Am going to be looking at a 97 BMW 318ti today. Only 132k miles on the clock. Any advice on specific things to be watching out for? Also wondering if these might be appreciating, since not too many made it to the USA.

NEVER buy an automobile because you "might" make money on it. Unless you're in the biz, it's unlikely to happen. As for the Ti, they're pretty nice drivers. There some issues with the DOHC version not being driven hard enough, but other than that the only issues I can recall in that model/year are door window regulator/seal/track problems. Kinda big bucks to fix. Wait, I think I've done some work involving intake system leaks, too, but they're no big deal.

HTH, The Cap'n

I am not planning on making money on it, but no adverse to it if it happens.

I have been into the doors of my 92 325 a few times, and am familiar with this.

It's a sweet little ride, and quite economical as well. It has the same 4 cylinder engine as my old 96 Z3, and it ran like a sewing machine.

Other than some simple electrical switch issues, I never had any troubles with mine, and only sold it because my daughter needed a car for college, and my wife didn't want her to drive an 'old' car. I still miss that little car.

have an 99 318ti with California sunroof, these cars are prone to overheating, there is a plastic t pipe on the back of the head (between head and firewall a mother to get to) that fails on a regular bases, when the start needs replaced you can' get to it (literally) called deal to find out where it was and they laughed and said they don't even like doing them want $1000.00 plus to do but didn't want to do it. window regulars fail (poor design) guaranteed when it is raining and or 20 below. they are cool looking cars and get good gas mileage but something was always breaking on mine (which i still have with a blown head gasket) just my 2 cents

Wonder if the plastic fitting could be changed by just loosening all the mounts and moving the engine forward?

I had one for a little over a year. The cooling system is the weak link, so I changed every hose/fitting when I got it. I needed to change the filter housing gasket (which leaked) so I just did it all while I was "in there". Ironically, I removed that Y pipe behind the head (what a bitch!) but did not swap it out with the Febi unit I had as the BMW one looked just fine... It later failed...

It's not as bad if you remove the valve cover, and that's a good time to renew the plug seals, and that little seal in the front of the cover which hardens up over time. All the hoses/fittings/seals cost me less than 250 clams.

There's a good owners forum where lots of good information can be sourced. Just like this place...

Great running/shifting car. The engine is very smooth throughout the range, and got me almost 33 mpg on the road. Handled great. The hatch provides lots of flexibility and storage. I only got rid of it because I wound up buying a TDI, which is getting nearly 50 MPG's.

Actually, TDI's are a thought. Any particular years, models, things to look out for?

'01-'04s get the best mileage. NO automatics! Ever. Timing belt/water pump every 60K miles. People in the know say to avoid the Pumpe Deuse engines.

The Cap'n

Mines an '02. Bought it from a neighbor, original owner. 207k miles, the injector head seal failed a week or so after I got it. Thanks to another good owners forum, $60 and 4 hrs later, it was fixed. Been great since.

It's a manual. I wouldn't have been interested in the automatic.