Thinking of getting a BMW

Well it's that time again. Time to get a different car. My good ole Grand Am is getting a lil long in the tooth and I'm looking at a good $2-3K to get it road worthy. So instead I've decided to just get a better used car. Now based on a lil budget work and a helpful hint from a friend (his friend had a BMW and loved it) I've started looking into a BMW.

So now a lil info. I'm 24 and am pretty much over the whole 'must drive as fast as possible' and am looking for a more mature driving experience. I'm also a resident of Edmonton, AB, Canada which means I can expect 6 months of SNOW/ICE driving. Which is where my first issue comes up. In my reading it seems alot of people are anti-BMW in snow. I would definitly end up getting winter tires (not sure about studs though since our road clearing here is pretty efficient) and so I'm hoping that will help things. So my first question is has anyone here owned a RWD vehicle in a snowy land and what are your comments/suggestions?

I've done some research and based on the current car market in my area it appears that I am looking at either of the following:
1992/1993/1994 318i
1992/1993 325i

Now finding a 325i in my price range may be a lil difficult and having done some checking the two major differences I can find are that the 325i has cruise control standard and a better?/bigger engine.

What are peoples opinions of these two cars? Of course I'd like the 325i but my current line of thinking is that honestly the 318i will have enough Unf! for me (btw I'm an automatic driver.. I know.. sacrilege but I'm blind in one eye so driving is already taking up 100% of my attention span) and it might even be a good thing seeing as how much winter driving will be done.

So.. yeah.. I guess what I'm asking is what are peoples experiences with these cars.. preferably in snowy conditions.

Also if I get a used vehicle what things should I be looking out for? What kind of $$ should I expect to have to slap down immediately on the vehicle? Is there any maintence I should be doing as soon as I get the car just incase?

Thanks for any help you can give me,

Shane

Shane,

For what it's worth, I just bought a 95 318i. Watch out for profile gasket failures on the 318i on model built up to 9/93 product, but any problems theoretically woulda been fixed by now.

I'm quite familiar with Edmonchuck (mother used to live there, and I'm from Winterpeg originally), so I know about winter driving, unlike my fellow drivers here in the south of NZ, where snow is relativley rare. So, on that front, can't really give you any relevant info on what the 318i is like to drive in snow. From my experience with Hondas in Winnipeg, a manual in the snow will give you more confidence I reckon.

Mine is auto as well. Full use of the engine's capability then is obviously limited, but with all of our hills and such in NZ, I haven't found it to be too bad. Lighter (and older) Honda CRXs will still blow by me on the steep hills, but they weigh considerably less and, well, they're in a CRX.

Overall, quite happy with the 318i. 93000km on the odo and counting. I'm watching the rear bushings like a hawk - no problems thus-far, but will upgrade to 96 parts (as per something I read somewhere on the Net) when they finally pack it in.

Let us know what you buy. Better yet, post a picture.

Dave

Get the 96 or later 318's. They have the larger 1.9 liter M44 engine, which you will not be disappointed in.

The problem is that a 96 is way outside my price range :( That's why I'm looking at 92/93. Finding a good 93 is even going to be an effort. Canada isn't exactly the BMW capital of the world ;)

BMWs are no good on snow even with snow tires, and that goes to any car with front engine and rear drive, except if you have studded tires, or tractor tread style tyres, or chains then you'll have no problem.

Well the 318i is a very docile but excellent handling car compared with others in its price range. I've got a old 318i 4 dr which I drive daily. It has 165k miles on it and is totally reliable. I plan to drive it until the wheels fall off. I do however plan on purchasing a slightly newer coupe soon. We as soon as budjet allows. I'm hooked on BMW's since I've had this one and it just keeps going and going and going etc. Of course I've had little things that has been replaced/repaired. My wifes Explorer just turned 95k miles without any repairs other then normal maintenence and she rubs that in but I don't have to worry about flipping over taking a corner at high speed and getting respectable milage. Cool thing is she hates my 318i since its a 5 speed so she never messes up my seat/mirror adjustments :)

Let's see if I can help here...

I have not driven a 318i four door, but a friend owns a 1997 318ti hatchback which I've driven several times for an extended duration (2-3 hours). Along the way I've done both highway and city driving at various speeds, and in a variety of weather conditions (rain, since there is no snow down here in south FL :)). His is an automatic.

I've heard the complaints about the 1.8L/1.9L engine lacking oompf, and these are mildly justified, but not the extent you might expect. I found it satisfactory for most normal driving conditions, as it will accelerate to 60 as quickly as most typical family sedans will (around 9-10 sec for the Ti, a bit more for the four door) and reaches a top speed of nearly 120 mph. However, if you've got the "go fast" syndrome, you might not be pleased.

According to the literature I have, a 1993 E36 318i will do 0-60 in 11.3 seconds with an auto, and reach a rev-limited top speed of 128 mph. Acceleration is mediocre, but otherwise, not too shabby. As far as handling is concerned, the 318i is basically identical to any other 3 series car, save perhaps the M3.

1994's and later are artificially limited to 116 mph (although that can be removed with a chip).

The 325i, on the other hand, is a slightly different beast. A 1993 makes 189 horsepower and 181 lb-ft torque at peak levels, with a auto 0-60 time of 8.8 seconds. I would think you would be happiest with this, but maintenance will be a bit more. The 325 was also the upscale 3 series model at the time, so the examples you find will probably be better equipped than a comparable 318.

A stock 318 will outhandle a stock 325. While the 325 gives you better horsepower and torque, there's a drawback to everything - it also makes the nose heavier, resulting in greater understeer.

Okay, so we've officially decided to start looking for a good 1994-1995 318i or 320i. Now the first thing I want to do is find a mechanic who knows BMWs and can do any inspection work I need done. The question I have for you all is what kind of inspection work would you recommend be done? What is a definite and what would be nice?

It really depends on the year/model # you are planning on buying. If you can still get a copy of European Car's March issue, then do it now. They have an excellent laundry list of glitches to look for in E36's by year.

If you cannot get this issue, and decide or are focusing on a specific year/model number, post it here and I'll see what I can find out for you.

Agreed. The March issue of EC is great for buying a used E36. I wish I saw it before I bought mine.

It says that my car, a '95 318i four-door auto, is the red-headed stepchild of the series, but here's what I considered when I recently got mine:

1. It was NZ-new (we get a lot of imports here, lots of 'em quite beat up)
2. The fact that it was an auto with a 1.8 meant that it likely hasn't been abused because, well, you can't really abuse it! (Looked at a 92 320 that had easily been driven into the ground, and they wanted $5000 more than what we got the 318i for).
3. It only had 92000k on the odo.
4. water pump issue with earlier E36s not an issue
5. very little tread on the rears, but just put new Pirelli P5000s on the other day.
6. bushings seemed to be in good shape (from what I could tell).

All things considered, and given that many BMWs here in South Island can be a little chewed up, it was the way to go.

I did something stupid, though: I didn't get a full inspection. But, one thing that is basically included with all used vehicles here, at least those that are rather pricey, is a 3-year warranty. All I am required to do is keep up a maintenance record: i.e., change oil, etc. The warranty covers exactly the same things that it did when it was new (so tires, brakes and the like not covered, but if I throw a piston it is).

Good luck Shane!