MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
1990 3 series, buying it as a runabout (hopefully) anything i should know?
BMW? 1990? Runaround? 😆
i'm a whore, i'll admit it
If your going to get a BMW get a M3 Evolution from circa '96. There going for 6-7k at the moment, if you've got it flaunt it! 😀
P reg 316i - cost about £1100
Nice enough car, ok to drive, indicators work (surprise), reliable, cheap to run.
Now sitting at around 90k miles, sounds and feels fine.
Keep an eye on the oil though.
Go for the 2.0/2.5l straight six. Really silky and probably not thrashed too much. 316 desparately underpowered, 318 OK'ish, 318i quite fun
I've had a few E30 3 series.
316i and 318i - Not a massive difference between the two. 318i is slightly better.
2 or 2.5 litre straight 6 is a great engine, but not particularly economical!
I sold an old 316i around 10 years ago with 147K on the clock. The guy i sold it to still uses it daily.
If in E30 looks good, it probably is. If it doesn't, it's probably not!
Older the BMW, the cheaper/easier it is to fix when anything goes wrong... So an E30 is fairly cheap to keep on the road by BMW standards, though if it's at all rotten, or smoky, then walk away.
I'm on my 2nd old 5 series (E34) at the moment, and aside from a couple of minor niggles that you can expect with running cars well past 100,000 miles, old Beemers go on a lot longer than most other cars, and with a lot more luxury too! E34 estates are HUGE too, pretty much perfect MTB cars...
I had a 91 BMW 3 series convertible (320) which I sold a couple of years ago.
I ran it up to 135,000 miles with no major problems, no rust to speak of, the only thing I can think of that I had to replace was an exhaust.
I have also run an E36 3 series (320) up to 185,000 miles and an E34 5 series (520) to 185,000, they really will run a long time if you look after them and all sold at that mileage and are probably still going.
Both the E34 & E36 head gaskets failed at around 150,000 miles which is a £2,000 rebuild, but other than that it is just servicing and the usual tyres, pads and disks as they wear out.
BMW E30, one of the best cars ever made.
Love the E30 BMW. Would love one. Even the simple clean lines of the 316 3 door. Theres an old dear who parks a mint 1988 one near me every day. Dying to ask her to sell it although she would obviously be confused/scared! 8)
/aslongasithaswheels, 'running around'
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Needs sound, right up! Listen to that transmission!!