1988 BMW 3 Series Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Considering the age, has good acceleration. Perfect balance and a blast to drive with some good tires. At over 200k miles it has needed some work such as steering rack (upgraded to Z3 rack), clutch and flywheel (replaced with single-mass and M3 clutch), practically every bushing in the car, etc.. Only mechanical problem that hasn't been easy to fix is a driveshaft vibration under low speed acceleration but I believe it is the original driveshaft still. Interior is holding up except the front seats and dashboard. Overall awesome car, just try to get one that was never seriously damaged. You'll probably never again see a BMW under 3000lbs so this is a great BMW to own.Aug 18, 2010

The E30 3-series BMW is one of those iconic cars from the 80's that really put BMW on the map. Mine was a manual and being a small 2 litre inline 6 engine it operated mainly on revs, or in lamens terms it wasn't the easiest to drive but once you get the hang of it it is a lovely car to drive. Mine had a performance exhaust on which made it sound awesome.Aug 11, 2009

The bmw e30 325 is the ultimate bmw one of the best machines ever built. The acceleration is great and can whip most cars. The braking and handling are solid regarding its age and absolutely great to drive.. gear ratios, power from da motor and weight of the car has made all this possible. low driving speeds are however very irritating in this car.Nov 11, 2008

E30s have a well deserved repuatation for longevity and reliability. Engines, eta or i, run 200,000 miles without a rebuild with ease. Transmissions are equally as strong. While the entire range is now 17 years old or more its difficult to find examples that have been maitained properly and are rust free. When cared for these cars are deceptively good all around performers and are reliable too. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as I find E30s quite good looking as they are classic BMW, especially in contrast to today's Bangle designed cars. Apr 01, 2008

Lovely car and even though auto, using lock-downs the 1.8l M10 4-pot would embarrass most other things off of the line. However, with an inline engine, the float bowl on the carb wold go dry on tight left handers and cause sputtering or even stalls. Recommend the 1.6l injected 316i or (better still) the 6-pot 318i or 320. The 325's motor overpowers the chassis and adds weight it can do without, so save your cash and get a mint 318i instead. And unless you really are a grade A dink, don't reckon you can do better than BMW's engineers in the hnadling and gas flow department cos you can't - leave it alone and spend the cash on things that make a real difference like sorting any emerging rust and replacing the (most likely given the age) clapped out shocks and tired springs with new bilsteins. Do not lower as it sods the handling, whatever the baseball-cap-wearing muppet brigade might believe. Ditto exhausts: replace with new stainless but keep the correct backpressure. Loud cans = bad fuelling = huge loss of hp = embarrising twunterry at the lights when old giffers in Mondeos say tara... Sad. Also, if you're 6'+ it's a bit titchy inside. Compared to later 3-series' it is very cramped aalthough with the drivers seat right back it's acceptable. But then forget about having anyone with legs in the back as not many people have legs <3" diameter! The 2-door is better (a smidge) than the 4 for this as at least the drivers seat goes back further... Still, if you have no mates, or don't care if they stick their legs through the gap between the front seats (I'm not kidding here btw!), it is a great car and if not nawsed up by the body-kit-and-bean-tin brigade, looks excellent.Mar 26, 2008

this car is truly amazing, with the silky smooth straight 6 engine and the power steering and remote central locking made this car feel alot newer than a 1988 model, and everything worked!!!! even the electric mirrors and on board computer, build quality was nothing less that amazing and the power from the 130bhp unit was always satisfing.only down side wall no kind of traction control or a.b.s which made this car a very scary drive...especially in the wetMar 23, 2008

The E30 3-Series BMW, great cars, not pricey today, and have plenty under the hood. It is the end of the more boxy looking BMW designs which to me look much better than the E36 style that follows it, and it remarkably light for what you are getting. You want a fun car? A car that will stick to the road but has a tail end that is always down to play? This is the car you need then.Mar 05, 2008

Introduced to the North America in 1988, the iX suffered from poor sales due to its cost (at $33,000, it was $1,000 less than an M3) and . The reason for the exorbitant pricing was that it came with every option available to the E30 chassis fitted as standard. All '88's came with two doors and a manual gearbox which means that it is a shed load of fun in nearly every situation. My car has Bilstein Sport shocks, H&R Sport Coils, a Jim Conforti engine management chip and a full Supersprint exhaust.Feb 27, 2008

I have to say, this was fun toy. BMW has really pulled through when they designed rev-limiter to this car. 6 cylinders makes gordeous sound when you pull 7000rpm and rev it all it got. In slipery weather this thing is _really_ fun but also dangerous in hands of people who hasn't driven rw-drive cars much. Back-end of the car throws so fast when cornering that you cannot really do anything if you are not prepared. Jan 17, 2008