Greetings noble BMW forumites 
raise:, this is my first post here.
As the title suggests, I am looking into acquiring one of these awesome machines as my first car.
My dad has always been a Mercedes man and it must be genetic as for most of my life this has been the case for myself as well.
For some strange reason I recently fell quite in love with BMWs. It may have to do with the fact that I've started going out and testing a few cars to see what's what. I'm currenty in an environment where a car isn't really necessary (that little winefarm called Stellenbosch) so I've got abobut R 30 000 to spend on a second hand car. It can't be a dog but I don't expect a minter either.
It turned out that one could get quite a tidy early 90s W 124 Merc, like a 230/260/300e for that amount of cash and this seemed like a very logical option since its such a dependable car. And it's really a pretty old thing compared to the absued Tazz or Citi Golf one would get for R 30k.
Enter the BMW part...
I found a manual 1990 E 34 535i with 340 000 on the clock at a park & sell for R 27500. It has some very nice mags and its interior is nearly perfect (a rarity) and it gives off the impression of being really well looked after. Obviously, this doesn't mean it has been.
Went for a drive and I really liked it. :inlove: I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone here; it's beautifully understated, magnificent and insanely powerful. And it's one of them rare manuals. Not bad for less than R 30 000.
I would probably have bought it, had I known more about the car's history etc - there was some story about the head gasket that I didn't like at all and I'm not too keen on turning a R 30 000 car into a R 50 000 project.
My question, after this lengthy intro, is this: what BMW is going to be in the best condition for around R 30 000, with some decent power? I've checked around and I see lots of E 34s going for around that amount. I saw some E 36s and E 38 740i's (amazingly) going for around that price as well.
I understand that it's a very open and vague-ish question and from what I can tell buying one of those is a total crapshoot, but I would love some input.
raise:, this is my first post here.As the title suggests, I am looking into acquiring one of these awesome machines as my first car.
My dad has always been a Mercedes man and it must be genetic as for most of my life this has been the case for myself as well.
For some strange reason I recently fell quite in love with BMWs. It may have to do with the fact that I've started going out and testing a few cars to see what's what. I'm currenty in an environment where a car isn't really necessary (that little winefarm called Stellenbosch) so I've got abobut R 30 000 to spend on a second hand car. It can't be a dog but I don't expect a minter either.
It turned out that one could get quite a tidy early 90s W 124 Merc, like a 230/260/300e for that amount of cash and this seemed like a very logical option since its such a dependable car. And it's really a pretty old thing compared to the absued Tazz or Citi Golf one would get for R 30k.
Enter the BMW part...
I found a manual 1990 E 34 535i with 340 000 on the clock at a park & sell for R 27500. It has some very nice mags and its interior is nearly perfect (a rarity) and it gives off the impression of being really well looked after. Obviously, this doesn't mean it has been.
Went for a drive and I really liked it. :inlove: I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone here; it's beautifully understated, magnificent and insanely powerful. And it's one of them rare manuals. Not bad for less than R 30 000.
I would probably have bought it, had I known more about the car's history etc - there was some story about the head gasket that I didn't like at all and I'm not too keen on turning a R 30 000 car into a R 50 000 project.
My question, after this lengthy intro, is this: what BMW is going to be in the best condition for around R 30 000, with some decent power? I've checked around and I see lots of E 34s going for around that amount. I saw some E 36s and E 38 740i's (amazingly) going for around that price as well.
I understand that it's a very open and vague-ish question and from what I can tell buying one of those is a total crapshoot, but I would love some input.
