how reliable are mid to late 90's bmw 3 & 5 series .. have the oppertunity to pick one up fairly cheap but need something I can put quite a few miles a year on it and have not a lot of issues... opinions ?

My GF wants a MBW badly. I thought about saving up for a Z3 or something of that nature.,

I am not all that stuck on a bmw it just came up and I need a good reliable car to haul youngin's with

Bucks Make'em Work. I like'em, they pay the rent ....................

Major and very common window regulator/window channel problems, expensive intake manifold/PCV problems, lots of egregious electronics to go bad. The Cap'n

how bout an m3 sedan!

~a

[quote name='Cap'n Krusty' date='Mar 29 2007, 11:08 AM' post='881348']
Bucks Make'em Work. I like'em, they pay the rent ....................

Like the Cap'n said only thing I would add is they are like all European cars they will nickel and dime you to death but they are fun to drive.

I rather push a Porsche then drive a Honda

I have an '88 325iX Touring (E 30 AWD Wagon) with 155,000 km, near 100,000 miles which is a fantastic car. Had the "o" ring in the intake fail...$300.00. all in.

I also had a cat back exhaust $70.00 + labour...pads and rotors are cheap. Oh and I had to buy a reset tool for the lights on the dash $19.00

Air conditioning overhaul from non use by the PO was expensive...but could have been cheaper if my local BMW dealer wasn't such a putz...

Love the E30!!!!

I think the mid 90s M3s are even worse than a regular 3 series. They are higher strung. Driving an M3 is like dating the prom queen - high maintenance. Those that "know" BMWs do crazy things like change out the whole cooling system (radiator, water pump, hoses) at 60K miles because they know that's about how long it lasts on those cars. There are some suspension bushings that need to be changed every 60K otherwise you'll rip the attachment point off the body.

Yo Captain, do you think the later e46 3 series (2000-2005) are more reliable than the previous generation?

+1 on the E-30. Last of the simple 3ers. I love my 91 318is. That said, be aware that most owners in America don't follow prescribed maintenance. Sometimes the consequences are not too serious, but as the miles build, small items neglected create larger problems down the line. I bought my car for $3k and dropped another $3k on springs, shocks, brakes, wheels, tires, timing chain, oil sump concearns, A/C conversion, front bushings, rear bushings, trailing arm ball joints and some other stuff. Now it is quite reliable- I've put over 10,000 miles on mine in about 9 months.
I like the 318 because , like a 914, it is a 4 cyl motor from 6 cyl specialists. It also was "the cheap BMW". For the money I have in it, I could not by a decent Kia.

E30s are the best BMWs out there. Despite the fact they're not Audis, I love 'em, and they're easy to work on, don't wear out like the newer ones, and are FAR less complicated. 87-88s have head bolt breakage issues, but that can be headed off by replacing them one at a time if you're careful. Clutch jobs require a new flywheel, and go out the door for $2K or so. I dunno about the 2000-2005s, 'cause we see very few, but they're a lot more complicated than the 1995-2000s. The Cap'n

I've always wanted an E30 325is. It was my dream car after I got to drive my uncle's new '87 325es.

John, do you have any customers who are looking to get rid of a minty/low mileage e30?

e30 are which ones ?

and are audis and better and more reliable?

I''ve owned Bmw's for 30 years. I still have my shoebox 2002, the rest were 5 series. Stay away from '89-95 E34 5 series V8's unless they had the engine block replaced under factory recall. The six cylinder cars are very good- some had timing belts, newer sixes went back to timing chains.

My latest E39 540 sport has blown two plastic radiator tanks in 25,000 miles. Thank goodness for factory warranties...too many computer gizmo's in this car.

I too like the E30 3 series but try to find one without a zillion miles and not beat to shit is like a needle in a haystack.

My fivers I miss the most...

so 89 - 95 3 series are pretty good cars ... it seems all 4door are 6 cly.... so how much of a bitch do you think they will be in chicago winters?

how many miles are concidered a "zillion " on a bmw .... I have seen a dodge that had 60K on it that ran worse than a subaru with 160K .

You want a cold climate winter car, getta quattro. I have friends who tow jeeps out of snowbanks with 'em. The Cap'n

are they reliable ... are they more reliable than subaru


are there problem years with the audis to watch out for ?

are they reliable ... are they more reliable than subaru


are there problem years with the audis to watch out for ?
[/quote]
The Audi's are great cars I worked on them for about 10 years my wife drives a Subaru forester if that tells you anything just stay away from the 1.8T cars just my .02

Another car!

Sorry it's not allowed until you get the 914 running right.

So how is it running?

Don't know what to tell you. I really don't have anything to say about those years. My Bimmer is a 1975 1502 with an 1802 engine in it. And my son who flipped the 914 about three weeks ago is driving it back and forth to school now. I hope he learned something from it, have I? See 'Wrecked. What to do?' from about three weeks ago. I need to make an update on that, I have taken off the crooked wheel and seen some of the damage.

