a huge mistake in years to come.

They're getting harder to find, but there are still nice e30s out there. Not that it's a bad car, but a four door 318i wouldn't be my first choice for a restoration - I'd look for a decent 2 door 325i or iS, you'd have a more desirable car to start with.

Yup, find a more special model. 318is, 325ix or best of all, an M Technic convertible (assuming you can't afford an M3).

I'm fixing up my M Technic convertible, and it's already not cheap. Another 5-10 years and that stuff is going to be much more expensive.

In reply to stuart in mn:

That's what everyone told me about all of the cars I listed in my first post, "start with a more desirable one." Now that 911T I had is a $100k car and nobody would care that the 68 Mustang fastback I sold for $2500 isn't a GT or a big block. Clearly my E30 is a bottom-rung E30, but I suspect that there will come a time when it doesn't matter because the most desirable ones drag the prices of all of them up. I could be wrong. That's why I asked.

I love E30s but it doesn't change the rule I have learned to live by: never restore a rusty car.

Just don't.

We're not talking about a 1950s Ferrari that they only made six of. It's a mass produced car with a large population still on the road. Fixing rust is expensive, frustrating, difficult and frequently futile. Just buy a nice one now and keep it nice. With the money you save you can buy another neat car to go with it.

Classic car value is a gut emotion thing. Mine says not worth it, yours says otherwise. So you have nothing to lose.

Curious what you are starting with?

Don't you have to factor in the money invested? You own the car free and clear. Sure you could sell it for a grand and spend $3k to $4k on a better, less rusty one but you could also fix yours up and rust-proof a car you are already intimately familiar with and most likely already has a slew of new parts.

The better option is sell what you have now and go get the best example of exactly what you have now. Then just take care of it and down the road you will have an un restored version of what you have now. In other words take advantage of the bottom of the curve now.

Rust sucks. If you want to keep an E30, take the money you'd spend restoring the rusty one and buy a better one. Unless you simply want to enjoy bringing the car back to life from a rusty state, that is. Even so, the original non-rusty one will most likely be a better car.

Yep. I'd say if you are hoping for a future classic, your best bet is to sell this one and get the best E30 you can find now, while it's still less time and money than to restore a rusty car. It may be a long time - if any - before you are able to recoupe the investment.

I hate rust. I earned this hate through taking care of various holes in my '79 3-series coupe (an E21). But I would do it all over again. It sounds to me like you should go for it.

Just don't try to keep up two rusty rides at the same time.

It's got patina though! Slam it onto the ground with coilovers and put some wheels on with an unreasonably high offset and some comically stretched tires and you can sell it to some Stance kids. Okay I'm kidding about that it probably would make some money that way. LOL

Seriously though I think if it wasn't a 4 door it might be worth it. I understand your lamenting over the past "one that got away" cars but I don't think this has as much value.

I concur with the "probably not" crowd. If it was a 2 door that might tip the scales for me... but a rusty 318 sedan is going to be the last one to appreciate and it's unlikely to be by much.

Look at the price of regular old M30 E28s for comparison. They are great cars but a clean one is just $1000-$2000 away.

It's coincidental (and rare) that you've let go of a lot of rusty cars just before the value shot up. I wouldn't start banking on it.

I say to only restore it if there is only a little rust. Since it doesn't sound like your car fits that, I would junk it and purchase a non-rusty 318.

Let me counter. Yes, rust sucks. Fixing rust sucks more. But it really comes down to what you want to do for you. No one here really knows what will be valuable in 20 years. Heck a one off of just about anything is useless if nightmares of gas shortages and or self driving are come about. But if you enjoy it and think you might want to be driving it in 10 years it is without a doubt easier to do it now while replacement parts and patch panels can be found in junkyards for cheap

But how many 911T's did they make? How many Mustangs?

They built 2,000,000+ e30's...

Starting with one of the least desirable models probably won't work out too well.

Thanks. I'm not going to restore it. I had just driven a nice one that a guy wants $7400 for when I made the first post. I'd rather sell it now, before it's too far gone to restore & seek out a better one. Still not a 2dr, though - for some reason I like the 4dr body style better

That's a lot for a 4 door... And I've been watching the market very closely for the past year.

$7400? You can buy a lot of better cars than a E30 for that kind of green. That's E36 M3 territory easily.

I wouldn't bother. 4 doors are by far the least desirable ones, very few care about them.

And I agree, the back doors completely ruin the lines of the car for me.

MCA (mine, completely affiliated):

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=171794523985

Well, that right there is a pretty good affirmation of what a lot of people here have said. Just enjoy it until you don't care enough to fix it when it breaks!

I'm trying it again, this time under "parts cars" One of you has to need this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-BMW-318i-Sedan-5spd-manual-sport-seats-runs-NO-RESERVE-/171808941142?ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT