Buying first BMW, need help

[waffenmacht]

Guys

Tonight I will be going to look at a local BMW 325i for sale. The car is black with a cream interior. It's a 1993 model, with 35,000 on the odomoter, 1 owner, carfax report is clean. However, it does have some wear/torn on the driver's seat near the lower "kidney" area. The question is, how can I tell if the mileage is correct? I was told the wear was due to alot of short trips with a fat guy behind the wheel. Also, what kind of fuel mileage can I expect from this car? It has an atuomatic tranny. Thanks in advance, -Bruce

[kc0433]

Guys

Tonight I will be going to look at a local BMW 325i for sale. The car is black with a cream interior. It's a 1993 model, with 35,000 on the odomoter, 1 owner, carfax report is clean. However, it does have some wear/torn on the driver's seat near the lower "kidney" area. The question is, how can I tell if the mileage is correct? I was told the wear was due to alot of short trips with a fat guy behind the wheel. Also, what kind of fuel mileage can I expect from this car? It has an atuomatic tranny. Thanks in advance, -Bruce

Generally the mileage will be reported to the DMV everytime the car is registered to a new owner; but since it's only 1 owner then I'm not positive how to tell. I believe there are some ways that the odometer can be reset, but you'll have to find that out from a more knowlegable person on here. Does the owner have the service records for it? If not, I would personally be weiry. Take it to a BMW mechanic and pay the price to have it checked out first...save yourself from a possible migraine later. As for the seats, it is a '93 (around 13 yrs old) and these models with leather are certainly going to show their age, especially if they were neglected somewhat. You should expect 18-22 city/ and around 27-30 on the highway I believe.

KC

[astor]

telling us the price will also give a good idea, and ask how long it's been for sale

[smokindav]

Don't buy an automatic.

[Speedshift]

It's hard to believe there would be any appreciable wear on the seat (leather?) with only 35K. Is there a flip-up arm rest - What shape is it in? I bought mine with 89,000 and the seats do not show much wear but the armrest has significant wear (checked leather) on the drivers side on the edge that is cutaway. What wear shows on the console buttons especially radio controls? The white paint is wearing off my station select buttons. The greyed-out rocker panels shouldn't be worn through to body color with so few miles I wouldn't think (unless it was washed a rediculous amount of times or has been painted).

Only an opinion, but I would really check it over carefully including a compression check. I found that buying an older car with low miles can be a mistake if it "sat" for long periods of time without following a few simple long-term storage steps. Thinks rust if the car isn't "excercised" regularly

[Speedshift]

meant to say...Things rust...

I agree with smokinday...autos are for girls (unless it's a 60's Mopar with a hemi-ha!)

[Speedshift]

oops - maybe you ARE a girl..sorry if that's the case!

[m3chaser]

hemi's are sick.... the 426 hemi was soooooo mean . the signs of wear in the interior would be tell tale signs that the mileage is inaccurate. let us know what the price is and it might make more sense of things. hope all goes well for ya

[waffenmacht]

Automatic is fine for such an underpowered car. This is just gonna be my nighttime driver when my daughter is riding with me. She's just 1 1/2 years old, so she rides in the back. If I need a manual tranny, I will take out the Viper. Truth is, I don't even drive it but one weekend a month, I'm not as young and dumb as I used to be. Anyway, the BMW I looked at was total junk. The odometer read 31K, but it mush have had over 200K on the car. It was nasty inside and out. Looked like it had been repainted with a spray can. The interior was all piled up in the floor boards. Its unfortunate the seller listed the car as if it were garage kept. This was a totally wasted trip. Well, my search goes on.....Thanks for the above help guys.

[camiloteram]

..for such an underpowered car...

UnderPowered!??!

wtf now i feel like looking at e46 on autotrader.

[waffenmacht]

What I mean by underpowered is this: Sure the car is a nice ride and will get me from point a to point b. Exactly why I am buying a BMW. But compared with my 95 Viper, 425 hp + 100 hp Nos, it is underpowered. Now I can surely appreciate why I would want to keep the manual tranny on the viper. But for what I am using the BMW for, and auto will be just what I need. I expect this car to be very similar in power to my 01 Passat. We will see.