M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
FAQ / REFERENCE => M42 Buyer's Guide => Topic started by: BMW2010 on April 26, 2010, 12:15:43 PM
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Im looking at getting a 1995 318is, it has 149,000 miles on it and i was wondering what should be some things i should look at before buying? any issues that could be there that would need repair or things that could help bring the price down. thanks:D
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Im looking at getting a 1995 318is, it has 149,000 miles on it and i was wondering what should be some things i should look at before buying? any issues that could be there that would need repair or things that could help bring the price down. thanks:D
e36, hmm i guess
control arm bushings, tie-rods,
guibo <<
so basically anything under the car that's loose or cracking besides hooks for the exhaust
interior: door panels, power windows
look at the gauge cluster near the mileage. if it has a visible orange/black dot it means the cluster has been taken out before. this is pretty common when a cars high mileage but it could be a sign someone swapped it for a lower mileage one, or reconfigured it though that's unlikely (but not unheard of) as its a digital readout. search tamper dot, i think it evolved with obdII to fancy stuff like vin matching,etc.
fyi a crappy idle is normal on those (for an uninformed owner) so don't discount a car based on that when it seems flawless otherwise.
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Thanks thats really helpful, this is going to be my first Bimmer so i dont want to end up getting screwed over by someone by over paying or just flat out buying a pos car.
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I no 149,000 miles is not a whole lot but what are some general maintance things i should do to it if i do buy it?