BMW- Trouble looking for a car

paleoboy

Hello,

I would really appreciate it if someone could help me look for a car. I have been so long looking and with so much to choose form I cant find what I really really want!

I would love a bmw 318 or 320d. It doesnt matter it if its coupe with saloon.

I would love the car to be high spec end, and definitley with leather seats.
All electrics would be great and with parking sensors and multi funtion steering wheel.

Any year from 2000 up and for price range from 6000-10000!

Would really appreciate some help on this!

Thanks

Any other adivce on audi's or lexus cars would also be very welcome!

Eoin

Why a 318 or 320d? In the long run, a 325 or 320 (with the 2.2 litre engine) might not be that much more to run at all, and you're getting a much better car for your money.

Check out the for sale section on www.bmw-driver.net/forum and of course www.adverts.ie

Incidentally, the alcantara sport suede seats are as nice as leather, so don't let them put you off.

PaulKK

eoin wrote: »

Why a 318 or 320d? In the long run, a 325 or 320 (with the 2.2 litre engine) might not be that much more to run at all, and you're getting a much better car for your money.

Check out the for sale section on www.bmw-driver.net/forum and of course www.adverts.ie

Incidentally, the alcantara sport suede seats are as nice as leather, so don't let them put you off.

In fairness eoin, theres a big difference in running costs of a 325i or 320i and 320d. The 320d will do at least 15mpg more than the 325 at worst case and cost 300 less to tax, not to mention insure. Plus, every liter of fuel is 10cent cheaper for the 320d. You'll sell on a 320d much quicker than a 325i also.

I certainly know that for someone like myself, covering 450 miles a week that the difference in running costs would be very substantial.

Typical boards response of suggesting a six cylinder! Why do a large number of people on this forum suggest cars that cost one tenth of their purchase price to tax? Granted the performance will be great but its ridiculous imo to suggest a car that costs nearly a grand to tax and 8 or 9k to buy.


Good info on the alacantra seats, I wasn't aware they were nice too!

Gumbo

eoin wrote: »

Why a 318 or 320d? In the long run, a 325 or 320 (with the 2.2 litre engine) might not be that much more to run at all, and you're getting a much better car for your money.

Check out the for sale section on www.bmw-driver.net/forum and of course www.adverts.ie

Incidentally, the alcantara sport suede seats are as nice as leather, so don't let them put you off.

My GF just put a deposit on a 318d M-Sport and she specifically looked for a car without leather!

she much prefers the alcantara sports seats over the leather in my 320d!

Crosshair

PaulKK wrote: »

Typical boards response of suggesting a six cylinder! Why do a large number of people on this forum suggest cars that cost one tenth of their purchase price to tax? Granted the performance will be great but its ridiculous imo to suggest a car that costs nearly a grand to tax and 8 or 9k to buy.

I wouldnt worry as much about the tax being one tenth of the purchase price of a 6cyl as i would about the price of a turbo replacement being over one fifth the price of a diesel.

paleoboy

aye, Id be worried about tax and insurance on the biggers ones to be honest ya!

Come here, start throwing out ideas lads... links and what not! I have the money now I just need to know where to spend it!!

O7Pat

paleoboy wrote: »

aye, Id be worried about tax and insurance on the biggers ones to be honest ya!

Come here, start throwing out ideas lads... links and what not! I have the money now I just need to know where to spend it!!

You know the tax costs in advance
the insurance cost is just a quick call to your current provider, depending on your age there may not be much difference between the 320 and a 325.

If your looking for extras the 325 may have more (presuming both are SE)

(your unlikely to get any support round here for buying a 318, particularly an older one)

Unsure about your question on "throwing out ideas" - are you looking for specific individual cars that we have found on websites?

ShayK1

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320Ci/200935195008181/advert?channel=CARS&featuredListingClickThru=true

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/D-se/200937195157220/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/M-SPORT-/200938195256808/advert?channel=CARS

I search for less than 5 minutes and got the above 3.

Did you really look before posting here?

