Buying a BMW318, 1990

shaper13

http://www.carzone.ie/780889

Can anyone give me a steer on this? I think it's overpriced by about a grand, but am quite taken by it nonetheless.

Also, any opinions on whether or not they are a good car, or is there a BMW of about this vintage that would be a better bet? Have just had my 99 Avensis stolen and am looking for something a little different.

Cheers

bucks

Looks like a nice car, as you said they can be got cheaper, especially from the UK.

Its a 318iS so it will have the mtech suspension and discs all round, the same as whats fitted to the 325 so it will handle great.

I have a 318iS myself and they are a fantastic car.

The M42 twincam 16valve engine in them is a strong an reliable engine and loves been on the farside of 3500 revs ! Its also a nippy little car !

With the iS you will also get the sports interior.

As long as you bare in mind that they are a 17 year old car and dont mind doing niggly little jobs on it then it wont let you down, that is of course that you bought a looked after example in the first place.

magooly

shaper13 wrote:

http://www.carzone.ie/780889

Can anyone give me a steer on this? I think it's overpriced by about a grand, but am quite taken by it nonetheless.

Man love that shape, clean car but the interior would put me off, Yeah Id say 4 is about right as a buyer, drive a 97 1.9 mtech and paid 5 1/2 for it.

shaper13 wrote:

Also, any opinions on whether or not they are a good car, or is there a BMW of about this vintage that would be a better bet? Have just had my 99 Avensis stolen and am looking for something a little different.

The 3 series are a fun drive ive always wanted one. Ive had trouble with the emisssions for the NCT, the lambda sensor kept failing on me, i changed the brake pads for spurious sets but I since have trouble with the ABS light on the dash now, and some vibration on the brake pedal every now and then.
Also my insurance went up this year, for no reason other than a rate change on the vehicle.

Id go in at 4 cash

kdevitt

Price looks about right to me...they were going for 5/6k last year

Vegeta

kdevitt wrote:

Price looks about right to me...they were going for 5/6k last year

for a mint 318is I would agree here

brother has a silver one and while it is very reliable engine wise he has had to do a lot of niggly jobs with it like changing a broken suspension spring which the NCT didn't even notice :rolleyes: small jobs

fair play for going with something different though, I hate when people drive a bland no image car (newer VW, Audi, etc etc) when they can have something with a bit of personality like an e30 3 series.

mike65

Its a bit on the pricey side but I'm sure the seller has some "froth" built in!

Looks like a very nice example, the check interior might not be to all tastes but its a bit funky.

Mike.

Andrewf20

Its an excellent motor and has a bit of a cult following as a cheaper, slower E30 M3 so that means high 2nd hand prices. My brother has one and its a hoot to drive, even with the naturally twitchy back end. Its a challenging car to drive near the limit, but its very rewarding when you get it right. With the 4 cylinder engine, its turn in is better than the heavier 6 cylinder 320i, 325i.

Probably one of the best resources for this model found here, including what to look for when buying 2nd hand:
http://www.esatclear.ie/~bpurcell/318isfaultstable.html

Good tyres are on that one in your carzone add, while is nice to see - suggests owner is not into cutting financial corners.

This is regarded by most people to be one of the best Beemers of that period. The E30 M3 is a classic, but costs an arm and a leg as a result.

bucks

Yeah you can tell its been owned by enthuasist judging by the photo of the receipts.

From reading the ad again i think its fair to say that if any work needed doing on that car then it was done, regardless of cost !

bazz26

Looks like someone snapped it up on Friday (according to the ad).

shaper13

Yeah, he sent me a mail on Friday to say he'd just sold it.

Back to the drawing board.

mike65

Does it have to be a 318is?

Mike.

Seth Brundle

If I had the option of a 318i or a 318iS, the iS would win hands down!

E92

What about a 325i, the fastest non M badged E30? There is also the benefit of a much nicer sounding engine too. The 325i is considered by some to be the ultimate E30(apart from the M3 of course).

mike65

K, I would'nt dream of suggesting a bog standard 1.8! Heaven forefend.

Mike.