E30 Zone

One of my mates is looking at buying a 2000 V plate 318ci - apart from rusty front wings is there any other specific problem areas with these turds ?

Its up for £2k, 2 owners, 85K with full history and looks very straight and unmolested.

Done a quick autotrader search and the price seems about right based on the condition and mileage.

I won't get chance to go and see it with him myself but if theres anything else I need to tell him to specifically look for that would be helpful

Cheers

A 2000 V Plate will have the 8V M43 donk. A very good engine, chain driven, simple to work on but prone to the odd head gasket (they usually go around 100K). Not as quick or frugal as the later 16V valvetronic engine but far cheaper and easier to repair.

Wings can rot as can the rear arches, especially above where the rear bumper joins. Door rubbers split and are very expensive to replace (£250 per side!) and can result in excessive road noise if they're in bad nick. Air-con can be problematic in old age - hedgehog resistor is a common fault - so make sure it blows ice cold and functions as it should. Snapped springs sometimes occur and front control arms are a common casualty. Door handles can break. Early E46 coupes had the well documented subframe issues but this mainly affected the 323i & 328i.

A decent one is a nice and economical modern daily driver.

Cheers for that - covered all the main points then I think - managed to find a buyers guide in an old Total BMW that covers most things.

I'd forgot about the boot floor issues

He's going to see it tonight - sounds like a good one but then they all do on the phone !

he can have mine for 2k, 52 plate 2002 110k 3 owners, and no rust at all

i will try and get pics up of mine i bought a 2000 V 323ci for £450 with no t&t

tommy22 wrote:i will try and get pics up of mine i bought a 2000 V 323ci for £450 with no t&t

There's always one

The only possible way a £450 E46 will not be absolutely hanging is if whoever you bought ( Stole ) it off had no idea what it was worth.

So which is it ?

e30topless wrote:he can have mine for 2k, 52 plate 2002 110k 3 owners, and no rust at all

Very nice steve but the deals already been done - havent seen it yet but he called me last night and said he's checked all the bits I told him to check and there are no issues - very straight, everything works ( even the aircon ), drives perfect with no knocks, rattles or clonks, no rust on the wings or rear arches, full BMW history, matching good quality tyres and loads of MOT left on it.

Only thing he could fault it on was a small parking scuff on the front bumper

Sounds a good-un!

Good. You really didn't want a valvetronic one - they're just bad news at this age.

Make sure you get the arch liners out and waxoyl the wings!