Is a cheap BMW viable?

juno_first

juno_first

juno_first

Soldato
Joined
18 Apr 2003
Posts
2,686
Location
England
I'm sick of driving a Saxo that feels like its going fall to pieces all the time & god forbid a crash as that would be instant 'gib'.
Granted, a vts is much fun to drive & would leave most cars off the mark & cornering, but I fancy a change now.

I confess I'm being lured towards the prestigious nature of the beast that belies the BMW badge & a comfy rattle-free ride would be a taste of heaven.
I know I'll be taking a big performance hit with most beamers (especially older models) bar an m3, though I think I've now overcome my pre mid-life crisis & wanna ditch the go-kart.

Insurance is no problem as I'm not paying much for a group 14 boy racer car atm, so an m3 would not be an issue (if only) lol.

I can probably sell my current Saxo for £800 & could add another £200, so can a BMW be bought for a grand, that won't soon need mega money spending or develop an under-belly like Swiss cheese?

Eg. theres a local 325td 'k' reg for sale at £1000 which I believe even has a higher mpg than my Saxo, wtf!
A diesel does sound tempting with better mpg & lower road tax, but higher fuel costs lol.
Would this be something worth looking at? As I don't fancy a 4 cylinder 316.
What do you need to look out for when buying an older BMW ?

Ps. does anyone know what year higher road tax costs came into effect?


thanks guys...
 
The 325TD was terrible. Might as well get a 325i, suffer the slightly lower MPG figures, but have some nice noise decent amounts of power.

I'd budget closer to £1500 though if you want one that isn't very poorly specified.

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325tds is... gash.

I'm discovering the real downside to living in London now. Tried a quote for a 4k 320i @22yold and no NCB and it came to £1500, even 1yrs NCB only brought it down to £1300.
 
Evo bought a £1k 325i for one of their 'One grand banger challenges', so it's not out of the realms of possibility.

It will be completely knackered though, probably with shot suspension and signs of rust on the bodywork.
 
starfighter said:
Yes, but don't blame those, :p

I know there isn't much chance in this price range but I would feel like a poser in anything less. Gotta have the power to back up the look. :)
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You're so wide of the mark, you're aiming at the moon and hit the sun.

The 330 didn't exist until 2000, on the e46 platform. You won't get one for £1000 no matter how hard you look.

Given that we are talking about the e36 here, the highest model was the 328i, but this was after the facelift, and generally still hold values well above £1000. the 325i was the highest model before the facelift (replaced by the 323i and the 328i), and has a 197BHP M50 6-pot, and a less restrictive intake manifold.
 
The black J reg above looks more realistic for what I'm looking for I think.

Yer I think £1500 is a minimum amount to spend too (time to start saving) ahh.
 
That black J reg is mine, bought for similar budget when I had the Leon off the road!

325i, 130,000 miles, A/C climate control, full leather, full 18-button trip computer (rare), even has the BMW fitted alarm, which is rare too!
 
Unless you are sufficiently mechanically able to do most if not all work yourself this is a stupid idea. A £1k BMW does not have typical £1k car running costs. Stuff WILL break, if you cant do the work yourself it will cost £££ to fix. We are talking cars up to 18 years old here.

If you want a cheap car, buy a cheap car. If you want a BMW, spend a reasonable amount on one*

*Unless, like paradigm, you are handy with a spanner.
 
[TW]Fox;12450164 said:
If you want a cheap car, buy a cheap car. If you want a BMW, spend a reasonable amount on one*

*Unless, like paradigm, you are handy with a spanner.
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I only became "handy with a spanner" when my cars forced me to :p

It's not difficult IF you get forced to knucle down and do it :D
 
Can someone explain to me where the ' prestige motor' tag applies when every other car on the road seems to be a BMW, lol, possibly the most hated marque on the road by other drivers & no it's not because they're jealous either.
Also being the prefered car of pimps & dealers & general lowlifes for some reason
 
[TW]Fox;12450164 said:
Unless you are sufficiently mechanically able to do most if not all work yourself this is a stupid idea. A £1k BMW does not have typical £1k car running costs. Stuff WILL break, if you cant do the work yourself it will cost £££ to fix.
Click to expand...

I agree and this applies to virtually any fast/prestige/rare car under £1000. If you can't/won't pick up a spanner then it will cost you a fortune to keep it running right.
 
Looks like a nice car that, paradigm. Easy to work on too those E36's. What are you planning on doing with it?
 
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