BMW 3 Series E30

since 1983-1994 release

Repair and operation of the car

In order that the bought car did not become your headache and a razoritelnitsa of the family budget, it is necessary to take her acquisition seriously and responsibility, without having regretted either time, or money.

First of all, understand what you want. If you need comfort, buy the car of a representative class and if you want that the invested money had material expression, buy American "cruiser" especially as its price will not frighten you, and big consumption of fuel will be compensated by low operational costs. If you the fan of distant trips and family rest on a nature bosom, the versatile person – the fact that it is necessary for you and, believe, your choice will not disappoint you. It is convenient, capacious and modern.

It is the best of all to stop the choice by car of middle class with a body like "LX" / "GL", they are well equipped and are in demand, but not be touched and do not spread additional money for the various additional equipment from which only the power steering and the hatch in a roof are really valuable. Automatic transmissions can become the reason of reduction of price at resale, especially at small cars.

So, you decided on model. Now, without hurrying, start survey of the car.

First of all, attentively study registration documents: how many was owners whether registration and identification numbers of the car coincide with numbers in documents? According to the passport of the car be convinced that checkups were carried out and it is noted by the corresponding guarantee seals. Verify authenticity of the plate with identification number (the bent ends of the plate and new and pure rivets – a signal that not everything is all right, and it is better to refuse further survey). If everything is all right, safely move further and start external survey.

Examine the car at natural lighting, but not in a garage or a motor show, so you will be able to notice many distinctions of color shades.

The main issue – whether there was a car in accident? If it costs on all четырх wheels, there are no badly adjusted panels, distinctions in shades of paint and traces of hard putty, longerons are not bent, centering of a bumper and headlights is not broken, there are no traces of old registration plate, so the car avoided accident, and repair was not made earlier.

If you unbend a sealant of windows and compare color under them to color of the car, then you learn whether the car was recoloured. Pay also attention to painting traces under arches, doors, suspension bracket details.

Coloring of an electrical wiring and hoses in a motive compartment under color of a body – a sign of negligent repair.

That looked after car you will be told the liquids and pure engine oil filled on level.

Such insignificant details as worn-out protectors or the bent disks will cost much when replacing enough.

Easily the sunk seats in salon, worn-out rugs and an upholstery, scratches, knock and unclear smells, existence of a rust and dampness in a luggage carrier give themselves. They are signs of long life and to get rid of them quite expensively.

Do not forget to check work of the central blocking, fog lights, electrowindow regulators. Expensive repair of trifles to you to anything.

Having shaken wheels in the vertical plane and having considered the drawing of wear on each tire, you will check wear of a basic part of wheels and learn a lot of things about a condition of a suspension bracket and steering system.

Rock the car from each corner. So you will check serviceability of shock-absorbers and stability of position of the car on all four wheels, especially, if it is the station wagon or the machine equipped with the towing device.

After external survey start check of the main mechanisms.

Engine

At the cold engine check the automatic air gate and start of the engine with fuel injection. Any engine including diesel, should not rustle and quickly passes to the quiet course.

At the warmed engine, moving at a small speed by high transfer, check wear of a bent shaft and bearings. Gromykhaniya should not be. Check wear of a surface of cylinders and valves, working with a butterfly valve. If there was a blue smoke – serious repair of the engine, black smoke – a sign of wear of nozzles and problems with fuel mix is required.

The temperature sensor has to work reliably at any change of conditions (for example, in operating time idling). Do not forget to be convinced that the electric fan is switched-off in time.

After a warming up the engine has to work quietly and smoothly, even the diesel. Easy percussions indicate wear of the drive of valves or the camshaft. From the hot, idling engine, uncover a mouth and check for smoking and a deposit. Check also existence of leaks. The alarm bulb of pressure of oil usually should not burn. If it not so, then she points to wear of the krivoshipno-conrod mechanism or an oil pump.

Transmission

First of all, check coupling. Try to start on high transfer at rigidly put emergency brake. The engine has to decay at once. Then check coupling capture. If it occurs at the very end of the pedal course, it speaks about wear of coupling.

Change of transfer has to be sure, and operation of the transmission has to be silent.

Automatic equipment has to work smoothly and very precisely: if the transmission does not want to switch smoothly up, then its wear or bad adjustment is probable. Check whether the switch with normal works for the sports mode correctly. Transmissions at the movement have to work at four-wheel drive vehicles especially smoothly though on some models it is necessary to expect some "sagging". Check oil level in the automatic transmission. If it low or a box absolutely dry, we advise you to stop further survey of this car. Repair of automatic transmissions is labor-consuming and expensive.

It is necessary to pass not less than 30 km on different roads to reveal all shortcomings of the car.

Be careful: if the car wags or leaves aside, at best is the wrong disorder convergence, in the worst – details of a suspension bracket or steering are bent.

Checking existence of a side play, shake a wheel in the parties. In the presence of the power steering do not forget to be convinced that it is reliable at different speeds and loadings. By cars with the forward drive turn out a wheel on the maximum corner to check degree of wear of spherical support of equal angular speeds that is determined by the clicking sound.

The roar or swimming indicate wear of shock-absorbers and springs. Check electronic adjustment of shock-absorbers on the different modes.

Attentively check brakes at different efforts. If the car leaves aside, then it can be the sticking support. Wear of disks is indicated by the pedal going pushes. Check also anti-blocking system of brakes (at the movement the alarm bulb should not light up, and at start – on the contrary).

Having checked thus the darling, well think whether there correspond your impressions to the specified run and, having weighed all pros and cons, decide. The qualified conscious choice – a guarantee that the car will become your assistant and the friend.

Some more councils...

Once it was specified in all guides to purchase of cars that wear of rubber of a pedal is a good indicator of size of a run. Today this defect is too well-known to trust, it is easy to change rubber of pedals.

The upholstery in modern cars is much more durable, than established ten years ago, but all the same the driver's seat wears out first of all. Examine the outer edge (it rubs when the driver enters and goes out of the car) – the age of the car is determined by it.

Check work and a condition of all lamps and other electric devices. The burst lenses of headlights are especially important – some of them can cost very much.

The condition of a tire is a good indicator of a run – the declared 40 000 km at unpaired tires cause strong suspicion! It is also possible to consider replacement cost, especially in case of low-profile and other special tires.

From a driver's seat check operation of devices and governing bodies – the dangling handles, as well as a smooth surface of a rim of a steering wheel, point to a big run.