02 330CIC Pre-purchase inspection advice

[jbos]

All,

I'm looking into buying my 4th BMW, a 2002 330CI vert with a 5 speed manny tranny, 110K. Others were 87 325i, 94 530iT, and 95 540i6. I have driven the car and noticed no real issues, mechanically. There are some routine maintenance records. The mechanic says that I can join him for the inspection while the car is up on the lift. I've wrenched on all my other cars, the most extensive being a one man diff swap on my 540i6. I'm comfortable with judging the general condition of components but was wondering if there was anything that is particular to this car that I should look for.

I read in one of the posts that someone said it common to experience a rear subframe failure. Is this true? I've been reading as many threads as I can, but was looking for a general punch list of items to look for.

It's not that I don't trust my PPI mechanic, It just never hurts to have a second set of eyes.

Thanks in advance.

[MarcoZandrini]

The rear subframe tearing the sheet metal isn't really all that common. But you do need to inspect for it. What do the car's maintenance records look like? That's critical IMVHO.