Long Road Trip

[Xtrmfisher]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum. I have a 1988 325. (I've owned it for almost 1 year) It just turned over 156K. I'm thinking about taking it on a road trip from Virginia to Florida. About 750 miles one way. The car runs great. I just had the oil changed. The only trouble I've had from it was the brakes/rotors which I have replaced. Do you think I should be worried about taking a car with that many miles that far? Are the older E30's generally reliable on long trips? Any suggestions on things I should check before I get on the road?

Thanks in advance!!

Logan

[schilke]

First off

Secondly, you are only about half way through the life of your car!

I'm running regularly between CHicago, Fort Wayne and Pittsburgh (220 to Chi, 350 to Pgh) all with 176K on mine.

You have to know your car. Even a new car can take a crap on you.

How well do you know it? If you don't think it's a good idea, don't take it. If you do, then go ahead.

I can't guarantee you won't have a problem, but I can guarantee that if you take your bimmer, you'll definately have more fun!!

[Aether]

He's absolutely right.
That's actually one of the newer E30s, and as long as you treat them decently, they'll last well over 200,000 miles, possibly 300. If you've had it for a year, I'm sure you've heard about the timing belt (if it's a 2.7L, which I assume it is, because the 325 has the same engine as the 325e and 325es - it's the i and is that have the B25). If that's all been taken care of, and it's running well as you say, then go for it. If it's got a history for sudden problems, leave it.

Ought to be fine.
Have fun.

[spiff325is]

exactly, its always good to, right before you leave, you check oil and coolant levels, your brakes shoul dbe fine, even if there was a big prob, your not on your brakes teh whole time while you are driving are you? so I think that you will have no trouble at all.

[Xtrmfisher]

It's a 2.7L. I work for an insurance company and when I type in the VIN it comes up as a 325e...but on the car it just says 325?? What is the difference. Also, do you know what the E/ES/I/IS stand for. I'm real curious.

The only major work I know that has been done to the car was the transmission was replaced about 2 years ago. I have the receipt. It was close to $2,000. The car shifts smoothly. The timing belt was changed at 140K per the sticker under the hood. The car never overheats, the engines runs smooth, and it's got lots of power.

This is the 3rd BMW I have owned. In high school I had a Henna Red 1984 318I. It had 178k on it. I hated the color of that car basically because it looked Orange. People loved to pick on it. LOL. My second one was a 1996 318I in dark blue. I traded it for an SUV to take fishing and up in the mountains, etc. I still have the SUV but bought the BMW to drive back and forth to work because it is a lot better on gas. (Also because I miss my 1996).

One thing I forgot to mention, the brake lining light never goes off in the car. Also, very sporadically, the check engine light will come on and then go off. I took it to an authorized BMW dealer, but they said there's not a problem. Do you think it could just be the battery in the dash?

Logan

[Xtrmfisher]

Oh, I forgot. About the brakes....The 2 front rotors were bad when I bought the car. The lady I bought it from told me that up front. I knew I was going to have to replace them sooner or later. I try to be easy on them when I am driving.

Logan

[Bmw1990]

You can do the brakes pretty easily urself, if u have the money it won't be that bad unless the calipers are bad.

Also if the car is good enough to go on the trip, its always good to take it on the highway to cleanse the engine, and get it runnin at higher rpm's

[Aether]

The dash battery is pretty good at going berserk.
That's also something you can replace yourself.

The 325 is basically the same thing as a 325e, but with fewer standard options. I'm not sure what those would have been, but they're mechanically the same car, when you pay for the options, like the LSD. The E stands for the greek character Eta, which in turn stands for efficiency. That's why the 325e has all of its low-end torque and low redline. The S that accompanies either the I or E simply means that the car has two doors; the I is just a cool letter that denotes the 2.5-liter engine. Despite its shorter stroke, the B25 produces almost fifty more horsepower and almost the same amount of torque as your B27. It does that because it has a much higher redline, something like 6500.

I would like to have had an i, were I not a poor student who can's pay for the insurance and the gas.

[Xtrmfisher]

I already had my dad replace the brakes/rotors. He's good at working on cars.