Just bought my first 318ti

[Caliburnes]

Today I bought a 1997 318ti with 149700 miles from a private seller. First off I paid 1700 which I thought was a decent price. So I have a few questions for the more knowledgable than me people on here. I have never owned a BMW before and bought this to replace a dying dodge neon. Anyway I am mechanically adept as I work at a ford dealer. So I checked the major inspection items and came back with nothing bad there. The problems the car has are a bunch of small things, but for being 15 years old that was expected. Some of the switches are falling through the bezels and both door panels were falling off. I had read this to be common so it didn't concern me much. The drivers window doesn't go up or down but that is due to the regulator clips one missing one broken, easy cheap fix. The other window functioned fine and the sunroof functioned fine to. The hatch shocks are dying and they seem to be spendy but I havn't checked for cheaper ones at napa or something, I don't know if they are even worth it either. It certainly needs a tune up which I can do myself but I am only thinking plugs but does anyone have further suggestions on that? I think this because it idles funny after it's warmed up but again any suggestions? Otherwise the engine sounds great and the tranny shifts fine and there is still plenty of power when demanded. One thing I noticed is the pedal adjustment under the accel pedal? How is it recommended to adjust this? And why is it there really? A few stains here and there in the seats but I might be able to remove them, it doesn't look like anyone ever tried to. The water pump had recently been changed is there anything else to look out for coming with that? On that is there really anything else I should look out for to? She said it had been driven for a long distance probably every month for the past 8 months and the only thing was the water pump but she didn't know much from the previous owner. But does anyone think this was a fair price or should I just try to sell it now when I still know the other buyers that were interested? Any suggestions would be great thanks.

Oh adding this I guess looking now I'm not sure what model it is. I think it's an active by reading others posts but I'm not sure. It does have the obc but what is another defining feature of the active over the base model. I don't think it's the sport but what would I look for for that to?

[black98]

Welcome to the org

I have a brand new set of rear hatch shocks for sale if your interested

[familytruckster]

Auto trans? That's a downshift switch under the gas pedal.

For other things to check/replace, look at the forum FAQs. The cooling system is a weak point.

[Bobtail_Bimmer]

Welcome to the site. Idle probs could be a number of things such as vacume leak, TPS, idle air valve, etc. Start cheap with checking your vacume lines and intake boot for cracks then work your way up from there.

[Mr.Squeelerz]

Greetings!

[Caliburnes]

Originally Posted by Bobtail_Bimmer

Welcome to the site. Idle probs could be a number of things such as vacume leak, TPS, idle air valve, etc. Start cheap with checking your vacume lines and intake boot for cracks then work your way up from there.

Intake boot you mean rubber between actual air filter and the intake? Thats probably an easy question but gotta make sure. I havn't looked at the engine much other than yesteday when checking for leaks. Would it be recommended to do plugs anyway? And I saw to stick with stock ones, does that only mean stock from bmw or do any of the parts stores have a comparable product? As far as vacuum lines is there any more common that decide to fail?

[Bobtail_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by Caliburnes

Intake boot you mean rubber between actual air filter and the intake? Thats probably an easy question but gotta make sure. I havn't looked at the engine much other than yesteday when checking for leaks. Would it be recommended to do plugs anyway? And I saw to stick with stock ones, does that only mean stock from bmw or do any of the parts stores have a comparable product? As far as vacuum lines is there any more common that decide to fail?

The boot that runs from the MAF to the throttle body. You can check between the ridges for cracks. As for plugs, just get some stock NGK from local auto store and you should be fine. If you do the plugs its best to go ahead and do the wires as well.

[jca]

Welcome to the site. A, "tune up" on a ti consists of new plugs, new fuel filter and new air filter. That's it. And if I may suggest, don't waste your money on fancy spark plugs. Ti's like oem copper core plugs just fine, probably better than the exotics. Suggest you go with Bosch, bought cheaply on the internet. Good luck.

