1995 325i good for beginners?

[aeroes]

Greetings!

Im on search for a good reliable car, Im a new driver so Im hoping to get a reliable and not hard to maintain. I was looking at a 1995 BMW 325i.

Priced: 12,0000K

Specs:
Engine : 2.5L
Warranty : Available
Body : Sedan
Transmission : Automatic
Cylinder : 6
Fuel : Gas
Drive : RWD
Doors : 4
Passenger : 5
Interior Color : Black
Exterior Color : Light Green
Options : Air Conditioning, AM/FM Stereo, Anti-Starter, Cassette, Driver Air Bag, Dual Air Bag, Rear Defroster, Intermittent Wipers, Anti-Lock Brakes, Alloy Wheels, Heated Mirrors, Power Mirrors, Fog Lights, Cruise Control, Power Steering, Power Brakes, Power Seat, Power Trunk, Keyless Entry, Power Windows, Tinted Glass, Tilt Steering, Leather Interior, Bucket Seats, Heated Seats, Sunroof, Power Locks.


How much are these things worth? Are they reliable? What are common problems and are they expensive to fix?

I really like BMW's but if this is not the car for me then I'll go look for something else, What do you guys recommend for beginners?

[GT4rally]

First of all, BMWs are quite reliable, but require a little more mantinence and TLC than say a Honda or Toyota. $12,000 is a fair price for a '95 325i, depending on kms and sevice history, but if your main concern is hands-off reliability, then buy a Japanese car.

But, more importantly, if you are a new driver, DO NOT buy an automatic! People often think that beginners should drive an automatic... big mistake. A manual tranny is the smart way to go, it will give you a much better understaning of how the car is connected to the road and teach you how the car will react in all situations and weather conditions. There is also the added benifit of making you pay attention to what you are doing (driving) at all times... this is something that new drivers have difficulty with, as they tend to get distracted easily. An automatic tends to make drivers, of any experience, quite lazy.

If you are thinking to yourself "well, I don't even know how to drive a standard", then learn how!
If you don't know how, that is the best reason to buy one.

Good luck with your search!

-Dave

[three.eighteen.]

i drove an e36 as my first car, they are awesome cars, you don't realize how well everything is placed/designed in that car until you drive others, unfotunately they are expensive to maintain, so if youre like 16 and working for like 8.50/hour you may be in trouble for maintenance

and find a manual, an automatic bmw is a travesty, if any car is going to teach you how to drive a manual well, its a bmw

[SteveMo600]

I would steer away from this car even though it seems like a pretty nice car. BMW's are pretty expensive too maintain as the parts are a bit pricier and there is more labour involved comparedd to a Honda or a Toyota. Since it's your first car and you're young, I would try to get an import vehicle that you can do some work on yourself and it won't cost you an arm and a leg to do repairs.

Listen to these others guys and get a standard.

[aeroes]

Originally posted by GT4rally
First of all, BMWs are quite reliable, but require a little more mantinence and TLC than say a Honda or Toyota. $12,000 is a fair price for a '95 325i, depending on kms and sevice history, but if your main concern is hands-off reliability, then buy a Japanese car.

Thanks for the advice guys! I'll get a standard if I can, Im almost settled to buy the car I mentioned in the first post but I can always back out if I want to but the hunt for a good price standard tranny is probably harder. I only have 12k...

So 12k is a good price for a 164clicks 1995 325i?


To give me an idea, how much do you guys usually spend for maintenance each year or how much do you think Im going to spend if I buy this '95 325i?

TIA!

[T-rus]

Well as they say BMW stands for....Bring My Wallet....hahaha, you choose what ever car you want it all depends on how far your pocket book will strectch. And I also agree with the standard idea, automatic will bore you after a while.

[GT4rally]

If I were you, I'd spend 7 or 8 grand (or even less), get a reliable Japanese car (standard) that you can abuse for a couple years 'til you get some experience under your belt.

I know you will probably dissagree, I know I would at 16, but your first car will likely get wrecked... soon. I come from a family of 4 brothers and all of us abused and/or crashed our first car within the first two years. I know you think that you are different and it won't happen to you, but just the fact that you are on this forum, asking these questions, proves that you are a "car guy" and car guys drive fast... and inexperienced car guys destroy cars.

Also, I know it's tempting to get the BMW just for the simple fact that your friends will think it's really sweet, but unless your parents are willing to buy you another car in a year or two, trust a guy who has been in your shoes and go with the cheaper Japanese car to start with. Save the rest toward your next car (maybe a BMW).

