Buying a 1991 318i . . advice needed

[sibanez]

Found a 1991 318i and am seriously considering buying it, but have a few questions/concerns. About the car, it's been sitting for two years. The owner wants $1,200, but that feels a bit high. Here's the good/bad on the car. Any suggestions?  The car has 180k on it.

The Good:
- The body is straight
- Interior is fairly complete
- New tires
- Shifts smoothly
- Front-end feels tight
- Head gasket was replaced by BMW at 80k
- Control arms were replaced at 120k

The Bad:
- The sheet metal under the battery trail is rusted and needs to be patched
- The alignment appears to be way off
- Power Steering Pump leaks and doesn't have a belt
- AC belt has been removed
- Paint is severely faded
- Car idles rough

[DesktopDave]

Sounds in the ballpark, but I'd offer less.  I'd be tempted if it was under $1000.  The big problem is that it's a sedan...most likely no sport interior, no leather, no LSD, no sport suspension.  At least it has bottlecaps!  It'll take a whole other car to make this into anything really fun.  I paid $700 for my (non-running) startlingly unmolested 318i with a near-spotless body but a bad diff.

Pop the last seven digits of the VIN into this site to see what the option sheet says:
http://www.rubmw.ru/vincode/eng/

Appearance doesn't matter a whole lot to me, but the paint is done and the rust you see might only be the tip of the  iceberg.  If the owner will let you, I'd also pull up both sides of the front  carpet to see if she has rust issues.   I've seen a few e30s with  good-sized holes on the firewall under the a-pillars.  The front frame  boxes and rockers are also prone to get improperly jacked & slowly  rust as well.

The biggest deal for me on the M42 is worn cam gears and tensioner issues.  I'd recommend pulling the head cover (careful, those little bolts strip out easily) and checking for nice flat gears.  Pointy ones are bad (tensioner and/or chain rails are shot) and the whole deal will need replaced.  That's almost $700 last time I checked.

Ask when the coolant/pump/radiator/expansion tank was last replaced.  Offer less if they can't prove they've been replaced at least every 100k miles.  They're expendable items according to BMW - though reasonably priced they're still not that cheap.

The alignment is likely just worn tie rods or front CABs.  If you're fixing that I'd do the control arms as well, of course.  Factor in about $300 to replace them with Meyle or Lemfoerder.  I deleted my P/S pump & A/C never works.  It's r12 anyway.

You took it out for a good drive?  The rough idle is likely just hose leaks, but it could also be (in order of rough expense & work):
ICV
O2 sensor
clogged injectors
AFM

$1200 isn't a bad price, just IMHO a bit high.  I'd suggest that you're a big BMW fan, looking to make this into a keeper.  Maybe promise the PO that if s/he knocks a few hundred off, you'll let her/him drive it again...once it's back in prime condition.

Let us know how you make out!