Might be jumping ship to the dark side...
 

Guy in my home town is selling a 1996 e36 325i sedan for $2 grand, looking at it, it may need another $500 of work -- windshield, ABS sensor, blown radio speakers, but otherwise it's in very good condition with 120k miles. Quite entertaining to drive, 5 speed of course, and shorter than a w123 so easier to park in the city.

Honda Civic: Entertaining to drive, just as cheap, better built.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/cto/4184302181.html
http://newyork.craigslist.org/brx/cto/4180188437.html

NFW I'd be caught dead driving a wrong-wheel-drive ricer-mobile. I don't do FWD, and I don't drive cars where a wing, hellaflush rims, and a gold chain are mandatory.

Gotcha. Body mods not mandatory :).

The used Civics around here seem either to be autotragic or molested in some fashion by wannabe "ricebois." Honestly, I wouldn't mind a final-generation Civic hatch or even a good CRX, but good luck to me trying to find one that's (a) not rusty (b) not molested.

A windscreen with out interference from insurance would eat up most of your $500 budget here - I don't know about prices where you are (of course) but I'd check on that first.

If I spend $1000 or even $1500 on it, it's not the end of the world.

I just got my first BMW, too, at the end of May '13 and LOVE driving it. Been to Canada, already, last week to LA again, and the SF area, and Carson city/Reno all within the past several days, If you enjoy driving, this is the car for you.

I have already racked up 16k on it and just can't get enough time behind the wheel!

Mine is the M-sport version though.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...3/P1000357.jpg

I have heard that some of he 3 and 5 series ones around the age of yours had problems with radiator parts being plastic, but there are ways to upgrade them to metal, so look into that for sure.

My 240D also seems to have a plastic-tank radiator, as did almost every car I've owned (Saab, Volvo wagon, Miata).

I got a manufacturer correct windshield for a 250sl for less than 300. Have prices spiked that much in five years?

When I had the Saab, I went to a junkyard in Philly that swapped a new/used one in for $125 or so installed.

I think the prices here are more to do with "little country syndrome". The sellers are used to getting mega money from the insurance companies so there's little incentive to sell at a reasonable price. I tried to buy a windscreen here for a Honda about 6 years ago and I couldn't find one for less than 600 euros - whereas in the UK they were about 200GBP (with the exchange rates back then it was about half price in the UK)

$2k at 120K sounds like a good deal. Myself, I'm liking Audi more and more all the time. :eek:

Problem is that they're as rare as hen's teeth with a proper transmission, and I don't DO autotragic.

We have a fair number of manual A4s down here and the very sporadic manual A6...but...most of them have been beat to hell and/or require significant amounts of service.

I love the interiors and the ride...but the ones in the 2-3k range are looking very dated AND require a ton of work compared to the comparable Bimmers I've been seeing...

The E36 is a nice ride that still looks good if you find one that hasn't been abused (sadly many around here suffer the same fate as the rice mobiles)...

insert notsureifserious jpg here.

At the wife's insistance , we got an '89 e34 535i (autotragic, yes, it's her backup). I do like the M30 engine. I even considered a 5 speed version that came up for peanuts (identical black on black), but I am buried in cars now. I'm not a huge fan of the 3-series, unless it's a convertible and stick

When you're in a city with tight parking, something as short as an E36 sedan comes in handy.

Oddly enough, I've driven two of those - both with auto - and that is a surprisingly fast and decent ride. Over on the Bimmer forums I've been hearing about putting the M30B34, the engine in your car I believe, into the best Bimmer ever built, the E30. It does fit, if snugly, I've seen photos.

I gather the M30 is rated one of the better engines of all time or something approximately as illustrious. Not sure if I'm going to try the swap, such projects have eaten other men alive so I dunno. Would be a fast sum b!tch that's certain. Not sure how easy it is to find one with a 5 speed attached.

I understand the convertible E30 is the heaviest of the bunch. If I had 8 cars, one of them would be a convertible. I don't like the sun in my eyes nor rag tops with sun damage and leaks but it would be fun now and then.

I said the same thing about FWD until i got a MINI. Tons of fun.

