 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / BMW Cars / October 2007Should I buy this '93 325i?
Need a little help, not sure if it's a good buy or not. Always wanted a BMW, just turned 22. Here's what I'm looking at: - 1993 BMW 325i 4dr - Automatic w/ steptronic (I'd rather a manual, but see the next item) - 75,000 miles (was a 2nd car) -- title is clear, odometer not broken - New brake pads, rotors, spark plugs, transmission fluid, oil change, air filter - 225/50R16 aftermarket rims & tires - aftermarket cd player - aftermarket alarm system, remote starter - leather is still like new, interior very nice, heated seats, sunroof - exhaust has a problem, sounds like a flowmaster, but is stock - could be ignition wires/distributor, causing it to run on 5 cylinders - can't locate an exhaust leak - probably still has plastic impeller water pump - seller getting car fixed this week - asking $4000, KBB is $4130 (no alarm) for fair condition, $4670 for good condition (no alarm) - Should I buy it, what's a reasonable offer? I mainly drive to college, figure 25 miles/day on average. Have you checked how much the insurance will be? > Need a little help, not sure if it's a good buy or not. Always wanted a > BMW, just turned 22. Here's what I'm looking at: [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > - Should I buy it, what's a reasonable offer? I mainly drive to college, > figure 25 miles/day on average. I'd mention two points: Cars made after late 94 are a lot better put together inside. My 95 328i touring is MUCH better made than my old 93 318iS. Mechanically they're all fine though. If you want a manual you'll always regret getting an auto.  SignatureWho needs a life when you've got Unix? :-) Email: john@unixnerd.demon.co.uk, John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage! Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html www.Strathspey.co.uk - Quality Binoculars at a Sensible price > I'd mention two points: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > If you want a manual you'll always regret getting an auto. To the insurance question, yes, I have found that insurance is actually cheaper with this car than the one I have now. I still have a little while to find a manual, I think you're right about regretting the automatic. With 75k miles, though, I'm not likely to find anything like it for that sort of money. Then again, most of the traffic around here is stop and go, so there's not too much fun in a manual with that traffic. odometer not broken > - exhaust has a problem, sounds like a flowmaster, but is stock > - could be ignition wires/distributor, causing it to run on 5 cylinders You'll mean a coil pack gone. They do fail occasionally, especially the earlier ones but the 325s have a sporty sound to them, especially if all the baffles have rusted away from inside the muffler (look up the pipes and you can see) If I were you I'd look for a post '94, 2 door with manual transmission, although if you really want an auto then that's up to you. You can pretty much drive these around in 3rd everywhere anyway :-) Here in the UK old 4 door 3 series are generally cheap as chips. > odometer not broken >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Here in the UK old 4 door 3 series are generally cheap as chips. I'm not sure if its a coil pack or a distributor. The websites I've seen only list distributors for '93s. These are cheaper than the wires, for some reason. > I'm not sure if its a coil pack or a distributor. The websites I've seen > only list distributors for '93s. These are cheaper than the wires, for some > reason. Coil pack, no E36s had a distributor except the pre-93 M40 1.6/1.8. SignatureWho needs a life when you've got Unix? :-) Email: john@unixnerd.demon.co.uk, John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage! Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html www.Strathspey.co.uk - Quality Binoculars at a Sensible price > 1993 BMW 325i 4dr > - Automatic w/ steptronic Steptronic in '93? Signature*Too many clicks spoil the browse * Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. >> 1993 BMW 325i 4dr >> - Automatic w/ steptronic > > Steptronic in '93? Yea, I'm not sure if that was an option, but I tested it out and it had that. Maybe it was a US only thing? > >> 1993 BMW 325i 4dr > >> - Automatic w/ steptronic > > > > Steptronic in '93? > Yea, I'm not sure if that was an option, but I tested it out and it had > that. Maybe it was a US only thing? I thought Steptronic came in with the E39 in 96/7. And on ZF boxes only initially. Signature*Work is for people who don't know how to fish. Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.