Classic recommendations?

Mr Benevolent

I've just gotten my (auto) licence and have a cheap daily runabout. I like cars but tbh running, taxing and insuring a good luxury car is expensive, even before it gets onto the road. So I'm looking at classics, ideally 30+ years old & =>2.5L and above. Thing is I can't afford to spend much up front (around €2000) and I'd prefer somnething that doesn't require much continuous work, i.e, not a rustbucket.

I've been researching E24 BMWs but they seem to be mostly rust. E21s are better but less powerful. I admit have a hankering for a classic BMW, but I'm not that biased, any nice classic will be considered. The only thing is that they have to be auto. I can do most maintenance work (suspension, bits and pieces, servicing etc) so that makes running a bit cheaper.

Any ideas? Thanks lads.

unkel

It is hard to find a decent E24 for your budget, but they are there, one of the regulars in here sold his last year for that kinda money.

Beautiful car, will always be a sought after classic.

hi5

I don't know much about this, but its been knocking about for a while.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/vintagecars/3883245

franktheplank

I had a Rover P6 that I liked, pretty solid cars if you get one in good nick. Quite common in auto, lovely big 3.5 litre v8 on some models which unfortunately can be heavy on juice. Maybe not to everyone's taste but I really liked mine.

Kenny Logins

I doubt your budget would stretch to an E24 that didn't need a lot of bodywork..

JoeySully

How about something like this

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C324080#

renofan

If you don't have the funds stay away from an E24. Your budget will not get you a good one and parts are expensive. What about an early E30? Classic BMW and easy to work on and loads of options re parts?

Mr Benevolent

renofan wrote: »

If you don't have the funds stay away from an E24. Your budget will not get you a good one and parts are expensive. What about an early E30? Classic BMW and easy to work on and loads of options re parts?

Thanks, didn't realise the E30 went back to 1982!

Kenny Logins

renofan wrote: »

If you don't have the funds stay away from an E24. Your budget will not get you a good one and parts are expensive. What about an early E30? Classic BMW and easy to work on and loads of options re parts?

Some parts (genuine BMW) are incredibly expensive, but there seems to be a healthy supply of cars for breaking.

boomshakalaka

I had a Classic Golf II from '86 (this was on mainland Europe), solid, reliable car. Parts are easy enough to come by (there was/is a lot of them around, although I don't know about in Ireland) and it was extremely cheap to drive (950km on a tank) I had it for two years until I moved to Ireland. My mother still drives it now. Only money I had to put into it was a new battery (100 euro) and a fix-up for the exhaust cause it was a bit rusty (40 euro). Can honestly say that it was the best car I've ever had. It's a bit rigid to drive, but I think all classic cars are that way. And I liked that about it.

Mr Benevolent

I really should have gotten a manual licence.

w124man

The best BMW you can buy is made by Corgi ..... Go buy a Mercedes!

Mr Benevolent

w124man wrote: »

The best BMW you can buy is made by Corgi ..... Go buy a Mercedes!

I really don't mind what it is, but he bigger engined classic Mercs seem to give more problems than the equivalent BMWs. That's just gut feeling based on a bit of research though.

w124man

Confab wrote: »

I really don't mind what it is, but he bigger engined classic Mercs seem to give more problems than the equivalent BMWs. That's just gut feeling based on a bit of research though.

Been collecting Mercs for years and that's the first time I've ever heard that. You will find two or three times as many classic Mercs about than classic BMW's. Now why would that be?

Kenny Logins

w124man wrote: »

Been collecting Mercs for years and that's the first time I've ever heard that. You will find two or three times as many classic Mercs about than classic BMW's. Now why would that be?

...because there's more of them.

I spent a couple of months looking for a W123 and instead found a BMW that I liked. So glad I did now, as I know now I'd never have been this happy with the Merc. There are some good ones out there.

OP, I suggest you go shopping with an open mind, and wait until the right car comes along, regardless of what marque you intended to buy.

w124man

Kenny Logins wrote: »

...because there's more of them.

Because there is more of them left .....

I've had all sorts of yokes here over the years and a lot of the time I get bored with what I have so I sell them on. But no matter what you have things will go wrong so its a matter of finding a good one with a good reasonable supply of parts, whatever it is. Too many manufacturers' parts departments issue three little letters ..... NLA ....... no longer available when you look for stuff. VW have realised there is a huge market in the older cars and now have a Classic Parts business but it isnt quite there yet. BMW are expensive and not great, the French are just useless - like the Italians, no experience of the Japs. Mercedes are brilliant they have everything and generally reasonably priced.

Try asking BMW for a mobile phone console for an 80's 7 series .... ask Mercedes and it takes three days!!

Kenny Logins

BMW have the classic parts shop now (search by VIN). Granted a fair bit of stuff is NLA and some parts are ridiculously expensive, but it really helps with the search for parts on ebay or whatever.

http://shop.bmw-classic.de

As I said, I was looking for a 123 but none of the ones I had short-listed even came close to the BMW I ended up with in terms of condition and the smile factor. The parts issue is the trade-off I suppose...

bbsrs

E28 528i auto or 535 , nice comfy motoring watch out for rust though.

tc20

Kenny Logins wrote: »

As I said, I was looking for a 123 but none of the ones I had short-listed even came close to the BMW I ended up with in terms of condition and the smile factor. The parts issue is the trade-off I suppose...

slightly OT, but what did you go for in the end KL?
i sold my 280E back to the dealer i originally purchased it from recently

Kenny Logins

tc20 wrote: »

slightly OT, but what did you go for in the end KL?
i sold my 280E back to the dealer i originally purchased it from recently

An '81 E24 (635 CSi) with 32k miles.

hi5

Thats the only BMW I would own, hard to believe they're over thirty years old now, the styling is timeless imo.
There is what appears to be a nice one on donedeal at the moment, a sort of army green colour.

Heres Bruce Willis doing a homage to the Ryan O'Neal scene from The Driver.
Sacrilage!

Mr Benevolent

There's a silver '82 E24 635CSi on DD at the moment, been there for a while. I can't access the link right now, but it had a rear knock, bumper is gone but minor damage otherwise and tbh it's a bit tatty, NI plates so €200 for VRT. Still tempted though, although it's a long drive to view what could be a collection of rust and habit. From the pics the car owner looks to be into restoring cars, so that's a plus I suppose.

Kenny Logins

Another one just popped up, listed as a 'restoration project'. Looks like it would struggle to be a parts donor...

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/vintagecars/4504759

tc20

Kenny Logins wrote: »

An '81 E24 (635 CSi) with 32k miles.

Wow that's a beauty KL - well played :cool:
only 32k - that must be a cherised example. Looks very fresh from the photo. plenty of smiles per gallon with that

Mr Benevolent

Just got a quote on an '82 635CSi - €590, not too bad considering I only have one year's NCB. 6000 mile policy, which is probably a bit too high, I only do 13000km per year max.