These cars are so damn hard to find!

[thesk8nmidget]

naustin you should post some pictures up im curious to see whats she looks like. what did you end up paying?

[cooljess76]

I think it's funny when people look for a car that hasn't even been imported for the past 10 years and they expect it to meet all of their criteria. Out of all of the e36's you see on the road, how many of them are 318ti's? Out of those, how many are sports or clubsports? Out of those, how many are manuals? Out of those, how many have low mileage and have been well cared for? Out of those, how many are actually for sale? Out of those, how many are within your price range? You see where I'm going with this?

Finding a 318ti, an import that was never very popular here in the US, is like finding a needle in a haystack. Especially if you limit your search to a certain list of options. Chances are that you probably won't find it in your own backyard if you'll even find one at all. Fortunately we live in an area(Southern California) that has a better than average selection of 318ti's.

However, you have to realize that these are older cars and along with age comes issues. Along with issues comes sacrifice. Are you willing to replace the entire cooling system? Are you willing to fix broken window regulator? The clutch has 1xx,000 miles on it, are you ready to replace it? These are all questions to consider.

It may prove worth while to travel a little if the car seems to be what you're looking for. Of course, ask a lot of questions, request tons of pictures, get a vehicle history report and everything you can prior to investing time and money to find out that the pictures on the ebay listing were 5 years old and the car is parked across the street from a crack house in Baltimore with weeds growing under it and faded paint covered in bird poop.

It amazes me how many people aren't willing to travel to pick up a car that they want so bad. I sold my Jeep a couple of years ago to a guy in San Diego. Really nice guy, but I couldn't believe that he didn't want to test drive it before he handed me the money. He actually paid me 300 bucks to drive it down to him(about 250 miles). I cleaned it up really nice and met him at the bank where he handed me a check for $5300 which the bank cashed immediately. Caught a trolly across town and paid $4800 for a '97 Avus blue 318ti base model. Drove that car for less than a week before I won an auction for a '97 black on black 318ti sport. Sold the Avus ti that very same day(lost a couple hundred bucks), flew to Ann Arbor, MI and drove my new Ti 2k miles back home.

My sport had less mileage , a brand new motor, better options and including the trip to and from to pick it up cost less than the Avus 318ti I had initially bought. Even better, I bought it from the original owner who kept ALL of the service records dating back to when the car was new. Since I bought the car in Michigan where the demand isn't as high as SoCal, I drove away spending about $2500 less than I should have. The original owner was a great guy and he even picked me up in Detroit and threw in a set of winter tires.

Anyway, I'm just saying that in most cases you're more likely to get exactly or close to what you want if you're willing to travel. If things don't work out, or the car turns out to be a heap of crap, just turn around and walk away. But at the very least, you'll have an adventure to post here

[thesk8nmidget]

well said jesse!

couldnt have said it better!

[roadrash]

What Jess said: +1

And if you do find a car that meets all your criteria, be prepared to pay on the spot, and probably more than what you want to pay, especially if the seller knows the demand for the car.

I know I paid more for my car than I should have, but with the exception of some things that were easily removed (pinstripes, etc.), and the wheels, it was exactly what I wanted. I don't regret paying too much, or spending exactly a year to find it.

[tiFreak]

Originally Posted by thesk8nmidget

well said jesse!

couldnt have said it better!

I read the first two paragraphs and stopped, life is too short

[cooljess76]

yeah, sorry about the looong post I tend to do that for some reason

[roadrash]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

yeah, sorry about the looong post

Dude, I'd rather read one long, on-topic, coherent, and accurate post than any number of short, off-topic, incoherent and/or misleading posts. No need to apologize!

[BMW_Hatchback]

there are plenty of clean Ti;s on ebay believe it or not. The white DASC'd one started at 11K last year, but no one was buying. So he raised the price to get more attention from serious buyers. I've been seeing a lot of base models on ebay, but very clean ones. I bought my 96' mtech ti from a good friend of mine for 2600 with 119xxx on it. All it needed was a thermostat and new spark plug wires. All of this is irrelevant, but oh well.

[DJ Skillz 187]

Well, the '99 atx w/ 74k on it that I was originally going to buy is going back up for sale on March 10th.

