M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
FAQ / REFERENCE => M42 Buyer's Guide => Topic started by: wesgentry on July 13, 2015, 09:36:59 AM
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Here is yet another "I am buying my first M42 and I have no idea what to look at. blablabla..." post and it looks like everyone here is extremely helpful so I am excited for your responses. I am about to go look at a 1991 318i 4 door and had some questions.
From talking to the guy selling it the car is a hand me down from his father (1st owner) who is also a mechanic specializing in European cars. The car is in decent shape.. a bit of rust under the rear passenger tail light and some dings in the drivers side. he is sending the car with a replacement fender and drivers side door and I have someone that can do the cosmetic / rust repair for materials and beer.. (good friend of mine) What has me worried is that he said he cracked the head about 4 years ago. His father rebuilt the top end and "everything is fine" now but I know I can never be sure. This was his daily driver before another x3 hand me down from dad a couple weeks ago and now its parked. I have him down to 1200 total with a bit left over for me to go through it. I really don't want to get into something that is going to need a rebuild right off the bat and was hoping for some tips when I go to check it out later this week. I was also hoping for some guidance on some initial preventative maintenance type things to take care of after I purchase.. Obviously a general tune up, change fluids and replace any blatantly bad things I will take care of but are there any 318i/M42 specific things I should focus on.
I plan for this car to get a mild restore, maybe some cosmetic changes down the road, and to be a daily work driver.
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I'd pay $1200 for that!
Cracked head 3yrs ago shouldn't be a big worry. If it just happened a month ago then maybe.
Replacement heads aren't hard to find so you have that as well.
Buy it and drive!
Dean
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Thanks so much for the response! It's killing me right now. The seller is out of town until Friday so I have to be paitent.. ugh.. Ill be sure to post some detailed pictures if/(probably)after I buy it.. So is there anything specific I should look out for? Red flags to look out for?