As a self-consciously intellectual town, Bloomington, Indiana has a pretty predictable car culture and the frequency with which I see recent Subarus makes most sightings a non-event. If I pass by a GL-10 or Legacy Touring Wagon, you can bet I’ll post one (because I love them), but the all the Outbacks I come across are frankly, banal. While they nevertheless define this city’s car culture, there is another model which is unusually common in this wannabe bohemian haven: the BMW E30 convertible.
What’s especially peculiar is that while I don’t see a huge number of similar sedans and coupes (a shame, really; my ideal E30 would be a 1990 or 1991 318i sedan) or E36 convertibles, I come across more than one E30 ragtop daily. They’re inevitably owned by self-styled anarchist types and as they seem like the discarded playthings of an uncaring bourgeoisie, I can understand why.
Most examples I see are inevitably trashed and this blue car is in better shape than most, though the owner seems to have an organic lemonade problem. There’s a white-over-red example nearby by house which only recently had its top put up after several days of heavy rain.
I honestly don’t even mind to see it mistreated this way; while I’d cry if I were to see a Baur conversion treated the same way, these ragtops have always seemed a bit effete. It’s an impression which carries over to the driving experience as the structure is very obviously compromised and rickety when driven quickly over the urban bumps and train tracks which dot our streets. If you must go topless, a VW Cabriolet, Saab 900 or Miata are more compelling choices.
When I visited my partner last year before moving here, the sight of a gaggle of boot-clad “punks” stepping on the decklid while piling into their red on black E30 convertible made an impression on me. It was both destructive and disrespectful and looked like a lot of fun; as if to complete the carefree fantasy, the driver recklessly sped away, wagging the tail as he exited the parking lot where I saw somewhat menacing posse.
The usual default for this group, the diesel Mercedes W123, isn’t quite manic enough for such antics on residential streets. With so many Volvo 240s driven into the ground by hippies, a more audacious set of wheels is just the ticket for crust punk kids who work so hard on cultivating their brash image.
Regardless of how much tape is used to patch the convertible top or how worn out the seats and suspension are, the low gearing, throaty growl and top-end pull of the non-eta M20 straight-six will always turn heads. It’s a combination which says don’t mess with me and since we’ve been on the topic of convertibles today, with the beater 450SL and the fantastic Corvair Monza Spyder, these Bimmers makes for a cheeky addition to the impromptu theme.
On the blue E30, what’s with the Arkansas license plate with the expired registration? (I’m in Arkansas.)
Also in Arkansas and actually opened this article with amusement, as I’ve noticed a great deal of these around here (Little Rock that is). Certainly not the crusty punk crowd. More like polo-wearing dads, their wannabe Bohemian daughters, or the odd collector (like my brother’s neighbor who has an E30 of every body style in his garage).
All that I see around here are in similar shape or better than that blue Arkansas example.
Perhaps the Arkansas BMW is owned by a college student who has yet to go back to Arkansas or the person has yet to become a Hoosier. Interesting article about what I did not expect in the rust belt. Then again this is Southern Indiana which is nicer to old cars compared to Northern Indiana. The Punks sound like an interesting group because in Central New York they drive Buicks and the occasional Avalon along with a few Crown Vics, and Vans. Harder to pin down Punk cars of choice in Portland, OR.
I suspect that in a lot of small towns cops don’t pay much attention to the expiration status of out-of-state plates. I remember here locally seeing a very nice looking Corvette that had Illinois plates four years out of date, and a Jeep that had a 1962 (!) Yukon plate with a piece of red tape over the date. Get busted for anything else though, and I’ll bet they’d pile that on you too….
There’s a red one with a badly mangled passenger door and plexiglas window replacements that I’ve also seen moving about. It used to spend quite a large time on Grant Street, but the meters seem to have scared it off.
” all the Outbacks I come across are frankly, banal”
I could for an Outback XT or sedan CC short-take.
In the early 90’s when they were still pretty new, it was mostly older cougar type’s driving these around in the LA area. The VW Cabriolet was mostly upper middle class teenage girls and 20 something young women. Now they appear to be just old thrashmobiles. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one in the PDX area.
There was a dark blue Baur in my town until the last year or so. I never thought to take a pic; it was just part of the street scene you’d come across from time to time. If it belonged to the most likely suspect, she has something of a used German car fetish and now drives a Golf mark 4.
I like most E30s, but not these. Granted my experience was with a 20 year old used car handmedowned to my teenage friend when we were in high school, but MY GOD was that car miserable. J body convertibles felt more solid than these did, and probably had less fabric top leaks!
I really don’t see many around here though, other than the occasional craigslist listing, which is usually either a ludicrously lofty five figure price or a fittingly low three figure price. Gotta say if it weren’t for the winter cold/snow and my firsthand experiences with one of these being ravaged by it I’d probably have bought one as a beater too.
W 6th and Fairview, amirite? Oh, my sweet hometown… Forget the car. I want that brick cottage with the bay.
I used to live right up the street from that house. I always admired it when I walked by. The used to be a green Karmann Ghia parked across the street from it.
Isn’t this what Griff Tannen will be driving next year?
I always liked these, maybe because I remember seeing them new at the Chicago Auto Show as a kid. I will always remember the scene from Bird on a Wire, with Goldie Hawn driving one of these crazily around. She fit this car’s demographic from new to a T.
I see one or two E30 two-door sedans about, but only one white E30 cabrio, in white with the later-style BBSs and a black top and interior. It is in nice, but not perfect condition and seems to have a caring owner.
I did a CC on an ’85 318i sedan in 2012: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-1985-bmw-318i-teutonic-respite-at-the-tail-end-of-the-great-brougham-epoch/ That car is still sitting on the used car lot I found it–just saw it a few weeks ago.
I’d really like a 318i from 90-91 because of ABS brakes and more importantly, a twin-cam 1.8. The LSD would have to be swapped in from the two-door-only 318is, but it’s otherwise be near perfect. Maybe some mildly hot cams and slightly higher compression pistons would also be in order.
I used to have a 3 way black E30 convertible, that thing leaked like crazy! I sold it to a guy in Alton IL who told me he was converting it to an electric car. I thought he was full of beans until it got mentioned in the St Louis Post Dispatch about 4 years ago…he really did it. I have a 40 inch waist and don’t fit very well in those sport seats…give me comfort seats in any older BMW!