First Car Possibility
 

So Im looking into buying a ti from my grandfather, the whole thing to me seems like a no brainer to me but i would like some advice from owners. The car has been maintained extremely well and has and one owner (my grandfather). Not positive but I believe its a 96 with around 100 to 120 thousand miles on it. I could get the car pretty inexpensively and thats why it seems like a good idea to me. So here are my questions:

- The clutch pedal on the car is loose, is this a minor problem?
- Would a 6 cilinder engine swap be worth it? (Im aware of all it initials)
- I've never worked on cars before, is this a good place to start?
- What are some other good performance mods for these cars?
- is it a good first car for a 17 year old kid?

Thanks

Welcome, Is this 5spd? what color?- was the clutch already replaced before, may need to be bleed. I think its an awesome first car, but deff must be responsible as it is rwd and that takes some getting use to. Any swap is expensive if you are not a mechanic, especially on bmw's- Without doing a swap, there is a decent amount of stuff you can do, intake,exhaust,header,turbo,t-body,better spark-"colder stage"turner chip,etc.... and last but not least, if youve never worked on cars before, this will deff be a project for you, but thats where this site comes in handy :wink:....

Compared to a modern BMW, these cars are child's play mechanically. It sure would be good to learn on if that is what you would like to do? If you have no plans to do your own work and plan on taking to a dealer for service, well that is another story. You would be one very poor kid if you took that route. There is an opportunity here, for you to learn and make your way in the automotive world with a pretty cool car that not every one has in highschool or college.

Hope it works out for you, start reading! There are people on here that will help you if you ask.

Clutch petal if it is loose meaning side to side in the car it needs bushings and is a easy fix. Travel meaning up/down is most likely need to bleed the clutch slave cylinder. I-6 swaps are easy by the book and follow directions.

It is a five speed its blue, and now im actually thinking its a 98 comparing it to other models. The clutch pedal is all side to side movement which worried me when driving it but if its a simple fix when i get the car i will give it a shot. I know theres been threads already on how to identify wether its a sport, club sport and ect. I cant seem to figure it out, heres what i can tell you about the car, its that artic blue color, all tan leather interior, and what looks to me to be 15 or 16in alloy wheels, any thoughts?

LMAO-i just realized that im retarted, I asked first if it was 5spd, then asked if the clutch was replaced before lol......my mistake buddy :biggrin:

Identifying stuff on your car.
1. open glove box and take papers out. Chances are one of them is the registration. That will tell you what year it is.
2. Look at the numbers on the tires. It should read something like 225/50-16 or something like like that. The 16 is the wheel diameter.
3. The model of your car can be determined a number of ways Lots of people on here can do it from pictures, but the VIN is the best way. There was a thread on here about VIN decoding, but I think the guy that did it is taking a break. Best bet is to post pics here AND call BMW armed with the VIN number.

Want to see something else you can do with your VIN? go to realoem.com and type in the last 7 digits of your VIN. You will then have access to every part number in your car.

Other recomendations:
as a father of a 17 year old, I recommend that you DO NOT swap the engine. Enjoy the car for what it is. Light, peppy and great handling.
Ask your grandfather what he has had done to the cooling system. If he has done nothing, plan on doing a cooling system rebuild (water pump, thermostat, infamous plastic fittings, hoses) as a preventative measure. While you have it apart, you could also replace the oil filter housing gasket for an additional 12 bucks. There are DIY's for this stuff in the knowledge base on this site.

That should also tell you the build date of the car.

I assume you meant "I recommend that you DO NOT swap the engine." :-)

I would also replace the radiator (if needed) as part of the cooling system rebuild.

"I recommend that you DO NOT swap the engine"
Right you are Roadrash... I fixed it in my post, too.