Recommendations on a daily driver (non-02)

[Gordon]

If you want a cheap daily driver and a good commuter car (up to 30 mpg), get a E30 or E28 eta car. Stay away from the automatics, they are much more fun to drive with a 5 speed. Just make sure you verify when the timing belt was changed (4 years or 50K) and if the seller doesn't know, use that info a bargaining price. If your budget was 5-8K, you'll save a lot of money. You can find decent ones on Craigslist for under $3K. They make great winter beater cars. E36 interiors feel cheap after you've been in a E30. Look in R3VLimited.com for a E30 buyers guide and myE28.com for a E28 buyers guide.

G-Man

[Harv]

1991 318is.

John

[Otis]

The e30's have a typical list of maintenance to-do's including timing belt and water pump every 7 years or 50k miles. They've been pretty easy to work on

Agreed, +1 etc. I have an '84 325e still going strong and running perfectly. Typical water pump and timing belt issues (well know), easily fixed. The older ones also have a rust problem with the rear gaskets on the brake lights, and a cold-soldier joint problem on the instrument panel. Also, the front steering and suspension sometimes needs a bit of overhaul now and then, and the idle can get funky now and then. In general, however, the car is the best purchase that I ever made (I am the original owner). Personally, I like the 6-cylinder eta engine over the 4-cylinder in the 318i, but that's just me.

[firefirefire90]

BMW added vanos to many of their cars in 1993. I don't see why that's an issue, as vanos RARELY causes issues.

[Jim_75Sahara]

Not to be a broken record, BUT I recently bought an '87 325 eta & I love it. It was owned first by a woman in Calif. who took it to the dealer for every little thing & she kept it garaged. (rust-free) In '06, it came to the Indianapolis area and was converted from auto. to 5-speed and given a LSD. Also, the front end was totally rebuilt, the power antenna was repaired, and the battery tray area was rust-repaired and painted - better than new. The guy I bought it from put on new brakes, new tires and some alloy wheels from a 325is. He is an aircraft mechanic, so he was unafraid to tear into things & repair them. I took it in for a new timing belt & various drive belts, plus a new water pump. It is my dd now. Bargain priced, too.

[m-racer]

I have owned a bunch of BMW's,older stuff to modern models. I won't bore you with the list. In my opinion, the late 80's BMWs are the best of the bunch, though I never found my E46 (M3) to be much of a maintenance problem so it may be your particular car or pehaps just seems like a bargain compared to the E38, E39 and X5's I have owned. The E28 and E30 are really stout cars. M20's and M30's are my favorite mills. I prefer the is versions, but the eta's have their use as well. There are good recommendations in this thread. The real trick is finding an E28 or E30 that has been well maintained. If you buy the wrong one, it will be at least as expensive to repair as any E46. parts for the E30 (non-M3) are very cheap as compared to most BMW's. Good luck.

[ClayW]

http://www.lemonfree.com/WBAAF931XMEE67477.html

It would be a lot of fun in the city!

By the way, where in DC are you?

[mcope]

Hey Clay, thanks for that link. Looks like a very nice one and priced right.

I'm located in mt. pleasant, dc. near the zoo.

Thanks to everyone for awesome advice. Looking forward to picking up a nice example of an earlier model.

[Dave_PA]

I love driving the 02, but not when the weather is bad.

last year i picked up a 99 318ti 5 speed that is a blast to drive.

There are a few things you need to watch on them, like thermostats, and some sensors that can go bad, but all in all a very decent car that is fun to drive to work. Also very good on gas.

If you check on 319ti.org there is a pretty big following. you can usually get one for between 3-7k depending on the condition and what's been done to it. Most often the more expensive ones have the DASC Supercharger put on or an e36 m3 engine swap.

good luck in your search.

Dave

[Pancake]

Might as well get my $.02 in here as well. Either an E30 or a late E28 makes a good daily, depending on how much space you need. E30s are nice relatively small cars with all the modern stuff an 02 doesn't have (late models even have airbags and ABS), but they seem to predate BMWs "iffy" build quality; I've seen many E34/36/38s that seem to practically have parts falling off them, but E30s are solid. A 318is or a well sorted 325i is a great daily car (and for $5K you could make sure it's in good shape too). A late model E28 is also great, if bigger. Not as much fun in the twisties or around town, but great on the freeway without being a dedicated autobahn cruiser like a 7 series. I never had any major issues wrenching on an E30 or E28 (other than getting at the $!@$%!@%ing starter bolts).

I actually really miss my old 89 325i. It was a marvelous car until somebody jacked the stereo out of it and shorted the wiring. Never worked right after that

[Delia]

I like my e30 318is...a lot!

Because of the work I'm currently doing, I've begun to look for a wagon.

After lusting after the 540it, I've had semi-serious musings about a 528it with a five speed. I'm not in a hurry to get one, it's just the agony of the decision. Oh yeah, and the money.

D

[Brandon]

The modern BMWs just break too often. I had an e46 coupe that I bought new and it spent a considerable amount of time at the dealer getting things fixed that should have never broke in the four years I had it. I've heard nothing better about e36's, e28's or even e30's. I knew someone that had an e28 533i and that car had numerous problems that were very expensive to fix, not to mention those metric TRX tires that are costly to replace (if you can even buy them still)....I just drive Audis now for daily drivers, my A4 has been very reliable in the seven years I've had it, and the Audi 80 quattro I had in the past was the same.

[ZeroCool]

+1 for e30 318is, IMO the "most evolved" 2002 tii (same basic formula at least), before bmw switched directions with the e36.

[firefirefire90]

buy the 528ti, then S62/six speed swap it! :devil:

[ClayW]

Cool. My fiance works in Woodley Park.

If you want to get out for a drive, there are plenty of us with the itch to drive!