1987 BMW 3 Series 325i from North America - Comments

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.

I think maybe you got one that wasn't taken care of. I have a 1987 325 and it is amazing. Of course mine has the 2.7L with 170 lb-ft of torque though, but I wouldn't imagine that would make that much of a difference. I'm sorry that you got a bad one because they really are amazing cars. I was thinking about buying a newer car soon, but after thinking about it and realizing how much I love my 325, I decided I would rather just dump about $17,000 into my Bimmer instead. I'm at 235,000 miles already and it is still running strong, but I want to put in a 300hp M20.

I had a 325i '87 and I loved it I had it in a small town, red dirt roads and all it was great when it snowed I had one close call due to black ice. I ran that car a 135-150 for two hours non-stop and it didn't hurt it I have 167000 miles I am looking at buying the same thing I miss my bmw oh and the 5-speed is touchy if you can't drive stick Don't LEARN IN THIS CAR!!!

You evidently bought an old neglected car. The problems you described are pretty much to be expected on a 20 year old high mileage car that wasn't properly maintained. Firstly, it should be stressed that these old German cars in general are seldom good "beaters" and are sensitive to proper maintenance which not only avoids breakdowns and increases vehicle life, but spreads out the repair costs over a longer time horizon. Maintain them properly and they'll last longer than anything on the road. One only needs to read reviews of a few old Benzes and BMs on this site to see this. Sadly the newer versions have fallen victim to cost-cutting and quality is not what it could be. I appeal to owners of nice examples of these wonderful old cars to cherish them for it shall never pass this way again.