New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted!
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Hey guys,
I need some advice. As some of you may have seen my post looking for a manual bimmer, I have a found a few options and was wondering if anyone familiar with these models could tell me what 90's models I should stay away from? what good motors were made in that decade? and any recommendations as far as what to look for.
I do have my eye specifically on a 1996 318ti and was wondering if anyone could give me some info regarding common problems for it so I kinda have a heads up on what to expect. Thanks!
(btw - looking to spend under $5,000, open to any recommendations.)
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check rear strut towers for rusting, it is a common problem for any e36.
other than that just look for the normal things - maintenance receipts/history, specifically engine and suspension. all the rubber pieces in the suspension will have to be replaced if the PO was cheap and didn't replace them and the car has over 100k miles.
the m44 in the 318ti is a pretty robust motor. it has no balls, but its not supposed to.
Dan
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My Ti is an m42, due to being OBD1. I enjoy it. It isn't fast at all, has some little balls, but gets great gas mileage if you do a normal tune up (plugs,wires, coolant flush, thermostat, new oil and filter, and air filter) Most of my bushings are dead. My rear strut mounts were absolutely garbage, my struts were all terribly blown, and my rear springs had sheared off a few coils. Just make sure it wasn't beat, as in don't buy it from a young kid=) Do you have a link to this car? Mileage?
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Wont applesauce be crushed if you dont get an e30??
Like Dan/Earl have said, the 318ti is a nice commuter car, not on top of the "sporty" scale. I've seen a couple pop on craigslist too in the past couple months, so finding one shouldn't be tooooo hard.
Also, if you're up for a driving trip, a member on Bimmerfest has an absolutely beautiful red 318ti, 5 speed, with that kind of funny cloth/hurricane interior. He was asking $4400 I do believe, located in Atlanta Georgia.
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You can put a supercharger them.... them they have what you call.... "balls"!
E36's are also notorious BIG for the rear subframe failures, right?
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Its not the bushings that are the problem, its the whole subframe. I read that it can literally rip the mounting bolts from the sheet metal over time. Maybe I am mistaken but its something to look into.
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Sagaris said:
If you plan on keeping the car for a while and dont plan on driving it in the snow then do your self a huge favor and buy something rust-free from the southwest.
Mine is absolutely rust free with all undercoating intact and I bought it from up here=P
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Front end Slop in the control arms and associated bushings.... are the oil separators a problem on the i4's?
Also, check maintenance for cooling system work.
KEVIN
BMW CCA # 416146
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CDV Free, 545i Shifter and ///M Weighted Shift knob.
Member of DSC Module Failure Club $$
deathwarden5 said:
Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car.
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you.
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lol, I don't think he'd be too disappointed, plus this isn't my absolute car. Just kinda something I came across and was feeling it. My mom always told me that if you're shopping and something catches your eye but you don't know if you should do it, ask yourself if you'll regret passing it by if you don't buy it. Same with cars I feel, if I find myself thinking about it some time after I saw it online, maybe it's something I should look into further. The longer I thought about it the better it sounded. Although now I'm a little bit put off by it since the problems people are saying to look for are pretty much the same things I'm facing/have faced with my Talon. Last fall my dad helped me replace the rear strut towers and shocks. I'm unhappy that it seems my front ones are also now due... putting that off a bit... oil is also leaking in my car at a frightening pace. It had been worse but I switched to a 10W 40 as opposed to the previous 5W 30. Before it had been smoking because some horrible leak is causing it to spray all over everything under my hood. Unfortunately, looking at bimmers, this seems to be still a common issue. I just wanna avoid that whole deal AND have the 5-speed bimmer of my dreams. lol. Dirte or not.
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Needs low like me=) Not a horrid price. Check the underbody and if you go look at it, remove the carpet over the rear wheel wells and check the towers. I din't know to check, but I got lucky and have a crazy solid car. The reason the price seems high to me though is only because mine had 145,000 miles and i only paid $2,200;) But If you want something more reliable, I'd get an e30=P It seems like they can handle anything you throw at them. E36's seem like they'll take it for a while and then they'll tell you that they don't like it, and they'll start falling apart.
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Ryan... said:
... and an M bumper on that would be teh seks..
lol sauce was telling me that yesterday. Even if I didn't agree I suppose he'd find a way to make it happen.
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mystere30 said:
good god it would need new wheels though...lol
I knew someone would have an issue with that, and I do agree.
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