ive owned a 1991 e34(520i),1996 e36(318tds) and a 1992 e32(730i) over the past 10 years or so..
personally i have never enjoyed driving any luxury car as much as a bmw... most of them are to be driven in, but a bmw is to drive..
the e34 was manual, i used to average about 9km/l in colombo.. which i consider decent for such a car.. in terms of Maintenance, newer really had any major issues.. except for the one time the car was not used for about 7months and i had to replace many bushes.. the car was drivable but had a very squeaky ride, this is because the bushes are self greased.. other than that its been the usual running repairs.. power i would say was satisfactory...
the e36 was also a manual.. had enough power once the turbo kicks in, for a 1.6 turbo diesel.. loads of fun to drive.. extremely fuel efficient.. long distance you get easy 14 to 15kms/l with a heavy foot too... maintenance was high as my car had 120,000 MILES on the clock.. but at the latter part engine was under compression and issues with the turbo.. and its a bit of a tight squeeze in the back seat if your tall... i think its a perfect car for colombo if you can find one with a low mileage..
e32.. automatic.. worst car on fuel i have ever owned.. averaged about 4 to 5km/l(driving as economical as possible) in colombo but outstation did well maybe 8.5km/l.. felt a little heavy on the steering but a super car to drive or be driven in... meter read 160,000kms,, only major repair being the 4coils n springs.. other than that, was in mint condition.. i was told that there was a diesel version sold only in australia.. i tried my level best to source a used diesel engine but was not able to find one.. would have never sold it if i could afford to pump the juice.. however there is black car running around with a diesel nissan block in it.. car runs well but in bad condition..
i used to get my parts from singapore.. much cheaper than anywhere else.. and trust me i have tried... the name of the shop is ENGSOON.. there is a lady by the name of pauline.. very helpful.. i have purchased every single part from them.. i usually pick it up when ever im in singapore or if im in a hurry there are the so called "luggage people" who used to bring it down for me charging around 12 dollars a kilo... once the money is transfered i usually have the part at my door step with in 48 hours..
maintaining a bmw is not expensive as long as you know what to do and where to get it from.. i know people spending as much as i do on japanese cars.... personally i have nothing against prestige but simply cant afford them.. and regarding our local specialist i realized that he doesnt pay much attention to the older models and focuses on the new ones.. i guess thats where the money is huh..
im actually very new to this site n hope that i have helped...
p.s. i think its utterly absurd to compare an ek3 with an e36
