1984 BMW 3 Series Reviews

Head gasket and valves at 380k.

Radiator at 340k.

Brakes every 100K.

Tires every 50K.

This is the best car I ever had. Wonderful car, great handling, comfortable, and even had good gas mileage. Drove the poor thing into the ground, and donated it to charity.

Just plain wore it out at 476K. Had body flex, serious door drop, and all the suspension bushings were gone. I think the real service life of one of these cars is about 450K. Wish I could find one with about 100K on it to restore.

Brake booster?

Vacuum leaks?

I recently bought my 84 318i as an "upgrade" to the endless line of VWs I had previously owned. Found a gorgeous '84 out on an island that had rarely left the island, and was driven around since new by an old lady.

Great things about the car:

The 318i is a particularly simple BMW, I don't think anything that could have broken on that car would be very difficult to replace.

Even though it's a 24 year old car in (8/10) visual condition, everywhere I went people comment. "wow I bet that helps with the ladies!" or "How did you get the money for a BMW?!) I guess people never realized it only cost me $1,600.

I found that the car was very sluggish (especially coming from a 91 GTI 16v) but with the 5-speed it was at least decently drivable.

IF YOU STAY AWAY FROM DEALERSHIPS, these cars are very affordable to repair and maintain.

Bad stuff about it:

Lost my key, no mobile locksmith had the "future-tech" skills required to cut a damn key for my '84 (something about high security key cuts?) so I had to get a whole new lock cylinder as it was the quickest option to get back on the road.

The beige cloth interior was kind of pulling apart, the weave was just too worn out, can't really complain about worn out cloth on a super old car, it's like if I wore the same shirt since I was 1 and whined about it looking worn out on my 25th birthday... think about it.

My idle control valve went.

I had to replace the exhaust system.

Alternator had to be replaced.

I have a lot of rust on the car.

Right now the car won't turn over. I have charged the battery and may replace the alternator. But I am not sure if I have an electrical problem or a starter problem.

I need new front seats.

My windshield wipers don't work.

The speedometer stopped at 164000 miles.

The car has been good to me over the years. I have had it since 1996.

The car need a new paint job and new seats.

The battery keeps dying, I thought I needed a new alternator, but now the car won't start, even when I jump the car. It doesn't make any noise when I try to start the car.

The front spoiler and brake duct fell off a little bit on the right side. Had to replace both with spare parts that came with the car.

Brakes and/or tires vibrate on slowing from 50 mph or more. Tires shimmy a tiny bit 60mph or more.

Some dash lights flash or cut out intermittently. Nothing serious.

Temp gauge comes in and out of its own accord. Kinda worrisome.

Driveline rattles in first gear.

Seats breaking down, had to be covered. Should be replaced. Sunroof crank is broken, so you have to finagle the handle to get it open or closed.

I love this car. I drive it daily, usually take it out for spins on the weekend, drive it just to drive it, take dates out in it. I like driving it more than my roommate's 2008 Mustang convertible (we share the cars and the payments...)

Completely rust free, sat in the California sun its whole life, so the paint is flaking, but no rust. Interior is very nice, held up great! Drives nice, but a little bit of a fixer upper.

No blind spots. More glass than the Crystal Cathedral. Parking and driving in town is a breeze, leaves tons of space in the garage, nips in and out of traffic, because you know where all the corners are so you know how much space you need.

Girls love it! They call it "cute" which would offend me, except that guys call it "sick" so I know it works for both lovin' and hangin out.