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Thread: Is a BMW 325e a good first car?

  1. #1
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    Is a BMW 325e a good first car?

    I heard that getting parts for the car is expensive. I wanna get the car for when I turn 16 in a few months and my neighbor has one in his yard with the "for sale" sign on it I think it's a 1988 and he said he'll sell it for $2,500 because nobody has really asked about it and it's been sitting there for a year. If it's hard to fix I guess I'll just get a Honda Civic, I just like the way the BMW looks, and I guess I can take auto shop in my high school next year, because I don't know anything about cars.

  2. #2
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    323i E30 is offline ⅂!ʈө !ƨ l!ʞө ɐ ʇөlөbµouө
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    Welcome!
    I think it's a very good first car. I don't think that there is such a thing as an '88 325e though, so I bet it's a year or two older than that.
    If you buy it: be sure to have someone change the timing belt as soon as possible. Your engine is destroyed if it snaps and it needs to be changed every 5 years or 60k miles. That's a crucial thing.
    Little warning from experience: sellers tend to bend the truth about the last change of it a bit, so don't always just take someones word on it...! :/

    Read through this thread a bit: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...0-buyers-guide
    Also, check the E30 sub of this site: http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/fo...983-1991-(E30)
    ^ true story



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  3. #3
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    Thanks!

  4. #4
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    There was an '88 e, or eta. For what its worth, that's the more desirable year for the eta.

    I think it would be a great first car. I had an 88 3 series as my first and I never had problems. They're fairly reliable and really really easy to work on. Because it's an inline six and not a v-6, there's a lot of room in the engine bay. Just about everything is easy to reach and won't have a ton of stuff blocking it. I had a 1993 Civic and some things were a pain to work on as the engine layout cause a lot of things to be blocked.

    If its in good condition, $2,500 is a good deal. That said, it's been sitting around for a year. Time to work on your negotiating skills and ask for a reasonable but lower offer. Just be sure to lie to everyone about what you actually paid like everyone else does.

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  5. #5
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    Goto http://www.bmwarchive.org/vin/bmw-vin-decoder.html to check out the car. You'll need the last 7 characters of the car's VIN.

    I had an '85 325e for 15 years. Other than having to have the cam belt, etc. changed every 4 years it was a great car. It's very simple to work on. See if you can find s Bentley manual so you can work on it intelligently. There's one for sale on eBay: http://m.ebay.com/itm/371236724809?nav=SEARCH.

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    So refreshing to see a thread that's not from a 16 y.o. with 35k of parent's money wanting to buy an M.

    I think I'm getting old.
    Not so much a signature as a cry for help.

    Hold on, saw this in a cartoon once...think I can pull it off.

  7. #7
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    I had an '88 325i for my first car. Taught me tons, and gave me an appreciation for doing things myself and taking a different path which I still have to this day. I also have the car to this day! I'd say go for it, you'll be able to learn on one of the better chassis ever made, and no electronic nannies to save you from poor driving--you'll learn the limits of your abilities that way.

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    Would it be easy to lower the suspension on this car? And are the repairs as costly as I hear a lot of people talk about.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by ODK View Post
    Would it be easy to lower the suspension on this car? And are the repairs as costly as I hear a lot of people talk about.
    Yes, sky is the limit when it comes to suspension modifications on an e30.

    The repairs are no more or less costly than on any other car: just keep in mind that it is 27 years old, so stuff will break a lot more than you'd like for it to. My advice would be to learn how to do the basics yourself if you don't already know how to ... it's a simple car, and everything that could possibly need doing has been documented on this forum and internet in general. You just have to be willing to get dirty to save a few hundred bucks every once in a while.

    ps. It is a great first car as others said.

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    Does anyone also know if it's hard to work on this car, because I don't know anything about working on cars? I was thinking about buying a mini bike for the time being and put it together myself and work on it myself to get a feel for working on cars.

  11. #11
    323i E30's Avatar
    323i E30 is offline ⅂!ʈө !ƨ l!ʞө ɐ ʇөlөbµouө
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    It's a relatively easy car to work on, and quite well documented on the internet.
    Would be perfect if you have a buddy who knows his/her way with cars.
    ^ true story



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  12. #12
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    It's a good choice if you want to work on it yourself or if you have enough cash flow to find and pay a knowledgeable mechanic. It's simple and there is a huge community to support you, as you can see on this board. The E30 is one of BMW's best products.

    It will probably need a lot of work if it hasn't been consistently maintained all these many years. With my Dad Hat on: no way would I let my teenager drive a car that doesn't have stability control and airbags. Also, get thee to a Street Survival course. This is driver's ed the way it should be done.

    http://streetsurvival.org/

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