1991 BMW 325e Q's - BMW Forum

Richardo · 02-02-2009, 10:29 PM

Hey guys, let me start off by saying I'm very new to all cars in general. I saw a 1991 325e on craigslist the other day for $1,000 OBO. I took a look at the car the other day and it looked okay. It started fine and ran fine. I wanted to get some opinions before I make the decision to purchase it. Also, my Dad is pretty good with cars and knows what to look for when purchasing a used car, so I'm not going into this totally unknowledgable.

The BMW needs new paint and possibly some other small things. I just wanted to see if you guys could help me answer some of these questions:

1. I drive an 04' Tacoma right now and it's fine. However, I have the cash for this and I'm looking for something new. Will this be a smart buy even though I have the Tacoma?

2. Reliability. What should I expect? Will this depend on how I treat the car and whatnot? The owner of the car says it only has 10,000 miles. I find that very hard to believe though.

3. Is there anything I should look for when I go check the car out? Something that I wouldn't normally look for?

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Rich

silversled · 02-02-2009, 10:50 PM

I would say that a 1991 325e with 10K miles on it for $1000 is total bullcrap....think about...a 1991 BMW 325e with 10,000 miles on it for $1000.
Think about that for a few minutes...does that make sense to you?

witeshark · 02-02-2009, 11:04 PM

See if you can get service records...

Richardo · 02-02-2009, 11:04 PM

I agree with you 100%. Even if the car had 100,000 or more miles on it would it still be worth buying though?

silversled · 02-03-2009, 08:42 PM

yeah that would be a deal even with 100K miles on it if it seems fine to you.
I would really question the mileage claim, just for shits and giggles, cause I would like to hear the explanation on that one but it really doesn't matter if you are a seasoned BMW used car buyer and know what you are looking for.
There is no way to disguise operational issues with an artificially low odometer reading unless you are dealing with a rube. If the car is running well (and I would insist upon starting it dead cold and then running it for at least a half hour under various conditions) I would expect it to last a good long time. Hell, I have a 1988 325iC that I bought in 1999 that had 72K on it and now has 175K and I have beaten the crap out it in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and California not to mention Las Vegas. It does NOT leak a drop of oil between changes and is a pure champion. The wife and I refuse to give him up...still starts and runs at -10 degrees...the cars is just a bitch..so, as you can tell, I whole heartedly endorse BMWs...