<![CDATA[New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted!]]>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.)

]]>https://wibimmers.com/topic/326/new-to-90-s-bmw-s-advice-wantedRSS for NodeWed, 16 Sep 2026 04:00:09 GMTMon, 24 Oct 2011 05:17:18 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:03:58 GMT]]>Coming from a guy that bought a beater E36, and attempted to make it nice, The advice I have for you is get something with a clean body, or at least clean enough that it doesnt need professional help. I spent like 1800 on body work on mine, and granted, now it looks darn nice but I could of had a sweet wheel and suspension setup for that instead.

I have owned a M44 ti. Coming from a 240 hp Prelude, and a 280 hp 540i, I began to dread climbing in the thing. Also, people will tell you that the ti is a nice commuter car. That was not my experience. No good gear for highway, I thrashed the thing just to get around. If you havent driven one, do so. I think you will quickly cross it off your list after also having driven a 325/328.

If I could play the E36 game over again, I would get a 328ic with a hardtop. The hardtop look on the vert is sick and there is no reason a person couldnt drive it that way in winter. Maybe not with the hardtop, but you could get a 328ic for around 5k. you could also get a moderately sad 95 M3.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3820https://wibimmers.com/post/3820Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:03:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:19:49 GMT]]>Yeah, I want to get a day setup where we can go out and do some serious recon. Some hot hot recon...... We really need to sell that shitty DSM though. I want to set it up like I did my car, sell it, then go buy the new one a couple hours later.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3741https://wibimmers.com/post/3741Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:19:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:15:09 GMT]]>Any car you buy is going to poitentially have problems=) You just have to go and see them in person an take them for a spin

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3687https://wibimmers.com/post/3687Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:15:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Sun, 30 Oct 2011 04:29:14 GMT]]>Chadley, super informative, and yes, that does make sense! Thanks! Definitely some food for thought as I continue my bimmer shopping. Totally lmao-ed at several of your points too.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3665https://wibimmers.com/post/3665Sun, 30 Oct 2011 04:29:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 05:48:03 GMT]]>You wants knowledge of E36s? Listen up. Grab some popcorn. Semi-long post ahead.

First off. As with any E36, expect to spend 500-1k in maintainence items within the first 3 months of ownership. The exception to this rule is if there is documented service records, and said parts are in good condition. This money will give you a new front end, a new cooling system, and new bushings all the way around. Once this is out of the way, you should have a fairly reliable car, no matter what the mileage.

Second. Mileage. E36s are kinda like E30s, except different. But they're the same in the fact that they will last, when properly maintained, for 300k+. If you get a car that has had 1 or 2 owners, you probably dont have to worry about the engine crapping out,because it probably didnt live its life at 7k (unless the 2nd owner was a ricer. then run away)

Third. E36s have the worst interior known to man. Holy crap do they suck. The door panels were designed by Satan himself, while God designed the rest of the car. The plastics are so cheap-feeling. It creaks, the headliner will eventually decide to move from the ceiling to the floor, the seats will quit folding forward one day, and just when you've had enough, the door cards will be like FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU and then fall off.

Fourth. E36s are like E30s, kinda, but not really. Electrical gremlins arent as big of an issue as they are in E30s, but ghosts are. Every day you will hear a new noise that you think could be bad, but then never hear it again. You'll think something is broken then realize, after you replaced it, that in fact you wasted your money because the part that is 10X cheaper/easier to replace is at fault, and the car will be laughing at you. Thats how E36s are. Kinda like moody, teenage girls.

My E36 drives me bonkers. Sometimes I just wanna sell the stupid thing and get an e30 again. But then again, I do enjoy my E36. IMO, its a cross between an E30 and an E46. Just enough to make it nice and comfortable, but not too much to take away the driving element of any driving luver. Make sense?

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3652https://wibimmers.com/post/3652Sat, 29 Oct 2011 05:48:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 03:05:29 GMT]]>i want the race car...its cheap...only thing that scares me is the pictures have snow in them...which means they were taken last year. what does it look like now??... hmmm

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3646https://wibimmers.com/post/3646Sat, 29 Oct 2011 03:05:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:58:57 GMT]]>and tbh http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/cto/2671132039.html sounds great.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3638https://wibimmers.com/post/3638Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:58:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:56:23 GMT]]>well, how many miles is your cutoff? i mean, tbh they can run forever without dying with proper maintanance. And even if the engine goes out you can swap in a new engine, they are so easy to work on.

my e30 just shit the bed at 220,000 because i neglected the timing belt, but i didnt really care much anyways.

my e34 rolled over 240,000 recently and is still running like a beast.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3637https://wibimmers.com/post/3637Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:56:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:38:41 GMT]]>

someone said:

^Eww....one piece headlights and G-Bay tails.....Why not snag one of the under $2000 e30's thats floating around?

