New driver with BMW dreams

CM21

Hi
I am looking for my first car. Was looking at Fiestas and Honda Jazzes but then i realised when getting an insurance quote that a 318tds is only 130 extra to insure:eek:. Looking at carzone there are a few around. Am I mad to consider this a first car?
How reliable are they at this age (around 96)? I would have no problem getting my hands dirty. Are the parts readily available or expensive?
Any help greatly appreciated.:)

alpina

As is your first car get an experienced person to go with you, if no one available get an AA report or the like. Look out for the usual tell tell signs, does the wear & tear of the car match the mileage. A car is a car, if looked after it will look after you, the badge may occur added expense but would not think so much as to worry about, many aftermarket co's out there doing BMW OEM. Just be aware and not blinded or accept certain faults because you want a 'Beemer' Good luck & enjoy

peasant

The engine in the 318 tds is woeful. Noisy, smoky and very underpowered old school diesel, not "worthy" of a BMW.

As a first car, you'll get much more fun out of a tidy Fiesta.

unkel

peasant wrote: »

The engine in the 318 tds is woeful. Noisy, smoky and very underpowered old school diesel, not "worthy" of a BMW.

As a first car, you'll get much more fun out of a tidy Fiesta.

+1

The diesel was ok in it's time (well I should say the 6-pot 2.5l one, not the one where they chopped off two cylinders), but that time is now long, long gone...

OP - save on the running costs by buying a small car, build up your NCB and you can start dreaming of buying a proper BMW in a few years time

JHMEG

Jazz is a great car.. same cabin space as the Accord and 60mpg on a run.

Pat_Mustard

Buy a 1988-91 BMW 316i coupe. A good one will cost anywhere between 3 and 12 grand. It's small(ish), cheap to run and will always have a high resale value.

Captain Slow IRL

Jazz's are a great little car - just check the drivers and passengers door locks work when you turn the key in them!

Fiesta's are good little cars too - there's more of them about so they'd probably be the cheaper option.

chris85

Pat_Mustard wrote: »

Buy a 1988-91 BMW 316i coupe. A good one will cost anywhere between 3 and 12 grand. It's small(ish), cheap to run and will always have a high resale value.

Underpowered as hell. a 1.6 litre engine pulling that big beemer is not good.

Andrewf20

chris85 wrote: »

Underpowered as hell. a 1.6 litre engine pulling that big beemer is not good.

Id disagree. My brother had one, and although it was no rocket ship as a 1st BMW for him it was a great car. 100bhp and 1100kg according to a book I have here.

CM21. What age are you?

CM21

23
Would prefer a diesel as i have a way of getting some free - nothing illegal honest:D But the tax starts to outweigh the fuel saving as the engine size increases. Was looking at diesel astra but there arent many around.

Jazz would definitely be my second choice after a diesel.

Pat_Mustard

CM21 wrote: »

23
Would prefer a diesel as i have a way of getting some free - nothing illegal honest:D But the tax starts to outweigh the fuel saving as the engine size increases. Was looking at diesel astra but there arent many around.

Jazz would definitely be my second choice after a diesel.

For good reason to I might add.

Why not purchase an early 90's Benz? Get a 190d for about 3-4K.

Oilrig

Pat_Mustard wrote: »

Why not purchase an early 90's Benz? Get a 190d for about 3-4K.

2.0 was a dog, 2.5 drinks it.

BMW parts are a lot cheaper than Mercedes.

318tds (1.7 tax btw) was under powered at 90 bhp and some parts are hard to source ie starter motor. They are hard to shift so would probablly be best avioded IMHO.

tmulcahy365

I'd say forget about getting a tired old beemer and get a more modern small car instead, +1 for the Fiesta, they have good engines/handling and a sweet gearchange.

If you can get a MK6 you won't be dissapointed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Fiesta

If you're doing intercity runs then the tdci diesel would be a good idea as the 1.25 petrol has fairly short gearing, thats fairly common in small cars though.

JHMEG

land9 wrote: »

Jazz's are a great little car - just check the drivers and passengers door locks work when you turn the key in them!

That was the 1.2 Irish Special. They're not doing them anymore.

Ferris

Andrewf20 wrote: »

Id disagree. My brother had one, and although it was no rocket ship as a 1st BMW for him it was a great car. 100bhp and 1100kg according to a book I have here.

CM21. What age are you?

+1

I had one and while it wasn't a rocketship, it certainly didn't embarass itself. Light years faster than a 318tds or a fiesta. Feisty in the wet tho, no traction control rwd etc so maybe not the best bet for an inexperienced driver. Also it wasn't the cheapest to insure.

E36 (318tds model no) has a comparitively complicated suspension setup that costs a lot to rebuild afaik.

CM21

Thanks for all the great advice. I will wait until my insurance drops and i have the money (and sense) to get a decent bmw.:D
Just one more question. Is there anything other than the locks that i should be particularly aware of with the Jazz.

JHMEG

CM21 wrote: »

Is there anything other than the locks that i should be particularly aware of with the Jazz.

He means the base model 1.2 didn't have remote locking.

A 1.2 Kool is decent spec, and the 1.4 is better. Have a look in the UK too, plenty of clean ones to chose from as they're a huge seller there (over there the didn't use the "Beat" and "Kool" trims, they were Irish only). Prob best avoiding a 1.2 Beat.

CM21

I'd be looking at an 02 1.4s or preferably se. Are the early ones ok. The suspension was tweaked in 03 according to whatcar. Would i even notice the difference?

Captain Slow IRL

JHMEG wrote: »

He means the base model 1.2 didn't have remote locking.

The door locks require regular lubrication - they have a nasty habit of seizing up and I don't know the price, but I'd doubt any part with a honda label on it is cheap!

JHMEG

Never hard any of that! And there have been 4 Jazzes in the family to date.

Captain Slow IRL

I've seen enough of them!

A lot of the cars we had in would be from a coastal area - maybe the sea air had a role to play.