Look what I bought!

NickXX · 15 Oct 2007 at 19:11

If it's all running ok, that is a good buy. Those wheels will be worth a bit too.

Gaijin · 15 Oct 2007 at 19:24

[TW]Fox;10283210 said:
I'm such a tard at times.

Edit that mate - it'll get overquoted

Personally I think asim is barmy to buy a car with no service history, so it has none whatsoever?

Get that oil changed quick. Could be a factory sludge special otherwise.

[TW]Fox · 15 Oct 2007 at 19:29

Potentially a Nikasil affected car at that age as well?

Morba · 15 Oct 2007 at 19:33

[TW]Fox;10283984 said:
Potentially a Nikasil affected car at that age as well?

good point.
tests are quick and cheap though, so well worth having done.

wassap · 15 Oct 2007 at 21:02

Its 1700 notes boys, who gives a **** if it has SH or not, you cant have it all with cheap motoring! SH can even be purchased if you know the right people.

Morba · 15 Oct 2007 at 21:28

wohoo said:
Its 1700 notes boys, who gives a **** if it has SH or not, you cant have it all with cheap motoring! SH can even be purchased if you know the right people.

cheap 12 year old BMWs with no SH does not generally equal cheap motoring ;]
nikasil = plenty of cash
vanos = plenty of cash

Jez · 15 Oct 2007 at 21:36

If it runs ok then thats a serious car for the money, cant think of much else for this money id have.

NickXX · 15 Oct 2007 at 21:37

Morba said:
cheap 12 year old BMWs with no SH does not generally equal cheap motoring ;]
nikasil = plenty of cash
vanos = plenty of cash

Would nikasil still be an issue? Surely the car would have died before now if the bore linings were affected.

Is VANOS particularly unreliable on these? Can the car still run (albeit at reduced performance) with broken VANOS?

[TW]Fox · 15 Oct 2007 at 21:46

Single VANOS on the pre TU Series M52. Not known for being troublesome.

danza · 15 Oct 2007 at 21:46

Fingers crossed everyone's negative feelings are wrong, and the OP gets lots of trouble free miles from this car. Looks OK to me, but the wheels...THE WHEELS(!), they are sooo wrong

Looks good from the pics, and assuming it drives well, it could be a good buy. Take it to a decent BMW indy and get them to have a damn good look at it.

/edit

and the mirrors, they're nasty too

NickXX · 15 Oct 2007 at 21:49

danza said:
Fingers crossed everyone's negative feelings are wrong, and the OP gets lots of trouble free miles from this car. Looks OK to me, but the wheels...THE WHEELS(!), they are sooo wrong

Looks good from the pics, and assuming it drives well, it could be a good buy. Take it to a decent BMW indy and get them to have a damn good look at it.

They're not - they'll get a good price on eBay being BBS 17s, shame they don't suit the car.

Will make some money if he swaps them out for some tasteful e36 17s.

danza · 15 Oct 2007 at 21:55

NickXX said:
They're not - they'll get a good price on eBay being BBS 17s, shame they don't suit the car.

Will make some money if he swaps them out for some tasteful e36 17s.

I didn't say the wheels were nasty (that's the mirrors IMO), like you say, they really don't suit the car at all. They'd look 'good' on quite a few late/early 80's/90's cars though (Golf MK2 GTI for instance, assuming they fit).

Damn, I'm getting pedantic in my old age :/

asim · 16 Oct 2007 at 00:56

fine....FINE I'll look at swapping out the wheels lol. Maybe something lighter and look more "appropriate" for the car. Will also have it checked out by a bmw specialist when I get a chance. The engine runs great from what I can hear, see and feel. The idle is smooth. Power through the rev band. Clutch bites at the right point. Brakes are good but the hand brake bothers me so I'll adjust that.

Considering I havent had a car in 10 months and I've only paid 1700 I am quite happy with the purchase. Aslong as there are no major issues I'm willing to pay out to have them fixed. Will know the true extent to what its worth after a full service in the next couple months.

Thanks for the positive and negative comments. Hopefully in a few months I'll still be talking about my running 328i and not my spares and repairs machine lol

Scania · 16 Oct 2007 at 03:49

[TW]Fox;10283984 said:
Potentially a Nikasil affected car at that age as well?

common knowledge that a Nikasil engine thats not been recalled & has lasted this long, will be ok as the low sulphur that caused the initial problem no longer applys to UK fuels.

The trick is to check the oil level regularly & avoid short trips (could say the same for most cars there tbh!)

My old J reg e36 looked like a 70k miler inside @ 175k miles.....

The steering wheel is a give away.

Is it an auto or, manual?

Get the car diagnostic checked by any half decent specialist (usually involves 10 minutes & a laptop) & any fault codes re-set, its surprising the difference this alone can make to the M52 engine.

Tesla · 16 Oct 2007 at 10:11

So what if it's been clocked. Looks like a decent car to me

If it had 200k on it it wouldn't of been much cheaper to purchase so it's really not an issue. It's only £1700 so not worth worrying about.

Anyway, the car doesn't look worn enough for 200k unless it's had loads of bits done to cover it up.

Even if it's a BMW it doesn't stop things wearing out through repeated use, such as pedal rubbers.

Malt_Vinegar · 16 Oct 2007 at 11:11

My steering wheel is fantastically shiney, but it was not when i got it. The reason, i worked out the other day, is that i often do my hair in the car in the mornings (odd habit i know) and i use a wax.

First thing i do afterwards is handle the steeringwheel, the leather basically gets treated everyday to a tiny coating of wax!, which gets buffed to a superb shine!!

asim · 16 Oct 2007 at 11:42

Its a manual gearbox, hehe. Requires short shift however.

The steering wheel bugs me to hell. I've been driving an mx5 lately and that has a smaller steering wheel, I can basically keep both hands on the wheel, turn it a quarter and be fine, with the bmw its not the case.