Choice between bmw 320 and saab 9-3 2.0t

timmothy

timmothy

timmothy

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So i have narrowed my choice of car down to two candidates, either a BMW 320i or saab 9-3 2.0t .

With the saab i will be able to get a newer model around 2000 but with the BMW it will be more like 1992-1994 with mu budget.

I feel the BMW looks better for a young person still in college, however the Saab does look quite sporty.

Both will be quite quick, but i dont know which one will handle better, any ideas?

So which one would you choose? Also is there anyone that has driven either of these and can give a mini review on what it was like?
I had the 316 previously and loved the car. But never driven a saab apart from a 9000 which i did not really like as it was slow and had aweful looks.
 
I had a post a couple of days ago asking for suggestions.
My budget is up to £700 and thats absolute max, looking more around £400-500.
The reason i have shortlisted these is that they are cheap to buy, were luxary cars when released, good quality and have decent looks, plus they should be decently quick.
I am 24 and want something with decent looks, thats why i ruled out mondeo before everyone says mondeo lol.
 
If you have 400 quid to spend on a car then its quite clear that something quick and cool is unaffordable.

400 quid cars are almost all complete nails. Avoid your chances of buying a massive money pit and picking something dull yet dependable.

A completely spanked 15 year old BMW 3 Series is not the answer to this question.
 
[TW]Fox;17680712 said:
If you have 400 quid to spend on a car then its quite clear that something quick and cool is unaffordable.

400 quid cars are almost all complete nails. Avoid your chances of buying a massive money pit and picking something dull yet dependable.

A completely spanked 15 year old BMW 3 Series is not the answer to this question.
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That may be the case sometimes, but sometimes its not.
My 316 cost £275, i never had one problem with it in over a year of use not one.
Decided fuel was too much so bought a peugeot 306 for £450 as people said they were reliable, it died within two months, i then bought a daihatsu grand move, it died within a month, i then bought a nissan sunny as everyone said how rock solid they are, well it is always having problems.
Thats why i kust want a decent make of car again that will keep me safe and actually start every morning. Im sick of all these stupid little cars that just break.
 
you do realise a cars reliability when you recieve it depends significantly upon how well its been maintained? i could buy the most supposedly reliable brand/model car in the world, but 3 previous owners who don't know how to pop the bonnet is going to make this car a complete nail.

go back to the 306 idea, and buy one from someone old with plenty of service history.

it will be old, but rust free. and at this budget/age, rust is the main killer.
 
Both will be complete money pits at that budget, if you can afford to run them, you can afford to spend more on something newer
 
iaind said:
Both will be complete money pits at that budget, if you can afford to run them, you can afford to spend more on something newer
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well on the short up and downhill drives i do engine size does not seem to make much difference to fuel consumption. The 1.4 sunny uses about as much fuel as the 1.6 BMW did and both of those use the same amount of fuel as my 1.8 escort did and all those use about the same as my 2.0 rover so i have only got a few pounds a month saving from downgrading engine size
 
timmothy said:
well on the short up and downhill drives i do engine size does not seem to make much difference to fuel consumption. The 1.4 sunny uses about as much fuel as the 1.6 BMW did and both of those use the same amount of fuel as my 1.8 escort did and all those use about the same as my 2.0 rover so i have only got a few pounds a month saving from downgrading engine size
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Ok. And the other running costs?
 
iaind said:
Ok. And the other running costs?
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well previous running costs of bmw e36 i had over one year of ownership.
Tyre- £35
Windscreen wiper- £6
MOT- £50

Previous running costs of other cars i had since in less than a year =
Hundreds and hundreds, easily over £1000 in losses from selling broken cars and in parts for the cars.

Thats whats put me off these little cars, i thought i would save money but i have just ended up spending so much more. False economy
 
9-3 2.0t

We have the 9-3 convertible with the 2.0t engine on a 4 speed auto box. It's a 52 plate.

Pros:-
Comfortable, front heated seats
Seats 4 adults

Other points:-
Economy is approx 33-36MPG on a m-way run and poor around town
Handling isn't good. It is a soft-top which will make a difference.
Oil change with fully synth every 5-6k
We've just had the common problem of cracked bulkhead. This was a £300ish repair with the approved Saab kit
It has a low pressure turbo which makes the engine keep up with traffic, but does't do it with any raised eyebrows. I have driven a manual with the same engine and the engine was a lot more responsive.
Plenty of mods can be done to do the car favours with speed and handling.

Overall we're happy with it. There's been plenty of sun this year to have the hood down. It's safe and does my gf alright with her 80 mile daily commute.
 
You were lucky with your previous E36 then if that's all it cost you, hopefully your next car will also be cheap in terms of bills but just because one E36 doesn't throw up much in the way of unexpected expense doesn't mean that all will be equally reliable. All I'm saying here is that a small car or a big car doesn't necessarily impact on the reliability within reason so discounting one particular car because of a bad experience with one is as (in)sensible as aiming for another because of a good experience.

I don't know much about cars but as I understand it you're better buying on condition at this sort of price point and being open to what is available rather than only aiming for one specific car.
 
!bluetonic! said:
9-3 2.0t

We have the 9-3 convertible with the 2.0t engine on a 4 speed auto box. It's a 52 plate.

