Advice Urgently Needed - fuel consumption

Love the Jinxing.

Just before Xmas I got my P reg 328 for £2195, no offers.  88k and a few scratches at the corners. £300 later and it's in v.good condition. It was private and the lad had 3 calls for it whilst I drove him home after payment, let's hope there's not a gremlin hiding somewhere.

£4K Private and 6K In a Dealer.  £4800 sounds right for a private sale (in a part-ex he would get offered about £3500 - £4000 max)

Check that it's HPI clear, that the engine has had it's head swapped ((Nikasil) - your local BM dealer can do this for you with the VIN number).  Also check service history - bills are more important than stamps (you can forge stamps, very difficult to forge bills/ dates etc.)

If that all matches up, then just check the usual rust areas, and it sounds like a genuine bargain!  Good luck!

Can anyone advise if E36's of this vintage could be blighted by Nikasil blocks.  I know 1996 E39 5's are.  Would be worth checking out before striking a deal.

Hellojed.  If you do a search on the word Nikasil, you will find plenty about it in the forum.  To summarise Nikasil was used in the cylinder lining on lots of cars from 96 - 98, and the sulpher content of UK fuel detrimentally affected the Nikasil, resulting in premature bore wear, loss of compression etc.   BMW have now stopped treating this as a warranty issue, so its worth a check.

sleeper wrote: PETER FENWICK - un-jinxed old chap!

Cheers, I haven't heard that since I was at school....

If it's a genuine sport and it's in good condition with a full history then it's worth it. Be careful mind, there are a few cars out there dressed up to look like sports that aren't. The sport model came with proper sports seats and a Limited slip diff amongst other things.

Also check for nikasil!! I wouldn't buy a car that still had a Nikasil block. If you ring BMW uk they can tell you whether it is a genuine sport and it if has had an engine change due to Nikasil.

If your not sure what the whole Nikasil issue is do a search. There is tonnes of stuff on here about it.

Really!

What do you think my top whack should be?

if its a good car, break his arm off!

private or trade?

these don't seem to be too much on the market pulse - a bit low perhaps, how far off these is this car:

Dealer	£4,845
Private	£4,295
Part exchange	£3,895
Trade	£3,695
Cost new	£29,750

JINX!!!

ha-ha pete, you can't say nuffink till you are un-jinxed!!