I had a Saab 96 in the mid 70s. Fun car. My first car with a performance record. My wheels weren't as nice as this one's.

http://s20.postimg.org/u2956u6zh/Saab_96.jpg

Mini is a bloatmobile -- if I'm going modern and FWD, I'll go all-out tiny. Fiat 500, baby.

Didn't some BMWs have Recaro seats? I want to knab a pair of junkyard seats and am thinking Recaro might be the way to go. I need to know what to look for 'cause realistically I won't spend enough time poking around the junkyard to get lucky.

The E30s had 'sports seats' which I've heard some claim weren't real Recaros. I've had some, I'm now back to the standard 'comfort seats' as they're called because the sports seats tend to grip the sides of my thighs uncomfortably. Finding a good pair at a bone yard can be tough. Unless you go to a specialty yard where I'm guessing they would be $150 or so. I did find a pair in great shape at Pick n Pull a few years back for $30 apiece but that was huge luck, and rare.

This doesn't look like an E30 but those are the seats.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_RE6jrz3XmC8/S0.../Seats%202.jpg

1st gen MINI is not a bloat mobile. Also ,Mini and MINI are technically two different cars. The Fiat 500 is only exciting if you get the Amarth. Anything less and it's a hairdressers car.

I LIKE "hairdresser cars" -- I'm not so insecure about the size of my dick to care. 100 hp in anything is enough for me to have fun. I don't subscribe to the Neanderthal notion that you need massive HP in everything, and that zOMG the engine will blow up if you shift above 2500 rpm.

My last car was a bone-stock 1995 Miata. *swish* *swish* *flips hair*

Correct, the 1959-1999(?) Mini isn't a bloated pig, but the "FWD BMW" MINI is. All generations thereof.

Except for the wheels--I know where there is an identical one to this.

I don't get whats the big deal about FWD. Ive been driving the mazda for 4 years and I never had any "FWD problems."

I don't like it except in very tiny or odd cars. It's a matter of preference.

Some people like opera, others jazz. Given the choice between a MINI and a 3-series, I'll take the 3'er. Given the choice between the 3'er and a vintage Citroen DS, or the 3'er and Fiat 500, I'd have to think that one over.

But yeah, I generally like RWD -- being able to step on it and feel the car tighten up in a turn is a lovely feeling, and "slightly scary in icy conditions" equals fun to me.

Either you don't push it hard, or you've adapted well to managing the difference in handling FWD brings.

Any time I've pushed one hard I ran into massive understeer. Massive understeer isn't something I'm used to dealing with and correcting, so it bothers me rather a lot. OTOH, oversteer, including lots of oversteer, is something I'm used to managing. Plus, if I get it wrong, I won't have to see the tree that kills me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoICf55jED8

Nah. Its a mazda, not a lotus.

While I do like throttle steer of RWD’s. Over steer can be induced with a liberal use of the parking brake on FWD.

Throttle steer feels natural; you have to "force" parking brake steering. I'd rather have Arrrrr Dubya Deeeeee. All the cool kids have it in their BMWs and Teslas :)

Whew.

From the thread title I thought you were moving to Jersey. :P :D

Haha. (Though the car is actually in NJ, so good guess.)

If I had a lot more money and space to store cars I’d try to find and buy it. It was a kick to drive but had some weak spots. I was always having to fix the clutch and tranny. Word I heard was that they grafted the monster 1.5 liter four stroke V4 onto the same transaxle that had been used for the 841 cc 2 stroke 3 cylinder. I never drove or even rode in one of those, to my regret, but I suspect they had a lot less torque than the V4 though the hp increase wasn’t that great, 40 hp bumped up to 55.

Also not sure how keen I’d be on having to replace points, plugs, and condenser every 6,000 miles again.

You can get electronic points replacements.

I had a feeling that there must be upgrades available for that. I mean, imagine having a cherry 60s Ferrari and having to work the points every few K miles.

Yeah I went and put in a Petronix ignition this year in the '67 Cougar after I got sick and tired of that problem with the points.

Likewise, added period correct power steering and front power disc brakes for safety and ease of parking,

Never meant it to be a show car anyway. Just a nice original driver with 45k on it to drive sometimes and enjoy.

http://i353.photobucket.com/albums/r...013/dsc122.jpg