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Okay, so I'm not a real blonde after all. Ahem! Anyway, in 1984 I purchased the 1981 BMW 320i pictured here. It was fun to drive -- BMW suspension is...well...awesome. Unfortunately, I'm not a mechanic and didn't realize just how expensive it can be to maintain a European automobile. I will only buy European again if I can afford the maintenance without straining my finances. (Hmmm, maybe a Mercedes E-320 next time...after all, Mercedes and Jeep are cousins thanks to the DaimlerChrysler merger. Heh-heh-heh.) I now own a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo -- which is considerably cheaper to maintain than the Bimmer. But, in some ways, I do miss Chloé -- but I still wouldn't give up my Jeepie-weepie (it's a kick to drive).
~o~
Someone
recently emailed me asking if I still owned the Bimmer. No, Chloé and I parted
company in 1996 when I bought my Jeep Grand Cherokee.
I patted the old girl on the trunk and said a tearful good-bye...then jumped
into the new Jeepie and off I went! On a brighter note: In Spring '97 I was
on my way to the gym when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a safaribeige
320i driving up a freeway onramp. Of course, every beige 320i gets my immediate
notice -- so, when I saw that the Bimmer had my old vanity plates: CHEZ BMW,
I screamed, "Ahhhh! It's Chloé! Look how great she looks, Sting!"
I actually got a lump in my throat. Chloé had found a good home after all (the
lady driving her looked nice).
Anyway, the person who emailed me wanted to know the basics about my particular car, the service history, etc. So, just in case anyone out there in cyberspace is curious, I've decided to post the information here. (Disclaimer: The comments below pertain to my own vehicle and is not intended to be indicative of the general reliability of 320i models, or other 3-series models.)
Here's
the basic (edited) text of my reply email:
Transmission: 5-speed automatic (weird, I know -- probably
had one of the few Bimmers without stick; still, it had a plucky 1.8 liter engine
thanks in part to fuel injection)
Maintenance, work done on the car: Well, all the standard oil
changes of course (every 3k miles, religiously) and tune-ups (first following
the guide in owner's manual, then after 100k+ miles, alternating between Level
1 and Level 2 tune-ups). Some of the things replaced/serviced (as memory serves):
*Throw-arm bushings replaced once car reached 8 years (I forget the mileage).
*The water pump had been replaced (after 10 years).
*Had to have the exhaust header welded (at 13 years -- the weld held, no more
noises).
*Gaskets replaced after 5 years, some hoses, belts.
* Lost alternator belt on freeway (at 11 years old) -- even though nearly all
the coolant had been lost, and I was less than a mile from home, the Bimmer
made it without ANY damage to valves. Just replaced the alternator belt (really
simple) and replaced the thermostat. She ran afterward as if nothing had happened.
*There was a factory defect which caused a tiny piece of metal to cut into the
main fuelline near the fuel filter over time, causing a slow leak of gasoline.
The mechanic was able to shear/file off the excess metal and put a clamp on
the new fuel line to make sure that no metal touched it. Never had another problem
with the fuel line after that.
*Fuel filter got severely clogged at 4 years old -- replaced filter, never clogged
again.
*The alternator was a bit of a problem -- twice (once in '92 and once in '95),
a wire became disconnected, causing the car to lose power. The second time it
happened, two wires were touching, causing a short (mechanic separated the wires
with clamps -- never had the problem again).
*Warm-up regulator had to be repaired (apparently there had been a recall, but
the original owners never took the car in for servicing -- lucky me).
*Replaced starter once (after 10 years).
*Emergency/Hazard light button broke twice (first time - rebuilt, second time
- replaced).
*Distributor replaced.
*Exhaust manifold gasket replaced -- afterward, "whining" noise ceased.
*Freeze plugs replaced twice.
Well, it's difficult to cover the 12 years that I had the vehicle, detail by
detail, so I'll just try to sum it up. Basically, the only thing that truly
irritated me about the car was the radiator. BMW put a 2-core radiator in the
320i (and probably the other models at the time) which 
caused
the engine to run overly hot (as in at the 3/4 mark). (Hopefully the newer
models have bigger radiators -- but let's face it, they build these things for
Europe, where it's cooler and you end up driving longer distances.) If
I'd have decided to keep the car longer, I would have invested in a 4-core radiator
with a coolant recovery system (like the one in my Jeep and in my
brother's Toyota Tacoma -- plus, my Jeep has an auxiliary fan which kicks
in if the computer senses that the coolant's getting too hot). Also, another
ongoing niggling problem (pretty minor actually -- just a bit annoying) are
the clamps attached to muffler -- they were constantly coming off! In fact,
the main clamp cracked through when the car was only 4 years old. I notice alot
of 320i s driving around with horribly loose mufflers -- some even wagging back
and forth. I always wonder how their owners can stand the low rumbling noise
-- I mean, Bimmers traditionally have loud engines, but it's ridiculous to add
to the noise. It's a simple, cheap repair -- I don't understand why so many
320i owners don't have this done.
