EPIC BATTLE 1989 BMW 325I SPORT vs 2002 LEXUS IS300
They might be a couple of generations apart but these two machines have much more in common than you might think. But which makes the most sense for your £10k budget?
Ten grand doesn’t get you very far when you go E30 shopping these days; it certainly wouldn’t get you the keys to the immaculate three-door 325i Sport pictured here. In fact, even double our budget would struggle to bag you anything close to this model, that’s second only to the mighty M3. Lower your expectations to a less-than-concours four-door 325i and ownership becomes a lot more likely.
The Lexus IS, on the other hand, has been all but forgotten – £5k gets you a really good one. Odd really, considering that it was a real pretender to BMW’s crown back in the late 1990s. In fact Lexus might well have caused a real upset had Munich not simply knocked it out of the park with its E46 generation 3 Series. It had already outdone Mercedes-Benz with the LS and GS series (though not in sales terms), which left the IS to have a crack at knocking the world’s best sports saloon maker into the rough.
Rewind the clock back to the early 1980s and the E30 was the model that put BMW on top of the small saloon sector. The second 3 Series was the first to truly cement all of the attributes that BMW had been working hard to distil into its sports saloons since the 1960s.
The E30 was wildly popular in period and remains hugely sought-after today, whereas the Lexus is more of an acquired taste. Have we all missed out, or is the retro BMW still the way to go?
OLD’S COOL
If you think all of this 1980s BMW eulogising is exaggerated then you’ve clearly never driven one for an extended period of time. The E30 is a lively little saloon that fizzes with the kind of driver engagement that its contemporaries could only dream of. It’s far from perfect, though; it’s hardly the brand’s most refined effort and while its build quality is good for its era it’s not in the same league as a Mercedes 190E, for example.
An E30’s handling is something of an acquired taste, too; it’s not as noticeable with the smaller engines, but the torquey 325i does highlight the stock chassis’ shortcomings, especially in wet weather. Getting the best from these cars requires skill and close attention to bush and tyre condition; you’re in for a stressful time if any are below-par.
Rear-end grip isn’t an E30 strong suit, either though controlling the car’s attitude with the throttle is, which is why the model has become so popular with drifters. It’s also the reason why M Power revised the stock suspension set-up for the M3 almost totally, which really is a very different and wholly magnificent machine. Having said that, any factory E30 on good tyres with fresh rear subframe and trailing arm bushes should be a g