[teetime4one]

do you have a sunroof, OBC (on-board computer) and cruise control?
if so, it's an Active.
does it have an OEM M-Technic front and rear bumper? fancy arse leather seats? then it's a sport.
it's probably an Active.
Pics would help...we can tell ya in a jiffy.
welcome to the Org

[Mic10is]

Originally Posted by black98

Welcome to the org

I have a brand new set of rear hatch shocks for sale if your interested

im interested
lmk what you want for them.

[Caliburnes]

Originally Posted by black98

Welcome to the org

I have a brand new set of rear hatch shocks for sale if your interested

Well if you havn;t already picked the other fellas response above me I am interested but how much do you want for them?

[Caliburnes]

Originally Posted by jca

Welcome to the site. A, "tune up" on a ti consists of new plugs, new fuel filter and new air filter. That's it. And if I may suggest, don't waste your money on fancy spark plugs. Ti's like oem copper core plugs just fine, probably better than the exotics. Suggest you go with Bosch, bought cheaply on the internet. Good luck.

Ok right I priced some NGK's today and they have worked in many applications for me. I work at a ford dealer so I can get discounted parts from the parts stores which is nice. I didn't plan on going with performance plugs I read that to. As for the air filter I thought about that and the fuel filter to. Just to ask if someone sees this before I go look where might the fuel filter be? And do you recommend to use a certain brand of that? Also the oil filter is there a better brand of that to?

The next thing is I drove the car from where I bought it 150 miles back home with no problem. However this evening when I only drove about 10 miles to the store and stopped there was coolant leaking and spilling like it had overheated, but it wasn't alot and the dash gauge was sitting fine. Now the weather around here has been mid 30's low 40's but the guge shows the car warms up fairly quickly. Could the thermostat be bad cause it to spill out of the overflow? When I drove to my parents house stayed a few hours and then drove the 15 miles total back nothing happened then. This was kind of weird usually when my vehicles have overheated they do it consistantly. As for the overflow on the side of the radiator how full should that be? And could the cap be going bad to cause it to overflow?

Also to answer bobtail_bimmer Thats where I figured so I will check there. If I find nothing what is the next step or cheapest solution? Or the most common idle problem. I mean it is cold out so I would expect it some but not after the vehicle is warmed up as much

And for teetime4one It's the active model because its got the OBC and sunroof but no M-tech stuff and it's all cloth interior. I do want to add the foglights though now that I am looking someone may have started to because the cover where the knob goes is gone and the foglight holes are opened. For the headlights they seem dim, I had the lights on my neon reconditioned by our bodyshop. Does this last on these lights or would it be better to get new lens assemblies?

Sorry for all the questions and I know I have alot but now that I have something going I have so many more. Also I bought this car because the average engine life seemed way better than the little neon I was driving before. And I needed something more reliable to leave with my wife when I go to drill in saltlake in the winters and be able to drive down when it's not bad weather.
This brings another question. What is a good life milage wise out of one of these cars if it's well taken car of? And do they leak oil very often? Gosh long reply but thanks for all of the help so far. Maybe some of you are like me and even if you've said it a hundred times if it's something you like then you could talk about it a hundred more.

[Caliburnes]

So I did some checking while the engine was running today for a vacuum leak or intake leak because the idle is so bad. I can hear air coming from what may be the IAC? I'm not sure what it's called but it sits right on top of the actual intake manifold where the throttle body connects to it. I'm not sure what it's called but it's round and has a hose going from it. Anyway it sounds like its sucking air and not leaking it but the wind was terrible and my hands were freezing so I couldn't tell. But is this supposed to do that all the time? I mean it's kind of loud and makes tracking other leaks harder. Also either just before I started the car or just after shutting it off it set the check engine light. When I looked at freeze frame data the code was set with no engine rpm's but the code was a p1174, which I did find a couple people talking about, but this means I have a bad vacuum leak somewhere. Anyway if anyone has suggestions it would help. Even with my other questions. I am limited on time to look but have 2 weeks to get this car running good enough to drive to salt lake.