Thought on a well used BMW

Looking for your thought on this car. A 1993 BMW 325i, the car has 200K and is over all in rough shape, the car needs front brake pads and rotors and the engine has a solid tap noise coming from about the center of the engine. I am not a BMW guru, should I even get involved in this car or just keep moving.

Pros: Starts right up, no CEL or other lights, trans feels good (no test drive yet), cheap E36, RWD, and I kind of like it.

Cons: Tapping noise, small oil leak from rocker cover, seat trashed, body is rough.

I am a bit pressed for time as my DD is all but totaled http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/oh-deer/73169/page1/ So I do not want to waste my time with another project due to school.

http://york.craigslist.org/cto/4138418879.html

Thanks for the input fokes.

Paul B

Tap noise up top? My gut check is lifter tick. Didn't these use HLAs? Probably one has just completely collapsed (and the others aren't far behind).

(This advice is worth exactly the price paid for it.)

It could be a lifter tap but my concern is will this fail and take out the engine, or just make noise for the next 100K miles and never fail. The Chrysler 2.2 and 2.5 engine develop wrist pin slap but I have never seen one fail.

A lot of BMW autocross guys have lifter tap due to the high G-forces. They usually overfill and that cures it most of the time.

It could be that this motor is slightly underfilled and topping it off could solve the problem.

run away

from the looks and description.. that better be an almost free BMW. The 325 sedan is not worth much to begin with.. and in that condition?

I had a '92 that developed a tapping/"popping" sound. Turns out one of the spark plugs were loose.
My E36 loved heavy weight Mobil 1 oil. Nothing else would keep it quiet after 150,000 miles.

I'd be more worried about how old the cooling system is than the top end noise. BMWs tend to get a little noisy as they age, but it's rarely fatal in my experience; as noted, a little overfilled with heavy oil is the generally accepted remedy.

At $1000 it's overpriced IMO; if you could get it for half that it might be interesting to see how long you could keep it going.

My daily driver is an E36 that's now at 216K miles. The top end noise could be a VANOS solenoid, or it could be a quart low on oil. Or he could be running it on 10W-30 oil (the factory recommends 15W-40). If it is a collapsed lifter, it's something you can fix when you get around to it.

If the radiator hasn't been replaced in the last 50,000 miles, replace it.

Unless the plan is to make a toy/track car, I can't imagine this being worth the hassle.

If you aren't looking for another project, then this is not the droid you're looking for.

I'd buy, but then I am a gluten for punishment.

clutchsmoke wrote: If you aren't looking for another project, then this is not the droid you're looking for.

Exactly my thoughts. If you don't want a project right now, just fix the Omni that you already know and like, or find a used manual-equipped Protege/626/MX6/Probe/Corolla/Camry/Accord/Civic/CRX/otherautomotivecockroach

cdowd wrote: I'd buy, but then I am a gluten for punishment.

Yes but, $1000 is too much bread...

In reply to LuxInterior:

That is true, but it don't think it ever says how much it is.