25th Feb 2007, 11:48
Well, the 318i was never a very fast car. I should know because I drive a 1994 318i every day. I do not feel that mine is SLOW, but it is merely adequate. As far as everything else goes, I love the car, and it does return about 28 MPG average. BMW puts a lot of features on their cars that continue to work perfectly long after they would have failed on other cars. Also, parts for my BMW are WAY cheaper than they were for my late-model Mercury Cougar that the BMW replaced. The reason that yours did not handle well was probably due to worn-out shocks and other suspension components. My advice is to try a newer BMW with a six-cylinder engine and less problems.
25th Feb 2007, 12:46
It's a 26-27 year old car, what do you expect. Many cars bhp drops quite quickly when they get old, so performance isn't going to be great. If you buy an old car you've got to expect quite a few problems.
In 1980 it may have been an 'Ultimate Driving Machine', but you can't expect it to be when compared to modern cars nearly 3 decades later.
25th Feb 2007, 14:24
What do you expect from a 27 year old German coupe? The suspension bushings all need replacement (which you didn't do) and the seats wearing out is part of natural wear and tear!
...tip for next time you buy a car : the older it is, the more reapirs it will need due to the natural process of aging.
25th Feb 2007, 15:31
Time is not kind to a car. This car is 27 years old. It has what at the time was an advanced European design, which costs more money to maintain anyway. Buying an old BMW at that price is very risky and if you take that risk you need to have a second car to use as primary transportation. The price alone is revealing. I love these cars, but also know what to expect from a low-priced one.
26th Feb 2007, 20:02
Good honest report on a car you owned - thanks.
Was funny to se all the "Pro-BMW" people comment.
They are overrated, overpriced and gutless.
A friend of mine bought a new BMW, she said it would not pull the skin off a rice pudding!!
BMW = big money waster.
27th Feb 2007, 06:04
'Was funny to se all the "Pro-BMW" people comment.'
Actually, I wrote the first comment, and I'm very anti-BMW. Mostly due to the fact that none of them seem to have indicators!
Anyway I commented, because I find it hard to understand people complaining about their second-hand or old cars when they're the ones that bought them, often without a test drive.
27th Feb 2007, 21:24
My BMW is hands-down the best car that I have EVER had. It is so much fun to drive and I never worry about it stranding me anywhere, even though it is over ten years old. Also, when something has needed repair, I found that the parts were much cheaper than the ones for my previous cars, which were domestics. My BMW is also much easier to work on than those cars were. For instance: something as simple as changing a headlight bulb was a 15-minute ordeal on my Ford, whereas it is about a 20-second job on the BMW. BMWs are not over-rated in the slightest. They do cost quite a bit more, but they are the best along with Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.
17th Nov 2008, 21:07
I believe I actually spoke to this young kid in person because the story sure sounds familiar, and I told him as much as I'm going to say here:
A decent car today costs several thousand dollars, to get anything that's in halfway good condition one should plan on spending 4 or 5 thousand dollars and it helps if that amount is in cash.
Because pro or anti BMW doesn't really matter, when one pays three hundred lousy bucks for a 20-some year old car I say someone got what they paid for.
About the only irksome part is this fellow still expects it to drive, when a 300 dollar car is good for parts, you will not and cannot find a good, running automobile for that kind of money on a consistent basis.
Definitely not a BMW.
6th Jan 2010, 22:34
I love my little 1980 BMW. It's yellow, has a poxy spoiler, and goes like a 1980 snail, but it's still the cutest little car on the road in my eyes!!
4th Dec 2010, 10:36
I have a 1980 BMW 318, euro model without the "i". Carb and points ignition. I rebuilt the whole car except drive train, using a 1981 320i for a donor car. It took me approximately 3 months to do.
The car is painted original color alpine white, and I added a blue metallic stripe over the top.
It has auto trans., and came to me with the BMW Recaro bucket seats. I've installed a Pioneer stereo system and 1200 watt lighted sub-woofer in trunk. The amplifier is a 1000 watt, and also lighted.
I down sized the trunk liner/carpeting, from my totaled 88 Lincoln Town Car, and installed it into my 318. The amp is set into the floor center, sunk in so it sits at floor level. Made a door over spare tire well from plywood, and hinged for easy acess to wires. I carry no spare tire, just a Slime kit, less space, less weight.
There is so much more I have done to this car, and I could go on and on, but the only reason I did is because I love this car, there is no car like it, and I have owned more than 50 cars through my life. I hope I never sell this one.
9th Dec 2010, 09:32
I notice a lot of anti BMW people seem not to have owned or driven a BMW (perhaps not all but a lot). Comments such as gutless are ill-founded. Of course some models such as the 1.6 and 1.8 engined models won't be that quick. For me, my BMW is all about the engine, followed by the handling. Last but not least is the reliability, which I cannot complain about.
25th Feb 2007, 09:17
How much can one expect from a 25 year old bmw that may not have been maintaind correctly and obviously had far in excess of 100k and that you paid 300.00 for? You get what you pay for.