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A Used BMW
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Turin39789
Lifer
I found this in about 20 seconds - http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/car/262936318.html
Turin39789
Lifer
How much do you drive? Might be better off with a lease until you get through college. You can probably get something for $200 a month and not have maintenance or anything to do to it. Should be able to swing 200 with a simple job in school. Heck, your first year is already paid for.
Captante
Lifer
No... that car for $500 is no bargain unless you just love working on BMW's.
Theres a reason people always sell these cars right around 100k & thats because they become insanely expensive to maintain ... it would be one thing if you wanted a 2ed car & this was a 635CSI, but its a semi-lame 325i with lots of problems thats going to be your primary transportation ... you don't want this car.
BMW with over 100k miles is just asking for trouble. Expect to pay over 3K in the near future to get your head cover basket changed and heads redone. Depending on how it was driven, prob a transmission rebuild, another 4K at about 150K miles. Serice and parts for BMW is very expensive, if you cant afford to take care of it, dont buy it. BMW are good to lease, not to own.
All in all, BMW is a hellava car, driven by prople who loves to drive.
BMW Driver.
All in all, BMW is a hellava car, driven by prople who loves to drive.
BMW Driver.
JulesMaximus
No Lifer
Fixed.
People who really love to drive buy the Lotus Elise. Whoever said that BMW was the ultimate driving maching obviously never drove a Lotus Elise.
Metron
Golden Member
Have you checked Edmunds?
Regardless of that... the mechanic is recommending it, since he knows you'll be back year after year for continuing expensive repairs.
JulesMaximus
No Lifer
See, even you admit that BMW is all about compromises. 😉
BTW-You couldn't even fit a bag of golf clubs in the Elise...unless they rode shotgun. :laugh:
EarthwormJim
Diamond Member
Not really sure where the money pit comments are coming from. I've had my 318is for 3 years now and have never had to spend huge bucks on it. Just had to replace the brakes and fluids and that was about it. The car has 135k miles as of now. However I do my own work.
If you can talk the guy down to under $2000 then you have a pretty good deal. '92 325's have a non vanos engine, so that's one less thing to worry about going wrong with the car.
If the car has lasted this long and is in good shape, there's no reason why it won't last another 100k miles. BMW engines if taken care of will last a long time (pretty true for most modern engines).
Windows probably need new regulators and/or motors. There is a trick you can try though. Roll the window down all the way, then roll it back up and continue to hold the up button for 15-30 seconds. That resets the sensor. Also with the window button are you pushing hard? The button is kind of two buttons in one, push hard to auto down and push lightly to not auto down.
Someone mentioned the timing belt, there is no timing belt on that car it has a timing chain which should last the life of the engine.
Exactly what kind of work besides the windows needs to be done on the car? Ever consider doing your own work? It's not a hard car to work on.
Best BMW forums for information (especially for an E36 like that 325) is bimmerforums.com. Other forums have a lot less emphasis on the E36.
If you can talk the guy down to under $2000 then you have a pretty good deal. '92 325's have a non vanos engine, so that's one less thing to worry about going wrong with the car.
If the car has lasted this long and is in good shape, there's no reason why it won't last another 100k miles. BMW engines if taken care of will last a long time (pretty true for most modern engines).
Windows probably need new regulators and/or motors. There is a trick you can try though. Roll the window down all the way, then roll it back up and continue to hold the up button for 15-30 seconds. That resets the sensor. Also with the window button are you pushing hard? The button is kind of two buttons in one, push hard to auto down and push lightly to not auto down.
Someone mentioned the timing belt, there is no timing belt on that car it has a timing chain which should last the life of the engine.
Exactly what kind of work besides the windows needs to be done on the car? Ever consider doing your own work? It's not a hard car to work on.
Best BMW forums for information (especially for an E36 like that 325) is bimmerforums.com. Other forums have a lot less emphasis on the E36.
Watch out for the water pumps on the M50 engines, which your '92 should have. The OEM one features a plastic water impeller which can get brittle and shatter... if you ever tear down the engine that low for another repair, replace it proactively with an aftermarket water pump with a metal impeller that will not crumble.
skulkingghost
Golden Member
I hear you guys I definately am loving th esuggestions. Ebay motors is a no go for me but Im goign to keep looking aswell as i mull this over. Thank you for all the help so far!
JulesMaximus
No Lifer
Add the radiator to the list of things made partially out of plastic and will need to be replaced. Ours cracked and started leaking where one of the tubes come out of the radiator. Ours seemed to go through brakes rather quickly and needed rotors everytime we did them. The sunroof rattled since day one and the dealer said the entire cassette needed to be replaced to the tune of well over one thousand dollars...we decided to live with the rattle. The shocks/struts needed to be replaced and those cost $1200 just for the parts alone. Other than that it was minor nickel and dime things $200 here $300 there...it adds up fast.
Our car was starting to give us transmission trouble when we got rid of it (it would barely move when the engine was cold and you put it in drive and stepped on the throttle). It had 65k miles on it when we bought it and about 120k on it when we got rid of it. This was a 1994 325i. Best thing we ever did was get rid of that car.
I'll agree with you on the brakes. My 525i went through the same "pads plus rotors" dance.
I'll disagree on the shocks/struts. I upgraded to Bilstein Tourings on all four corners (tighter than stock Bosch, but retains stock ride quality) for $150 each, $600 total in parts. I can't see the 325i hardware being that much more expensive if at all... of course I didn't have it done at a dealer either.
My alternator did cost something stupid like $800 after the core exchange credit... that sucked. 😕
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