Hey everyone, i'm looking for a bit of input on a car i'm looking at buying.

Right now i have a 2000 Cavalier Coupe with the 2200. It has treated me well, that's for sure, but i'm just looking to get something that's a little more interesting to drive.

I've found a nice 1995 BMW 318is locally. It's a 1.9L 4 cylinder engine, mechanically sound, i got it checked out at the BMW dealership and they said it was in great shape for the year. T

he guy is asking $3700 for the car, which seems like a great deal, i was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this car, or other 3 series cars around the same year?

Any input would be greatly appreciated, i'm looking to buy on friday if i'm going to buy. Thanks.

Repair bills will be high.

Yeah, that's what i've heard, especially if you go to the dealer to get work done. There's an independent mechanic here that used to be a bmw tech at a dealership, and he has reasonable rates and gets his parts from the states. So, the costs would be higher than the cavalier, but not significantly.

My boss drives an '01 325i convertible. Chicks love it, but he says maintenance and repairs are expensive (he's been lucky, and not had to do much). They're definitely nice cars, not really peppy like you'd expect tho. They have oomph at high RPM, but they never really push you into your seat. Not sure about a '95, but if it's even remotely like the '01, it's like driving in an office with a good stereo in it. Great year round, too. He even had his lowered and it had no problems in the snow.

It's kind of a shame he doesn't drive it anymore.


2010 Honda Fit LX

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

the e36's are great cars... and if you know how to work on cars they are not very expensive to maintain .. just hope the exhaust/ cat doesn't go that will cost ya 1-3 g's right there for the parts... other then that the engines are sounds.. even the 1.9L they have in the 318's are pretty good. they make a supercharger for them too and handle boost pretty good for a 1.9L

how many miles may i ask are on the car?
i bought my 328i for $4,900 with 118k on it 2 years ago... it was an awesome car, to bad my buddy decided to drive into it and totaled it ... along with my shoulder and neck ugg

www.lafayettemotorsportsgroup.org

try to e-mail "slowBMW". he'll have the answers you need. if you cant e-mail him, post in the euro section


Andy

it's not how fast you go, it's how you get there that counts.
ZZP XP cam, 1.6 rockers, 105# springs, speedbuilt FWI, 3.3" modular pulley, TOG headers,
3" exhaust, flomatched injectors
'97 GTP 14.06@100.6mph pre cam w/ 3.5" pulley, I/E

(shortened due to space limitations)

JinxedZ THE LOVED ONE wrote:...AHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

please, PLEASE, don't buy an old beat Bimmer just to say you have a BMW. It will definitely not make you look cool. There are so many more cars out there for $4000 that are a much better option.

That thing is a dog. There is no redeeming value to buying old slow BMW. NONE. It does not make you look cool. New BMW owners will laugh at you, everyone else will just think it looks like a car.

Unless it's a cherry late 80's 3 series that sits in a stable of $30,000+ cars, the BMW image will not rub off on you. You're better off with a Accord, 240SX, or hell anything NOT German.

HAAA ... Ha ... HAHA ... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA

A guy down here had to change the catalyser and 2 sensors on his 1994, with the labor, price of parts, and taxes,cost him almost the same price as the cost he paid the whole car. (wich was around 2500$)

Who looks cool now?

rofl $2500 rofl rofl

Yeah, never buy a BMW thats out of warranty, lol. I only bought a BMW because i'm going to school to become an Automotive Service Tech so I can fix whatever goes wrong on it, although mine was a 328is not a 318.

Can you guys throw me some other suggestions? I'm just looking for a car that's fairly small, about the same size as a cavalier, RWD, 4 cyl would be a bonus, just for gas mileage, and a decent interior that doesn't sound like it's going to fall apart every time i drive it.

Emor8t wrote:That thing is a dog. There is no redeeming value to buying old slow BMW. NONE. It does not make you look cool. New BMW owners will laugh at you, everyone else will just think it looks like a car.

