E36 328is blue smoke...

Ive just put a deposit down on a absolutly mint 97/R 328i sport, perfect in every area apart from when I started it puffed a small amount of blue smoke.

Should I be worried? I had checked under the filer cap before this which was clean but after a test drive there was a very slight cream inside the filler cap.

Car has covered a total of 106k but had a replacement block by BMW at 48K, has full service history by BMW and specialists and last service was 9k ago so oil wasnt as clean as hoped but still not black. He reckons it doesnt use any oil what so ever.

So should I be worried, car had been standing there for a few days?? And having just agreed on �4300 its gotta be spot on.

Thanks in advance

I would say it`s over priced for one

If it`s got faults that you are not sure of then either get a rac check done or walk away

Just my opinion,but there are other cars out there

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-R-BMW-328i-Sport-Coupe-STUNNING-C ONDITION_W0QQitemZ300216843709QQihZ020QQcategoryZ9837QQssPag eNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Take a look

I would walk away, your potentially buying trouble, the only way I would buy that is if a specialist/dealer carried out the necessary checks, compression and leakdown to rule out any problems. It's not a cheap cars, and would be even less so if you had to spend �1000 or so on a new head.

The mayo/creaminess I see as the major red flag, how long was the test drive?

The radio reception is a minor, probably broken coax at the antenna connector, worst case dead booster or duff radio tuner.

Does look like a very clean example.

i took mine for a test drive it was sweet

but now it had full service cam cam followers rockers bearings and ball joints

so gett it checked over

Right, tomorrow is decision time.

When I checked the oil before starting (been standing a few days) there was just a dry brown colour under the filler cap. After the test which was prob only 15-20 mins I checked it again to find that that dry down under the cap had turned cream colour.

Regards to the smoke - would that just be valve stem oil seals?

Many thanks

The mayo / creaminess suggests that the head gasket has gone, this may be linked to the blue smoke too, was it firing on all cylinders? Get it checked anyway, & have it "sniffed" to check if the head gasket has gone, the radio is most likely a bad connection at the rear of the aftermarket stereo, they usually don't have the right connections for the BMW areial, some of them are spliced in.

Good luck anyway!

Jake.  Don't get too hung up on this being a mint Sport and being afraid that there are no others out there.  Mint cars are like buses on many routes.  They may not always come when you want them but there will always be another along in a while. 

Better to wait and buy the right car than make an expensive mistake.  The feedback from most is that there are warning signals on this car.  NEVER buy a car with your heart only.  I've experience of that myself with a Mk2 Golf GTI I had years ago.  I paid the price in the couple of years of ownership that followed.  Most of the warning signals were there but I chose to ignore them because I wanted the car so much. 

Oh... and by the way, its not cheap.  The only thing worse than buying a car with your heart only is to pay over the odds for it!

Didnt buy it. Asked him to see it from a stone cold start again only to turn up to find he had run it up today. Took for longer drive only to find it running rough on idle afterwards. Great shame but thanks for all your help and opinions.