But as far as Bimmers, my first one was a 1968 1600 that I had in the 70's. I still know the serial number from that one - it was necessary for getting some of the parts right. This one, the 1502, hasn't needed much work yet in the four years I've had it. Fun cars to drive.

my daily driver is dying .. it is paid for but it is dying...


she actually is running pretty good just need sto sort a vibration issue that I think is a direct effect of teh solid motor and transmounts and figure out why the oil temp is not registering .. i think it is the sender

I saw this one on craigslist but as nice as it is, I think the price is pretty high:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/car/299959934.html


How many trouble free miles does one typically get out of an E30? A friend just retired one at 330K miles!

Should one be leary of a 175K mile example? Looks nice otherwise.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/car/301751993.html

a couple of my Bimmers. My oldest son with my M3. He drove way more than I ever did. The touring is my current daily ride. 160,000+ and runs like a nose.

Today I bought a clutch kit for my E30 325iX from Bavarian autosport. I only did this as I have recently heard a noise that sounds like throw out bearing complaining...so I thought while I was in there I'd have it all looked after....

$295 includes clutch, pressure plate, t/o bearing, pilot bearing, alignment tool, gaskets for the exhaust and engine main seal. I had to pay $1.90 each extra for nine new stretch flywheel bolts. Machining of the flywheel is $75.

The AWD system looks pretty simple, but I don't want to do it myself as time is an issue...so I made a deal with the local FIRESTONE dealer (trusted class A mechanic) for a flat rate of $300 labour.

I'm away next week and will probably schedule all this for the week after (you never know how things go) but, $750ish sounds alot better than 2K.

We will see how this goes...best laid plans, and all....

Sorry for the hijick

My niece and sister in law both drove BMW's duering that time period, they

were driven to and from the service dept at the dealership. 3 and 5 series, but

I don't think that its fair to group them all together...There not all POS.

I owned a 94 e34 525 witht the VANOS engine, and those are really reliable. The only reason I don't still have it, I totalled it. I would stay away from the V8's (540,530) of that era due to block issues. Unless the owner has proof the block was warrantied. I have a 98 540 sport now which I love, but I actually like the earlier 5 better.

If I were to look at the e30's, I would look for the 325is. They are what, around 175hp?

This was my e34 before I drove it up the rear end of a ford explorer.

The e30's may be more hi strung, but the e36 (95-99) M3's are not. Lot's of torque, relatively low maintenance and cheap parts compared to 911.
(I keep the M3 and sold the C2.) But minor electronic issues are a problem - air bag fault indicator, check light, battery drain, bad pixal display...

Wow, some people didn't read the original question at all. He asked for opinions on mid to late '90s 3 Series. These are not 5 series or E30 3 series, these are E36 3 series. I own a 1998 M3 Sedan and the only real issue with the 6-cylinder motors is the cooling system needs to be changed at 60K miles. The radiator, hoses, and water pump. Other than that they are as reliable as or more reliable than any car out there. I have 95K miles and it has been supercharged for 40K miles of that and still going strong. The E36 M3 motors aren't high strung, it's the European E36 M3 motors that are high strung, the S50B30.

There is a green 1994 325 4-door on Ebay going for 3500 at this point. It is my brother in laws and he has taken excellent care of it. He is a BMW Car Club of America Member and owns 5 right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...9775&rd=1,1

As far as the V-8 motors in the E34 540s, they had an alusil coating on the cylinders that didn't agree with the poor quality of American gasoline.

Apparently, you didn't read it either.

Who didn't read the original question?

My E36 M3 was a rare dealer demo car with the euro 3.0 motor. It was Daytonviolett only offered on the demo cars for 95 if my info is correct. I looked like grape koolaid. I miss it alot. I had a bunch of mods including a chip, AFM, Borla exhaust, and a long list of other mods. Scarrryyy fast!

well, this threads already jacked, so i'm going to pile on!

my 16 year old son has his eye on an e34 with 60k on a rebuild for $2,000 or so.

but there's a e30 with 200k on it,
or
this sexy beast that's a bit too much for his budget...

i'm not a big fan of a kid buying something so high maintenance, but anyone offering an opinion...

thanks!
paul

JADP - my co-worker bought a '95 M3 with about 100K miles for $12K a few years ago. In 30K miles she's needed to do about $8K in maintenance - cooling system, suspension bushings, valve job, and many other little things. Tires alone have cost her a small fortune because she keeps buying top of the line Pilot Sports that came with the car. Part of the problem is that she is not a motorhead nor a DIYer and shouldn't have bought such a car in the first place. (IMO that is.)

Just look at all the maintenance records and make a choice. If it looks good, it was probably well maintaned. They run a long time unlike our native trash