2000 318i Compact

[Angry Sheep]

Hi,

Is there anything I should look out for when looking at the above car? It comes with full BMW service history and has had one owner from new. 100k on the clock.

It's been sitting on the forecourt since August so it's obviously not shifting and I'm curious as to why.

I've had a drive and it seems to drive well. It needs two new tyres that they're going to fit and a brake pipe. It'll have 12 months MOT if I buy it.

I drive a 2003 Focus at the moment and this seems much more interesting... will I have big bills coming my way? I'm a student so can't afford to pour money into it!

Any advice appreciated, I'm hoping to go for another look tomorrow and will have the cash for a deposit with me.

ETA: Oops, it's a 316i compact!

[Leins]

I ran a 2000 316i Compact for 3 years as my first BMW. Bought new, I drove it for 3.5 years and nearly 70k miles, and the only problem I had was when some clown went into the back of mine at the lights at a fair old speed

It'll be an 8v 1.9 if it's on a V or a W-reg, and while not the fastest car around by any means, I loved driving it. Even with just 105bhp, it could be a lively little thing in the wet though, due to the older-style E30 trailing arm suspension at the back. They got a fairly bad press from the journos back in the day for being a cut-price BMW, but I always found that a bit harsh and way preferred them to the competition (MkIII Golf GTi mainly). In fact, I never liked the E46 316ti ES I replaced it with anyway near as much, so that went after a year to be changed for another Compact, this time a 325ti Sport (that I absolutely adored )

Some nice Sport models sold in 2000 (mine had this, and was in Avus Blue)

Just make sure you do the usual checks (that it's been serviced properly and lots of oil changes, no rust coming through from sitting outside all its life, no crash damage) and you should be OK. Obviously it's a 12 year old car with 100k miles, so things will go wrong, but in general I've always found them to be pretty well built and a robust motor

[Angry Sheep]

Thanks for the help.

It's on an X. Not a Sport, but being a young driver the Sport badge on the back adds about £300 to the insurance.

It's slower than my Focus but I don't think that's a bad thing. On the test drive I found myself backing off and relaxing a bit rather than ragging it everywhere. It may only have 4 cylinders but it sounds a lot better than the Focus.

[Leins]

I'll make the assumption this will be your first RWD car? If so, it's a good one to start with. I found it taught me quite a bit about how both the car and I react with the driven wheels at the back

And it's not always about the power either IMO. I've two cars now, both RWD, and despite there being about 170bhp-ish difference between them I really couldn't pick which one I have more fun in

[Angry Sheep]

Yup, would be my first RWD car. Bit worried about it in the wet but should be ok if I'm careful.

[Leins]

Nah, you'll be fine, and it has ASC+T anyway that provides a little help. Just make sure you've got decent enough tyres on it

It's only if you want to and boot it on something like a wet roundabout that it'll step out on you, but it's easy to gather up

I really miss mine now

[stevesuk]

Angry Sheep said:

Yup, would be my first RWD car. Bit worried about it in the wet but should be ok if I'm careful.

I guess it will have traction/stability control of some sort (wasn't it ASC+T that was standard back then?). Realistically, wet or dry you're unlikely to get yourself in to trouble unless you switch off these systems, or drive beyond your and/or the car's considerable limits. I've got a 2002 330 Ci with over 200 BHP and apart from accidentally provoking the traction control in to action leaving a junction when it was very cold and icy one morning, I've not ended up pointing the wrong way in a hedge yet - Perhaps in the spirit of PH, I'm not trying hard enough

Edit: yes, ASC+T ... beaten to it!