1991 325i test drive question

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Delboy - 09 Mar 2005 04:39 GMT

Hello,
I just test drove a 1991 325i in Los Angeles, and I have a couple of
questions.

First of all, it only has 52000 miles(checked with Carfax).

It was an automatic, and it seemed very slow to me, I thought this was
a fast car, I remember driving 325i's in the UK, and they really were
very quick, automatics too.

When I floored it, the tranny hesitated to find the right gear, then
seemed to pick the wrong one. The car felt heavy. Everything else
seemed to be fine, just a lack of pick up.

What could be the cause of this, is the automatic tranny on the way
out?

Thanks for your help.

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fbloogyudsr - 09 Mar 2005 05:19 GMT

"Delboy" <sukhpal_sandhu@hotmail.com> wrote

> Hello,
> I just test drove a 1991 325i in Los Angeles, and I have a couple of
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> What could be the cause of this, is the automatic tranny on the way
> out?

Some things:
1) The '91 325i had the M20 2-valve engine, which isn't as rev-happy
and snappy as the later M50 engine.
2) IIRC, the US got different autos than Europe.
3) A 52K car probably badly needs a tune-up. Also, the
vacuum hoses might be bad (or the catalytic converter);
both kill the older engines.

Floyd

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Jan Kalin - 09 Mar 2005 09:50 GMT

>"Delboy" <sukhpal_sandhu@hotmail.com> wrote
>> Hello,
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>1) The '91 325i had the M20 2-valve engine, which isn't as rev-happy
>and snappy as the later M50 engine.

IIRC all E36 325i had M50 engines.

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Kyle and Lori Greene - 09 Mar 2005 10:23 GMT

>>> Hello,
>>> I just test drove a 1991 325i in Los Angeles, and I have a couple of
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> IIRC all E36 325i had M50 engines.

They did. A '91 here in the US was the last year of the E30 325i.

Kyle.
98 740iL
97 M3

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Neil - 09 Mar 2005 14:24 GMT

> They did. A '91 here in the US was the last year of the E30 325i.
>
> Kyle.
> 98 740iL
> 97 M3

Except the E30 325ic which remained until 1992/93.

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JimV - 09 Mar 2005 13:06 GMT

>>"Delboy" <sukhpal_sandhu@hotmail.com> wrote
>>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> IIRC all E36 325i had M50 engines.

But a '91 is an E30 isn't it? Any BMW with a slushbox is not a *real*
BMW anyway... :-)

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Jan Kalin - 09 Mar 2005 14:18 GMT

>>>"Delboy" <sukhpal_sandhu@hotmail.com> wrote
>>>
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>But a '91 is an E30 isn't it? Any BMW with a slushbox is not a *real*
>BMW anyway... :-)

I know some people that disagree vehemently ;)

But yes, I assumed that the E36 was introduced in the US the same year as
in Europe. My mistake.

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fbloogyudsr - 09 Mar 2005 16:29 GMT

"Jan Kalin" <nobody@noknown.domain> wrote

>>But a '91 is an E30 isn't it? Any BMW with a slushbox is not a *real*
>>BMW anyway... :-)
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> But yes, I assumed that the E36 was introduced in the US the same year as
> in Europe. My mistake.

I almost noted the US/E30/'91 thing in my post, but figured I'd just
confuse the OP. The whole US vs. rest-of-the-world and Coupe/Sedan/
Convertible thing is confusing enough to the BMW community...

Floyd (never had an auto BMW)

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