I want my 1st car to be a . . .

[Razorskarr]

. . . E36, of course. That's why I'm here, I adore them - and I know if I bought anything else it would break my heart every time I saw one drive by.

I've always managed well enough without a car but now at the ripe old age of 27 certain changes have me feeling the need for one. My heart is set on an E36 (preferably a sedan, for practical reasons), I'm not too hard to please, my budget is modest and I'm a fairly inexperienced driver.

I'd appreciate any input you can give me on what I should be looking for and what I should expect to pay for it (I'll be paying in $AU). What typical pitfalls should I be wary of? How much mileage is just too much? I'm not even sure whether I should get a manual or an automatic. I clearly need some expert assistance in making this decision.

I'm sure I've come to the right place - I'm grateful for any pointers you can give me.

[Javier]

First of all... Über! Nice to find another guy as passionate about E36s as one.

Sorry I can't help you on pricing, but maybe I can help with other things.

My E36 is a 316i sedan, year 1995. I bought it a year and a half ago, and it came with some problems I've fixed/am fixing since:
- leaks in the engine cooling system (rusty radiator, needing a complete replacement)
- oil leaks (just needed to change the engine gasket, which anyway you should check regularly, and replace when needed)
- more leaks... power steering fluid this time. I just found out today ...will check tomorrow. Maybe replace some hose or some clamps.)
- Window motors... they tend to disalign. Had to realign them 3 times already. But as of now they are behaving nicely.
- I live in a hot country, that can spell doom for the upholstery. Mine had sagging upholstery on roof and door panels. I took it all out and replaced it. Now I don't want to get out of my car anymore
- Had cloth seats, and driver's side was beginning to tear. Had it replaced also.
- The locks... I had them checked, and the guy that did it found all kinds of dirt. If you buy an E36, have those locks checked. Dirt in the lock mechanism shortens its time before failure.
- Exhaust pipe: the previous owner had it replaced with... crap
- Check every sealing gasket. Engine gaskets, headlight sealing gaskets, front and rear windshields, roof, doors, door handles... you don't want the wrong fluid on the wrong side of the gasket This becomes more and more important as older is the car.

I've checked other important parts, as the transmission, clutch disk, brakes, oil pipes, fuel injection system, the engine chain, the suspension, electric system... Just follow the standard procedure here.

If the car you want to buy is maintained using the dealer's official service you can have its maintenance story record... ask the seller for it. It is a bad signal if he/she doesn't want you to have it.

Maybe there is no official service where you live, or the local bmw dealer is better known as the $t€aŁ€r. Don't forget that there will come the time when you'll be in need of technical assistance. Do you know a good professional mechanic that is specialized in bimmers, and specially in E36s? The best way to find out is by asking other E36 owners in your area.

Oh, be careful on cars with important damage record... As awkward as it seems, rear crashes tend to be more problematic than frontal ones.

Hey, hope it helps, as unsorted as this rant is... sorry, it is late here. Need some sleep

Good luck and just don't forget to show us your E36 when the time comes.

[Razorskarr]

All good information, thanks, Javier. I'm in a warm climate myself (Brisbane, Australia) so I may encounter a lot of the same things.

[VMZ]

If you're happy with a smaller engine you shouldn't have any problem finding a 318i for as low as 7k... Can't guarantee it'll be in great condition but their staring price is fairly cheap. Prices are hard to tell you because obviously every e36 is going to be in a different condition. I paid 19.2k (too much but it was the best one around at the time) for my '98 328i with 180k on it and have had it for a year and a half now and the only things I have had to replace are brakes and tires... but I have a feeling that's just my driving style. As long as you have it checked out by a mechanic and get a REVS(or what ever they wanna call it that tells you if it has been crashed of has money against it) and its all checks out they are great cars.

[Razorskarr]

Cheers, VMZ, I think I will be looking at the lower end in terms of price and power. The 1.8 should be plenty, I think. Thanks for your help.

[conoryoung]

yeah me too. just got my first car (yesterday), 93 bmw 318i sedan. its done 215,000ks, pretty happy with it so far. not real quick but so nice to drive! ive been looking round for a few months and this one just popped up last week, the interiors a bit dodgey but RACQ check didnt find any major mechanical problems. pretty cheap too, $4600 au.

[Razorskarr]

Congratulations, conoryoung, that sounds like the sort of thing I'd like to find. Well done on picking up what sounds like a great deal.

Anytime you could see your way to posting some pictures of it I'm sure we'd all like to see it.

[VMZ]

@conoryoung

Wow! well done. I wish I could grab another e36 for that price.

[conoryoung]

yeah i looked around for a while, bought this one two days after they put it up. i'll have some photos up soon. nothing too special - steel rims and white paint job. loving the sunroof though haha.

i think most of the reason for the cheap price was the interior, theres a whole lot of loose trim at the top of the drivers door that gets sorta jammed in the gap between window and door. today the window totally came off its runners or something and just stopped going up, while on the highway . getting that fixed on wednesday, and also having the steering rack reconditioned. i get the feeling this cars going to cost me every cent i make haha

[VMZ]

Good... I like photos.
Actually sound like it'll look pretty good. BMW always seems to do a nice white... and I like steel rims. Not sure how the look together but I'll soon find out.

Sounds like it is a bit of trouble. Hopefully after you get the current stuff fixed it'll be alright for a while. Although I haven't experienced it the window falling off its runners sounds like a reasonably common problem and there's a few guides around about how to fix it. Not sure if you're into a bit of DIY but there's lots of guides around for our cars so you can have a bit of fun/save some money.