Advice on a '98 328i

Marcquito · 11-20-2010, 05:41 PM

Well, I'm pretty much preparing myself for the cooler months up ahead. I have been using my bicycle as my main vehicle for spring/summer... but I'm tired of that. I don't want to freeze and look like an idiot riding to work/school.

I found a local BMW. I don't know much about them, so I figured I would ask what you guys thought. it's a 1998 328i, manual transmission, black exterior & tan interior. 219,000 miles (high... I know).
Paint looks great and body looks straight except for a large dent in the rear quarter panel - not a big deal to me, really. I'm sure I could hammer it out myself during a weekend.
The interior is probably a 6.5/10. I see a small tear in the arm rest, but as far as the seats go... no cracks or tears! Wood is in decent shape, all gauges work, heat and a/c work! I test drove the car... clutch feels great, suspension solid and new tires! I spotted no leaks. The engine is dirty, but it's all dust and no oil. It looks to me someone has taken care of the car mechanically, but cosmetically didn't pay much attention.
Unfortunately, the idiot salesman at the dealer threw away the maintenance records and other repairs done.... so I'm not truly sure what has received attention.

In a nutshell, the car looks and drives great. Could use a nice wash and some detail work, but otherwise feels pretty solid. Like I said, I don't know much about these cars so what should I look out for especially? This will be my winter beater only going about a total of 8 miles per day during the week.

Any advice/warnings are appreciated.

Manolito · 11-21-2010, 06:58 AM

We really don't have enough information to give good advice.

I once bought a '97 328 stick with 175k miles on it from a low-rent used car dealer, and (to my pleasant surprise) it has been a great car. 75k mi later it still looks great, drives great, gets 30 mpg highway.

When I got that car, I assumed that maintenance had been neglected as the PO knew he was getting rid of the car, so I immediately replaced every fluid in the vehicle - brake fluid, antifreeze, PS fluid, transmission fluid, rear end fluid. That gave me a chance to give it a good look over. It really was in very good shape.

On the other hand, I tend not to trust dealers that sell older cars, and a car with that many miles may have accumulated a lot of sins that are hidden under makeshift repairs and leak-stop fluids that are difficult to detect until they cause major problems.

Are you reasonably mechanically inclined, and do you have basic tools and a place to work on it? If not, I would have to advise a simpler, lower maintenance, Japanese vehicle in the same price range.

Marcquito · 11-21-2010, 07:54 AM

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I'm sorry for not supplying enough information - I wish I had pictures and more to share, but this is the basic gist of it. I'm usually great at driving a car for a bit, going over it, and deciding whether or not it's solid enough to bother with. I also do not trust dealerships - I would much rather buy private party for many reasons...

Indeed I am mechanically inclined. Very experienced, many tools, even a large shop dedicated to such endeavors.

Manolito · 11-21-2010, 08:17 AM

In that case, if the prices is good, I am feeling a lot more confident. If you like your 944, you will love an e36. A lot of the same design philosophy went in to these two vehicles.

Get yourself a Bentley manual and a Peake scanning tool (or similar). Any time you buy a vehicle with that many miles and no history, you are rolling the dice, but you can handle most of what might go wrong.

BTW, it was probably not an accident that he has no maintenance records. Dealers almost never reveal maintenance records even if they have them, because it is often possible to determine who the owner was from those records. No previous owner wants to be called in the middle of the night by a new owner screaming that his engine just flame broiled because of the Stop-Leak that the previous owner put in the radiator.