E36 BMW

[Zeonalarm]

Hi,

I'm going to look at a the following car with my mate for a daily driver:

S-Plate BMW E36 3-Series 318i saloon (manual). The car has circa 80k on the clock.

Is there anything in particular that we should look out for?

Anything in the service history that should have been completed or coming up that we should be aware of?

Regards

[TheEnd]

nothing amazing, it's young enough not to be too affected by rust, most of the usual problems were either fixed, or not seen on 4cyls.

The only things that will be coming up in the next few years are suspension bushes and front balljoints.

Nothing to worry about, they wear out about half the rate of tyres, and cost about less then a pair of tyres would fitted.

[sniff diesel]

Rear springs can snap, rear trailing arm bushes are a pain to fit but they shouldn't need doing untill about 100k

[dan101smith]

Check for rust around the rear arches.

[B17NNS]

If it's fitted with the climate control module check it all works. My display failed, a reasonably common fault apparently.

[MitchT]

TheEnd said:

it's young enough not to be too affected by rust

Can't agree there. I have a '99 T reg 318is coupe and there's paint bubbling all over it... rear arches, leading edge of one door, along the edge on one side of the bonnet, two places on the bottom edge of the boot lid and at least two other places on the car.

Other than that, bushes and coil springs can be an issue and the final stage resistor that controls the dual climate control fan (if the car in question has it) wears out and causes the fan to intermittently not work, meaning no blower to demist the screen in winter and no supply of cold air during the summer.

Overall I love the car but the lack of quality control during manufacture that has led to the rust issue is a disappointment.