As for rust, I had a little rust beneath the rear passenger window frames --
I touched it up with Rustoleum from
Home Depot (worked great -- luckily they
have beige, which matched my "safari-beige" Bimmer quite nicely).
The Rustoleum halted the progress of the rust
and I never had to touch anything up again. Actually, BMW gives their cars a
pretty good paint and finish (they "double-dip" them in the factory).
Mileage: When I purchased the car in '84, it had 58k miles;
at the time I traded it in for the Jeep
(at 15 years old), it had about 130k miles ("just broken it" my mechanic
used to remark). As for gas mileage, she got about 28 - 30 mpg when I bought
her -- didn't change after twelve years. I love my Jeep
more than anything, but the mpg SUCKS (only about 18 - 20 mpg, if I'm lucky;^)
That's the main thing I miss about my Bimmer -- loved those low gas bills!
What # owner of the car are you? I was the second owner. An
interesting happenstance: I was driving to my gym early one morning a year after
I bought the Jeep. I spotted a beige 320i merging onto
the freeway (naturally, I'm always on the look-out for 320i's, especially beige
ones;^). I thought, "Gee, that looks like Chloé." As the car climbed
up an onramp to the intersecting freeway, I finally spotted the license plates
-- CHEZ BMW (my Jeep is CHEZ ZJ -- I wanted to keep the
"chez" theme). I was so glad to see someone nice driving it -- Chloé
had found a good home! I swear I got a lump in my throat.
Do you live near the ocean? Well, I live about 5 - 6 miles
from the ocean; not close enough to suffer the effects of salt on the air.
Has the car always been in a dry environment (city climate) and what
about its environment at your home, garaged or outside in the elements?
I kept the car garaged -- mainly for fear of neighborhood cats climbing on it.
For a time I worked in an office in La Jolla
(Torrey Pines) which is really close to the ocean -- luckily we had a parking
garage, so that Chloé didn't have to suffer assaults from salty air and seagull
guano.
What is the interior like? Cloth, which held up quite nicely.
Does the engine leak at all?? This car has been EXCELLENT in
not leaking fluids (save for the above-mentioned fuel line leak and leaking
coolant due to freeze plugs needing replacement), the garage floor remained
pretty dry. The only time the car leaked oil was in her 15th year -- and it
was only a tiny drop at that. It usually took me about 6 months to use up a
quart of oil.
Age of battery? Tires? Let's see...batteries...I think I went
through four of 'em (the factory-installed Varta,
a Bosch, and two Interstates -- the Interstates were the best, NEVER
quit on me). As for tires, the car came with Perelli
tires (great performance tire, btw); replaced them with Michelins
(Perellis too expensive). Naturally,
I checked the psi level often -- had the tires rotated and balanced regularly;
one front-end alignment. Car had a pretty tough front-end -- "took a licking,
kept on ticking" as if it were a 4 x 4.
Does the engine use oil? See above.
Are your windows and sunroof automatic or manual? Non-power
windows and door locks; no sunroof (again, I probably had one of the few Bimmers
without a sunroof. Go figure.)
Seats? non-power
Do the doors sag? Nope. Even after 15 years the doors still
made that nice "chunk" sound when closed.
Would the car make make a long trip? I
think as long as you have everything checked out (especially the radiator),
the car should do quite well. I drove my Bimmer to Los Angeles (200+ miles)
several times
with no problems. They're pretty tough little buggers. My sister-in-law had
a '76 2002 (she now has a '92 318i) which had the constitution of a tank --
not to mention a peppy engine (it was a manual). One last thing about the suspension
-- I never had to have anything other than shocks replaced (once -- all four).
As old as the car was, she still took tight curves easily at high speeds --
I could still feel the suspension lowering at high speeds. That's one of the
reasons I chose the Jeep Grand Cherokee when looking at SUV's -- the Grand handles
like a car (takes turns as neatly as my Bimmer). After all, when you've tasted
European suspension, you just can't drive anything even remotely clunky.
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I
hope you can appreciate me not being local and wanting to make an educated purchase!
