I'm going to check out an 83 BMW 320i with 150k miles later today to use as a winter beater car. Any advice on what areas these had issues with? The ad '83 BMW 320i FS: economical fun!
I had an 84 318 that was a great car. My 86 535 ended up having a lot of rust problems on the rocker panels once I move to Columbus.
I hope you are planning on winter tires. Don't know much about those cars other than BMW stands for Break My Wallet. :wink:
Rust, bushing play, valve noise, rust, sagging headliner, accessory belts... oh yeah, and rust. E30's are a hoot. Huge greenhouse, upright seating position, and fantastic steering. This was the last model BMW designed before CAD. They figured out how strong a part had to be, and made it three times as strong. Here's the cool E30 forum: Welcome to R3Vlimited.com
I passed...to many non disclosed issues. Still looking. Thinking Jeep Cherokee or other 4wd type SUV. Would be good to have something that can haul tires with. It's tough in the MINI with a roll hoop in there.
I vote for the Cherokee... you can get one pretty cheap, and you can't beat the straight 6 in those things... they last forever. And they are great in the snow. Plus I know someone who has a great parts hook-up with Jeeps :ihih:
Had no issues with my '97 Cherokee... put just shy of 100k on it before I moved on to an '05 Subaru Impreza. Sold the Jeep to my nephew who beat the heck out of for a few months before someone ran a red light and totalled it. I never had any problems outside of standard maintenance; clutch went on my nephew (throw out bearing, specifically) and he was having some sort of cooling system issue around the time of the accident, but I don't know if either of those things are actual issues to look for or the results of a 19 year old learning stick for the first time. Also note that an older Subaru might be an option for a winter beater with tire hauling capability.
I had a '94 with the 4.0L. It was great, low maintenance, till it rolled over 110,000 miles. Then everything went to hell. The transfer case gave up, and the front end developed a horrible vibration that I couldn't get rid of. I think they call it the Death Wobble.
Smart move to pass and look for a 4X4. Wondering why you were considering it in the first place. Most people do the reverse, go from a RWD to a FWD vehicle in the winter