1995 318i 4-door

[feunfer]

I'm looking at this car for my son.  Realoem indicates the car was equipped with the M42 for production month Jan - Jun, then either M42 or M44 after that.  

My question... is the M44 a reliable engine?  This car has about 240K on it.  The seller, in a very serious tone, told me he's been taking care of oil changes, Mobil 1 every 12K miles??!? (seriously).  I suppose that's a deal killer right there, but thought I'd ask the M44 question anyway.

If anyone could respond to bmw530is@mac.com it would be appreciated.

And yes, I'm still always looking for an Alpine white '91 318is...

Thanks,
Steve

[Hodge]

12k mile oil changes? Eww.

I'd either inspect the car yourself, or take it to a trust worthy BMW mechanic that can spot any potential issues.

Does he have all the paperwork on the car? If it is an auto, I'd be very sketch on that. I would demand paperwork on any automatic transmission. All proper fluid changes and maintenance performed at proper intervals?

240k isn't bad for an M44, as long as it has been properly maintained. With 12k mile oil changes though, I don't particularly care for that myself. I still change mine every 3k, and it is dirty by then.

I have a 4/95 318i, and it has been practically trouble free in the 3.5 years I have owned it. A few small issues here and there, but nothing overly major, other than the differential.

[teklord69]

Synthetic oil does not break down at 12K miles..really you can go a little bit longer but most people understandably dont. I have a 93 318i sedan with 218K miles, I just did a compression test on it and it was fine.  What you need to do is a compression test or a leakdown test to really know the health of the engine.