Need advice on whether i should get a car or not.

[drewkubo]

Ok everybody so heres the deal. i'm in a position where i can get a 95 318i convt. for $2200. Seems great, no? But heres the bad:
- shifter bushings are bad
- rear end clunks (says its u joints)
- it has some rust
- 130k miles
- check engine light goes on and off
- and has huge tear in drivers seat
Probably hass some other issues as well, but I dont know for sure. Now me having never owned a BMW, but always have wanted one, dont know what to think of all this. So my question to you guys is. Would buying this car be a good or a bad idea? Any input would be much apreciated.

[flyfishvt]

I would not buy any e36 that has rust. Whatever you can see is only the tip of the iceberg. These cars are plentiful and cheap. Find another unless you can do your own body work and you can get the price down to at least 1500. Of all the things you listed the only one that would concern me is the rust. And maybe the clunk but that clunk. That clunk could be something as simple as U joints but it could be something much more expensive liike torn rear shock mounts or a bad dif or torn dif mounts.

You need to do some serious research on this and find specific causes for that noise....or walk away and find a better car.

[bmans]

My clunk in the rear was just a backed out front differential bolt - or so I thought when I first looked at it after the test drive. The bolt was indeed backed out and loose but further examination showed it had worn the hole in the differential case oblong with no more threads. I ended up getting a new differential from a recycler to get it together again.

Rust can be repaired for a couple years but it will come back.

[slocar]

Hold out for a better car.

Of the problems listed, the rear end clunk can be a lot of work to find and fix, but it's not too costly if you do it yourself, the rest of the stuff is fairly normal for the age of the car and is nothing you can't fix with a couple trips to the junkyards ... but the rust is the real killer. Once it starts rusting, it will always rust, no matter how well you fix it (sans completely stripping the car, media blasting everything, welding any holes, etc etc, but for a car worth 2-3 grand that's obviously not wise financially).

[Auto Parts Guy]

Like others have said, rust would make me walk away. The other issues more than likely, could be fixed fairly easily.

[Moron95M3]

pics of rust. that's -as stated- the deal breaker. I should never have bought my M3...it's rusty. (although i'll just swap chassis when I need to).

[Nohjoxu]

I would hold out, not worth it. Also, 318 is great, but when your in 4th and parallel to a Prius, you'll want a 328, just saying.

[stradguy93]

Im not seeing any positives about the car, find another.