Should I buy this E36 BMW?

[Vicked]

Hey Everyone

I'm from Australia and looking for my next car (currently got a 90 Nissan 300ZX).

My first ever car was a 1984 E30 323i 2 door coupe, I loved that car.

I am looking at a 1998 E36 323i which is available for an excellent price.

I have posted some pics, the car has sports exhaust/suspension, low kilometres (miles), full service history at a BMW dealer, colour coded, white lights, 18" rims.

I can afford to get this car or spend a little more and get an E46 318i possibly without leather.

Do you recommend the 323i E36 over the E46 318i? My thinking is that the 323i has more extras, larger engine and is generally a higher spec car?

Hope I can rejoin the rank of BMW owners soon!

[Daved]

The E46 318 is a 4 cyl, the E36 323i is 6 cyl...

I would never go with a 4 cyl if I could get a 6 cyl but that's just me.

[Lavalamp]

how bout you tell us how much you can get it for and then we'll let you know if it's worth it.

[Vicked]

OK.

In US$ it would be about $16000.

In terms of what is for sale in Australia it is a very good price.

[Lavalamp]

i don't know anything about the australian auto market, but i would never spend $16k on that car.

[Vicked]

Unfortunately the US market is larger than the Australian market and therefore has lower prices.

This is actually one of the cheaper 98 323's available, it is also on the other side of the country to me. Would you believe that the cheapest comparable 323 near me is a 97 which has twice as many miles and is going for US$19000.

Also the lowest spec 98 E46 318i (no leather etc) would not go for less than US$19000 unless it had ridiculously high miles.

[neal1st]

why dont you buy one from america and have it shipped to you on a boat?

[Vicked]

Well, I think the shipping from America would be quite expensive.

Then I would have 2 options:

1) Register it in Australia as a Left Hand Drive vehicle (difficult to drive a left hand drive car over here, and I think its a tricky process to register it as well).
2) Convert it to Right Hand Drive (big $$$).

It's a pain in the a$$ that we drive on different sides of the road.

[Lavalamp]

i think you mixed up rhd and lhd.

[Vicked]

woops

Fixed now :)

[hc1001]

which body style do u like more?

i would say save up for a 6 cylinder e46 unless u dont mind the e36.

[Vicked]

I like the body style of the E46 more, but it is out of my budget at the moment.

If I buy the E36 I will sell it in a year and buy and E46.

It's not that I can't afford an E46, I have set a budget for my new car and a list of things I want.

One of which is leather, and an E46 with leather does not fall under my budget.

[Robert]

If you can't afford a good one, car jack someone in the US and ship it over to your place. Free car, just pay shipping..

hc1001 has some nice cars, just get his addy :D