325 tds engine

[junglie]

Hi,

I am after some advice on the 325 tds engine - I have been given some conflicting advice. Some say the engine is very robust, economical, a fair turn of pace and can do huge miles with no issues, others say quite the opposite. I have seen a few sub 100k, FSH, manual 325 tds around for 1200 pounds. All I need is a cheap car to do a 100 mile commute (see previous threads) and I am looking at an E36 diesel/petrol for the job. Stick with the proposed 323i or go for the 325 tds?

[junglie]

I have always thought that the E36 still looks good but the Omega has also aged well. I was looking at the Elite Omega version which has all the toys and is a good, cheap motorway hack. I just like the solid feeling of a BMW (just sold a 1993 325i after 8 months for the same price I paid, a great car) and thought a 325tds may be a good bet for the motorway thrash. Having said that, if you set a limited budget of say 1500, you can get some serious metal and have a lot of fun searching for the elusive well kept example or something from far left field - old turbo supras for example!

[junglie]

Thanks for that - I like the sound of the tuning option. Is it similar to a DMS remap and does it effect reliability etc? Hot start issues seem strange, I would have thought cold start issues may have been more of an issue? I basically need a reliable and comfortable hack for the motorway commute for Mrs T to use whilost I am away. We both loved the E36 325i we had and the petrol models seem to have a better spec and, so I have been told, are more reliable?