Unless it's a cherry late 80's 3 series that sits in a stable of $30,000+ cars, the BMW image will not rub off on you. You're better off with a Accord, 240SX, or hell anything NOT German.

Fact.
And there is your small, RWD, 4cyl car. Or MR2, or Miata-MX-5.



>>>For Sale? Clicky!<<<
-----The orginal Mr.Goodwrench on the JBO since 11/99-----

can't get MR2's here sadly, here in NS, Canada (well at least i'd have to import one), and 240SX's are near impossible to find and extremely overpriced here. I was considering an MX-5 for a while, but i wouldn't want to drive a rag-top year round with the kind of weather we get here.

A W-Body.

How about a Mustang SVO, or 87-88 T-bird Turbo Coupe?

Or a W-Body.

i've considered a w-body, but they go through gas like mad, and at $1.18/litre, i can't really afford to be putting a lot of gas into the thing. That's why i was kind of leaning towards the bimmer, definitely not for the "cool" factor, i could care less, it just seemed like a good car. At first the 240sx was my main choice, but when i did some research, people were asking stupid amounts ($10k+) for one with 200,000+ KMs on it.

A friend of mine has a 2000 Grand Prix GTP, and on a trip from Pittsburgh, PA to Charlotte, NC and averaged 30mpg (12.75kpl) with 240hp going well over 90mph (145kph) on some stretches of highway. And you can get one in nice shape for $5000-6000US

Matty0500 wrote:Can you guys throw me some other suggestions? I'm just looking for a car that's fairly small, about the same size as a cavalier, RWD, 4 cyl would be a bonus, just for gas mileage, and a decent interior that doesn't sound like it's going to fall apart every time i drive it.

Hmmm. Let's see...

AE86 corolla (But if you get one I will hunt you down and take the keys out of your cold, dead hands)
240 SX
MX-5 Miata
Pontiac Fiero
NA Supra (mileage is important you said, so the turbo model goes out the window)
Solstice/Sky

As far as small rear drivers go, you're really limited in choice. Why not front wheel drive? Your emphasis seems to be on economy, and front drives are #1 in that respect. Get a late 90s corolla, or a base model Sentra.

Everyone knows though, that the only *really* stylin' car left in the used market is a Ford Tempo. They be ballin' and never break.


2010 Honda Fit LX

thanks for all of the suggestions, and i've looked into the 240sx a little more. I'm considering importing one from the states. I know they were available in canada, but only for a short while, i'm not sure if the latest generation (97-98) were available in Canada. Does anyone know if they can be legally imported? or is it just the older models? I've been searching for the info, but haven't found it as of yet.

get a ford tempo/mercury topaz, those things really do last forever. i drove my 1991 with 225K+ miles on it til i totaled it 2 years ago...

"I did it because I wanted to see what it would look like. You should be greatful that I even told you that it would look good. If your to dumb to use photoshop and change the color of your own car then you don't need to see it changed. I'm not going to give my work away. I'll sell the pic to you though for $15."-Adam Kalin

^^JBO is about not being that guy

Some advice from one Nova Scotian to another.
Save as much money as you can (a couple grand) if possible and don't be too afraid of going to get a small loan.
Look for the newest year (i.e. least rotten and beat on) interesting car that you can. Around here the biggest problem is rust. Yes 80's and early 90's RWD cars are sweet no arguments there at all but I can guarantee you that sadly 95% of them from around here are rotten which leaves you with the choice of buying it and planning on lots of body/mechanical work, buying something from another region, or just buying newer. If you find one thats not rotten its probably completely restored or garage kept and they want top dollar for it.
It's tempting to buy a $900 car just because hey its $900 and doesn't look to bad etc etc but usually that road ends in a car off the road needing more repairs than its worth a couple months later.
My suggestion is go for newer but thats just me. I was dead set on getting either a older 4Runner, AE86, BMW for a while but I realized that the newer the better because there is so much unseen stuff with older cars. For me the best choice for a daily driver (not project) car was the newest model year I could find in my price range. Just so happened I landed on a good deal on the Cav and it was what I was looking for, and haven't looked back since.