Thinking of buying a BMW Six

colm_mcm

Think this car fits my criteria of a quick, classy and comfortable classic car:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_New_Six

in particular this one:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=835527

Can anyone tell me of any potential problems this car is likely to throw up, what should I be looking for?

peasant

From driving behind them when they were still common enough, I seem to remember that almost every single one of them came with a distinctly blue, oily exhaust note, especially on overrun and downshift

Hifive

Good choice.
These 3.0si (E3) models are fabulous cars, gorgeous looking and in manual form a real drivers car. They use an early form of the ultra reliable M30 engine that soldiered on until the 735 of 1993 (I have one in my 89' 635csi)

Buyers guide,
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/9271/e3guide.html

Some more links,
http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/e3.html
http://members.aol.com/bmwbavaria/index4.htm

Here's a good site for parts look up.
http://bmwfans.info/original/E3/Lim/3.0Si-M30/ECE/R/M/1974/01/

These are rare cars now so parts will be scarce, Try German ebay.
Heres an Irish source for parts,
http://www.gsfcarparts.com/contact/map_dublin_north.asp?location=DUBLIN9

That red one has caught my eye before. Seems like cheap motoring for 3K ish. Cheap tax too. Watch for rust everywhere, particularly the strut towers, sills, and if the car has a sunroof, the base of the C pillars due to blocked sunroof drains. Not nice.
Good luck and keep us posted.
Mark.

colm_mcm

how is parts availability for service items? brake pads, filters etc?

Hifive

colm_mcm wrote: »

how is parts availability for service items? brake pads, filters etc?

Should be all available through GSF in Dublin, or Motormec in the UK.
http://www.motormec.co.uk/

I believe they shared a lot of common parts with the late 70's 5 series (E12)

Henry Ford III

Rust is the big issue with these.

colm_mcm

Rust I can live with, a thorough examination of the body should pick that out. At least the drivetrain seems to be well made and pretty durable.
Anyone recognise the garage, I seem to remember that Toyota parts and service sign in the background of a Levin doing doughnuts. Wonder what kind of operation that place is? Not that I expect any sort of comeback.



the garage is down as JOC car sales, but some of the website says Tolka Valley Cars. (strange)

Daxklynsmith

If you see ANY rust,and you will, multiply by 10.
Spare parts including panels ,sills etc are readily available for the standard E3 as advertised,other spares from Walloth & Nesch in Germany , BMW supply me with 90% of what I've asked for from Mobile Tradition.
Yes,buy it, but you MUST garage it and try and not drive it in the Rain. You can hear them rusting if you listen carefully
if it does'nt load
http://www.bmwcarclubireland.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=133&pos=8

colm_mcm

any car of this era will have a little rust, surely?

Daxklynsmith

colm_mcm wrote: »

any car of this era will have a little rust, surely?

A little would be nice..
Yes, fastest way to find out on a BMW of this vintage is to jack it up on all four jacking points consequetively and listen!!
If you hear a crackling sound just remember that there are 3 sills on each side, total cost about E1900 per side.If the A,B or C posts are gone it is not economical to repair
Google Walloth& Nesch and Jaymic uk , they are hell to fix but that does not stop me owning them or loving them.
If you follow the link I gave you or Google MW E3 you either learn to weld well or you have deep pockets or you are insane,which is my category

G Luxel

nice car, i remember seeing lots of them when i was young. I remember seeing one lately on an RTE drama, set in Dublin, probably around 2004. The car was a brown one and it showed a scene where it had broken down. Another car I saw a few years ago was the ultra rare Estate. I think it was registered 72 c or something like that.

MercMad

G Luxel wrote: »

nice car, i remember seeing lots of them when i was young. I remember seeing one lately on an RTE drama, set in Dublin, probably around 2004. The car was a brown one and it showed a scene where it had broken down. Another car I saw a few years ago was the ultra rare Estate. I think it was registered 72 c or something like that.

............I came across a silver estate, being restored by a specialist in N.I. It was aparantly one of two ever made and was in perfect condition but the owner wanted everything redone. He also got the last brand new motor from BMW, it arrived shrink wrapped in a crate. A beautiful sight !

That garage looks like the old Denis Mahoney garage in Glasnevin.....no ?

nailik

A friend of mine has a near mint low mileage 3.0 si he's thinking of selling in Dublin, rare Park Lane model, white with black vinyl roof. Lovely car.

kiliand_at_iol.ie

colm_mcm

any idea on price, kilian?

unkel

Nice choice of car! I can't remember the last time I saw on on the road. Must be very rare now

I like your cavalier attitude, Colm. I think you're right. @€;3k the risk you're taking isn't all that great. A decent performance car and virtually no tax!

Anan1

unkel wrote: »

I like your cavalier attitude, Colm. I think you're right.

Says the man who just bought a Porsche 928! I mean honestly, have we an ounce of sense between us?:D

colm_mcm

stuck the FTO on carzone this evening, mixed feelings about getting rid of it. It'll cost me a fortune to spec up another one to the same level if I realise I should have kept it...

Still though, there's a certain amount of excitement attached to buying something completely different!

unkel

colm_mcm wrote: »

mixed feelings about getting rid of it. It'll cost me a fortune to spec up another one to the same level if I realise I should have kept it...

My feelings exactly!

If the new purchase goes horribly wrong, we might be looking at buying an interim sh1tbox to keep us going for a while

That said, our loss would not be that great in the scheme of things

colm_mcm wrote: »

Still though, there's a certain amount of excitement attached to buying something completely different!

Indeed there is. I've already driven mine and I love it!

Most of my extended family think I'm a fool buying a classic performance car. Mind, they said that when I bought a 7.5 year old 112k miles high end BMW, which has proven to be much more reliable to me over the last 4 years than some of their €100k plus cars Who's the petty fool now?