Is this a good buy for a first time car buyer? I've heard that the 318i has a better fuel economy than the 325i or the 320i. I'm mainly going to use this to get around uni as a daily driver. It's affordable, good looking and the fuel economy looks decent to me. I love the boxy vintage look and feel to it.
If not for the 318i are there any other cars with similar specs, looks and feel?
nope as in to the car choice? or other alternatives to the car?
Nope, as in nope.
Old car. Expensive to maintain, hard to find parts for. When, (not if but when…) when it breaks down, at the worst possible time, it will cost you an arm and possibly a sizeable portion of a leg to get it going again. Then there is insurance…
It will drink fuel like a starved cat craves milk.
Spend that same sort of money buying a boring Japanese or Korean made car that will do for uni running around and be more reliable and cheaper than a BMW. Put some money away now and buy a Beemer once you can afford it AFTER you have finished uni…
So “nope” was the best answer.
Old pile of junk
best looking 3 series
First car not collectors car
This is actually my dream car!!! Too bad it costs such a back breaking amount. I hope to drive it one day, maybe appreciate it when I'm in my late 40s
?
Looks like a Matchbox toy, literally.
Yeah, most of those rare classics do.
Forget it, get a Mazda 3 :)
Affordable???
The ones I'm looking at are about 4-5.9k in general and are in a very comfortable price range for me. I initially thought good second hand cars had to be around 10k
It might seem cheap now but the maintenance cost will be high on an old European car like that.
Agreed, its the maintenance and replacement costs for any old unique parts that make this deal a risky proposition.
The main problem with euro cars (as I found out to my peril), is that whilst they are amazing to drive, the moment something goes wrong, it costs three times as much as the equivalent Ford/Holden/Japanese model. Can you afford to fix it if something goes wrong?
Yup fully agree with you, I am a tad bit worried about the costs associated with fixing it,if anything happens, I'll be dumpster diving for the part.
You need to keep everything in perspective though. If you go looking for bad reviews you'll definitely find them, but think also about the hundreds of owners driving this car without a problem!
I bought a 2008 Golf GTI a couple of years ago, whilst it was the most amazing car to drive it ended up costing me a fortune when things started to break, but I also see heaps of my particular model driving around who clearly don't have a problem. Needless to say I sold it soon after and now drive a great little Fiesta S. Hasn't cost me a cent!
You're still driving a European car…
I bought a 1995 BMW 318i for 6k as my first car. It was fine.
Main problem is insurance costs remain high regardless of vintage and peripheral parts break down over time.
Fuel economy was soso, and I had to replace the engine after about 180000 km.
I wouldn't buy a Euro car again. Still have the car and will run it into the ground.
But I bought a Japanese car and much prefer it over Euros as easier to DIY.
How did you feel about the price of maintenance? Did it put a strain on your finances?
@Ghosteye: Biggest expense was insurance and Compulsory Third Party. Running was overall okay for the first 3 years. By then it was 18 y.o.
When I first got it, had some coolant leaking issues which ran up to about $1k for repairs.
Then engine needed to be overhauled which cost about $2k from a cheaper mechanic.
Car still runs but is falling apart, will be going to the scrapyard if further issues in future.
I'd rather just get a Japanese car as more reliable mechanically and cheaper to insure (imo).
At the end of the day, if it something you really want, can afford and are willing to spend a bit more to keep it going then I say go for it. Every other car on the road is a corolla, i30, CRV or Mazda 3. Not that there is anything wrong with these cars, but they are everywhere. I don't see an issue for going with something a bit different and cool retro for your first car. Will also probably give you the opportunity to learn about car maintenance and how to source cheap OS parts :)
Wish my first car was a BMW………….
Keep in mind that both passive and active safety of the modern cars is far ahead of the vintage BMW. This is usually an important consideration for the 1st car.
EDIT: OMG I just saw the prices for E30 on carsales. Get a boxy vintage looking Prado 90 instead:)
Thanks, will look into that. Is maintenance for vintage generally high cost? Or is it only limited to European vintage?
Vintage car is a money pit. This car is over 25-30 years old car, everything will fall apart all the time irrespective of the place on earth where is was manufactured. Metal and plastics are getting tired.
More to that - it will never drive as BMW should as everything is ancient and worn out. 1.8 is not quite the engine to desire.
Ford Falcon for the similar price will be much better in all aspects, probably even in fuel economy ( on gas especially haha). I'm sure that 25 year old E30 will have a fuel leak somewhere:)
Alright, I'll take your advice and have a look at the ford falcon as well, thanks!
@Ghosteye: My parents have owned nearly every single generation of the Ford Falcon/Fairlane/LTD since the late 80s. Utter garbage imo.
2 types of people drive merc's or bmw's in australia… drug dealers and wenkers… which one are you?
a wenker that deals drugs
I heard cashed up trust fund uni students like the A200 AMG… does that fit in the wenker category?
no, he has his own category by now
maintenance price = price of your bmw x 2
Great car but get the 325i. It won’t lose any money in depreciation m, so your only running costs are repairs. They are fundamentally reliable, but a car that old as a daily will have interior wear and tear.
The 325i has a massive range from high 30s to 5k and it makes me uneasy about resale
Resale on an in-line 6 will always be better than a 4 cylinder.
toyota camry or bicycle?
Nope