A Used BMW

[jemcam]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
BMW is an abbreviation - it stands for Broke My Wallet.

Get another Civic.

Edit - The only sights that should be set on that BMW are pictured here.

- M4H

BMW = Big Money Waste

 

[Turin39789]

I found this in about 20 seconds - http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/car/262936318.html

 

[Turin39789]

But personally I'd rather have this

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/car/262096272.html

 

[chris7b]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: skulkingghost
I hear you guys as i said before anybody see deals around the zipcode 19382 for under 4k. Im searching vehics autotrader craigslist and cars.com

you'd be the coolest kid in school

anything broken would be cheap to fix, and i believe this is the last year of forged internals

max

Yeah and he'd probably die if he got into an accident...

 

[alocurto]

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.

 

[ElFenix]

another max

that one ends soon. doubt the reserve is under $3k though.

 

[dirtboy]

Only rich people own used BMW's. When something major breaks you'll know why I say that.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: skulkingghost
ok so any suggestions for a nice good loking car (sporty preferably) manual or automatic under 4k around the zipcode 19382? or should I make a new thread.

Also UPDATE:
Mechanic says it needs about 2k worth of work and that if i could offer the guy 1500 and do the repairs for 2k id have a bargain anyone agree?

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.

 

[MasonLuke]

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.

 

[ballmode]

JUNK

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: MasonLuke
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 love to be seen in a BMW and love to say I drive a BMW.

BMW Driver.

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]

Originally posted by: skulkingghost
ok so any suggestions for a nice good loking car (sporty preferably) manual or automatic under 4k around the zipcode 19382? or should I make a new thread.

Also UPDATE:
Mechanic says it needs about 2k worth of work and that if i could offer the guy 1500 and do the repairs for 2k id have a bargain anyone agree?

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.

 

[AStar617]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: MasonLuke
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 love to be seen in a BMW and love to say I drive a BMW.

BMW Driver.

Fixed.

People who really love to drive and never have to carry anything more than one person or some golf clubs buy the Lotus Elise. Whoever said that BMW was the ultimate driving maching obviously cares about practicality too.

Fixed Thanks for the recent pics, though.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: AStar617

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: MasonLuke
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 love to be seen in a BMW and love to say I drive a BMW.

BMW Driver.

Fixed.

People who really love to drive and never have to carry anything more than one person or some golf clubs buy the Lotus Elise. Whoever said that BMW was the ultimate driving maching obviously cares about practicality too.

Fixed Thanks for the recent pics, though.

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:

 

[jammur21]

Reliable, but boring: Toyota and Honda
Classy, but maintenance nightmare: German cars
-------------------------------------------------
Solution: 1995-1999 Maxima

 

[EarthwormJim]

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.

 

[AStar617]

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]

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]

Originally posted by: AStar617
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.

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.

 

[makken]

Originally posted by: skulkingghost
ok so any suggestions for a nice good loking car (sporty preferably) manual or automatic under 4k around the zipcode 19382? or should I make a new thread.

Also UPDATE:
Mechanic says it needs about 2k worth of work and that if i could offer the guy 1500 and do the repairs for 2k id have a bargain anyone agree?

did the mechanic say what needs to be fixed?

 

[AStar617]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: AStar617
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.

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.