Newly bought 318ti troubles

[MINIz guy]

Well, I picked up a 318ti today and the new car feeling wore off quickly.

To be blunt, this was the first time I bought my own car and was too excited and missed plenty of things. I didn't get under the car and only took it up to 55 MPH on the test drive. There were no clunks or vibrations on the test drive.

Let's start off with the good. It is a Boston Green '96 with the M-appearance package and no sunroof. It has a five-speed and the half leather/half cloth sport seats. All the panels match and the belts and fuel pump is new.

Now the bad. I work at a Mazda dealer (not a tech) and brought it over there right after purchase. I found quickly that at 75-80 MPH there is a serious vibration. The struts are also worn. Up on the lift, we found the control arms shot on the passenger side, and weak on the drivers side. There is also a fluid leak - easily seen as the valve cover gasket, and possibly a power steering line. I was told the clutch was replaced 10k miles ago, and it grabbed strong. However, looking under it, the transmission bolts were never touched and the guibo was also shot. Now to the back, the exhaust hanger was worn and the diff bushing was also worn. To top it off, there was a broken coil on the passenger's side. The paint was resprayed poorly, and there is a small bubble of rust that I wasn't worried about but am now disappointed in due to my other findings.

I planned to daily this at college for 1 year before tearing it down for autocross prep. With these findings, I'm holding off taking it to college (only have 4 days) and am extremely disappointed in myself.

[teetime4one]

Dude, that sucks. If you decide to keep the car, I assume you can find a lot of parts for replacement in your area. There are a lot of members here that live in NJ.
Welcome to the org.

[jca]

Most of us have bought cars without checking them out sufficiently and regretted it. Chalk it up a lesson learned. Good luck with the car and with college. John

[MINIz guy]

Well, help me think this out.

I know the E36 chassis is the right chassis for me.

I've hopped around on other chassis before, and this isn't my first BMW, but the first one I've paid full in. I've driven my parent's X5 before and handed the car back to them after many DIY's getting that thing back into shape. I also had an E39 M5 with the help of my parents, and was lucky not ending up in the red after selling it. I did my research on that M5...not so on this car and didn't get a PPI. A $100 PPI would've let me walk away from this car, or save at least $500 to put towards the repairs.

I do not regret the driving feel of this car. It is still amazing, and exceeds my expectations being a 4-cylinder car.

I was looking at E36 M3's but decided against them so I could fully financially back this 318ti by myself.

I'm a little hesitant to keep pour money into this car now, since I'm worried what else I would find is wrong. It does look unmodified, and not neglected, but worn out. I can't really see any hack jobs on the car, besides a screwed together drivers door panel, paint job and front bumper; just cosmetic items which I really don't care about. I could either throw in some parts and make sure it is good for 20,000 miles. Or I could go full out and just start my autocross build...with Lemforder parts, coilovers, sways...

I'll attach some pictures tomorrow.

[Torq]

Originally Posted by jca

Most of us have bought cars without checking them out sufficiently and regretted it. Chalk it up a lesson learned. Good luck with the car and with college. John

Been there, done that! I've a 01 E46 318ci coupe sitting outside my house laughing at me every time I walk past it.

[ProjectTiBacalhou]

thats not bad at all mang, ive spent over $4k restoring mine, and still on a m44 engine, everything youve described ive ran thru on my ti already, now jumping into front frame rail rust restoration to mount m3 uuc sway bar i had originally bought a year ago that i couldnt install due to the surprise rust

[MINIz guy]

Good thing there isn't any surprise rust.

There is slight bubbling on one jack pad but it is small. And there is bubbling on the rear arch which is also small. Both are the size of half my fist. I'm thinking to POR15 it once I get to the cosmetics.

The good thing is that these cars aren't too expensive compared my M5. I priced out a front and rear suspension refresh for $600 (may have missed a part or two) but that didn't include shocks/springs as I'm not sure where I want to go with that.

Add in some engine gaskets and cooling items I should be under $800 for everything besides shocks/springs/coilovers.

[BRADESTAR]

Sounds like you got your answer. Ride that thang! Boston Green m tech sounds like a winner to me.

Sorry you had to look at Mazda's all summer....motivation for college!

[antedc5-s]

Dont feel bad ima in the same position as you. Unless you bought the car from the southwest its gonna have rust. These cars were never anyones weekend toy so they were driven in snow daily. The vibrations could just be a bent rim take the car for a wheel balancing and they should b able to tell you if the wheels r bent or maybe they just need balancing and a good wheel alignment. Good luck with it and enjoy. These cars are old and need good owners to take care of them. Give them a rebirth sorta. Remember always try the least expensive route first when it comes to fixing somethings.

[MINIz guy]

Hey, I liked my job at Mazda. It was right across the BMW dealer, same company, but Mazda was much slower and relaxed. I will apply there again next year. I got to know the techs well to ask for help and could bring my car in and use the lifts on the weekends. I'm just off to school now so I don't have any benefits anymore.

We did balance the wheels. There still is major play in the control arm so the vibration is still there, and not recommended to be driven on. I don't mind so much anymore as I see the car as a perfect project car to experiment on. In the mean time, my parents will drive it around town every once in a while to relearn driving a manual.