Here, have this link too
http://www.carzone.ie/search/results?searchsource=browse&cacheBuster=125590102789978#nParam=200590%2B4294911133%2B200284%2B200469%2B102554%2B102548%2B292%2B328%2B102456%2B200398%2B200425%2B30%2B200483%2B200524%2B148&sortby=Make|0&channel=CARS&currency=EUROS&searchResultsView=THUMBNAIL&maxrows=30

Eoin

PaulKK wrote: »

In fairness eoin, theres a big difference in running costs of a 325i or 320i and 320d. The 320d will do at least 15mpg more than the 325 at worst case and cost 300 less to tax, not to mention insure. Plus, every liter of fuel is 10cent cheaper for the 320d. You'll sell on a 320d much quicker than a 325i also.

I certainly know that for someone like myself, covering 450 miles a week that the difference in running costs would be very substantial.

Typical boards response of suggesting a six cylinder! Why do a large number of people on this forum suggest cars that cost one tenth of their purchase price to tax? Granted the performance will be great but its ridiculous imo to suggest a car that costs nearly a grand to tax and 8 or 9k to buy.

There are so many factors to consider though. For a start, the obvious one is mileage. If the OP is not doing much mileage, then the difference of 15mpg might not be a factor at all.

Also, what does the OP want from the car? It if it's just the badge, then a 318 will do the trick nicely. If he wants a car that's nice to drive, than a 325 is a much better pick IMO.

Tax v purchase cost is a totally irrelevant argument. By that logic, a more expensive large engine car is a better buy than a cheaper one because the ratio of price to tax is lower.

I am by no means a petrol snob, and if a diesel is the right choice then fair enough - but I would hate to see the day when people didn't suggest the best driver's car.

PaulKK wrote: »

Good info on the alacantra seats, I wasn't aware they were nice too!

I have them on my 5 series, despite looking for leather ones and I am so glad I ended up with them. Much nicer in cold and hot weather, plus they age well. It might be a cheaper option, but a lot of people will swap leather for suede!

PaulKK

eoin wrote: »

There are so many factors to consider though. For a start, the obvious one is mileage. If the OP is not doing much mileage, then the difference of 15mpg might not be a factor at all.

Thats true, if the op is doing quite low mileage then the difference may not be hugely different overall compared to owning a diesel, but the cost per mile will still be a lot higher.

eoin wrote: »

Tax v purchase cost is a totally irrelevant argument. By that logic, a more expensive large engine car is a better buy than a cheaper one because the ratio of price to tax is lower.

Thats not what I'm saying. What I mean is if the budget for the car is 8k, it seems ridiculous to pay nearly 1000 to tax the car, as this is a large chunk of the ops car budget just on tax. I think we can all agree that the car is going to be substantially more expensive to insure also and maintain.

The OP has stated that they are concerned about insurance and tax costs already.

eoin wrote: »

I am by no means a petrol snob, and if a diesel is the right choice then fair enough - but I would hate to see the day when people didn't suggest the best driver's car.

I completely agree, and while I would be of the same opinion, I think there are right and wrong situations for suggesting a six cylinder, and when someones price range is from 6k to 10k I don't think its appropriate.

But hey thats just my opinion!

dudara

ShayK1 wrote: »

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320Ci/200935195008181/advert?channel=CARS&featuredListingClickThru=true

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/D-se/200937195157220/advert?channel=CARS

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/M-SPORT-/200938195256808/advert?channel=CARS

I search for less than 5 minutes and got the above 3.

Did you really look before posting here?

Here, have this link too
http://www.carzone.ie/search/results?searchsource=browse&cacheBuster=125590102789978#nParam=200590%2B4294911133%2B200284%2B200469%2B102554%2B102548%2B292%2B328%2B102456%2B200398%2B200425%2B30%2B200483%2B200524%2B148&sortby=Make|0&channel=CARS&currency=EUROS&searchResultsView=THUMBNAIL&maxrows=30

I think that the OP said that there was so much to choose from, that they have trouble choosing.

paleoboy

thanks dudara!

Thanks exactly what I said the whole point of this forum was to get other peoples opinions on what I should get! I have a vague idea of what I want which I have listed from the start but sometimes its nice to take a step back and have others suggest cool cars, and sometimes they come across ones that you may have missed!