You even said that the maximum you can spend is $12,000... don't buy a car at your price limit, shave a few grand off of that so you can fix it WHEN it breaks, 'cause it will.

Just so you know, the auto tranny in the 325i is huge dollars to fix and 165,000km is in the ballpark where it fails.

-Dave

[aeroes]

Originally posted by GT4rally


Just so you know, the auto tranny in the 325i is huge dollars to fix and 165,000km is in the ballpark where it fails.

-Dave


Whoa! 165k is pretty early to fail I thought they are reliable? what are the common problems at that mileage?

When you say expensive maintenance is that means at least $1k per year (for the usual maintenance)?

[Kaos]

BMW's are alot to manage, things will break down after a while.
In the time of owning my BMW (about 9 months) I've probably paid 4 g's to fix it (parts and labour).
BMW's are great machines but they lack reliabilty. :banghead:

[SteveMo600]

BMW's are reliable in that they're very solidly built vehicles. They dont' cheap out on certain small things that other manufacturer do on a regular basis.

Bottom line man. Don't buy this BMW. It's a nice car, but not a teenager's first car. Take everybody's advice that has been posting in this thread.

Buy a Japense Import for $7000 that's standard with low kms. Repairs will be cheap and a lot of the work you'll be able to learn how to do yourself. Don't spend all of your budget on a BMW that you're likely to crash or damage within the next couple years (I'm not saying that you are going to do that, but most 16 year olds do.)

LISTEN TO ALL OF US. You'll thank us in 2 years when you have the money to safely buy a nice beamer like this and you've got a couple years of driving under your belt. Much more practical choice IMO.

[GT4rally]

Originally posted by aeroes



Whoa! 165k is pretty early to fail I thought they are reliable? what are the common problems at that mileage?

When you say expensive maintenance is that means at least $1k per year (for the usual maintenance)?

That auto tranny is made by GM (in France), and is one of the common problems with the 325i E36 (around $3000 to rebuild). But, the manual tranny is almost bullet-proof.

I've owned almost 30 cars in my life and have found, without exception, that the first 6 months are the most costly time of owning a used car... that's why I suggested you buy a cheaper car and save some money for repairs.

I'd say you would be very lucky to get away with $1000 in repairs for a year... don't forget, BMWs are rear wheel drive, so you will need a good set of winter tires (approx. $600 plus steel rims). If you don't get winter tires, I can GUARANTEE you will slide into something this winter (probably a curb or another car) and have a huge repair bill on your hands.

If you absolutely must buy a BMW E36, then spend a few days researching it here:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=14

and anywhere else you can find on the internet.

-Dave

[bigbadboss101]

Very nice post GT. I recently acquired a 93 325i. I have put more $ into it than I have into my 85 Corolla GTS, 87 Supra, 89 Toyota GTS, 98 Maxima, 02 Maxima combined. Yup the car is 12 years old and I didn't do an inspection before I got it. So if you are looking to get one, mechanical check is a must. I replaced the control arms, struts, mounting plates, sway kit, etc. Instead of going with Monroe struts, I got the Koni set for $100 more. My car had some susp. parts from another Bimmer and the Koni didn't fit so the shop had to find some original parts. All in all, it cost over $2,000.

Car is costly to fix, but it does have that BMW feel that you don't get in other cars. Handling is tight, transmission is well geared. Paint looks nicer than Nissan's, and you get the Euro car image.

[aeroes]

I now decided to buy a Japanese car instead, a hunt for a Prelude has just began.

When the time I ride a BMW I fell in-love to it and I wanna bring her home right away! But I have a long term commitment with my pocket and I dont want to hurt it so BMW has to let go...


Here's what I gather about BMW's:

needs $2k maintenance per year
hard to find parts?
need extra-extra care to maintain good engine
reliable but needs a lot of repairs? :nut:
So your 16yrs old? back-off!!:guns:

Seriously guys? Not that Im picking a riot or something, but how do you define reliable? I mean, if it needs a lot of repairs each year then its not reliable because it breaks something once in a while right? Forgive me Im just confused.

[ACS-e36]

considering its a german performance oriented car it is pretty reliable. parts just wear out and need tobe replaced more often. people have wayover 250k on their engines and still run like new.

