Nicole fluttered her eyes and got him down from £2500 to £2K. Helped MASSIVELY by the service lights on teh dash turning from GREEN to AMBER on the bloody test drive. Crap luck for the chap.

"Oh, it needs a full service tomorrow.. that will cost"

Bloody serious bargains these cars. The 2.5L Straight 6 has virtually no problems either, just keeps on going until you dont really need it anymore. lol

 

my mate had a 325, it had 170k when he sold it, been written off before aswell!!!

 

What a touch!

Just thought about getting one for the runaround for the winter really, and I just love the way they drive.

Is it a high mileage one?

 

Hovering round the 100K mark from memory, absolutely nothing for a Beemer, especially with that engine.

 

Its been agreed, we will be there, we are eating there.

 

looking good stu and nic

 

One down...

 

was fancying a 328i or a bora tdi next myself the chavalier on veggie oil is getting too smelly

 

I can see it now.
Stu buys www.passionbeema.com

 

i got a 325i e36 as a runabout, its mint if a little juicey round town

but its got leathers, aircon, kit,spoiler, sport rear lights, m3 bumper, rwd and i dont have to be ashamed when i get out of it


also it starts first time and it aint cossie fast but it does go well and sounds nice and subtle too

ive done about 2k miles in it since ive got it and apart from the fuel bill ive not had to worry


for some reason i want another cossie but keep saying that if i turbo this thing it really will be the ultimate driving machine


mines done 140kmiles and still manages to get infront at traffic lights when requested

 

Stu,

Thats an impressive car for £2k. It looks really nice.

Good luck with it.

Graham

 

oh i paied 1500 for mine,,,, well actually my missus paied 500 for it and i still owe xrt-si a grand,,,,,,,,,, such a shame i lost my mobile and nolonger have his number as ive been trying to get incontact with him to pay him honest


if only he had my address,,, shame i forgot to tell him it


you can trust me si

 

What's it been like to drive day to day Ginge?

I've driven a few, but never had one for any long period of time, and I really fancy a nice one with leather etc for over the winter....

 

pon feel free to borrowit during the week as i cant drive to work

its a great little car, theres a tiny issue ive got with it but tbh it think i caused that myself, theres a light knocking from the rear when you launch it, but as i said thats prob down to me driving like a tosser



serious offer though if you wanna borrow it for the day during the week you only live down the road from me and i got no issues with it

im not claiming mines the best car ever but its a decent looking car at dog money

its also mot'd till feb, if it fails in any major way then i can just park it up and get another car

 

140k is nothing for well looked after one

Rich leather is nice but cold for the winter, unless u got heated seats of course

 

mine aint heated,,,,, i also need to get the valeters at work to clean the fookers but the main reason i got leather is ive got a 3 year old kit who likes chocolate,,,,,, you should see the stat of my old carpet before we tiled the floor


sod chocolate covered cloth seats

 

[quote="Stu @ M Developments"]Nikasil Liners????


steve

 

[quote="the youth"]323, 328 are the ones affected, 325 is the M50 engine I think Pon is referring to

 

Nice car Stu but I wouldn't say no problems.....

Has it had a new bottom end at any point? Nicasil problem - well known - BMW should be able to tell you if it's been done in the dealer network under recall if you give them the chassis number.
Ask them at same time if it's had the steering column recall/.
Has it had a new water pump at any point? - you might have a plastic impellor one and if it goes and you don't catch it quick it might take your head gasket too. The temp gauge needle shouldn't waver when up to temp - should stay rock solid - if it even starts to inch up to hot - stop quick and get it checked.

Worn RTA bushes can give funny handling - rear damper top mounts can "clunk" over bumps - the E46 M3 Convertible ones are better as a replacement.
Bushes at rear of front wishbones can give vague steering and similar effect to warped discs
Check rear brake pipes as well.

