bmw e36 connaisseurs wanted

[ripper46]

I'm planning on buying a bmw e36 318is that ive come across,

year:1995
km : 192000
options: everything you can imagine , nearly full option
1 owner from new
full service history..

I'm a bit sceptic because a car with this spec is still worth 6000 eur according to autoweek.nl's value-calculating tool, does anyone spot a catch, or any advice with this model? and can anyone perhaps provide some explanation with chassis codes(usefull to check the authenticity of the car and ad)?, because I can't find this on the net.

btw. Are there by any chance some belgian e36 connaiseurs around here?

[Clivey]

I wouldn't buy a car with that many miles on it - unless it was a classic and no other was available with lower mileage. On the third picture of the car you show, I can see black tape holding the front left indicator light assembly in. Having said that, the rest of the car LOOKS to be in good condition.

My advice would be to find one that's done less mileage though. You don't necessarily want the car with the highest level of specification, you want the one that's been looked after, not tatty and not going to fall apart (especially mechanically)...

...I'm not particularly knowledgeable about the E36, but I do regard myself as a bit of a car connoisseur (that's how you spell it by the way ) in general. I'm sure you could find one with less mileage (an inspection would tell you if the car's mechanically sound, and it may have worn it's miles well so it may still be worth a look. Just be careful).

By the way, you didn't say what your budget is and how much that particular car is selling for. Only that it's worth €6,000...

[ripper46]

right , sorry it was 4000 eur, and i saw the black tapy thing, but if thats the only thing thats wrong with it .... that isnt so bad, I said I was sceptikal , but I also know that these bmw's can easyly run 300000 kms, and if the full service history is clean and the car passes some technical tests ...

I'm still not sure , with the price and all....

[ripper46]

"If the car passes some technical tests "

[henk4]

check for blue smoke on the overrun...

[chris98891]

take it for a spin, check the paint and inside the hood on the fenders to check for wrecks, and was it serviced at a bmw dealer? if it wasnt i would make sure that owner was trustworthy

[Kooper]

Also, by far the best specimens of E36 would be the run-out models of 1998 and 1999 (depending on when your country's supplies depleted).

These had most if not all of the common bugs sorted out & were extremely high specced.

If you can't find a sample meeting the above though, it should be fine. Just as chris98891 said, make sure of it's history.

Something else that'll give you a good indication (might sound silly) is to check the pedals. Generally, the more worn they are, the more worn the mechanicals will be. Especially true if the car hasn't been properly serviced.

[pimento]

If it has a full service history you should be able to ask about it where it's been serviced.