[three.eighteen.]

its reliable, it will start MOST days (read not below -35) but its not toyota reliable (starts every friggin day, without oil or coolant lol)

[GT4rally]

aeroes, I think what you are confused about is that cars like BMW, Audi and Mercedes are designed to give you a better over-all driving experience. To do this, these manufacturers have built their cars with closer tolerances... meaning parts are machined more precisely to give the car a tighter feel and more feed back to the driver. But this also means that it takes less-wear-and-tear for these cars to start running like crap. That is why they cost more to maintain, not because they are less reliable, but because you need to maintain them twice as often.

With other cars, like Toyota, Honda and Nissan, they won't give you the same "connected to the road" feel that a Bimmer will, but they are designed to run well even when they start to wear-out.
I'm not saying that you can't get a great driving experience from a Japanese car, I think Honda, Nissan and even Mazda have some really great cars right now (probably out of your price range though) and Toyota build quality is second to none.

One thing to remember is that an Acura is really a Honda and a Lexus is really a Toyota... these cars (especially the Lexus) have great road manners and the older ones (early '90s) are becoming quite reasonably priced. However, I think the Prelude is a good choice if you can find one that hasn't been modified or abused (which might be hard).

What ever you buy, make sure you take it to the manufacturer's dealer and get it checked out before you commit to it!!

-Dave

[mr_smiley]

my first car was a 95 325i and its been a great car. like others have said that are good cars. i use to work for bmw and it was easy for a tech to quote a e36 with 4-5 grand with worth of repair before u accually buy one take it to the dealership and get it checked over to make sure ur getting into a car that isnt gunna have to be in the shop all the time.

[old&slow]

Originally posted by aeroes


Seriously guys? Not that Im picking a riot or something, but how do you define reliable?

Honda!

[2m0a0x2]

Yeah....I brang my car in for a check engine light, guess how much I ended paying? $1100. Well, the actual part to fix the check engine was 300 bucks but the rest was all just regular maintenance that I had chinced out on before.

[aeroes]

Oh holy sh@t! $1100?:eek: This is like a horror story to me man. When was the last time you pay that much?

When you say maintenance is that mean youre now save for a year of regular maintenance? Im just curious how often you have to go for a check-up every year, this might give me a clue how much it would cost per year....

TIA!

[tapout]

if ya like german cars get a vw

[aeroes]

Originally posted by tapout
if ya like german cars get a vw

Yeah? Why?


If that's another expensive to maintain I'll go with BMW for the looks.

Actually Im now considering a Jetta, I saw one for $12,999 - yr2000 - 128K clicks. But then again if expensive to maintain I'll go with some Bimmers :D

Here are my choices in order:

Prelude '92-'95
Celica '90-whatever fits my budget
Talon
BMW 325i '95
Jetta

What do you guys think?

[Super_Geo]

Originally posted by aeroes

Here are my choices in order:

.....
.....
Talon
.....
....

What do you guys think?

A used talon is not a car you'd want if minimal repair costs is one of your higher priorities. Hell, it'd be a bad choice even if it was one of your lower priorities.

[2m0a0x2]

Originally posted by aeroes
Oh holy sh@t! $1100?:eek: This is like a horror story to me man. When was the last time you pay that much?

When you say maintenance is that mean youre now save for a year of regular maintenance? Im just curious how often you have to go for a check-up every year, this might give me a clue how much it would cost per year....

TIA!

Umm....it was regular maintenance as in like brake fluid flushes, fuel line flushes, etc just like that. Besides that check engine light lately, the car has been pretty much bullet proof. I only go in for oil changes and that's about it. However, the check engine has turned on 3 times within 6 months. The first time was a spark plug misfire, then maranello body shop forgot to plug something on right, and then it was the cam shaft sensor.

[bigbadboss101]

Originally posted by aeroes


Yeah? Why?


If that's another expensive to maintain I'll go with BMW for the looks.

Actually Im now considering a Jetta, I saw one for $12,999 - yr2000 - 128K clicks. But then again if expensive to maintain I'll go with some Bimmers :D

Here are my choices in order:

Prelude '92-'95
Celica '90-whatever fits my budget
Talon
BMW 325i '95
Jetta

What do you guys think?

Hmm, if space is not an issue, I would go with Lude, Jetta, Celica, BMW, Talon.

[bigbadboss101]

Check engine light can be anything, but they have the tools to pin point. My car is running a bit rough and it can be because my muffler is rusted, cats could be bad, could be exhaust leak somewhere. I took out the Bosch Platnium+4 and put in NGK 2 prongs. It's running better but still not great. Might be ignition wire, may be gasket? I am hoping it's something small, like the exhaust.