Hope she enjoys the car though

 

All these problems are extreme cases, it's only the M52 engines that suffer from Nikasil and it wasn't fitted to every car. Peak torque in the hand book will tell you if it was, although many dont have the original. Only early E36's were fitted with plastic impellors and were done away with quick smart and would have shown up by now. The only thing that does effect them and I've experienced it, is the rear top mounts and as you say E46 solves it

 

Stu @ M Developments
that beemer looks

 

Out of the 4 328s I looked at 3 had had a new bottom end with BM at soem point - unfortunately the North West was the worst area afflicted because the Stanlow refinery supplied most of the petrol. Untreated engines can and do still go with excess bore wear even a long while after the intro of low sulphur fuel - have a look on e36coupe.com and search for Nikasil. Depends where the car has been re-fueled in the main in it's early life but I felt it worth pointing out to Stu/Nicole as something to watch bearing in mind their location.
Steering shaft replacement also very common but worth checking all the same in case it missed the recall - mine was done and it's a 98.
Plastic impellor pumps were still being used on late cars ( bloke from work's went ) and BMW still haven't learnt as although they switched to metal on later E36s they have used plastic since.

Also, Stu/Nicole, check the rear springs aren't broken on the bottom coil - easy to check when jacked up. A common fault because of a design issue

If it's got the OBC and the warning message about brake light circuit pops up, it's just the pedal switch (Scrub that one as I've just seen your dash pics ).

By the way, all the above was just to try and help not to panic you or take the shine off your new purchase

 

I looked at loads of 328s before I bought my MR2, and the Nikasil thing really put me off.

As far as I was aware, and as James says, the 325 doesn't suffer the same problem......

 

Absolutely correct Rich - the 325 is an iron block.
Different sort of engine to the 328 though to drive - the 328 feels bigger as it was tuned for torque ( and strangled by German tax law )

 

could always buy mine only few quid more that what nicole has paid for hers

 

More info please Spiky you goon!

Ginge - thanks for the offer. Very nice of you mate

 

see my garage for pics

mines a 328I sport automatic ., sport has full mtec body kit, though mine has std rear bumper

full silver/grey/cream leather, dual digial climate control all electrics, auto dim rear mirror

63k new engine at 25k, so only low mileage on current engine, sweetest sounding engine ever

19" rims

 

Travelling down in the Evo this weekend

 

Shotgun!

Looks like I'm following you down the slippery slope. Maybe my brother will pop round in his Z3M Coupe he's just bought too!

Spiky - auto? Would need a manual!

 

You lot at colas this weekend?

Oh and nice bemmer stu

 

You're in the same class as RW, you can have the keys

 

You mean you're coming aswell

 

Afraid so

This time, try to speak english

 

Bollox to that Be good to see ya fella

 

You boys on MSN - we might have to discuss costume!

 

pmsl, i cant find a outfit that fits me

 

I've got a tent you can borrow!

 

Hi Mike, thanks for the info, you obviously know your Beemers

Rear bushes all sorted less than 20K ago, as were some fronts 3 months ago. Its had 2 new rear lines less than a year ago and the steering link was done under recall in february 2002.

It is an M52 2.5 engine and i am aware of the Nikasil liner issue that afflicted some cars although i am hard pushed to believe it will still present a valid issue after 100000 miles to be honest and a CL test today showed less than 5% down all 6, which at least gives me some hope. LOL

Mind you, it may well not even have Nikasil liners, or may have had a recall, i need to call the local dealer and check with teh chassis number.

Water pump i also know about, and intent to just fit one par for teh course as they arent much money. Plastic rotors are a common problem on many marques sadly.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

 

No probs Stu - I wouldn't even pretend I know as much about cars as you and like I said I wasn't trying to be a scaremonger or "tarnish" the fun of your new motor.

Just a few things that I know are common problems on the E36 and the work of minutes for someone in the know like your self to check over just for added peace of mind or to flag up for future observation.
Sounds like you should be alright on the engine - it can affect cars still but is less common as the damage was done some years back as fuel is now all low-sulphur I believe. I think it was the Stanlow refinery that was the worst culprit and hence garages in the North West. That is why some cars survive with Nicasil liners OK.

Hope Nicole enjoys her driving

 

Hey, im always happy to take on any advice from experts and enthusiasts alike, nobody knows everything and those that think they do will come an expensive cropper. lol

I will call them about this liner issue and see what they say about the chassis number. Interestingly, a friend of mine had a new motor fitted to his 328 for this reason only 2yrs ago, and that was a 2000 car just out of warranty!

So do/have you worked for BMW or motor trade then or are you just a keen enthusiast?