nige Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 My brother is looking for a winter ride/second car and he came across a late 80's 325x. Now i wasn't aware that BMW made all wheel drive cars, so I'm wondering how reliable the drivetrain is in them. I have a feeling that they won't be cheap to fix and maybe it's better if he goes with a regular rwd model for simplicity sake (less parts, less sh!t can break -type logic). He's almost ready to lay his cash down for an '87 325 2 door automatic with enough milage but a new engine for $1000 Here's the ad, they don't list the milage on this car so i'll call him and find out if you guys think this would make a good second car provide the milage was acceptable: 1989 BMW 325ix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 (edited) Looks like a pathy behind it... Outside of a Pathfinder... All Wheel Drive, Winter daily pavement driver..... IMO Subaru OutBack/Legacy..... 90-95 in the same price range and JY parts are easy to find...... insurance 1/3rd the cost of the BMW.... Lots more room inside as well.... 325x would be a nice ride though..... Now you got thinking... Edit:lol Edited December 1, 2006 by Casey.T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headpeace Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 how about a good used Pathfinder sly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbinger Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 Outside of a pathy I hear some of the older audi AWD's make good 'beaters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Good call Harbie... Audi Quattros were quite popular for a while and fairly reliable, I'm sure there are some cheaper ones about. I didn't know BMW made all wheel drive back then either. I'd probably stay away unless someone in the know vouches for them. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj big shoe Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 My old neighbor in DC had a white one. He loved it until the day he wraped it around a tree. Cool little car and prolly costs more to repair, but who ever buys something based solely on cost efectiveness? Plus its an older German car, not a Hyundai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I own a '95 BMW 3 with 180K miles. My experience: - They require far fewer repairs than other brands (including Nissan) - Parts are usually LESS expensive than other imports - have him check out alloembmwparts.com and compare for yourselves. - Professional BMW mechanics tend to be the most knowledgable and experienced mechanics around, and cost accordingly. Shop rates tend to be higher than other brands. - If you want it to last over 500K miles and follow BMW's PM schedule, you will be replacing parts most brands won't suggest changing. Keep in mind that this is NOT because the BMW is less well built, it is because BMW's schedule is to designed to have the vehicle work well, safely, and reliably for 500K, not the 100K miles like most. So they recommend you change belts, ALL fluids, and stuff like that far more often than others. So if you do your own repairs (I do, they are actually among the EASIEST to work on - and the Bentley manuals are incredible), the cost of ownership is ridiculously low. If you pay someone else, they're a bit more than average. The one exception is the automatic transmissions up to about 10 years ago. Their reliability has proven to be quite comparable to the Pathy automatics.... Disappointing at best. But the 5 speeds? Wow. Haven't even changed the clutch in ours yet. Maybe by 200K miles... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted December 5, 2006 Author Share Posted December 5, 2006 well he's the proud owner of a 1987 325 2-dor auto. It's a pretty nice little car and i might drive it in the summer time instead of the pathy while he drives his mr2. do you guys know of any owner's groups or forums like this for his car? I've already got a few questions about it. mainly how the hell do you open the hood on these things? it's like it's jammed and it wont slide forward to open up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mookie Posted December 5, 2006 Share Posted December 5, 2006 Here's a few that I lurk on: www.e30tech.com www.bimmerforums.com www.bmwe30.net There are more, but I'm on the e30 forums more because I have an ancient '86 325. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NismoSkyZ Posted December 5, 2006 Share Posted December 5, 2006 If you are looking for a winter beater, a rwd bmw is NOT the way to go. They are infamous for their horrible snow handling, however the xi's are much better in the snow, but still not as good as a used 4wd pathy . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted December 5, 2006 Share Posted December 5, 2006 With a good set of (real) winter tires and a good driver, they're actually not as bad as accused. I have driven around many (stuck) FWD and even squid operated 4WD vehicles in our 318 with Firestone Winterfire tires. True, they are probably not as good as a FWD would be with winter tires, but my experience is that a bimmer with winter tires is better than a FWD with all season tires. I keep a set of 205/60-15's Winterfires for the winter, and 225/45-17 gumballs for the other 3 seasons. I find swapping wheels twice a year to be a very acceptable price to pay for all the other benefits of driving a BMW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbinger Posted December 5, 2006 Share Posted December 5, 2006 *waits for MZ to come in here advocating the use of Mercedes over Bimmers* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nige Posted December 6, 2006 Author Share Posted December 6, 2006 hahaha god. it wouldn't start last night. 1 day and the car is useless. we had it running for a bit after we found a loose hose on the intake, but as soon as we took it around the block, it died. we had it towed back to the dealership and left it in the middle of his driveway. :furious: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheel366 Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 I would research. I didn't think BMW made an all wheel drive car during that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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