Pros:-
Comfortable, front heated seats
Seats 4 adults

Other points:-
Economy is approx 33-36MPG on a m-way run and poor around town
Handling isn't good. It is a soft-top which will make a difference.
Oil change with fully synth every 5-6k
We've just had the common problem of cracked bulkhead. This was a £300ish repair with the approved Saab kit
It has a low pressure turbo which makes the engine keep up with traffic, but does't do it with any raised eyebrows. I have driven a manual with the same engine and the engine was a lot more responsive.
Plenty of mods can be done to do the car favours with speed and handling.

Overall we're happy with it. There's been plenty of sun this year to have the hood down. It's safe and does my gf alright with her 80 mile daily commute.
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Thanks for the review :-) , just what i wanted.
Well i will not be able to afford the convertible lol, but sounds like the hard top will be better for my needs by what you said.
 
I'm about to turn 24 and i've got a saab 900 which is virtually the same as the 93 you are looking at. I've not had anyone say its ugly or slow. (definitely not slow, most have said god that's fast) Most people just say that it isn't their cup of tea. Running cost wise mine hasn't been terrible but i've been sorting out things that i want to improve so costs have been high through my own choice. The only part that has failed since i've had the car is a coil snap back in april. The cost of replacing the spring was low, but i replaced all of the suspension components at the same time. (bushes, springs and dampers) All you need to make sure of is that the car has had regular annual servicing with the proper oil. (very important if it is a turbo model)

Common problems on these cars are usually the ignition modules dying after around 10 years/100k miles. New replacements are £150-£200. Second hand are around £25-£50. If you're looking at a T5 93 (V.early 2000) you should be better off as they tend to be more robust. The later T7 93's have the lighter engine components and a garrett GT17 turbo which isn't known for its longevity. The T5 models have a garrett T25 which is usually quite reliable. My T5 900 is still going fine at 180k on the original turbo. Over the 180k the car has never broken down.

If you get the VIN of the cars you are looking at and put it into http://saabvin.com/ it will give you all of the details about the car. A B205/235 engine is T7, a B204/234 is T5. The letter after the engine number denotes state of tune. E is light pressure turbo, I is N/A, L is normally standard turbo and R is high output turbo. The R models are pretty good as they use the Mitsubishi TD04 which is more robust than even the T25.

As for handling, as standard they are not fantastic, not awful but nothing special. If you are used to a good 3 series, it'll be a let down. I've driven a shagged out E36 318 and can say that my 900 was better than that, but the BMW was well worn out. The problem is usually body flex, a fair amount of roll and the worst bit is indirect steering (a feeling of disconnection from the wheels) A fairly good condition car won't feel that bad, but a poor car will feel rather loose. These handling complaints can be cured via a piggyback or thicker rear antiroll bar, a few poly bushes and a steering rack brace. The cheapest being the rear ARB as you can just get one off a scrap car and fit it as a double bar.
 
From a driving point of view, the e36 3 series without a doubt.

That said, I guarantee you will pay out the purchase price at least getting something or other put right.


Buy a 323 or 325 for that budget - it'll cost no more than a 320 (excluding perhaps insurance) to run, but it won't be a pretty example.

I hope - for your pockets sake - that your previous experience of an e36 will help identify the many many dogs you'll find at this budget.

My '96 328i cost me £900 plus a Mondeo 2 years ago nearly, its cost me that £900 again servicing & repairing it. Its far from a tidy example either.


Mondeo makes much more sence tbh but I'd still go RWD personally.

timmothy said:
this is one that i am looking at
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=FSW&thread=90961&page=1
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Front & rear arches have gone - not uncommon on e36's mine included - and my old 1992 J reg e36 318i was @ 175k when I sold it, its steering wheel was NO WHERE NEAR as worn as that one is,nor was the drivers seat starting to split either - I reckon the 177k should perhaps read 277k on the odometer - I'd lay money there is a small dot displaying on the dash to betray the fact the mileage has been altered.
 
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Buying an early model E36 for "image" reasons does confuse me somewhat. It doesn't have the cult status of the E30 that marks you out as a car enthusiast, neither does it have the "posh" factor that an E46 seems to have to those who aren't too clued up on cars. The E36 doesn't seem to have much of an image past the fact that it's an old BMW.

I always ask this question to people with small budgets and hopes for a car out of the ordinary - Can you wield a spanner effectively? If the answer is no then forget the idea of the BMW, or the Saab, or anything remotely interesting for your budget. In fact, I'd argue that buying a £700 car at all is a bit of a risk if you don't have much mechanical know how.

Cheap cars are for the most part ticking time bombs. Don't get me wrong, that's not to say that you can't get a "bargain" if you look hard enough, do your homework and get lucky, but you've got to be prepared for things to go wrong, and when they do you need to be in a position to fix them yourself on the cheap or buying such a cheap car does not make financial sense.
 
timmothy said:
well previous running costs of bmw e36 i had over one year of ownership.
Tyre- £35
Windscreen wiper- £6
MOT- £50

Previous running costs of other cars i had since in less than a year =
Hundreds and hundreds, easily over £1000 in losses from selling broken cars and in parts for the cars.

Thats whats put me off these little cars, i thought i would save money but i have just ended up spending so much more. False economy
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You do realise you could have just been lucky with that 316i right?

Your past experience is no gaurantee that you will buy a 1994 BMW and have cheap trouble free motoring..
 
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