danbullock 15 Report post Posted September 15, 2012 I went and had a look at this 328i Here are my thoughts if anyone is interested, Bodywork was fairly good condition with no dents or visible signs of repair work. Bonnet hinges were original. Front badge was missing. 17" Motorsport rims with 4 matching MY01s. Left front wheel looks like it has been repaired at some stage. Interior was in need of attention as the head lining was sagging and all the cloth was coming off the door trims. Rip on the rear passenger seat. This had been a non smokers car so it still had that 1990s BMW smell. There was a full set of floor mats. There is service history from Japan in the glove box but nothing from NZ apart from a few Testing station WOFs. I did notice a BMworkshop Botany sticker on the front windscreen. KMs were verified when imported into NZ with the certificate in the glove box too. Aircon went cold and heater went hot. All windows went up and down with no clunks. The LCD display on the OBC was working ok but needed looking at. The window washer reservoir pump was working but only a dribble came out of the jets. Under the bonnet, it looked clean on top but had a few oil leaks, quite a severe one at the front, leaking onto the Aircon pump. Oil on the dip stick was very clean but low. Diff also leaked oil. I couldn't see if the gearbox did. It did have a new radiator installed at some stage. Moisture was under the oil cap, a slight film of yellowy cakey substance on the cap and around the oil filler hole. This was a bit concerning, not sure if this is normal? On the test drive, engine started fine, with just a few seconds of lifter noise. The first change down from the auto was rather harsh, but then came right. All gears selected and worked fine. Front suspension was I thought a bit soft but no clunks. Couldn't get onto the motorway as there was F-all gas and didn't want to risk it. Headliner was touching my head,damn annoying. So in all a tidy car but I think with a bit of tlc, it could be very tidy one. But don't buy this car on what I have written here, go and have a look for yourself and make your own decision, the comments above are just my observations. Dan. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael. 2313 Report post Posted September 15, 2012 Yellow cake on the oil cap! My friends Golf did this while the head gasket was starting to fail! It looks like a semi-rough one thats had a quick clean up so it looks shinny, but has had a lot of maintenance neglected. Move on! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danbullock 15 Report post Posted September 15, 2012 Here is a picture of the oill filler hole and cap. your possibly right it could be a headgasket, but the oil on the dipstick was clean, and it didn't over heat, so I thought that there might be some other reason for this. I did a Carjam report on it and its had one NZ owner for the last 5 years so its bound to have money spent on it. But I don't think its a polished turd and with a little investigating you possibly could find some service and maintenance history. But anyway, Ive moved on, just thought i'd share my thoughts on it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 130 Report post Posted September 15, 2012 I wouldn't go near it, 100's of cheap bmw's for sale, plenty of better ones Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cliffdunedin 8 Report post Posted September 15, 2012 Yellow cake on the oil cap! My friends Golf did this while the head gasket was starting to fail! Could also be from moisture build up from not having a decent run in a while! Awesome write up though dude, perfect from someone outside of town looking at this car Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
danbullock 15 Report post Posted September 15, 2012 Could also be from moisture build up from not having a decent run in a while! Awesome write up though dude, perfect from someone outside of town looking at this car Thats what i was thinking but unsure if minimal engine running time would cause this. It was parked all the way down the back in the corner of the caryard and I noticed the brake discs had fair bit of surface rust on them indicating not much usage. I think its been at this dealer for a few months dating by the length of shadows in the pictures (mid winter) so its probably had very little driving time in say 3 months. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BM WORLD 1283 Report post Posted September 16, 2012 have seen a few bmw's that have been sitting around etc with moisture build up in the oil cap , after given a good long hot drive its all gone. but do get it checked Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