I got my car without inspection. So far I have put in $2,500. I still need to fix A/C, climate control, window, radio, and couple other things. IF you can find one that is in vg shape then it would be great. Inspection is mandatory!

[Nova316]

Theres alot you can do on the bimmer yourself tho... there are so many websites out there... check out www.bimmerforums.com or www.bimmerdiy.com both those sites are amazing for info... Im basically in the same situation as you are for wanting a bimmer but not sure if you can afford everything that goes with the nice ride.

[komodo9]

Originally posted by Nova316
Theres alot you can do on the bimmer yourself tho... there are so many websites out there... check out www.bimmerforums.com or www.bimmerdiy.com both those sites are amazing for info... Im basically in the same situation as you are for wanting a bimmer but not sure if you can afford everything that goes with the nice ride.

Also the United Bimmer (http://www.unitedbimmer.com) community recently started a DIY archive of new, original articles. This will provide some unique DIYs, and more options for already existing DIYs: United Bimmer Knowledge Base (http://www.unitedbimmer.com/kbase.php)

It's not very big yet, but it's growing by a couple every few weeks. :)

[qmf]

Originally posted by aeroes
I now decided to buy a Japanese car instead, a hunt for a Prelude has just began.

When the time I ride a BMW I fell in-love to it and I wanna bring her home right away! But I have a long term commitment with my pocket and I dont want to hurt it so BMW has to let go...


Here's what I gather about BMW's:

needs $2k maintenance per year
hard to find parts?
need extra-extra care to maintain good engine
reliable but needs a lot of repairs? :nut:
So your 16yrs old? back-off!!:guns:

Seriously guys? Not that Im picking a riot or something, but how do you define reliable? I mean, if it needs a lot of repairs each year then its not reliable because it breaks something once in a while right? Forgive me Im just confused.

What you fail to realize or what people are not telling you is that, ya Bmw's will break down eventually but, it depends on how much you bag on it.
I bought a 325is last year, auto, 210 000kms for $6500, body is in perfect shape and zero rust. So to buy one, is not expensive.
Parts I find are relatively cheap, its the labour that will kill you, especially if you go to the dealership, so stray away from them, and find a good shop for low $/hr for work.
Parts are extremely easy to find for Bmw's especially E36's.
The engines are pretty much bullet-proof unless you have her at redline constantly.
Other then general maintenance for the year, like oil changes, maybe a fluid flush, tire swap (winter to summer) and maybe one other thing, there shouldn't be to much more for you to pay a year. If you drive reasonably.
SO you may spend like $1000/yr probably max.
All I spent this year other than the regular stuff was new shock mounts, cause the 18" wheels I had did a number on them after 1 1/2 years. And that was $150 for parts (ground control
:thumbsup:) and then like $100 for labour, I believe.
So go buy one, don't bag the shit out of it, and enjoy a great car.

[AllGoNoShow]

I know these guys are pushing you away from buying the BMW but I was 16 when I got my 7, I'm 17 now. 3rd car I've owned and only been driving for jsut over a year now legally.

Yah ok, take your BMW to a dealership and your going to be paying a fuck load for repairs, trust me. A heater core for my car is $143 from my guy, $169 from the dealership, or $1100 JUST to replace the heatercore. Thats where any dealership/shop rips you off, they charge you buy the book which it doesn't take that long to do the work.

Why am I telling you this? I just did a $100 waterpump, by myself in 2 hours, could have made it less if I stopped stopping and talking to everyone. Dealership wanted jsut under $300 to do it.

If you like working on cars, BMW's are great, aftermarket (not OEM) replacemen tparts are cheaper, you get to learn about how your car runs specifically if you fix it yourself. You save cash fixing it yourself, you gain knowledge and its much more reassumirng when you start your car up the next time and say hey, i fixed that shit bymself for cheaper then anyone out there would do it for me. And you know how it works so if somethign goes wrong next time u can go back to what you have learned and fix it agian or fix whatever the problem is.

Personally, if you have 12g to spend on a car, spend 9 of it on a car, and save the rest for maintence, because not every car for sale will be fully up on maintence and its nice to have that extra wad to spend on repairs if you need them.

There are many other places on the net that specifically relate to the E36's since they are popular and help ou ttheir members when they have to do repairs and such. Not to mention DIY'rs like us on this board, we love to help each other, most of the time for free ;)