This is an updated re-post of an old review. For those of you who have already read this (or most of it), sorry for the bother. For those that haven’t, thanks for reading!

In June of 2000, I bought a 1991 BMW 318i from Tracy Volkswagon in Hyannis, Massachusetts. As a professional fundraiser, my income is not very impressive, and I was living in Boston, had just sold my Jeep (living in Boston + soft-top Jeep = trouble!), and needed to find something reliable and affordable. I thought I had found the answer to my prayers when I found this car. The charcoal grey '91 318i had approx. 86,000 miles on it, and the interior and exterior were in decent shape. I thought that BMW's were reliable cars, and would take a lot of mileage. $7,000 was my maximum price, and this seemed to be the best car for my money. I paid $6,800 for it, and drove off the lot, a happy customer. That is when the chaos began.

A minor glitch?
A week after buying the car, I noticed a few minor problems. The electric mirrors weren't functioning properly, electric windows were getting stuck- often in the down position, the reverse lights weren't working, and the auto locking mechanism (when I lock the driver door, all other doors should lock as well) wasn't working at all. I called the good people at Tracy, who had me bring the car in for repair. They took care of the problem, and I was on my way, happy to have my now perfect little Bimmer.

A window into my pain...
The problem with the windows was never properly fixed. In the first two months, I brought the car back to the shop 7 TIMES in hopes of getting my automatic windows to open and close properly. At one point, the passenger window was stuck halfway down, and the warranty had expired. My solution? Duct tape and a clear trash bag. Yes, I am one classy broad. I drove around with the plastic flapping in the breeze for a good two months, until a car-savvy male friend came for a visit. He quickly detached the switches which control the windows, and swapped the passenger window switch with the rear right seat switch. I can put the rear window down from the front controls, but not up. The rear right seat has a separate control for the windows on the door, and so the window can be put up using that. My passengers can raise and lower the windows at their leisure. The shop said it was fuses. It was just a switch.

Horror on the Highway
One lovely Fall Friday (I had owned the car approx. 90 days), I decided to drive to Cape Cod from Boston to visit my family for a weekend. I'm cruising down the highway at a nice speed, listening to music and loudly singing along, when all of a sudden I hear a clicking sound. Think of the sound that a pebble makes if it rattles around in your undercarriage for a minute. I figured it was a pebble. I was wrong. I heard the sound again, a little louder this time. I'm thinking, "hmmm, there sure are a lot of pebbles on this highway!" but I have the radio turned off, and I am looking at my gauges for any sign of trouble, and there is none, so I proceed.
All of a sudden the needle on the car's temp gauge goes straight to red, oh-oh, need to pull over! I crank up heat, in a hope to cool the car as I approach the off-ramp, and as I turn the car onto the off-ramp. I have a full system shutdown. Everything dies. No engine power, no power steering, Nada. I coast down the ramp, which was luckily totally clear, and pull just off to the side with my hazards flashing and smoke pouring out of the hood.
I pop the hood. What the hell am I looking for? I don't know a damn thing about cars except how to change a tire, pump gas, and add oil. I check the oil. It's fine. My work as a diagnostician is done.
I hear sirens. I see two fire engines and two police cars speeding toward me, lights flashing. I think "Oh, great- I hope I'm off the road far enough, and I'm not in their way!" They had come for me. A concerned driver reported a car on fire (turns out it was just a LOT of steam). The car was towed.

Diagnosis? You're screwed!
The water pump had begun to break apart into little pieces, and fall out of the car (the pebbles), with no cooling system, the car instantly began to overheat. The gauges did not work properly, so by the time my heat gauge went to hot the car had been overheating for quite some time. The engine block had cracked. My thoughts- if the water pump was in such desperate shape (and apparently had been for a while), why didn't the good folks at Tracey VW notice this on their "thorough" inspection? Same goes for the gauges. $3,000 later my car was repaired and running well.

The Winter of My Discontent
A little over a year later takes us to this past winter. The car had been running rough, stalling for no apparent reason, idling low, and screeching like a howler monkey. I did some research and concluded that it was in need of a new O2 sensor (rough running), and a new fan belt (screeching). I took the car to the BMW Gallery at Christmas time for an estimate. I thought it would be a couple of hundred dollars. The estimate came back. Guess how much. Go on, guess! 5,200! Apparently not only were the problems I suspected an issue, but the tie rods were going, the driver's side lock is falling out of he door (the one Tracy "repaired" for me), the water pump looked shakey, the exhaust was shot (I knew that the car had an exhaust issue before I bought it, and Tracy was supposed to have replaced it)... and that is only the beginning. The mechanic actually told me that the bits that hold the wheels on could go at any moment. I decided to take my chances. I was fortunate enough to find a great independent mechanic to do all of this work for just under $3,000.

The Last Straw
Just this past Fall, the car had it’s final issues. The exaust was playing up once again, and the clutch was starting to go(ok, it was really, really going, and would cost about $800 to fix). I couldn’t handle it anymore, and bought a new car, trading this heap of junk in for scrap.

Initially, I really liked the interior- it was a nice beige fabric, and I thought it must be fairly tough. A few months into owning it, the seats began to tear and fray from normal use. Things like interior paneling would fall off, and I’d glue them back on again. The seats eventually lost their ability to be adjusted. What started out as a pleasant interior looked shabby and tattered within a year of normal wear.

Initially, I enjoyed the way the car drove- I thought the engine was peppy and go-ey, and I thought it hugged the road nicely when I turned. Within months, the car would vibrate at any speed over 60, turning felt slightly dodgy, and there was a scary rattle coming from one of the wheels. Nobody but my dog was ever comfortable in the cramped back seat, and you never knew of a window would go down-- or back up again.

BMW do make great cars. My fiance drives an M Coupe which he loves only slightly less than me- (I’d like to think, anyhow). This is not one of those cars. If you can’t spring for a newer one, don’t bother with a much older one. It is the one of the worst purchases of my life, and certainly the most financially taxing. Do yourself a favor and pass on the '91 318i.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!



Amount Paid (US$): 6,800
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1991
Model and Options: 318i