I am new to this site and bmw. I am doing research now about a 1995 bmw 325i, with 6870 miles on it in Japan. I have been talking with the ower of the lot about the car. Everything is all factory. Since I have been stationed here I pass the lot daily, and it has been there for about a year or so. The lot is full of all U.S. spec model cars. He only has three bmw's there; a 5 series and two 3 series models. The guy is asking 9800 for it. I have checked nada and kelley which say it's worth 8.5 to 9.5. For me I think it't a good deal. He is willing to drop 1000 off and during inspection if there is anything wrong he will fix it free of charge. I would like to get some advice of what I am in for if I decide on throwing cash down for this car
is the mileage correct? 6870? that sounds VERY, VERY low. i don't know what mileage standards are like in other countries. the best thing you can do is find out as much history about the car as possible. also, find a shop with experience working on BMW's, have them do the inspection. i have walked away from a few cars because of what the shop found. in the end, that saved me thousands of dollars in work and repairs. if the mileage is correct, most items that might need to be looked at would only need it because of age - things like hoses, belts, anything rubber or susceptible to the environment or age. typically, on the e36 things that need to be addressed as the vehicle ages includes the water pump, thermostat, radiator - basically, the cooling system. usually, the engine is very sound and won't give you too many problems. cars with automatic transmission sometimes can have premature failures due to lack of fluid and filter service. all of this applies to US cars.
in addition to shadow puck, also some of the suspension components and bushings are worn out, but with the amount of miles on it, and keep your fingers crossed they might be ok. I still cannot believe the low mileage, I do think you can talk him down to about $8500, good luck with the purchase and make sure its inspected by a reputable BMW shop.
E36 thoughts Honestly take a look at the systems under the hood because they will add up if the car is high mileage and things start going bad. One major annoyance with my 96 M3 was that the general electronics and sensors kept going bad rapidly after I bought the car last year. First the secondary air pump went bad and it coded every single time I turned on the car. The next event was the VANOS system started rattling and going south which effected mileage/power/ throttle response and drivability. It got sort of raw and the power wasn't as smooth. Then there was a tail light problem that kept coding. It turns out that there was a brake relay module under the dash that went bad and that cost me $200 and replaced it myself. (btw Camp BMW wanted to charge $3 - 4 grand to strip out all of the brake system wiring and replace it all to fix the problem so be ware of some dealerships). Then I've had brake lights fail left and right. I had a carbon filter go bad right away!- Carbon filter is found underneath the spare tire in the obd2 e36 ... So I replaced that $400 for a new one. Just had another fuel leak behind the passenger side qpanel where the evap tubes run around the fuel pump uplink. Today a headlight wiring issue started causing the headlight to go on and off intermittently. The climate control module is having issues now where the wiring/connection will effect the functionality of the unit and so it will also give me intermittent periods of functionality and the just stop working completely which causes the system to blow hot air on my feet. Its getting me down and frustrating me. these are all problems that will still allow me to drive the vehicle with out having to take it in for repair. Check your front and more importantly rear shock tower mounts because they can crack and crunch around for a while before the shock just busts up throught the rear shock tower. Make darn sure you have it inspected because he is asking too much and that is a reason he is still trying to sell it. Patience pays off everytime. Avoid buyers remorse ahead of time by knowing what he knows. get the car fax, have a qualified trustworthy mechanic give it an inspection, have a body shop inspect it for past accidents or flaws. Get every piece of garbage against the car and sqeeze the seller for the fairest price before taking on the risk of owning it. Drive it a few times in town and on the freeway. test teh handling and the acceleration and the brakes. Is is leaking oil? does the suspension respond or does it sqeak and give. run over the electronics several times. Check all of the lights in the car several times to make sure you aren't getting a short or something. Get the car on the lift to look for oil leaks and to check for worn tires and brakes. the more you take the time to do before you buy the more enjoyment you'll have after your purchase.... TRUST ME. with that being said this is an extremely low mileage car. anything under 10 000 miles is suspiciously low. I can say that that vehicle with like 90-100 thousand miles should run between 5 - 8 thousand in the U.S. Stock. If that only has 7000 miles or so it doesn't seem right for 1) It may be a flood vehicle that wasn't reported to carfax or it could be a salvage title or something like that that may not have been reported to the police or carfax so be very weary of such an unusual deal. The dealer wouldn't have picked it up if he didn't know what happened so keep that in mind. Also he probably only got into it for about 4-5 k and is trying to skim 3-4 thousand out of your pocket. After doing all the tests, print out the kelley blue book values, nada values and the edmunds values; give him the feeling you really don't care if you buy it or not and offer for 6k and if he counter offers too high then say thanks and start walking. If he doesn't react then think over his lowest offer and go from there if it's worth it. .... Guaranteed to knock a few thou off of his asking price if he wants to sell at all.
Gotta love bringing old threads back from the dead. At that mileage, I would want to inspect that car from emblem to emblem (rather say something else than bumper to bumper). Could be that the cluster was replaced?
I feel bad adding fuel to the (old) fire, but replacing the cluster is not going to reset the mileage on an E36. The odometer is digital.
