1987 BMW 3 Series 325i review from North America

Radiator.

Water pump.

Steering box.

Head gasket.

Oil leaks.

Door lock.

Air conditioning.

Odometer stopped.

Instrument cluster lights.

Electrical problems.

Glove box lock.

Inside door handle.

It takes experience to shift the 5-speed smoothly. I don't think it's the best 5-speed to get.

The vehicle handles really well.

It's reliability is well below average, mainly due to its age and mileage.

Parts are expensive.

BMW are not suitable for beaters.

The mileage is not very good in city driving, less than 20mpg.

The M20 engine in 325i series is very underpowered at low speeds, has little torque.

To get moving, you have to rev it to 3,000 rpms or so. From the stoplight, it's very slow and even a 4-cylinder Ford Escort is faster, except when you get to the 3rd gear and rev it pretty good, it's very fast. I think they improved it with later engines after '91.

But this engine is noisy, weak for a 6-cylinder, and thirsty AND needs constant maintenance such as regular timing belts, valve adjustment. It will tick like a Zinger sawing machine no matter what you do with it, apparently this is normal and doesn't hurt anything.

The interior is made with horrible, brittle plastic parts, for example the glove box got stuck and when trying to open it, the handle broke, and now there is no way to access it.

I think its reliability is below domestic or other imports.

It handles very poorly in rainy weather. I cannot imagine how it drives in snow, probably not an experience you want. In fact, the PO wrecked it on snow.