E36 325, advice needed please
Discussion
I'm looking at getting an early 90's 325i manual, and wondering if there was anything in particular I should look out for??
Ideally I'd like a coupe, but I'm not too bothered, as condition is more important than looks. I'm looking to spend in the region of £1k. Not much I know, but thats what I'm estimating I'll have left from the sale of my Range Rover, Nissan 200SX Drift project and spares after paying vets bills (long story
)
Anyway:
What are the real world mpg figures? (I'm not doubting BMW's on board gauge, but I prefer actual calculations
)
What is considered "high mileage" for these cars/engines?
How easy available are spares and parts?
Are there specialists suppliers out there?
How often should they be serviced, and are they suitable for home servicing (I seem to remember my freinds 328i had a reminder thing that he could never figure out how to reset??)
What E36's came with LSD's as stock that could be swapped over?
And most importantly, would you recommend an E36 325 in this price range as a daily driver/occaisonal drift car??
Cheers, and sorry for all the questions
Ed
Ideally I'd like a coupe, but I'm not too bothered, as condition is more important than looks. I'm looking to spend in the region of £1k. Not much I know, but thats what I'm estimating I'll have left from the sale of my Range Rover, Nissan 200SX Drift project and spares after paying vets bills (long story
) Anyway:
What are the real world mpg figures? (I'm not doubting BMW's on board gauge, but I prefer actual calculations
) What is considered "high mileage" for these cars/engines?
How easy available are spares and parts?
Are there specialists suppliers out there?
How often should they be serviced, and are they suitable for home servicing (I seem to remember my freinds 328i had a reminder thing that he could never figure out how to reset??)
What E36's came with LSD's as stock that could be swapped over?
And most importantly, would you recommend an E36 325 in this price range as a daily driver/occaisonal drift car??
Cheers, and sorry for all the questions
Ed
Edited by turbo-tastic on Wednesday 11th October 15:41
I recently had a 325 coupe for 2.5 years and although I'm sure it was a good car when it was new it was quickly turning into a bag of bolts during it's stay with me. Granted it was 13 years old and had 150,000+ miles on it but I almost monthly had to pay my mechanic £300+ to keep it road legal.
It was quite fun to drive though with enough power for most UK roads and quite good handling and grip. I'd have another one but only if it'd been inspected first and was in a better condition than the one I bought.
At the £1K end of the scale you are going to be stepping into rust bucket territory so make sure you check out the car thoroughly. A new radiator, clutch and gearbox were needed for mine one month and even in a side street garage this cost me almost as much as you are looking on spending for the entire car. At this age I'd go with overall condition rather than worry about mileage.
Good luck. Find a good one and I'm sure you'll love it.
It was quite fun to drive though with enough power for most UK roads and quite good handling and grip. I'd have another one but only if it'd been inspected first and was in a better condition than the one I bought.
At the £1K end of the scale you are going to be stepping into rust bucket territory so make sure you check out the car thoroughly. A new radiator, clutch and gearbox were needed for mine one month and even in a side street garage this cost me almost as much as you are looking on spending for the entire car. At this age I'd go with overall condition rather than worry about mileage.
Good luck. Find a good one and I'm sure you'll love it.
Not a bad plan - I sold this on eBay
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dl
The buyer has bought it for drifting,
"Coo", I said; "all that leather going sideways."
This was cheap 'cos the bodywork was tatty all round. But since it hadn't been mucked about with the mechanics were fine. You just need to find another one of these!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dl
The buyer has bought it for drifting,
"Coo", I said; "all that leather going sideways."
This was cheap 'cos the bodywork was tatty all round. But since it hadn't been mucked about with the mechanics were fine. You just need to find another one of these!
Parts aren't too bad on price. I always looked at GSF first, then Euro parts, AND the BMW dealer! The dealer prices are pretty good as BMW keep reducing them as the car gets older.
Nice cars to work on, most of the bits are easy to get at. MPG - mine did 27+ for the years I had it. Would do high 30s on a leisurely cruise, but sub 20 if you used all of the 197bhp. Mine would still run up to 6,500+ in all the gears - quite a rapid car really.
I don't think any of the E36 325 had a lsd as std.
I always changed the oil as per the service indicator (about 7,500 miles between changes), and always changed the coolant and brake fluid every other year.
Actually I miss it, it drove bloody well.
Nice cars to work on, most of the bits are easy to get at. MPG - mine did 27+ for the years I had it. Would do high 30s on a leisurely cruise, but sub 20 if you used all of the 197bhp. Mine would still run up to 6,500+ in all the gears - quite a rapid car really.
I don't think any of the E36 325 had a lsd as std.
I always changed the oil as per the service indicator (about 7,500 miles between changes), and always changed the coolant and brake fluid every other year.
Actually I miss it, it drove bloody well.
Would the mpg be similar with an E30 325??
i've been looking around, and from what I can tell, the E36 commands a premium just because its the newer shape. Even though sometimes they're in worse condition??
£1k would get me quite tidy E30, and I've loved the E30 Tourers from a while
Would there be any major mechanical differnces between the E30 & the E36??
i've been looking around, and from what I can tell, the E36 commands a premium just because its the newer shape. Even though sometimes they're in worse condition??
£1k would get me quite tidy E30, and I've loved the E30 Tourers from a while
Would there be any major mechanical differnces between the E30 & the E36??
turbo-tastic said:
Would the mpg be similar with an E30 325??
i've been looking around, and from what I can tell, the E36 commands a premium just because its the newer shape. Even though sometimes they're in worse condition??
£1k would get me quite tidy E30, and I've loved the E30 Tourers from a while
Would there be any major mechanical differnces between the E30 & the E36??
i've been looking around, and from what I can tell, the E36 commands a premium just because its the newer shape. Even though sometimes they're in worse condition??
£1k would get me quite tidy E30, and I've loved the E30 Tourers from a while
Would there be any major mechanical differnces between the E30 & the E36??
E30 has older tech (12 valve) engine, and rear suspension is earlier type.
Body is possibly longer lasting, but mechanics of the E36 were better.
The E36 325 had 198bhp, E30 325 170bhp. The E36 is certainly a better road car all round.
I see.
The main problem now is finding one worth going to look at. I think I'm going to struggle due to the sort of people that usually own this type of car in the price range I'm looking at. Most adverts seem to list "mods" rather than service history and MOT etc.
Are there any BMW or E36 specialist websites I can browse?
There's not much on ebay at the minute (not without travelling some serious mileage), and the same with Autotrader.
Cheers
Ed
The main problem now is finding one worth going to look at. I think I'm going to struggle due to the sort of people that usually own this type of car in the price range I'm looking at. Most adverts seem to list "mods" rather than service history and MOT etc.
Are there any BMW or E36 specialist websites I can browse?
There's not much on ebay at the minute (not without travelling some serious mileage), and the same with Autotrader.
Cheers
Ed
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff