I'm looking for a cheap winter beater. I found a 95 BMW 325i for $650. Ad says it might need a starter soon. 238,000 mi, sunroof, manual.
I'm looking for a cheap winter beater. I found a 95 BMW 325i for $650. Ad says it might need a starter soon. 238,000 mi, sunroof, manual.
"Starts and runs BUT needs some work" The "but" means that it will idle in the driveway, but not much else.
Gotta go check it out. Could be awful lifter tick (add an extra quart of oil and ignore), or could be much worse.
dunno how you know 'it might need a starter soon'. I thought generally starters either worked or they didn't. You can't tell me someone has been banging on an e36 starter with a hammer.
Got a text back. "Door locks need work. Gas and heat gauges need changing or connection work. Hood lock freezes so cable or lock needs lube or changing. Parking brake same. Cash only.
...
That looks like it's going to take a bunch of cash and a lot of work to get up to winter beater quality.
I've never tried it, but walking home at night in the middle of a Chicago winter probably sucks.
I got a BMW for sale with double the cylinders, gas and heat gauges work perfectly, as do the hood release cable and parking brake.
wink wink.
What are you asking?
Correct me if I'm wrong but Chicago+winter equals tons of snow. Wouldn't a rwd and very little ground clearance be a poor choice for a winter car?
Oh crap, now I'm going to get the barrage of "My corvette with race slicks can blast through four foot snow drifts all day long, You just don't know how to drive!!!" posts, aren't I?
If german cars didnt give me nightmares id try it. The 50 dollar blazer is my winter beater this year and im not worried. Rwd, maybe 4 inches of clearence under the frame rails!
Asking 750.
It needs driver/front passenger seats now as I took one for another project and sold parts out of the other. Also needs a center support bearing (or more likely a whole reman driveshaft).
I actually would not recommend this for winter daily duty. At all. If you do winter daily this you are awesomer than me.
EDIT: power windows work, door locks do not. sunroof is gone except for the metal panel. Leaks like crazy. You get good heat from the engine compartment, but it is not controlable. No defrost.
Really I just posted to be funny.
It's a stick so just park at the top of the hill.
In the GRM tradition of enabling.
DO IT!!!!!!!!
gearheadmb wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong but Chicago+winter equals tons of snow. Wouldn't a rwd and very little ground clearance be a poor choice for a winter car? Oh crap, now I'm going to get the barrage of "My corvette with race slicks can blast through four foot snow drifts all day long, You just don't know how to drive!!!" posts, aren't I?
Chicago != tons of snow. Yes they get snow. They almost never get enough that ground clearance would figure in at all (once every few years). RWD isn't ideal, but it's not terrible.
Chicago winters would never shift my buying preferences based on the car getting around. Salt and rust are the things that made me hate winter driving in Chicago, not worrying about getting around. I would probably get snows sicne the car is destined for winter beater stauts, but even decent all seasons will get you around Chicago almost all the time.
EDIT: No corvette stories, but I did get around in a 15 passenger van with absolutely bald tires more than one winter. Though I'm not about to tell you it wasn't... interesting.
Woody wrote: That looks like it's going to take a bunch of cash and a lot of work to get up to winter beater quality. I've never tried it, but walking home at night in the middle of a Chicago winter probably sucks.
If its anything like walking home on Christmas at 2am after your motor let go in a Minnesota winter.....yeah its not fun.
Unless you think you are going to talk them down by about half I don't see this as such a great deal. I recently sold a '96 328i with the desirable Sport package that had no real running issues for only a grand more than they are asking. And this was a San Diego/Seattle car - ie. zero rust anywhere.
keethrax wrote:gearheadmb wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong but Chicago+winter equals tons of snow. Wouldn't a rwd and very little ground clearance be a poor choice for a winter car? Oh crap, now I'm going to get the barrage of "My corvette with race slicks can blast through four foot snow drifts all day long, You just don't know how to drive!!!" posts, aren't I?Chicago != tons of snow. Yes they get snow. They *almost* never get enough that ground clearance would figure in at all (once every few years). RWD isn't ideal, but it's not terrible. Chicago winters would never shift my buying preferences based on the car getting around. Salt and rust are the things that made me hate winter driving in Chicago, not worrying about getting around. I would probably get snows sicne the car is destined for winter beater stauts, but even decent all seasons will get you around Chicago almost all the time. EDIT: No corvette stories, but I did get around in a 15 passenger van with absolutely bald tires more than one winter. Though I'm not about to tell you it wasn't... interesting.
I'll counter that and tell you that almost every year if not every year there is enough snow to make ground clearance an issue. Now, how long is it there? Seldom more than a few hours. When it is there longer, even a lot of ground clearance likely isn't going to help you.
In general I agree with what you're saying though.
That thing is more rusty than I would like my winter beater to be. That's honestly one of the rustiest E36s I've ever seen. Working on really rusty cars in the cold is some level of hell. If you want RWD winter beater fun go grab a Volvo.
This looks pretty neglected. Chances are the cooling system hasn't been replaced /updated. Having a radiator pop while stuck in traffic on a 5 degree day is not fun.....it's dangerous. Unless the cooling system has been done, I'd pass, as updating it would negate the low entry price.
IIRC the E36 325i had traction control and ABS, so getting around during a Chicago winter wouldn't be a problem. Actually with good tires it would be a blast. Sliding sideways for blocks on end is fun.....when you do it intentionally! 
My E36 M3 was driven through a couple of Chicagoland Winters, and it did fine......not great, but fine. (on high-performance "Summer" tires)
For a Winter beater though, I'd be looking at a cheap Jeep Cherokee with 4wd. That way you could head out in the worst of conditions, and rescue those who are having trouble. It's a lot of fun to pull folks out of ditches with a machine you don't really care about.
mtn wrote: I'll counter that and tell you that almost every year if not every year there is enough snow to make ground clearance an issue. Now, how long is it there? Seldom more than a few hours. When it is there longer, even a lot of ground clearance likely isn't going to help you. In general I agree with what you're saying though.
Looking at your profile, Normal != Chicago. Have some family members down there. You can get some serious drifts down that way, though I imagine it's still rare that they're a long term problem, I have no doubt they can be a real PITA short term. I lived in/around Chicago for the better part of 20 years, I can count the number of times clearance would have been relevant even in a relatively low car on my fingers with plenty to spare. The number of times freezing rain/sleet made everything supremely slippery outnumbers the depth of snow days by 20:1, maybe more.
All that said, I wouldn't buy a RWD car if it's primary purpose was winter beater. It's not that it can't do the job, it's that there are better options in beaterland.
In reply to keethrax:
Are you still in Chicagoland? The last few years we've seen some really snowy winters. Thanks global warming..
clutchsmoke wrote: In reply to keethrax: Are you still in Chicagoland? The last few years we've seen some really snowy winters. Thanks global warming..
Woa, way to flounder this thread. IN BEFORE LOCK.
Corvette story: In a really bad ice storm for our area, with the interstate a solid sheet of black ice, I was driving home from work in the 97 Camry with snow tires on it. I pass this C5 Corvette with racing numbers/stickers, two foot wide tires, the whole setup barely keeping it on the road at like 35 MPH. I pulled up next to him in the Camry, looked over and nailed it, walking him. HA HA HA! WHERE'S YOUR 500 HP NOW? PWNED.
keethrax wrote:mtn wrote: I'll counter that and tell you that almost every year if not every year there is enough snow to make ground clearance an issue. Now, how long is it there? Seldom more than a few hours. When it is there longer, even a lot of ground clearance likely isn't going to help you. In general I agree with what you're saying though.Looking at your profile, Normal != Chicago. Have some family members down there. You can get some serious drifts down that way, though I imagine it's still rare that they're a long term problem, I have no doubt they can be a real PITA short term. I lived in/around Chicago for the better part of 20 years, I can count the number of times clearance would have been relevant even in a relatively low car on my fingers with plenty to spare. The number of times freezing rain/sleet made everything supremely slippery outnumbers the depth of snow days by 20:1, maybe more.
That profile is out of date, I'm in Chicago proper now. And grew up in the far northern suburbs; I've lived in Chicagoland off and on for the better part of 26 years.
I keep seeing Lexus ls400s in the 750-1250 range. Throw on some snows and you're good for winter and a jumpstart on challenge fodder later
I see the title, open the thread, read the question and think...
Is this a trick question?
I will add that an LS400 without snow tires is pretty close to useless on ice. I bought mine at the end of a bad road conditions period, drove 100 miles home and promptly got stuck in my driveway. I could move it when the ice thawed a week later.
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