My lemon.
 

My "Overheating...again" thread reflects the recent woes of my cooling system on Drover. Here's the deal. When I bought it at 152k in need of a starter on June 6, I figured it would make for an ok little beater. Little did I know that - The jack points underneath were crushed and rusty beyond reasonable repair - It had an oil leak; several apparently - The PO had owned it for only 3 months - The coolant needed topping off every hundred miles or so - A rear brake line was cut and pinched off - Both window regulators were having problems - The car was rolling on Ebay "Hot Tuning" coilovers that clunk over every bump they hit - It had a massive vacuum leak - The rear spring perches were missing...for moar lowz I guess Et cetera. Am I crazy for wanting to cut my losses now and get rid of it? I've always wanted an e30 anyway and I can daily my e28 for a little while as I look for one.

These cars are inexpensive enough that your much better off buying one in decent shape than trying to fit what you have. I've never had to deal with rust repair, but that alone would be enough to make me consider dumping it. It sounds like your head gasket is bad which isn't an easy fix either.

As for E30s, I've had 4 over the last 13 years. At this point they are old enough that they are all going to need quite a bit of reconditioning. The going prices for them are also getting pretty nuts, and along with that goes the price of parts. Just know that the E30 isnt going to be cheap or easy, you need to really want it and be willing to put the work in.