The person selling it had family visiting, so they took it off the market for them to drive it.. and in the mean time, I've been looking for other nice ones that are preferably 5spd.

The way things are going, I'm probably going to buy that one and just live with it being an automatic.

[Ji Money]

Listen to CoolJess. I almost backed out of buying a Club Sport because it was in another state. He told me the trip itself would be fun. Now I own a Club Sport.

Also, when searching Craigslist, do not just search 318ti. I got lucky because the seller listed it as a 318 ti, with a space between the 318 and the ti. You won't see it if you just search 318ti. I was doing a search on "bmw" and foud it by chance.

I paid $6k for mine and it was well worth the three trips I took in total. What up Jess! Thanks for the advice!

[JakeNotCliff]

I have the same problem basically. I'm looking for a '96 and newer sport model, preferably with the M-tech body. I have the option of picking one up anywhere in the continental US, and I've been searching for three or four months now without any real luck. It's really infuriating My budget right now is only 4k, but I think I've struck a deal that could bump that up to as much as 8k, though I think that's much more than I'd spend on a ti that didn't sing and tap dance for me.

[thesk8nmidget]

a white 96 sport just sold in boston last week. just keep the eyes open and check here often for good deals. it seems like if we run across a good ti we will post it on here to help others find what they are looking for

[DJ Skillz 187]

Originally Posted by Ji Money

Listen to CoolJess. I almost backed out of buying a Club Sport because it was in another state. He told me the trip itself would be fun. Now I own a Club Sport.

Also, when searching Craigslist, do not just search 318ti. I got lucky because the seller listed it as a 318 ti, with a space between the 318 and the ti. You won't see it if you just search 318ti. I was doing a search on "bmw" and foud it by chance.

I paid $6k for mine and it was well worth the three trips I took in total. What up Jess! Thanks for the advice!

Yeah, I've been searching everything: 318ti, 318, bmw, e36 etc.. etc..

I'm still not convinced to drive to another state unless I have someone there completely inspect the car before I go pick it up.
I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars in gas (and not being at work) to go and find out that the car is a piece of ****. Definitely not a gamble I'm willing to make for a sub-$8k car.

A few more ti's just popped up on craigslist today.. but none have the mileage listed. I emailed, awaiting replies..

[Ji Money]

Originally Posted by DJ Skillz 187

Yeah, I've been searching everything: 318ti, 318, bmw, e36 etc.. etc..

I'm still not convinced to drive to another state unless I have someone there completely inspect the car before I go pick it up.
I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars in gas (and not being at work) to go and find out that the car is a piece of ****. Definitely not a gamble I'm willing to make for a sub-$8k car.

A few more ti's just popped up on craigslist today.. but none have the mileage listed. I emailed, awaiting replies..

Maybe you should get a 1 series then? The ti fits my budget and spending a couple of hundred was worth it to get a Club Sport. It's no where near perfect, but I'm really glad I got it. I bought it without even test driving it!

[Ji Money]

Originally Posted by JakeNotCliff

I have the same problem basically. I'm looking for a '96 and newer sport model, preferably with the M-tech body. I have the option of picking one up anywhere in the continental US, and I've been searching for three or four months now without any real luck. It's really infuriating My budget right now is only 4k, but I think I've struck a deal that could bump that up to as much as 8k, though I think that's much more than I'd spend on a ti that didn't sing and tap dance for me.

Hey I have a 97 Sport edition with the Cali roof. 5-speed. I'll sell it to you for $3,500. There is one defect with the front left suspension, but if you drive straight you can go 100mph and not feel anything wrong with it. Something rubs when you take left turns hard and when the suspension load is shifted to the front left area. The seller before me got into a fender bender and did not report it. He told me it was just a ding, but as I started tossing the car around, I realized the extent of the damage. I had the steering wheel shake on me when taking a hard left turn. My worry is that in emergency situations, it may not take that sharp left turn when needed. Anyway, it's for sale. I posted an ad earlier, but I let a friend of mine from work borrow it for a few weeks. He drove it carefully and never even felt that issue once. I will gladly provide his contact info so you can ask him any questions you want.

Check out the link below, I describe the issue in a little bit more detail along with other minor issues that the car has.

http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=20021