BMW's 3 Series is arguably its most important and most iconic product, and of all the models it's produced over the years it's the second-generation E30 that still seems to hold the fondest memories.
Introduced in 1982 to replace the E21, the E30 refined the recipe and went on to become the longest-lived 3 Series – lasting eight years before it was succeeded by the E36 and 12 years in production in total. BMW also offered its own cabriolet version of the 3 Series for the first time with the E30 – previously being a Bauer-built car – which was introduced in 1985.
This post-facelift 325i Cabriolet was first registered in August 1990, seemingly as a company vehicle for a Cambridgeshire-based concern. However it moved to the south coast pretty soon after, in November 1991, before a third owner in Kent bought the car in January 1993.
It's remained with this owner almost entirely since then, even moving with her from Kent to Aberdeenshire in 2007 – which is quite the trek. The car currently resides with an independent trader near Newcastle who picked it up earlier this year but can't make room for it in the stable, giving an opportunity for a new owner to take advantage.
There's a remarkable amount of documentation for the car across the third owner's time with the car, amounting to a veritable sheaf of invoices for all expenses great and small under her 28-year ownership.
In addition to the expenses, there's a collection of MOT certificates documenting the car's mileage almost without interruption, and both original V5s and a scanned V5 copy from the second owner and the updated format V5C.
There's an original owner's manual wallet, containing the handbook, and also a stamped service book covering the first 13 years at least. This, however, has had a little accident of some kind involving fluids, with significant damage to the pages, but it is possible to make out most of the stamps and mileage figures.
Although it has a pretty small footprint by modern standards, the E30 cabriolet is a full four-seat convertible – you can actually use the rear seats too, though we wouldn't like to stay there from Kent to Aberdeen.
Generally they're all in good condition, with the driver's seat showing the most signs of wear as you'd expect. There's some creasing on the offside bolster – the highest traffic area of all – and some marking on the lower portion of the seat back confined to a single panel. That will make for an easier repair, though the leather itself is intact and not torn or ripped.
The front passenger seat also has some wear on the entry/exit side bolster, but nothing requiring any particular attention right now, while both rear seats look to be in very good condition, other than a small area of staining that should clean off on the offside seat back.
As far as we can tell, every control and switch in the cabin works as it ought – and you can see that the overhead information lights do light up in check mode and in normal operation. There's an aftermarket Alpine “face-off” style radio/CD head unit, which is the only modification of any kind to the car.
The controls and surfaces are all in great condition, with a little wear to the original gear knob, and there's no blemishes on the door cards or interior panels. You'll find the original supplied emergency torch in the glovebox too.
In general the carpeting is in good condition, protected by some additional mats, with higher wear around the pedal box. There's a surprisingly generous, carpeted boot that's also in great condition and includes a complete, original toolkit (the space is for a tool not supplied with E30s), jack, and warning triangle.
This 325i comes in the very unusual and highly divisive Bronzit Beige: bronze-beige metallic. It's a rare colour to find, but suits that 1980s German vibe of the E30 perfectly.
However the condition of the paint is a little hit and miss, with the car bearing all sorts of typical battle scars. There's some scuffs up the offside wing and some marking down the trailing edge of the driver's door, both pretty consistent with a car that's been regularly parked in a tight spot and squeezed past, with the door opened into solid objects, probably inside a compact garage.
Other bits of damage include more marks along the boot lid lip, a dent in the offside wheel arch, and a larger scuff on the nearside that looks like the driver has turned into something unforgiving at walking pace, like a concrete bollard in a car park.
Nonetheless, it all appears to be superficial at worst, and a little time in a body shop would put these issues right. Aside from some patches that look like they may have been touched up, the paint work is all original.
Importantly for a cabriolet model, the fabric roof is in very impressive condition even without considering that it's the original item. The rear screen has no creasing or damage and, though the process is a little convoluted, the roof itself goes up and down without any issue at all.
The original bottle cap alloys are all in good condition, with a little kerbing on the offside front confined to a 60-degree arc around the lip, but there's no other obvious areas of damage or corrosion.
Underneath the cabrio looks to be in great condition for its age, with a few areas of patina on exposed surfaces like the rear transfer case, but nothing on structural components.
This E30 Cabriolet uses the later 2.5-litre straight six engine introduced in 1985 – from the time when a “325” was a 3 Series with a 2.5 – and it was the most powerful non-M option in the range at 168hp.
It's a classic engine and it's still in fine fettle indeed, making all of the right noises and none of the wrong ones. There's no rattles or squeaks when you start it up – the timing belt was changed at 46,000 miles – and nothing but straight six song when provoked out on the road.
The suspension, steering, and brakes are all in good working order too, and the five-speed manual operates smoothly through forward and reverse gears.
In recent years the E30 3 Series has attracted a lot of attention and it's not hard to see why the car has so many fans.
This particular model would have been pretty expensive as new, with the top non-M engine and the pricey Cabriolet bodystyle, not to mention that rare option for the paintwork. It's also about as close to original as you can get, and not modified – generally a byword for “ruined” in E30s – in any relevant way. Sort the paintwork out and you'll have a highly unusual collector's piece.
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1990 BMW 325i Cabriolet
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