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/2656883581.html

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/cto/2671132039.html

OMFG look at this=O http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/2637059793.html

And if you want a race car: http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/cto/2666244615.html

All of those have questionable things in the description, have more miles than I'd prefer, or in the case of the third one is considerably out of my price range. :(

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3635https://wibimmers.com/post/3635Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:38:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:23:40 GMT]]>

Bayerische Bombe said:

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/2646614279.html

This may also be a possibility... I just don't know if it's manual.

^Eww....one piece headlights and G-Bay tails.....Why not snag one of the under $2000 e30's thats floating around?

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/2656883581.html

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/cto/2671132039.html

OMFG look at this=O http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/2637059793.html

And if you want a race car: http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/cto/2666244615.html

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3622https://wibimmers.com/post/3622Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:23:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:50:04 GMT]]>Please don't settle on a beater like either of those. There's much nicer cars out there!!

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3608https://wibimmers.com/post/3608Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:50:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:07:33 GMT]]>http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/cto/2646614279.html

This may also be a possibility... I just don't know if it's manual.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3607https://wibimmers.com/post/3607Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:07:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:55:23 GMT]]>it must be gone. :( The search goes on. You can peep my current interest here: http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp?tracktype=usedcc&csDlId=&csDgId=&listingId=75776187&listingRecNum=3&criteria=prMx%3D5000%26sf1Dir%3DDESC%26prMn%3D0%26mkId%3D20005%26stkTyp%3DU%26rd%3D100%26crSrtFlds%3DstkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-pseudoPrice-transTypeId%26zc%3D53219%26rn%3D0%26PMmt%3D1-0-0%26stkTypId%3D28881%26sf2Dir%3DASC%26sf1Nm%3Dprice%26sf2Nm%3Dmiles%26isDealerGrouping%3Dfalse%26transTypeId%3D28112%26rpp%3D50%26feedSegId%3D28705&aff=national

The bad news is miles aren't posted. I just emailed requesting to know how much. I gotta start posting my Talon up on Craigslist this weekend too. Gonna try to time it so I can sell and buy in a pretty close time frame.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3606https://wibimmers.com/post/3606Fri, 28 Oct 2011 00:55:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:54:11 GMT]]>

Snyperx said:

Link isn't working:-( I wanna see...I wanna seee....

+1 :(

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3597https://wibimmers.com/post/3597Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:54:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:54:39 GMT]]>Link isn't working:-( I wanna see...I wanna seee....

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3592https://wibimmers.com/post/3592Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:54:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:48:34 GMT]]>

Bayerische Bombe said:

Relatively few changes will be made using my own funding. lol.

Those are the best kind :D

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3586https://wibimmers.com/post/3586Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:48:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:33:04 GMT]]>then it's between you and Zach. I'll be poor till I finish college this year and get a real job. Relatively few changes will be made using my own funding. lol.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3585https://wibimmers.com/post/3585Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:33:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:07:33 GMT]]>Wanna have a competition to have the most wicked Ti then?

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3583https://wibimmers.com/post/3583Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:07:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:13:20 GMT]]>

rampelsauce said:

If she gets a ti, its going to have an ///M bumper and all the suspension and wheels and goodies money can buy. Its gonna be wicked.

This is what I like to hear :)

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3570https://wibimmers.com/post/3570Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:13:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:07:50 GMT]]>If she gets a ti, its going to have an ///M bumper and all the suspension and wheels and goodies money can buy. Its gonna be wicked.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3567https://wibimmers.com/post/3567Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:07:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:34:28 GMT]]>

Ryan... said:

I think it looks nice, fair price too but I'm sure they can be talked down! I like the color, and an M bumper on that would be teh seks..

Or my bumper;) lol

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3563https://wibimmers.com/post/3563Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:34:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:32:22 GMT]]>

mystere30 said:

good god it would need new wheels though...lol

I knew someone would have an issue with that, and I do agree.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3559https://wibimmers.com/post/3559Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:32:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:08:21 GMT]]>

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.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3558https://wibimmers.com/post/3558Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:08:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to New to 90's BMW's - Advice wanted! on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:13:30 GMT]]>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.

]]>https://wibimmers.com/post/3556https://wibimmers.com/post/3556Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:13:30 GMT