is it classed as coupe

Yep

I would have thought a 2 door saloon is a coup� - or is a coup� a car that has no door pillers at all, and no rim round the window. If this is the case then there are no E30 coup�'s at all as the only pillerless E30 is the convertable.
Then again, I don't think the E36 is pillerless (my compact certainly isn't).
Anyway I've sent an email to BMW GB as I'm curious.

You're right the coupe body shell is a different shape all together than the saloon models.

For example the E46 coupe body shell is longer than the standard E46 4 door saloon.

Let us know what the official BMW GB answer is Rhys..... Well done Steve a good question!

Cheers

I don't consider it a coupe either!

BMW wrote: Dear Mr Moore, Thank you for your e-mail. We have forwarded your request to the relevant department for assessment. Kind Regards, BMW Customer Service Team

......baited breath

Nick wrote: A coupe is a 4 seater car with 2 doors and a sloping roof.

So.. is a compact a coup� - 2 doors, sloping back

Will post when I get an answer

Actually the definition of coupe is "cut short" or "cut down".

It arose from the days when you bought a chassis & body separately. The body could be  either the full saloon or a cut down body with reduced rear passenger accomodation - a coupe as in Coupe de Ville.  The next logical step was to have a shortened chassis to fit the cut down body on.

Coupes have fixed roofs but not necessarily sloping. The BMW 503 is a coupe as it was available in varous forms.

Coupes can have more than 2 doors.  The Rover P5B was available as a saloon or a coupe with a lowered roof line.

The 6-series (old & new) are coupes as they're based on saloons (5-series) with "reduced bodywork". The fact that they're both heavier than the saloons should be ignored as they are better looking.

The main point is that the coupe version has reduced rear accomodation to save weight (hence the performance image) & hopefully provide a more attractive car (so much for the Fiat Coupe!).

By definition then the Merc CLS is NOT a coupe as it is only available in one body style ie it's a low roofed saloon.

But the main question - the E36 is a coupe as it has an altered roof line to the saloon.

As the E30 is neither shorter than the 4 door, doesn't have reduced rear passenger space or a lower roof line it's a saloon. Also it was released in 2 door form first with the 4 door following on.

Now the big question - is my E30 Touring a shooting brake or an estate? 

OK, got an answer..

BMW wrote: Dear Mr Moore, Thank you for your email to BMW Customer Information dated October 11, 2005. We are able to confirm that the E30 BMW is classed as a 2dr Saloon. If I can provide you with any help in the future, please contact me on the details below. Yours sincerely, Tiffany Martin Product Advisor BMW UK Tel:    0800 325600 Fax:    0870 5050206 Email: customer.information@bmw.co.uk

..so there you have it.

stevecooper wrote:                                              steve 2door e30 saloon owner

rhys ex 2door e30 saloon owner

yes its good to know thanx

                steve