1991 318is for sale in Knoxville Tennessee

[banjoboy]

I have a red 1991 318is for sale. Everything works, has a new aftermarket radio and speakers with an i-pod hook up. All new hoses, coils, shocks and brakes. Handles well and runs well. The only issue is it seems to overheat. I'm new to BMW's but I have read that this was a fairly common problem. Will try to get pictures up in the next few days. 2500 obo

[JohnHenryE30]

Over heating.... Thermostat could be sticking, water pump bad, or faulty head gasket, possibly the radiator needs flushing or replacement,etc... With a closer look, someone who knows----> could zone out this issue.

Pictures will be nice! Sad to hear your letting one go, because they are sweet cars! The Germans engineer great!

Good luck with your sale!

[DesktopDave]

+1 on that...the weakest bit of the M42 is the cooling system.  The water pump and radiator are the weakest parts.  BMWs are pretty much like every other car though, just easier to work on and a but more fun.  Good luck with the sale.

Definitely get some pics up.  This site has problems with *****ded pics, I'd post them at Photobucket, Picasa, etc. and just paste links into your posts.  Are you advertising this on R3vlimited too?  A lot of us are on both sites...and there's a lot more e30 people over there than there are here.

I'm glad you're right up front about the overheating.  What brand of shocks/springs are on the car?  What kind of mileage?  Sunroof or not (slicktop)?  Do you have the original "basket weave" 14" rims, and if so are the center caps all intact?  Something like Bilstein Sports and H&R springs will definitely help the car sell.

If the car doesn't have any serious rust and the dash isn't cracked, be sure to mention that as well.  These cars are infamous for those problems.  I'm sure any of us in the rust belt would love to get a crack at a clean chassis.  My car came from Nashville IIRC, with nearly zero rust...that was the primary reason I bought it.

I'll bet you'd get your $2500 if you solved the overheating problem...a new pump is only about $60 online like at PelicanParts or BMA.

[banjoboy]

I really appriciate your all's kind words. I'm very impressed by the friendlyness on this site. I will post on R3vlimited too. It has about 200k on the motor and it does have the original 14" rims with all the center caps. I've got several new trim pieces as well. It is the sunroof version and the thing with the overheating issue is that I am a college student and have too many projects on top of that. I just don't have the time to fix the overheating problem. The previous owner said that he has replaced the pump, thermostat, radiator, and hoses and said that he thought it was a gasket kind of under the front part of the head. I think its called a profile gasket but not sure. I don't really know much about BMWs. I'm sure ya'll will know exactly whats goin on. Just trying to be up front about everything, I thought I'd have time to fix it but school has really got busy here lately. It doesn't have any rust anywhere that I can tell. If you sent me your e-mail I can send you some pictures, I'm having trouble gettin them to upload. I'll try the photobucket later tonight.

[DesktopDave]

PB or the other online sites are better.  This site's FTP functionality was nailed in a spam attack a few years ago IIRC.

[jrobie79]

in for pics, where are you located?

[banjoboy]

i'm in Knoxville tennessee. pm me your email and I'll send you some pics

[tfrain]

PM'd for pics.