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Late 80s was a Golden Era for BMW, IMO.
Cars are very durable, comfortable, fun to drive and easy to work on.
Why an automatic? They are much more fun to drive with a 5 speed. The autos are slushy, they kill the spirit of the car. They are also the biggest mechanical weakness. Anything automatic trans over 120K miles can die any day, with no notice. The clutch pack just gives out and you are done. So there's really no way to assess the health or remaining life of the auto trans. The manual transmissions can go forever with decent treatment and tend to give lots of warning before they go (slowing synchros, harder shifting, etc). If the car shifts fine on your test drive, chances are high you've got many, many years of life left in it.
I wouldn't waste the the time with a 318. These cars have all (4 and 6 cyl) depreciated so much, it isn't worth it, you can find a 6 for the same price by just looking a bit. The BMW inline 6 smoothness and goodness is legendary.
Like with a 911, look hard and buy the best one you can find. They are ALL cheap now, and the best condition, best cared for ones are the best bargains, for the buyer. Don't worry about not having little things to fix, these are strong cars, but still close to 20 years, and lots of stuff wears and needs replacement.
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