Its like going aftershave shopping, after a while of sampling around everything all starts to smell the same and you need your girlfriend to teel you which one is nice!

Please keep the links coming, I mean its already working
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320Ci/200935195008181/advert?channel=CARS&featuredListingClickThru=true i actually love this car and am going to start looking into it right away?! Is it a bit over priced!?

ShayK1

that one is 2.2 petrol

O7Pat

paleoboy wrote: »

thanks dudara!

Thanks exactly what I said the whole point of this forum was to get other peoples opinions on what I should get! I have a vague idea of what I want which I have listed from the start but sometimes its nice to take a step back and have others suggest cool cars, and sometimes they come across ones that you may have missed!

Its like going aftershave shopping, after a while of sampling around everything all starts to smell the same and you need your girlfriend to teel you which one is nice!

Please keep the links coming, I mean its already working
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320Ci/200935195008181/advert?channel=CARS&featuredListingClickThru=true i actually love this car and am going to start looking into it right away?! Is it a bit over priced!?

Do you want to provided a few links of the type of ones that you like and then people can give you feedback. Just it is hard for people to give helpfull advice without doing some looking yourself.

Maybe go sit in a few, do you like the leather or prefer the alacantra, are you leaning towards saloon or coupe, there was a minor facelift in the 2003 models (driving lights round and indicator lens turn up not down (poor explanation I know) )are you going to stretch to a facelift model, probably possible to do so on your budget for a saloon but not a coupe. Are you looking for manual or auto. What does your car have to have and what would be nice to have but that you can live without

Drive one and see on the roads that you will normally be travelling do you find the m model suspension with low profiles too hard. If so go with se spec with maybe 17 rims.

nicker_s

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=72913&cat=2

My car above, ticks most of the boxes, had a few bits and bobs replaced over the last year to great expense, recently nct'd, very low milage for the year. Inspection welcome. Lovely comfortable car. is a 1.9L engine.

dudara

paleoboy wrote: »

thanks dudara!

Thanks exactly what I said the whole point of this forum was to get other peoples opinions on what I should get! I have a vague idea of what I want which I have listed from the start but sometimes its nice to take a step back and have others suggest cool cars, and sometimes they come across ones that you may have missed!

Its like going aftershave shopping, after a while of sampling around everything all starts to smell the same and you need your girlfriend to teel you which one is nice!

Please keep the links coming, I mean its already working
http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320Ci/200935195008181/advert?channel=CARS&featuredListingClickThru=true i actually love this car and am going to start looking into it right away?! Is it a bit over priced!?

For what it's worth - I have a high spec 2000 318 saloon. Personally I would have liked to take the time to search a little longer and get myself a coupe but I was under pressure to buy a car fast and the saloon became available.

• It's got an all leather interior, which is nice, but it wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me. When I picked up the car from the dealer, they had so polished that I sat in the driver's seat and nearly slid out the passenger door.
• Multi-function steering wheel is brilliant (it has radio, phone and cruise control) and it's something that I'd find hard to do without now.
• My cruise control is acting the maggot at the moment, but when it works, it is great for motorway driving.
• The car came with original alloys and low profile tyres, but again, I could nearly take or leave that as you could get a better ride quality with smaller wheels.
• One addition I do like is the adjustable lumbar support on my seats. The seat grips you nicely (handy when taking corners) and is very comfortable for long spins

As I said, if I had the time, I would have held out for a coupe (but not in silver, sorry), but the high spec saloon at a very good price was hard to refuse. I would have liked the more powerful later 318 engine, but hey, a good price is hard to pass by.

BTW nicker_s - you've got a lovely car, it's the same as mine, except I've got grey leather and bought it with 82k miles. But unfortunately, you'll be lucky to get what you're looking for - I paid €4,500 for mine about 2 months ago.

positivenote

hi guys,
im in the same boat as the OP. just wondering what mileage youd expect to get out of a 320d versus say a 530d if they where regularly serviced kept an eye on? im in the market for either at around the 10k mark but am unsure of how much mileage youd get out of one, its a keen factor for me as im cover 600miles approx a week.
Thanks