Help R3v3rs! i need your second opinion!

[e30pdee]

Alright i was considering buying an 1991 318is i had come up on, at the time when i found it the car was running fine and i had settled with the owner to come take a look at it this coming weekend, he was asking 2500 for the car, i was hoping to get down to a little lower. but what ended up happening is the car just overheated. the owner says that the block and head are fine, he was thinking its the water-pump that caused the overheat,but car still runs good and is drive able, but its best to not risk it and tow the car. he just doesn't have the time or money fix it anymore and is moving out of state. I'm not sure if what he's saying is true, and if i could get your second opinion on that i would be thankful.

Also! what would be a good price to pick it up for, the owner said 2200? should i try fixing the overheating problem? or just save myself the headache and pickup a lower miles newer motor (current motor has 231k miles by the way)

[Kershaw]

if it overheated once it could be ok. or it could be leaking coolant into the cylinders, mixing oil and coolant, etc....

$2200 is for a running, decent condition car.

this car has problems. if it's CLEAN, as in body and paint is in good shape. interior, seats and dash are not cracked, everything else seems good.... $1500. dash cracked? seats cracked? clearcoat peeling? dents? $500.

this could potentially cost you quite a bit if the head is warped from the overheat. and have you ever removed a chain driven double overhead cam head? it's a pita.

and 231k is a decent bit of miles. $1500. stick to it or pass. and this is assuming you can potentially remove the head yourself and send it to a machine shop to be decked. if you need to go to a mechanic for this, pass asap. that's $2500.

[McGyver]

if you can do the work, why not buy it for a clean shell and swap it? (im assuming a san jose car would be rust free, just faded) try for $1k-$1500, try to negotiate based on all the normal wear parts that will need to be replaced.

[e30pdee]

okay ill try to make my negotiations based on that, the car is clean from what ive been told, only one minor dent in the rear left fender interior is in "okay" condition. ill go for $1500. would it be less of a hassle and more cost effective to just pick up a lower miles m42 instead of fixing this one up? im also trying to gain some mechanical knowledge

[bastianshaw]

m42s in my experience dont warp, they crack. 1000

[e30pdee]

m42s in my experience dont warp, they crack. 1000

jesus, thats no good! if would it be better to just source a new motor? and even only one overheat it could crack?

[e30pdee]

bump!

[frankie591]

Just buy the car and swap an m50 into it. You would get bored with the m42 eventually, so just go m50 straight away.

[e30pdee]

i wish it was that easy! im just going to save my money for an s50/s52, which will be about a year down the road. for now i just want a decent motor, and a good commuter that i can have fun in at the same time

[pandaboo911]

non running 318 for 2200? dont do it... 1500 bucks MAX
dont buy it for any more than its worth in parts.

[5ickride]

1500 sounds about right

[e30pdee]

yea 1500 was the ballpark i was thinking.

UPDATE: The owner said he did a compression test at a local shop and all cylinders ran at 125 compression. and he also said that someone offered him $2200, i feel like he could be bluffing