[Ozzie335i]

BMW Isetta.

[Welcome to NBA Jam]

Originally Posted by doru

Until you have to change the CCV......

Oh Jesus. I forgot about that blind hand labyrinth.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by rothwem

Is that true? I thought you had to drop the subframe on the RWD ones too.

W/ AWD the transfer case & front differential are not fun to work around when you have to do work on the bottom of the engine.

RWD is much, much easier in terms of space

[krhodes1]

I vote for the '91 318is or the '91-'93 318i. The M42 is physically smaller, has no timing belt, and has hydraulic valve lifters, so no valve adjustments and no timing belt changes. As little scheduled maintenance as the modern motors, but everything is much, much simpler. A 2002 is simpler, but they rust terribly and you have to deal with carbs. Or the mechanical injection on a tii…

That said, there is no comparison to the amount of work it takes to keep an e30 going vs. the simpler modern BMWs. The tasks may be easier, but you will be doing a lot more of them.

My e91 has been anvil-like so far. I actually have all the service records for my Mom's bought-new '83 528e, and it is almost hilarious how much work those things took from brand new compared to the modern ones. And they keep getting better. My e91 had a couple minor warranty issues in the first two years, my f22 had NONE in the same timespan. The 528e had issues starting when it was a month old.

[whyzee125]

e36s are pretty easy!

[Efthreeoh]

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[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

The older you go, the less stuff you need to work around. I'd say E30's are pretty easy to work on, and so are E46's and E39's. The E90 with RWD and the N52 isn't terrible, but some things are kind of a pain to get to.

Oil pans aren't usually fun on any car, save for a couple FWD cars that have a shallow basic pan. I remember on a friend's Acura V6 we had to replace the oil pan, and what a PITA that was. There wasn't a ton of stuff in the way, but the exhaust had to be disconnected, and the bolts resembled rusty globs which rounded off.

I'd like to comment on the E30. It required more scheduled maintenance, but it was pretty easy to work on.

For example, the E30 had a recall on the heater core. The heater core was made with plastic side tanks, which could catastrophically explode and burn your right leg. The recall was BMW installed a quick-acting coolant shutoff valve, which if the coolant pressure suddenly dropped, it shut off the coolant flow. However BMW in its wisdom redesigned the tank with brass side tanks. So that's the way I went, new upgraded part (even after I had the recall done). Now you'd think that would be a stupid move since it would require pulling the dashboard out. Nope, on the E30 in the pedal box next to the gas pedal there was an access door where the inlet/outlet hoses went in. Pull the door, 6 screws IIRC, remove the hoses, and the heater core just slid right out. During a coolant change one time, it took an just extra 1/2 hour. Beautiful.

Blower motor. The E30 was known to lose the resistor pack for the blower motor. The tell it was blown was easy, the bower would only work on the 4th (highest) speed. Open the E30 forward opening hood, undue 2 nuts on the cowling, pull off the blower motor door, snap out the resistor pack, which was on a card. Re-flow the solder joints, snap the card back in. Done. Beautiful. My Z3 shares the same design. Oh, and the E30/E36 blower motor shaft is horizontal, so no water gets into and sits in the bearings and eventually kills the motor... What an engineering masterpiece!

That said, there really were no diagnostic tools for the E30 other than the Peake 16-pin tool, but it was limited in what it could diagnose. It's a trade off nowadays between ease of mechanically taking the car apart vs. plugging a scan tool in and diagnosing a problem. Brakes, clutches, diffs, cooling systems, are mostly the same level of difficulty. With the E30 and the M20 six, you had to check the valve clearance every 30,000 miles, so the valve cover was easily removed because it was designed that way, and the gasket never leaked because you replaced it every few years

[Bob Shiftright]

Originally Posted by Ozzie335i

BMW Isetta.

Beat me to it!

Everything is difficult to work on now. I don't know that Hondas are any easier to work on -- they just break less often.

A big issue with older BMWs (and Hondas) is rust.

Even Volvo doesn't give out their traditional Cloisonné high mileage badges any more. They must expect all their current production cars to be recycled after 10-15 years just like Hondas.

