i currently own a '94 STS, but my birthdays coming up and i'm thinking of buying myself a bmw as well.
i don't have much of a budget, probably around $3000 - $4000 (and i'm talking canadian dollars). i'm currently looking at some 318i's from around '92 - '94. the thing is though, i want to go into this knowing i'm making an educated decision, so i'd like to get some feedback first - not even on that model or year specifically, but bmw in general.
i'm asking you guys becaused i want varied opinions.. i don't feel like only hearing from a bunch of bimmer fanboys.
and i gotta admit i was leaning more towards a benz, but found i'd have to spend about double my budget to find something with the look i want.
Well with only $3000-$4000 bucks, you won't get a mint condition BMW. I bought mine a few months ago, and it thoroughly lives up to its name "The Ultimate Driving Machine". With your budget, however, I wouldn't look at BMW maybe a Toyota?
while the 318 is much more affordable, sounds like going for the 2.5 is worth the extra dough.
jesda, you say go for 94 or newer - do you know if there's much difference in the older 325's, maybe 93 or 92?
speedy, i think i'm going to push my budget somewhat. however i will be waiting a lil while before i buy anything, so i'm gonna wait to see if anything comes along, and if so, i'll jump on it no matter what. as far as toyotas go, yea they're reliable, but i'd like to get something sexier and more luxurious. the celicas are nice i guess.. but nah. we do own a 4runner though, and it works well with all the snow that's coming.
danbuc.. haha i think i'm gonna wait on that,
playdrv4me, the convertibles are sexy, especially hardtops, if i find one i can afford i can guarantee you i'm gonna snatch it up.
while the 318 is much more affordable, sounds like going for the 2.5 is worth the extra dough.
jesda, you say go for 94 or newer - do you know if there's much difference in the older 325's, maybe 93 or 92?
speedy, i think i'm going to push my budget somewhat. however i will be waiting a lil while before i buy anything, so i'm gonna wait to see if anything comes along, and if so, i'll jump on it no matter what. as far as toyotas go, yea they're reliable, but i'd like to get something sexier and more luxurious. the celicas are nice i guess.. but nah. we do own a 4runner though, and it works well with all the snow that's coming.
danbuc.. haha i think i'm gonna wait on that,
playdrv4me, the convertibles are sexy, especially hardtops, if i find one i can afford i can guarantee you i'm gonna snatch it up.
Their is not much difference between the 92 and 93 BMW 3 Series. I do know that in 1993 the 325i got VANOS, other then that the cars are identical inside and out. I knew a guy who had a 1992 325i and it was dead reliable, it did not even have the electrical issues that are common to German cars.
If you go topless, the convertible 3-series did not get the new body style until 1994. The 318 will constantly remind you that you paid less, and with used car prices the way they are, it wont be much less. Expect to pay maybe $600-$1200 more for the inline 6.
Acceleration in the 318 convertible is quite poor, since 138hp is asked to move nearly 3400lbs of mass. On the other hand, the sedan and coupe are surprisingly light at 2900lbs, so depending on what youre used to, the 318 with a roof might be fine.
Have you ever thought about importing a vehicle from the US? That's what I did with my last two vehicles. The paperwork and hoops are annoying, and the RIV is filled with idiots, but it saved me $1000 the first time and $2000 the second time. BTW that's including all the fees and repair costs involved with bringing them over. You would have to pay more of a fee than I did because you want a car manufactured outside of Canada or the US, but you would still save quite a bit.
In my opinion, cars are overpriced here in Canada. I have a 93 escort with a BB value of about $800 US. I see cars similar to mine in the Windsor Star for triple that.
If you can catch a ferry to NY or something like that, you might be better off taking your money over there. You could stretch that $3500 CAN quite a bit farther.:thumbsup:
But back to before... Take a 540i Sport for a drive. Or any e39 5 series. They are very impressive. A 528i or 530i will make a total joke out of a stock CTS around a track OR road course.
Did you know that your car uses IRON as the cylinder wall? It will actually have to be MACHINED if the engine's rebuilt, because friction causes erosion leading to a ridge forming at the top of the cylinder. My BMWs use Alusil, which is a silicon composite with the thermal and friction characteristics of GLASS! You can take apart my engine at 200000 miles and there will be no measurable wear in the cylinder wall, or to the rings. Want to hazard a guess of which engine will still be running in 200000 miles? My 5.4 or your 6.1? Hmmm.... Shouldn't be too hard.
If a 300 could compete with a BMW in any area outside of price, I think I'd submit my little cousin's finger paintings to go to the Louvre.
Seriously, I didn't appreciate BMW at first, I thought they were overpriced and the owners were snobbish bozos who didn't know jack sh!t. Once I got my first 740, I figured I would never own anything else. Now, another 740iL, and a 540i Sport later, and with my current 750iL, I know for sure. I'd rather have a 1979 635CSi than your SRT8. The only car from this counrty that competes with BMW even remotely closely is Cadillac, and I don't mean the CTS. Its interior quality sucks almost as bad as your car. If you don't think the 300's interior sucks, sit in the back seat of one for 5 minutes. Note that there's actually a difference in quality between the front and rear. That's crap. Total crap.
BMW are nice cars, just not $20,000 more nice. As for longevity, I seem to recall some M3's motors grenading as well so BMW is by no means infalable. As you can see below the American public agrees with me.
BMW, which last year introduced a new Three Series sedan, its "bread-and-butter" product, saw that model garner a 27 percent increase in sales, pushing its market share in the entry-level luxury-car segment to almost 15 percent, second only to the still-hugely-popular Chrysler 300.
Yeah, but that's what you get for trying to make an everyday motor that turns 9000 RPM. If people actually use it, sometimes it blows up. S2000 has the same problem. I've never seen a mechanical failure on one like my V12 though, or on a 4.4 V8 (except on the V8 where the idiot drove for a month with a low oil level message, then decided to drive the car 15 miles home after the "Low Oil Pressure Stop Now!" message appeared, and then posted asking if there was a way to revive his engine on Bimmerboards.)
Now I don't really like the M3's engine, but the problem HAS been fixed. It had to do with the way the crank was supported leading to crank walk and contact with the rod caps to other parts of the engine if I remember correctly. I don't like having to rev it that high to get power.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Cadillac Owners Forum
4.8M posts
369.7K members
Since 2002
Cadillac Forums is the perfect place to go to talk about your favorite Caddys including the ATS, CTS, SRX, Escalade, LYRIQ, Vistiq, concept and future Cadillac models.