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Thread: 1977 320i daily

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Los angeles
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    1
    My Cars
    2014 frs

    1977 320i daily

    My brother wants to sell me his yellow 320i it's a super clean yellow with beige interior, it has a automatic transmission. My question Is would this car be a reliable daily? I drive about 40 miles both ways. Any advice Is appreciated

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    DFW TX USA
    Posts
    1,447
    My Cars
    1983 320I, 1986 325E
    I daily drove a 1983 320i for over 3 years and put 25k miles on it. My car never stranded me because I knew how to work on it. If I had less mechanical knowledge, it would have stranded me on multiple occasions.

    It should be fine, but you will have 40 year old car problems. Wear items will need to be inspected, serviced, or replaced like wheel bearings, Center Support Bearings, bushings, tie rods, ball joints, belts, and etc for it to be truly reliable.
    Last edited by Thecatmilton; 05-12-2019 at 05:20 PM.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Elk Grove, CA
    Posts
    214
    My Cars
    1982 BMW 320is
    I’ve daily driven my 320is every since I restored it with my father. Four more weeks and it will get me through my undergrad career. They are more than reliable.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Houston, Tx
    Posts
    1,978
    My Cars
    '78 320i
    It all depends how much maintenance your brother has done. As others have said these are 40 year old cars. If it's behind maintenance, 75 mile round trips will cause issues to flare up quicker than a garage weekend toy.


    This being said they are fun little cars and it's worth your time

    I have had my e21 for 10 years. Started as a daily and now it's my garage queen
    Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by jaredmac11; 05-12-2019 at 07:28 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    Lake Arrowhead, CA
    Posts
    458
    My Cars
    75 BMW 2002, 82 320
    Other than what has been said above, drive and enjoy it. You are going to get lots of attention.

    Pictures?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Battle Ground, WA
    Posts
    294
    My Cars
    83 e21 82 E23 80 E12
    I wouldn't do it for a daily. Super fun cars but you better know general mechanics and have time to mess with them

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Sacramento, California
    Posts
    4,704
    My Cars
    1980 BMW 320i E21 M10B18

    Cool

    I have had mine as a Daily Driver since 1995,they do take some work and parts renewing , then they run forever..

    Randy

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Houston, Tx
    Posts
    1,978
    My Cars
    '78 320i
    For folks with Dailies.. did y'all sort out Kjet or swap it out or never really have issues? Kjet was why I wanted to go to an m42 but really my technical skills were lacking

    Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Chicago, IL,United States
    Posts
    252
    My Cars
    1977 BMW 320i
    I daily-drive my 77 with K-Jet, but only something like 12 miles per day, and only in the summer. I did go through most of the fuel system (new hard-lines, rebuilt the fuel distributor, new fuel pump, new accumulator) about a year and a half ago; having done that, I would say that is a "must" in if most of the fuel system is original. See also the FAQs with the list of stuff for a new owner - it seems like a lot of stuff, and it is a lot of stuff, but if you were to do all of those things then the car would be reliable for sure.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    DFW TX USA
    Posts
    1,447
    My Cars
    1983 320I, 1986 325E
    I daily drove it with Kjet doing all sorts of weird stuff. Sometimes it would idle fine. Most of the time, it either didn't idle or it surged. I got really good at pressing the gas pedal and the brake pedal simultaneously to keep it from dying. If it died while warm, chances are that I would need to tap the starter motor before it would start again. People loved it the few times that happened in traffic.

    Moving on to a jetta gli has been nice. I have A/C that can keep up with the sun and it idles. I need to repaint the engine bay in my 320i before I drop the new engine in. Once that happens I'll drive it more again.
    Last edited by Thecatmilton; 05-20-2019 at 01:42 AM.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Long Beach, CA
    Posts
    42
    My Cars
    1978 320I non-catalyst
    I drive my '78 daily right now. It is about 60 miles round trip from coastal Long Beach into the financial district of downtown LA and back.

    It has only left me stranded twice during the 2 1/2 years that I have been doing this. Once was due to the driveshaft center support giving out just as I got to work on day, and the other time was when the fuel pump fuse gave way.

    There has been much advice given on periodic "cleaning" of fuse contacts on this board, so there is no need for me to add to that. However, I must stress that the driveshaft center support is really easy to overlook.

    I still run K-Jet at this time. No complaints at this moment, but to be honest, it is the issue of emissions compliance that has largely prevented me from "changing up" a few things to improve performance.

    +1 to the issue of periodic maintenance. Since I basically do 99% of the work on my cars, I can attest to that.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Sacramento, California
    Posts
    4,704
    My Cars
    1980 BMW 320i E21 M10B18

    Cool

    Quote Originally Posted by jaredmac11 View Post
    For folks with Dailies.. did y'all sort out Kjet or swap it out or never really have issues? Kjet was why I wanted to go to an m42 but really my technical skills were lacking

    Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk
    Sorted it out, there has been issues yet worked thru them.

    Randy

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