No problem -- you're not the first person who's asked me about my Bimmer. It's
always good to ask others about their experiences so that you can form a consensus
and arrive at an informed decision. The only real drawback to owning any expensive
European car is that the maintenance IS expensive -- but if you know a good
mechanic, or can do the work yourself, then it's no problem. Bimmers can be
touchy, tempermental machines -- but they respond well to repairs. In other
words, once the repair has been done, you'll rarely have trouble with that same
problem again (of course, there are always exceptions;^)
Good luck -- and if you do buy a 320i, have fun with it and keep it looking
nice! Btw, I highly recommend Eagle One Wet
Polish/Wax (it's formulated with Teflon)
-- leaves a great mirror finish and fills in swirl scratches well. It's also
tough -- keeps sap and bird doo from eating into your paint/clear coat. I use
it on my Jeep -- the truck looks like
it's made of glass. My sister-in-law uses it on her Bimmer -- car looks brand
new.
Here's a follow-up email once the person found out I no longer had the car:
Hi,
Sorry for the mis-communication... Yup, I traded in the Bimmer when I bought
my Jeep four years ago. The dealer gave me $1500 for it (Blue Book at the time
would have netted $3500, but the car had a few things that I hadn't fixed like
the air conditioner, front and rear defrosters). The reason I was happy the
car found a good home (in San Diego, even!) was because I knew the Jeep dealer wasn't going to put a fifteen
year old car in its used car lot -- even though it was a BMW. Most likely they
sent it to an auction house where either an indie dealer bought it, reconditioned
it and put it out for sale (probably for about $3k). Or the person I saw driving
my old Bimmer on the freeway bought it at an auction for a song and had it reconditioned
herself (the car looked even better than when I had it). The car, by now, probably
has had a new tranny put in -- but that car could easily go on for another twenty
years (it has a solid, cast-iron block).
I think you could get an '80 - '83 320i now (in good condition) for about $1k
to $1500 -- maybe less. I hate it when I see battered 320is -- dents, exposed
primered fenders and doors. I see more 2002s in better shape, which is sad.
Speaking of 2002s -- the "tii" model is still worth bucks
if the car is in mint condition. The 2002tii was the direct precursor
to the 3-series; it was the first fuel-injected 2002 model (I think it came
out in '76, along with the carburator 2002s -- the tii was limited
edition I believe). Then, in the summer of '76 BMW rolled out the 320i -- the
*best* years of the 320i are '81, '82 and '83 models (by the summer of '83,
BMW debuted the 318i for 1984). Speaking of the first 318i, it was
a total dog -- in fact, it's still referred to, in some circles, as the "bad
luck Bimmer" -- it debuted in '84, died in '85 (its last production year).
'Course, BMW decided to resurrect (and improve) the 318i in 1988 -- but I think
BMW ended the line last year. I could be wrong -- haven't checked the BMW Web site lately;^)
So, you might want to take that '82 5-speed and see what you can do with it.
It's good that you're a budding mechanic -- you'll save a lot of money. When
I would visit my mechanic (they're the best I've ever worked with -- a San
Diego indie called BMW Service Specialists -- Gary Dodd, the manager, is
completely devoted to BMWs), I noticed that the owners of the older models (the
320is, 2002s, 1500s, 305s, Bavarias, etc) seemed to be more mechanically savvy
than the owners of the newer, more expensive models. There'd always be some
businessman bringing in his $60k 750i, asking them to check his oil, or some
young girl in a new 325i who couldn't change her wiper blades.
Glad to see that you are also a Jeeper -- CJs never die. My brother (he also
has a '90 YJ) told me about a woman
in his club (Tierra Del Sol, a 4 x 4 off-road
club) who has a CJ-7 which had somehow internally-combusted in the parking
lot where she worked. Everyone at work thought it was a total loss -- they didn't
realize how easily a CJ can be resurrected. Thanks to contributions of parts
by club-members (including my brother, who gave her the carburator from his
YJ -- he installed his YJ's new Mopar fuel injection system himself), the woman
and her husband completely restored the Jeep and repainted it a nice, shiny
silver. The Jeep is happily riding the trails once again. If you like, you can
check out Jerry's YJ at http://members.home.net/jjh1/jeep.htm
-- he lists all the modifications made to the Jeep, along with a lot of interesting
documentation. If you have any questions regarding the restoration of your CJ,
feel free to email him for advice (especially about the Kevlar).
Good luck in your search for the Bimmer!
~o~
So that's the scoop on my (former) 320i. Please feel free to email me -- especially if you have a page devoted to your own Bimmer so that I can add a link to your page.
Links
Dave Kyle
Dave is a professional writer and guitarist -- he's also a BMW enthusiast. Check
out the picture of his '83 320i -- a beauty!
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