hello,

i am currently looking at buying a 1983 BMW 320i for about $900. the car passed MD inspection already and i was hoping to find out some information about the car:

how much will it cost me to maintain this car?
how much maintenance does a car like this generally require given regular use?
what kind of gas mileage does it get (again on the average)?
any other points of note.

i really appreciate any information you are willing to share. thank you.
florian

1) Would you do the maintinance yourself?
2) Give us a lil history on the car...
3) Gas milage will be good... its only a little fuel injected 1.8 4cyl...

1) It would depend on how much maint has been done to the car recently and the condition of potentially worrysome parts. Once you get it into good shape I would expect no more than $500 per 10,000 miles or so, on the average.

2) Again it all depends on the current condition of the car. If you want to get it into a reliable problem free car, it could potentially cost you $2k or more depending on what all is wrong with it. That's pretty much a parts alone guess. If the engine tranny and entire driveline and exhaust system is done for, and the suspension and steering needs to be redone, kind of thing.

3) I was getting around 20mpg in the city driving like I stole it, with a crapped out engine. I averaged more than 26mpg on my trip to and from Mt. Lemon (140 miles there and back and a very spirited romp up and down) way back when.

4) These cars are a blast to drive.

plus there pretty easy to work on

lok for rust in the trunk by the towers and the front floors and the front fenders

miles on the car?