Car smashed. Looking for E36 with low miles

[pippo]

Son smashed my car and all of a sudden, I need a new car and have been thinking of a mid 3rd Gen S3 (1993 or so 325i or similar. I have about a week.

I am enlisting your help in my search, guys, so a few questions please:

1) what would be "low" mileage for a mid 90's car?

2) I like hard top, manual, the simpler the better (less bells/whistles). Suggest pricing?

3) what usually goes wrong with these cars? (ac evaporator? fuel pump? electrical ghosts?)

4) Are timing belts easy to change? Otherwise is this car easy to work on?

5) would you buy 4cyl or 6 cyl? why?
PS: I live in Tampa Bay area

Thanks a bunch, fellas. Never figured Id be buying a bmw so fast!!!!!!!!!

Joe

[BMW318i_]

~Low mileage I'd say anything below 125,000 miles or 200,000km

~I don't really know the market over there so I'll leave it to your American chums for a fair price guide

~Well in my experience any component to the cars A/C will go around this time (10-15yrs). Auto Transmission sigh, it needed to be rebuilt on mine. Get manual. lol

~I got a 4cyl which is fine, but...

[synenergy52]

1) what would be "low" mileage for a mid 90's car? 60k or so

2) I like hard top, manual, the simpler the better (less bells/whistles). Suggest pricing? Maybe 6-9k for a clean one

3) what usually goes wrong with these cars? (ac evaporator? fuel pump? electrical ghosts?) COOLING SYSTEM. Yeah that's it. haha

4) Are timing belts easy to change? Otherwise is this car easy to work on? BMWs use timing chains--with the exception of maybe the 4 cylinders (M42s?)

5) would you buy 4cyl or 6 cyl? why? 6 Cylinder. More is always better.
PS: I live in Tampa Bay area. Cool.

[zulio]

The lowest mileage I found on an e36 when I was in the market for one was 83xxx miles, and I ended up buying it, but it's a '96. I think I got really lucky and found a guy that didn't wanna mess around with the whole selling process though. I would definitely say put up an ad on craigslist if you haven't already. I got a couple hits from that alone.
If you get one a little older, a 93 or so, then there's real potential to find a decent car for $3500, but probably not one with real low miles. If you can find one that you know the cooling system has been replaced on, then you're good to go, almost regardless of miles. Almost everybody here will agree that these cars last damn near forever.
I hope the timing belts are easy to change :D I've gotta do mine before too long.

And lastly, if your son is a safe driver and you trust him, I would say get the 6 cylinder. It's more fun. That's why I held out for a 328 instead of a 325. Regardless of engine size, though, if the kid's gonna get in trouble he's gonna get in trouble, no matter what he's driving. But if he has something he's proud of and wants to take care of and have for a while, he'll be more careful with it.
Just tell him he has to pay for all his tickets.

I know I treat mine way better than I bashed my old ford explorer, and I even drive slower now.

:thumbup:

[zulio]

after rereading your post, I think the car might not be for the son. oops.

in that case, 6 cylinder all the way. I get 32mpg on a bad day with mine, so fuel economy isn't really an issue...plus it's just fun.

[E36 Phantom]

e36mike smashes his car all the time.....:rofl:

Mileage isn't important. Service history is. Look for a car with few owners and all the receipts for service. A car with 170k that has a full book of receipts will be a lot better than a car at 95k with no service done (especially since 90-110k is when *everything* starts needing to be replaced). So your best bet is a car that has just had a lot done - REGARDLESS OF MILEAGE. :)

The 6 cylinder is on the low end of the power range. The 4 cylinder is a joke. Get the 6.

The E36 is super easy to work on, and there are DIY instructions online for pretty much any E36 problem under the sun. BMW owners a crazy group that are pretty community oriented and there's a lot of great info. Also, the Bentley manual is the most detailed repair manual you can buy, get one and you'll never have problems working on it.

CA generally has lower prices (especially the SF Bay) just because we're flooded with BMWs. I don't know what Tampa is like. But, in the Bay for a clean 5spd 325is or 328is with 120 or 130 on it, I'd expect to pay 6-6500. For 70-80k mileage and almost mint, for a 328is I don't think I could justify paying more than 7, *maybe* 7500, and that's pushing it.

[der BMW]

I managed to find my 92 325is with only 53k on it this past September. Guess I lucked out.

[zulio]

I managed to find my 92 325is with only 53k on it this past September. Guess I lucked out.
Wow. What'd ya pay for it?

[der BMW]

$4500. A little overpriced maybe, but I was willing to dish out the money for it.

[der BMW]

These are pics of the day I got the car:


http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/8391/img0450k.jpg

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3864/img0460d.jpg

Nice find huh?

[E36 Phantom]

WHOA! Looks mint!!!

Paint the rockers and ditch the bottlecaps. :p

And $4500 isn't overpriced for it at all.

[MyNewRag]

94=325i vert with 97K miles from a grandma with all receipts. Paid $6500 last summer. Oh did I mention that the receipts included about $3200 worth in the last 10K Miles? From suspension to cooling system to brakes and misc other stuff. All done from the stealer. Oh yeah with the optional hardtop...you don't have to tell me that I am lovin it.

Be patient, they are out there....

[der BMW]

WHOA! Looks mint!!!

Paint the rockers and ditch the bottlecaps. :p

And $4500 isn't overpriced for it at all.


Thanks Chad. I'm gonna move onto cosmetic stuff as soon as I take care of a few mechanical issues (replace t-stat, diagnose abs light, possibly new shocks/struts), and get a job.

[jmo69]

To the OP, cooling system, cooling system, cooling system! Plastic impellers and thermostat housings. Failure=head gasket$$$. Clutch fan can come apart and take out the radiator. Lots of DIYs and easy to work on. Most e36s have bells and whistles, not neccessarily more things to fix. Try to get service records and if it's a manual get rid of the clutch delay valve if it's got one, it will save wear on the clutch.

[zulio]

To the OP, cooling system, cooling system, cooling system! Plastic impellers and thermostat housings. Failure=head gasket$$$. Clutch fan can come apart and take out the radiator. Lots of DIYs and easy to work on. Most e36s have bells and whistles, not neccessarily more things to fix. Try to get service records and if it's a manual get rid of the clutch delay valve if it's got one, it will save wear on the clutch.
Hey now this is the first I've heard of a clutch delay valve. What's the story?

[jmo69]

Not all e36s had them. It's a small restrictor in between hose and the steel line to the slave cylinder. When you release the clutch it causes the slave to retract slower for smoother engagement. But it's like riding the clutch every time you shift=more wear. It's easy to remove, clamp the hose, remove the valve and bleed the slave. It's part 21, but it was between the steel line and hose on mine even though it's shown on the slave. http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BG13&mospid=47485&btnr=21_0059&hg=21&fg=10