[big z]

the car has 139000 miles how many miles do you think i could get out of this engine. my friend said ill have to replace it real soon.

 

[witeshark]

See if you can find the service history. If it's good, the engine may be nearly as good as new.

 

[big z]

i dont think he has the service history cause the dealership bought it from an auction

 

[araidian]

the car has 139000 miles how many miles do you think i could get out of this engine. my friend said ill have to replace it real soon.

As soon as i saw your post i just had to sign up an account to reply to it

I have a BMW E30 318i and it was made in 1989, most of the people would consider it a lesser BMW due to it's 1.8L M40 engine, and mine has the silly cloth seats that have seemed to have pretty much fallen apart from age and ware, when i got it i serviced it and it needed about $700 of work done to get it ready for a roadworthy. and have since had to replace the clutch slave cylinder which cost me $45 and $80 to have someone install as i don't have the or resources to fix it my self keep in mind i am in australia so my prices will be in australian

When i got the car the oil was quit dirty so i did a full service replaced plugs and all filters, and even drained the gearbox and differential and replaced all fluids i.e. power steering, and water + coolant + oil.

I also had to modify a set of leads for it as it seems to have some kind of ring on the 4th lead? so i purchased a set of NGK leads for aprox $60 cant remember the exact price because it was a while ago, while the original BMW ones were $300. Anyways i un-crimped the 4th lead on the new set and cut the little black round thing off the old lead and slipped it back together and and re-crimped it, and its run like a dream ever since.I have also had a pull a few panels out of the dash and push in a few light bulbs because they had come loose and didn't have some dash lights at night, and the electric ariel doesn't go up and down and will cost me $140 to replace or $75 for a new areal mast, i have just discovered that my rear breaks are shot which is partly my fault for not double checking when the mechanic said that they were fine and partly because I'm not very good at keeping the linings on my breaks lol

But all of this had to be done due to its age and milage and my paranoia as the car was purchased for $800 from our local car dealership, it has done the last time i was looking at it 310,000Ks ( 192,625.1 Miles ) it was sitting under a tree covered in leaves looking sad and lonely lol. it wasn't sold with registration so i had to redo all that so i guess the total purchase cost was around $2500 all up. And i love it .. it drives perfectly and compared to our other car it's not even in the same league, and it was made in 2000!

Even with it's shot suspension it doesn't wander on the road or play up at all and drives perfectly straight. and if i want to it would take corners sideways overtake big trucks at warp speed and get me charged by the police who are currently enforcing hoon laws and that is with out any modifications to the engine internally.

it is truly an experience to drive and to be honest it's never let me down even when the clutch slave cylinder buggered up, i was about an hour away from home and i borrowed some break fluid, filled it up drove home and it crunched once when i got to my driveway.

So would i recommend one ? absolutely are they expensive to maintain ? not if you find the right places to get your bits from. dealers = expensive and don't seem to be that bad on fuel. I haven't found that many cars that i cant keep up with it in so as far as being gutless. I don't have any issue with it, i mean I'm not going to take it to a track anytime soon but it's just to drive around and get me to work and stuff it's 100% fine for that.

I"m looking to put some nice wheels on it at some point and fix the suspension and maybe if i get rich, fix the paint up a bit, And maybe lower it, and that's it leave the rest stock and i cant foresee it blowing up any time soon, A mechanic at one of the bmw places i get my bits from said if i looked after it i would get as many miles again out of it. As long as you maintain it know a bit about the pit falls of buying second had cars i don't think it would matter what model BMW you end up with, it's probably going to be a good car, keep in mind that the older the model the harder parts become and more costly stick with the popular models and you wont have an issue with any of them.



Peace.

 

[big z]

thanks for the info man. im lookin at a 2000 328ci

 

[BimmerE39]

You shouldn't have a problem as long as the car has been maintained properly. On the M52 engine a few key areas to look at are VANOS failure and the cooling system is sub par (particularly the radiator and the water pump). E46's also have weak rear sub frames so check for one of two things..

1) Cracks around the sub-frame mounts
2) welding of reinforcement plates

Some E46's have had their subframes reinforced due to failure or as preventative maintenance. Either way, this is usually an issue on cars which are driven hard and is most common on cars with manual transmissions.

 

[big z]

you seem to know a good bit about bmws... the one im lookin at is goin to be a rebuild. it need a need windshield hood left fender and left headlight cosmeticly. the salesmen said it starts but soon shuts off he thinks its the security system, safety switch or the encoding on the key, another guy thinks its the fuel pump.
any ideas?

 

[BimmerE39]

You can say I've spent a fair amount of time under the hood of a BMW. First let me ask, was this car involved in an accident of some sort?

If it was the security system in the car, I can tell you for a fact it would not start. This is especially true if the ignition has been messed with in some way. The car needs to encoded key to start and if the system was tampered with in anyway the car will not start.

If the car was involved in an accident, it could possibly be the safety switch but once again I don't think the car would be able to start if the safety switch has been activated.

The fuel pump sounds like a better possibility, however I have not personally suffered from this kind of issue so I'm not totally sure on that matter.

Personally, this car sounds like a headache already and replacing the front windshield, front fender, and headlight will not be cheap. The engine issue can be something simple but it can also be something that turns into a headache. If this is a fuel delivery issue like I suspect it might be, you can go from replacing the fuel pump, to injectors, to the actual fuel rail and still not find a permanent fix.

I suggest spending a little more money and buying a car that's functioning properly and is in one piece. It might cost more but it's going to save you a huge headache and probably be cheaper to own down the road. It's just my $.02. Best of luck! :thumbs

 

[big z]

ya it was in an accident it looks like he hit a dear

 

[BimmerE39]

Okay, did the airbags deploy as well in the accident?

 

[big z]

deer*

 

[big z]

nope good bags

 

[BimmerE39]

I was wondering about the safety switch because I'm pretty sure it is disabled when air bags deploy but in this case I don't think it's the issue. I'm going to stick with a fuel supply issue.

 

[big z]

ok thanks man

 

[dcuse32]

Biz Z, like bimmere39 said, the vanos is a all to common problem with these cars. I bought my 200 328ci two years ago and has had problem with it ever since. I have a fault code reader from bavauto.com and it kept telling me it was a camshaft sensor on the intake side. After three sensors i ask a BMW mechanic from Germany and he told me it the vanos. in this model the seals go bad quick. His recomendation is a replacemnt kit @ this website
Beisan Systems - Products
Or he said if you want a guy who sells refurbished ones withhave upgraded seals go to
DrVanos.com

 

[big z]

thanks man