Faults:

Replaced control arms because the bushings looked old.

General Comments:

I was lucky and found a very clean E21, most you find are too rusted. New paint, interior, headliner, upgraded rims, stereo, and suspension. Pretty low mileage for a 30 year old car (175k miles).

Stock 1.8 liter 4 cylinder is pretty quick despite its 109hp rated engine, the 5 speed and 3.64 LSD helps. Planning on a future upgrade from a 91-92 BMW 318i M42B18 engine (135/138hp). This is the lowest cost route since S14 engines are expensive to purchase and maintain. There are shops that offer tuned stock replacement engines (150hp), but want over $4000. Some E21 enthusiast change to flat pistons with longer stroke and add a turbo.

Whatever the case, there are many engine conversion options. The car is only 2400lbs, so it will handle corners like a go-cart.

Faults:

The start and finish mileage is the same because the odometer was not working when I got the car and I never fixed it.

The only reason I tried this one out was because I got it for $300 as it needed a master cylinder and a bit of TLC.

I replaced the very worn front seats, the brake master cylinder, the brake booster, and the rear wheel cylinders. That was pretty much it. The clutch was replaced before I bought the car. The AC compressor was dead. I only kept it for a year, but it was fairly reliable.

General Comments:

I thought that these things were supposed to be "the ultimate driving machine"?

I only kept the car for a year because it was not what I expected. The interior was pretty worn, mostly aged, the performance was not fantastic (0-60 in about 10.5 seconds and top speed only about 95mph), and parts were expensive (the master cylinder was $150).

Also, this thing did not handle as well as I thought it should, it was never confidence inspiring in the turns. It felt like it was going tip over if you cornered too hard.

In the end, the cost to keep it going was too high when compared performance received. Add to that, it was painful to take this car on long trips. It got good gas mileage, but the seats wore me out. We had to get out of the car every two hours or suffer major discomfort.

Faults:

The head gasket blew, but this was not surprising since the car had well over 175000 miles at the time. Repair bill for the head gasket was $600.

Previous owner lowered the car 2 inches, causing the rear tires to wear out quickly.

General Comments:

Showed signs of it's age often.

Limited slip differential is fun on rain slicked roads.

Was extremely reliable, once the head gasket was fixed.

This car only had a 4 speed transmission, but could still hit triple digit speeds easily.