Poor Noob wants a ti

[zboot]

Hello to all. I've been lurking on here for the past couple weeks. Pretty much I've been wanting to get a hatchback and have budgeted myself $3000 - $4000 to spend. I was initially looking at 95-99 VW Golfs and GTIs but then I saw the bmw and well. . .here I am.

I've looked through this forum to identify the common stuff to check on a ti and to get some tips on what to do before buying. I've got a couple questions that I'm looking for outside opinions (other than the voice in my head) on.

1) I've talked to some dealers who've bought tis at auctions. They say they have zero repair records. Should I stay away?

2) Same dealers said I could bring a mechanic to inspect the car. Should I insist on taking the car to a mechanic for a better inspection before buying?

3) My dad (who has had horrendous luck with used cars) says that $3k is roughly what I would pay over the course of a year on a new car. However. . . with the debt I have now (just finished school), I'm leery of getting into a commitment for anything more than $5000 unless its for real estate. I know this is a forum for enthusiasts of a used car, but would it make more sense to go for something new? I'm a total noob where it comes to car stuff and cannot afford to be hit by more than $1000 of unexpected repairs for at least 6 months.

4) The ti is awesome because of the power everythings and abs and its a BMW!! but. . . I would probably have an easier time finding a vw golf or gti in my price range. Does anyone have any ideas on the comparative performance between them? What about maintenance?

5) Speaking of maintenance, I've done some calculations. If I buy a brand new car now for say $15k, after 5 years, I could (if I was extremely lucky) sell it for $7k. This would result in a loss of about $9k (maybe more I'm not really estimating interest on the loan too strictly). So, if I buy a used car now for $4k, I would want to keep it for a minimum of 2.5 years. I expect to put around 20k miles on the car per year. How reasonable is it for me to expect a ti w/ say 150k miles to last until 200k miles and only require about $1000 in major repairs in the interim?

6) I've seen some photogenic tis up north (i'm in tallahassee) and since I until a couple months ago lived in Rochester NY, I don't have an issue traveling to the area to pick up a car. How much should I worry about rust on cars in those areas?

7) I'm a fast learner. Any ideas on how safe it would be to drive a MT ti a couple hundred miles after only a couple hours of practice on learning to drive a stick?

8) I've been told that FL (tallahassee and miami) are meccas of BMWs and I should not have an issue finding a ti down here. Any idea of the kind of distribution of 318tiers across the country?

9) I may not be in tallahassee past fall 2007. Do tis handle changes of weather ok?

10) What would you'all have done if I had 20 questions?

[weezer]

the vws might be easier on the wallet when it comes to maintenance and parts are easier to come by. Not to mention the easy and cheaper to get "go-fast" parts. The 318ti is realiable for an E36 BMW, due to its hybrid chassis: E30 rear subframe and suspension set-up, newer E36 front suspension set-up. But, personally, there's nothing more satisfying than driving a BMW with its superior handling and rear wheel drive.
The VWs can withstand poor maintenance and the BMW thrives and survives on regular maintenance. This is my first BMW, I've had 2 '86 GTIs, a '84 Rabbit GTI, a '86 AUDI 4000 and a '92 Audi 80 previously and now I understand rear wheel drive performance.
So, in the end it's all about personal preference.........Good Luck

[pdxmotorhead]

I've owned a lot of vw's , they all required more attention than my TI, but they were all air cooled..

There are about a half dozen maintenance items that if you scan a lot of messages on this forum you will see repeat.
Here's a quick brain dump as I can remember stuff,,,
1. Power window slides (Need annual maintenance its an easy do it yourself thing. clean and grease them.) The consequence of not keeping them clean and greased is possible repacement of the whole hardware system that moves the window up and down, about 200 bucks per door.
2. Upper radiator neck breaks off when radiator gets old,(6 years or so..) usually when changing hoses. If you spend the big bucks you can replace the plastic unit with Aluminum but you can buy about 5 stock radiators for the cost of 1 AL unit.
3. Power steering needs serviced as in fluid change about every other oil change and about every 30K the reseviour needs replaced (It has an integrated filter) Easy job as well. Unit holds about 2/3 of a bottle of fluid. Cheap.
4. Front ball joints, They seem to need serviced evry 70K or so from what I see on the various forums. < $500.
5. rear shock mounts are weak, for a fairly reasonable price they can be traded out for better units and while you at it...
6. The chassis mounting points for the rear shocks can crack, when you replace the mounts, add the reinforcement from one of the aftermarket BMW suppliers, only needs done one time and its not too expensive.

Most of the time its the labor not the parts on a BMW that suck. In my area Portland Or. They are the most expensive dealer service of all the marques, even the Porsche dealers labor rate is lower.... But luckily we have a couple good shops that charge significantly less money and do good work.

Cheers.
Dave

[ChItalian1027]

i haven't really had mine that long say about a 1.5 years i think my uncle did these maintenance jobs so don't have to worry... have to replace the shocks so will do that but overall very fun car to drive! pdxmotorhead how bad has it been w/ the weather in portland?

[pdxmotorhead]

I run Toyo Observe studless ice tires, like a Blizzak or Fulda.
drives great.....

Portland totally panics when we get snow or ice, It only happens a few days a year....

About every 7 years we ge one of these weird intense freezing rain storms that have to be experienced.
4x4 with Icebar chains on all four to get into your garage.

Its a great winter car in general, as long as you enguage the brain before the car...

