1994 BMW 3 Series 318i from North America - Comments

The instrument cluster had to be replaced. We bought a refurbished one with a six-month warranty for less than $200.

Lower windshield trim was replaced.

All clips for driver's side door exterior trim replaced.

The sunroof started rattling for no apparent reason.

The brake light switch was replaced.

Nothing major has gone wrong.

This has been a terrific car. I am a college student who has no time for a car that is going to hand me problems. This car still looks brand new in every way. It looks terrific in black/black with the 16-inch Z3 wheels. The only original options on mine are the power tilt/slide sunroof and the fog lights. Everything else needed is standard however. It has one-touch windows all the way around which is a huge convenience. It has nifty climate controls, six speakers, and outside temperature display. The lighting system is nice with its fading effects and the map lights are designed not to blind one at night. The girls dig the lighted vanity mirrors that don't shine right in your face too.

Everything is so solid on this car. There are no loose trim pieces, no rattles except the occasional sunroof rattle that can temporarily be fixed by opening/shutting it again. Everything works as it should. I now see why these cars cost so much, they are what Mercedes-Benz used to be. I will purchase another BMW when I finish college, and hopefully I can also keep this one as I think it will last forever and it is cheap to maintain.

Update: 120,000 miles. I have had to replace one wheel bearing after buying new Yokohama tires and still experiencing loud road noise. The car now rides Lexus-quiet. The brakes were a killer job; I went to have pads put on all four brakes and my mechanic had to put new discs on the front because the old ones were at their minimum thickness. The bill was big ($420), but reasonable, and I am very happy with how well the car stops now. I installed the BMW keyless entry/alarm system which was worth the money for the protection it offers including fuel system shutoff, glass breakage sensor, and double locking. The sunroof stopped rattling! There is now an annoying whistle when open, any solutions? I am still thrilled with the car. The required work has added up, but all of it has been routine stuff that any car this age needs. No nasty surprises and it continues to take me everywhere that I want to go!

Update: 140,000 miles. Still loving this car! We did replace the engine mounts after one of them failed. Oddly enough, there was no warning of it failing and the car still ran and drove perfectly with no vibration. The only thing that happened to make me aware of the mount failing was the fan hitting the shroud under the hood when first starting the car, causing a loud roar. The mounts were not terribly difficult to replace, although it would have been easier on a lift instead of on floor jacks. One of my friends pinpointed the whistle that occurs when the sunroof is open. The left rear door does not make full contact with the seal at the rear-most part of the door where it curves. I never would have looked there, but there it is! The car has continued to be trouble-free and I recently went on a 1,000-mile trip where it performed beautifully and achieved a record 34 MPG! I am now planning to install a K&N performance intake and a Remus exhaust system as the car is just a little short on power sometimes. This is a very able machine, but it is restricted by the stock intake and exhaust. I recommend this car to everyone and I have had offers on mine as it still looks brand-new and people are fascinated by it.

Update: 160,000 miles. In the last year I had all four shocks with new Bilstein Tourings. These are wonderful and really make the car perform like new. I also recently put new top-shelf Yokohama Avid V4S tires on for the second time since ownership and I continue to love this car every time I drive it. It is still so smooth and composed! I have also replaced the ugly orange indicator lamps with smoke-tinted ones and installed new glass headlamps with projector low beams to replace pitted plastic headlamps. HUGE improvement in illumination and style!

I am going to need tie rods here shortly, my mechanic has quoted a very reasonable $240 parts and labor to replace these, not too shabby! The headliner is beginning to come undone around the sun visors, so that will need to be redone, but big deal; it will only be 15 years old in May (!). I have looked at many brand-new cars and while they are appealing, I do not find myself craving one as I still enjoy this one and it still looks better than a lot of newer cars! It also has more features.

Update: 180,000 miles. Wow, I just looked at my last comment and was startled at how many miles I have stacked on the car since January. At around 165,000 miles I did have the tie rods replaced, along with the control arms, which included new ball joints and bushings, so the drive is like new! It was a bit over $1,000 to have all of this done at once, but it's still been far cheaper than buying another car would have been and it was much easier to have it all out-of-the-way.

My commute is now 50 miles each way and the car does it without any struggle, still gets 30+ MPG on premium. All of the features still work perfectly, it is still a joy every day! It still looks new as well, original black paint is still shiny and I replaced all of the lights; LED tail lamps, smoke-lens signal lights all-around, and glass headlamps/fog lamps give it a very fresh look.