UCOTD: 1993 BMW 318

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Today's used car is a California-based 1993 BMW 318is that is being restored.


The seller has put in a new fuel filter, new valve cover gasket, new timing chain cover gasket, new catalytic converter, a whole bunch of new sensors, a new headliner, a new heater core, new battery, new brakes, a new thermostat, new plugs, new wires, and new spark plugs.

There are cosmetic issues and some minor mechanical stuff that seems to not yet be solved. It's also not clear what transmission the car has -- I didn't see it listed nor do I see an interior photograph. This matters, at least to me, because a manual transmission 318 is pretty interesting.

There are more pics, mostly of the shocks and struts, at the original listing.

Check out this $7,000 BMW here.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 37 comments
  • Dusterdude Dusterdude on Jun 12, 2023

    Uhhh , $7k , no thanks ! Even if you were a Beemer person, this screams “ buying someone else’s problem” . Owner would be best to “ part out” this vehicle

    • 95_SC 95_SC on Jun 12, 2023

      7k may be optimistic but this is nowhere near a part out.


  • Frank Frank on Jun 12, 2023

    Years ago I worked at an auto shop, for regular customers we'd pick up and drop off their vehicles. As the errand boy, that was my job. A golfer guy had this exact car, same color, he worked at a golf course. There was another guy that owned a golf course, and he had a green volvo of the same vintage. Can you see where this is going? I got confused and dropped off buddies green 3 series at the other guys golf course. It sat there for 3 days before he called up asking where his car was. We all had a good laugh over that screw up!

  • The Oracle Seems fruitless, Tesla’s German giga presses will be churning out front & rear chassis/body modules in no time, and in record numbers.
  • Jeff The Chinese automakers have come to other markets but I doubt they will be allowed in the US at least anytime soon. Most of the Chinese plants are newer and more automated than the US plants and they have learned how to build vehicles from the US and other automakers. Its a combination of Chinese Government support for their automakers and that Chinese automakers have improved their quality and have more automated and modern plants. US automakers and others are losing market share to Chinese automakers in the Chinese market.
  • Chris P Bacon I've only seen a few of them on the road so far. Do you think the transmission makes a difference? I'm not interested in anything with a CVT, so the base models are a no go, and the top model is just too pricey. Maybe as a certified pre-owned? My local dealer has a 23 Platinum AWD with 4k miles listed for $48k. Not that it's an issue for Toyota, but it's got 31 months of warranty left, plus another 12 month/12k miles. The dealer is including 4 years/50k miles service. If I were in the market, I'd take a look.
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Not original, thus not collectable. Too much $$$.
  • Buickman known as The Middle Kingdom for a reason.their philosophy and culture are mostly unknown in the West.
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