Dave

[Travis]

The ti's are getting old. Most that are traded at a main (one with a mfr sign out front) dealer will go to the auction, where second and third line dealers pick them up. Having someone with a dealer's license keep an eye out at the auctions is a VERY affordable way to pick up a nice ti at a great price. My cousin, who liked my car, had a friend represent her at auctions and picked up a nice '99 in MN for $3100.

The fact that a car is at auction at that age doesn't mean anything is wrong with a car, but keep in mind that something motivated the seller to sell, and sometimes, that something was upcoming repair expense. In my case, I sold my last BMW because it was expensive to insure for a winter beater, and I didn't like the idea of the old man living on the street.

I've had 3 E-36's over 100,000 miles, and the radiator neck never bit me, but I was probably lucky. The plastic water pump pipe cracked on me 100 miles from home on the hottest day of the year, though. i sealed it up with a bunch of RTV.

[campaiar]

I'd stay away from any auctions unless you know exactly what your looking for, or you with someone who does.

Any auction where dealers and the general public are together is usually bad news for the general public.

[zboot]

I'm not planning on going to auctions. Some of the dealers with tis that I've called told me that they got the car at an auction and they don't have service records or know what stuff has been recently replaced on the vehicle. So, I was wondering if I should just blanket stay away from all such vehicles and only focus on ones being sold by primary or secondary owners who can provide me with that info, or will taking a mechanic along to give the vehicle a quick lookover at the dealer's lot be enough to catch significant problems or see which things are new on the car?

At this time I've pretty much decided on getting a MT ti. I'm willing to go up to $5000 for a low mileage (~100k) one that either has good maintainence records (assuming I can get a loan, otherwise I'm capped at $3k for the next 3 months) or has had some of the stuff identified as breaking around this point on a ti recently replaced. My main concern now is the possible upkeep costs of a ti. I'd like to know what I can expect to shell out on a yearly basis and get a better idea of the risk i'm taking in picking up a 7-11 year old car.

[Dueller]

I'm purchasing (assuming the car checks out) my first ti tomorrow for my stepaughter...flying 900 miles and driving it ome if it passes. HoweverI do have experience buying used 911's (I currently have 4 in the stable.

Some suggestions:

1. Buy the best ti you can afford. There's probbly no such thing as a great $3000 ti unless you're REALLY lucky. As with 911's all good ones will cost you at least $15-20K...if you find that bargain 911 for $7500, you can be certain it will eventually cost you another $7-10K to get it right. Otherwise it wouldn't be $7500 in the first place. Same thing with a ti...most good ones seem to be in the $5500-7500 range...pay $3K and you'll likely end up having to put atleast another $2K in it to make it right. Of course you could stumble on a great car way below market value if you catch a desperate seller, but what are the odds of that?

2. Records are invaluable,,,nuff said.

3. Research the ti sites and have a good knowledge of the problem areas and at what point in the car's life things start to fail. For example...that pretty 80K mile car on its third clutch may not be as good a bargain as one with 115K with the original...just how was the PO treating the car.

4. Once you have one you're pretty sure of, pay for a PPI from a reputable shop preferably an independent marque specific shop. Best $75-125 you'll spend. They will look at the car critically and not through your daydream perspective. If an owner balks or insists that you only take it to a specific shop, walk. At the very least take an informed enthusiast owner if this is yoiu first purchase.

5. Stop by every independent import/BMW shop and leave your name and number and tell them what you're looking for. If they have a bulletin board put a note card up saying "Clean ti wanted". You'd be suprised that some owners might have an inkling to sell but didn't want to go thru the hassle of advertising....

Hope this helps

Jim

[zboot]

Thanks a lot for the advice Jim. Today I used lending tree to see if I could find a short term loan. It looks like I may have been approved!! This would allow me to spend a little more on a ti.

[Ji Money]

Hey I just saw this today. Looks real nice. I would have bought this if I lived closer.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/n...241372268.html

[zboot]

how did you know i'm from the DC area!! Damn. . . I just called the guy, he's already seeing lots of interest. It'll probably be gone before i'm ready to make a move for it.

[Ji Money]

Outbid them all! I just bought mine, saw the ad on 11/19 and called that day. It was going for $6,000, but I won the bids at $7,000.

[Den]

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/n...241372268.html
1996 BMW 318ti Club Sport. . .Alaska Blue

The 'Club Sport' was available in 1995 only. . .and never in blue.

http://www.318ti.org/companion/index.php?id=8,3,0,0,1,0

Except for LSD + M3 mirrors, a 1996 with the sport package option would have most of the same stuff, but it shouldn't be advertised as a 'Club Sport,' which may be worth more. Technically, the Club Sport was a rare limited edition, like a Shelby Mustang or something, even though it performs the same as other ti's.

. . .Autothority short shifter and ECU chip upgrade

There are chips available for the OBDI 1995 ti, but 1996 is OBDII. OBDII ECU's have to be reprogrammed by reflashing the ECU instead of swapping a chip. I dunno if anyone offers this service for the 96-99 ti. AutoThority doesn't show anything for the ti on their web site, but it's possible that they did a custom tune for him since they are local. I would call AutoThority to verify.

http://www.autothority.com/products/...rades.html#BMW

B&B Triflow exhaust

Triflow exhausts are LOUD.

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthrea...hlight=Triflow

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthrea...hlight=Triflow

[zboot]

Just saw this: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=197935973 Looks nice but then I noticed it was salvage. Should I stay away or see if I can get them to knock say $1000 and use that to ship the car?