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

With the E30 and the M20 six, you had to check the valve clearance every 30,000 miles, so the valve cover was easily removed because it was designed that way, and the gasket never leaked because you replaced it every few years

This is why you want an E30 with the M42.

[hassmaschine]

Nah. The M42 has plenty of its own issues - BMW made it for a very short time compared to the decades they used the M20. The timing system wears out by 200k, but you could do an M20 belt change 20x over for the cost of one rebuild on the M42. I could do a belt swap in less than an hour, while doing a new water pump at the same time. The M42 still needs a new pump at the same interval anyway.

I never found the valves needed adjustment that often, and even so - it's and easy afternoon job, which if anything only improves your confidence in the vehicle.

The 318is is a lovely car ( had the pleasure of driving one daily), but good God it is so gutless. BTW, the N52 can literally make double the power while still weighing less...

Funny enough, older BMWs had a standard 60k pump replacement interval. Granted it cost like $50 for parts, but it's funny when people complain about the N52 pump which lasts well over 100k. I guess the real bitch is it takes 5x longer to replace it...

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by krhodes1

This is why you want an E30 with the M42.

Well I sort of have one, my wife's Z3. It has the M44 in it. The M44 cured some of the M42 ills such as the profile gasket, but the timing case leaks like a sieve. I stripped the entire front of the engine down, new gaskets, P-Tex Ultra Black, new crank seal, and the thing STILL weeps just a bit. It's a nice little motor, but it's no Honda four-banger of the same era.

I have to agree with Hass, once the M20 wore in, the valve clearance really stayed put, but you still have to check it. Since I've taken the N52 100,000 miles past where I took an M20, while to me nothing sounds better than an M20, IMO the N52 will be a legendary BMW in-line 6; fitting that it is the last naturally aspirated one.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by hassmaschine

Nah. The M42 has plenty of its own issues - BMW made it for a very short time compared to the decades they used the M20. The timing system wears out by 200k, but you could do an M20 belt change 20x over for the cost of one rebuild on the M42. I could do a belt swap in less than an hour, while doing a new water pump at the same time. The M42 still needs a new pump at the same interval anyway.

I never found the valves needed adjustment that often, and even so - it's and easy afternoon job, which if anything only improves your confidence in the vehicle.

The 318is is a lovely car ( had the pleasure of driving one daily), but good God it is so gutless. BTW, the N52 can literally make double the power while still weighing less...

Funny enough, older BMWs had a standard 60k pump replacement interval. Granted it cost like $50 for parts, but it's funny when people complain about the N52 pump which lasts well over 100k. I guess the real bitch is it takes 5x longer to replace it...

If you are not working on your back, the N52 water pump is really not that bad to replace, and the cooling system drain and refill/bleed is a breeze.

[ZGator]

I have a Z3, which has an E30 rear, E36 front, and E46 engine - M52TU. Very easy to maintain, topside oil changes, oil and air filter are absolutely trivial. The water pump like most M52s was the weak point which died at 62k or so and replaced with stewart pump and new alum rad, this was also easy to do, now at about 19 years and 160k and it has been the most reliable car I ever had..

My 07 E90 with the N52 has also been pretty good - so far on the original water pump pushing 100k - which unfortunately I will probably have to change on my back when the time comes.

so I say any of the later normally aspirated BMWs are your best bet

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by ZGator

I have a Z3, which has an E30 rear, E36 front, and E46 engine - M52TU. Very easy to maintain, topside oil changes, oil and air filter are absolutely trivial. The water pump like most M52s was the weak point which died at 62k or so and replaced with stewart pump and new alum rad, this was also easy to do, now at about 19 years and 160k and it has been the most reliable car I ever had..

My 07 E90 with the N52 has also been pretty good - so far on the original water pump pushing 100k - which unfortunately I will probably have to change on my back when the time comes.

so I say any of the later normally aspirated BMWs are your best bet

So the only hit I can make on the Z3, at least my wife's '97, is the interior build quality is horrendous. Touch anything plastic, and it disintegrates.