I'm thinking of picking up one as a beater... is there any big problems that I should be aware of? I'm paying HK$21,000 which is equivalent to about US$3,000 for it. The guy I'm buying it from is the original owner... it has only 80,000 km on it... full BMW service records... fully loaded... no accidents... paint is a 9/10 and interior is a 8/10... driven only by a driver... this car is located in Hong Kong by the way that's why it's dirt cheap. Thanks.

 

Be careful. 1995 was the 1st model year for that body. Typical problems include:

Front suspension lower control arms - bushings wear out.
Digital displays - all incl odometer, center display, radio display, HVAC display. The pixels go out and it probably happens every 3 years or so.
Rear self leveling suspension - leaks over time and a typical repair could be $3k-8k.
Power steering pump
Power seat motors


The bottom line is - everytime something breaks, you can count on at least $1k-3k repair bill. Much more if it's serious. You have to remember that you are buying a $80k-90k car for what you would pay in parts for a typical repair. Nothing is cheap about repairing a BMW.

 

damn... thanks for the heads up... the digital display I'm aware of... happened to my old 540i... also aware of the frount suspnsion lower control arms but the rear self leveling suspension is making me think... thanks again!

 

way too cheap. buy it if its the way you describe it

 

I just test drove the car and saw everything upclose instead of pictures and it looks much better in person... I'll be in my garage tomorrow... pics up tomorrow.

 

Quick thing about the suspension. If the ride level stops working, just swap out the parts and place in standard suspension parts. I did that for a 2002 that had the ride level go out. It was cheaper and easier for me, it might be for you too. Enjoy the car, they are great to drive!