316/318 buying Advice

[wanta996]

I am looking to purchase a 2001 316se for my nephew,50k miles, standard spec i suspect, £6k. Question is? What should i look out for in BMWs, never really owned an older model for a long time so i am not sure what may or may not go wrong with them.

Eg, Owned Various Rovers - All had Head Gasket Failure
Lotus Elise - Rover K series engine so again Head Gasket Failure
Mercedes SLk/Eclass - No real issues apart from gremlins in the electrics,car going into safe mode,intermittent fault codes appearing & disapearing.

Just about to buy a 911 and there big problem seems to be RMS - Rear Main Seal leaks which can be a £5-10k job.

Any advice would be gratefull.

[CommanderJameson]

Avoid the 316. It's hopelessly gutless. Get a 6-cylinder if at all possible.

[MazDave]

My wife has a 316i SE Compact - Sept 2000 which is the 1.9 8v engine. It does the job and is nice enough to drive. It's done less than 40,000 miles and the only things that have gone wrong are the passenger seat occupant pad (that tells the airbag what to do) and a seatbelt pre-tensioner. Neither were particularly expensive to fix though we do use an independant service outlet rather than the main dealer.

Only other thing that seems odd is it seems prone to stone chipping on the screen and around the front fog lights. Other than that it's very solid and wears it's age very well.

Dave

[wanta996]

Cheers, its for a 17 year old so insurance plays a big factor on it being a 316 or at a push a 318. They just seem to look like bargains at these prices, was just wary because his other option on an Alfa 156 was shot down on various forums as being a nightmare which i guess explains 2003/04 models going for £5-6K.

[ju6121]

hi

im selling my e46 318 bmw if you're interested (not sure if im allowed to mention it in forums though!) black with grey leather, mint condition w plate

Josh

[ju6121]

or failing that, watch out for coolant tanks leaks- check the engine bay for any signs of a leak. Also make sure the electric windows work properly and smoothly, my mates car had both of his window motors fail in his 316. Other than that they are pretty much as reliable as anything in that price bracket