Help this BMWnoob out please GURU's - Page 4

BMWnoob · 01-19-2009, 11:27 AM

hey guys.. planning to check out a car on tuesday.. plan on taking tons of pics.. but before i go this is what i know right now..

anything here sound like i'm asking for trouble?

white 318i 1991 5 speed 160KM's, blue interior, cloth seats...

manual sunroof, power lock, windows etc..a/c, heat

says he is the 3rd owner and has had a mechanic look at it with a detailed list of what is needed for safety etc..

now all the bad things that he's told me

rust on the door panel and on the rear quarter by the wheel..

no power steering cause of a leak
missing a few light bulbs
front brakes are rusty, rear are fine..
windshield is cracked...

BMW BMXer · 01-19-2009, 11:52 AM

Personally, I would stay away from cars with panels that are not easily replacable.

Rockers, rear quarters, a pillars, etc.

Also no power steering cause of leak is kinda vauge, same with the 'missing' light bulbs.

stan man · 01-19-2009, 11:55 AM

No power steering is no good!

Depends where the leak is. If it's the rack then it's not a simple DIY to fix, and in my opinion power steering is a good thing to have.

Rusty breaks - no biggy

Windshield - shouldn't be that expensive to buy and put in by mechanic.

richie_s999 · 01-19-2009, 12:06 PM

where is the power steering leak, if its from the inner tie rods your looking at a new rack, if its the lines or pump let me know, I have those sitting in my garage and you can have them for free. I switch to manual steering so won't be needing them anymore.
changing the rack ins't that hard to do, and its always a good idea to get new innner and outer tie rods while doing so, and an alignment.

as for the rust - doors are not expensive so wouldn't worry about that, if its just a little
rust no biggy, just make sure its not all the way through the metal.

The milage is really low what motor is in the car??? is it a M42?

BMWnoob · 01-19-2009, 12:19 PM

keep in my i'm a complete noob here..

all he told me was 5 speed 4 cylinder... he originally said it was a 1994 in his posting but the pics looked like a e30 to me lol..

what's something like this worth guys? assuming i'm completely incompetent and can't do any work myself.. lol

he says it's all surface rust and not rusted through...

stan man · 01-19-2009, 12:26 PM

Do you know what he wants for it or is it like a best offer thing?

You are saying you have seen pics? Where are they?

BMWnoob · 01-19-2009, 12:27 PM

1800 obo is what i was told...

stan man · 01-19-2009, 12:31 PM

You tell him that you have lots of friends with bmw, and they told me not to pay a cent over 1200 lol

I think it's an all right price.

richie_s999 · 01-19-2009, 12:34 PM

what about the drive clean? when was it last done?

BMWnoob · 01-19-2009, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stan man

You tell him that you have lots of friends with bmw, and they told me not to pay a cent over 1200 lol

I think it's an all right price.

1200 is an alright price or 1800 lol

in the interior pic on the outside door frame.. does it look like it's all peeling?? is that bad?

BMWnoob · 01-19-2009, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richie_s999

what about the drive clean? when was it last done?

is that like the etest...probably not for a while...

he said he was the 3rd owner and bought it and that it hasn't been om the road since.. because he originally bought it to drive to work.. and work is "walking distance" now and hasn't had time or money to fix it...

richie_s999 · 01-19-2009, 12:40 PM

hard to say if its peeling or just surface rust, you'll have to see when you get there.

your never gonna find a perfect E30, they will awways need a little work from time to time, but the car has low km's and should be a M42 motor which would get my attention. Offer 1200 and pay 1500 .

BMWnoob · 01-19-2009, 12:43 PM

cool thanks guys..

so if this is all that's wrong with it.. and i got it for 1500 or less.. would i be expecting to put in another $1000 or so to make it pretty..

richie_s999 · 01-19-2009, 12:44 PM

well figure $600 to fix the steering and $400 for other minor repairs.

stan man · 01-19-2009, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMWnoob

1200 is an alright price or 1800 lol

in the interior pic on the outside door frame.. does it look like it's all peeling?? is that bad?

1200

It might be pealing, or maybe it's dirt/dust from standing outside.

Now you gotta find out how long was it standing without him driving it, year or two or ? cause it's not great if he didn't drive it for a long time and it was not stored in a garage.

+ check if the car was repainted. Why I ask? Looks kind of clean + side mirrors are white as well, I am not sure if they can be body color from the factory.