BMW 320I M SPORT 2 DOOR COUPE

macdonagh2007

I going over to London to look at a 09 BMW 320I M Sport Coupe for my son who is working over there. The car dealer is looking for Stg 23,450. Do you think we can get it for Stg 20K ??
As my son is coming back to Ireland in Nov.2010 are there any pitfalls in bringing in this particular BMW model? Any advice would be welcome in dealing with a U.K. Dealer

kebrosnan

Checked it out in What Cars on-line valuation tool and that price looks about right. Apart from VRT costs, as far as I can see this model would be subject to €630 per year for road tax. Would you not consider a diesel version which would have a lower road tax and better resale prospects if it is imported to Ireland?

bazz26

Just to add that UK dealers price their cars alot closer to what they want than Irish dealers so I'd doubt you will get it for £20 but all they can do is say no so it is worth a shot.

Cyrus

macdonagh2007 wrote: »

I going over to London to look at a 09 BMW 320I M Sport Coupe for my son who is working over there. The car dealer is looking for Stg 23,450. Do you think we can get it for Stg 20K ??
As my son is coming back to Ireland in Nov.2010 are there any pitfalls in bringing in this particular BMW model? Any advice would be welcome in dealing with a U.K. Dealer

id be extremely surprised if you got it for 20, in fact i doubt they will take much more than than the 450 off of it but you can always ask

and get the diesel, much more desirable car over here :rolleyes:

robbie99

kebrosnan wrote: »

Checked it out in What Cars on-line valuation tool and that price looks about right. Apart from VRT costs, as far as I can see this model would be subject to €630 per year for road tax. Would you not consider a diesel version which would have a lower road tax and better resale prospects if it is imported to Ireland?

Motor tax for an 09 320i is €302 (manual) or €447 (auto).

mickdw

If your son is planning on bringing this back here vrt free, well then imo you should be looking at a v expensive sought after car.

robbie99

macdonagh2007 wrote: »

I going over to London to look at a 09 BMW 320I M Sport Coupe for my son who is working over there. The car dealer is looking for Stg 23,450. Do you think we can get it for Stg 20K ??
As my son is coming back to Ireland in Nov.2010 are there any pitfalls in bringing in this particular BMW model? Any advice would be welcome in dealing with a U.K. Dealer

The only advice I can give is to not to restrict yourself to the one London dealer. Shop around. It's just as easy to travel to Edinburgh or Sunderland as it is to London and there's no rule saying that you can't negotiate over the phone. I know that 'good' salesmen prefer dealing in person and don't lower themselves to what they term 'dutch auctions' but a good salesman is one that gets the most money out of a sale (albeit while at the same time making you feel good about the deal). You want a salesman that's willing to undercut other dealers. Ring around.

macdonagh2007

Thanks for all your help lads. 1 million dollar question to you all.....what a fair /reasonable price to hang out for to do a deal for this BMW model? Asking price again is STG 23,475.

Gumbo

macdonagh2007 wrote: »

Thanks for all your help lads. 1 million dollar question to you all.....what a fair /reasonable price to hang out for to do a deal for this BMW model? Asking price again is STG 23,475.

i could nearly bet this months mortgage that you will not get that car for 20k! i would imagine you would be doing very very well if you get it for anywhere close to 22,750 imo

the UK deralers price their cars to sell and are currently buying well cared for cars from private buyers to fill their showrooms.

have a look on this E90 Forum and go to the UK section, people with the coupes are being approaced by dealers when they advertise their cars.

Idbatterim

Take a look at the the below beauty from a uk dealer jaw dropping!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201003350459469/sort/priceasc/usedcars/fuel-type/petrol/transmission/manual/maximum-age/up_to_3_years_old/seller-type/trade_adverts/maximum-mileage/up_to_80000_miles/body-type/coupe/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/model/3_series/make/bmw/page/3/radius/1501/postcode/yo311eb/keywords/m%20sport,%20leather?previous=/search/used/cars/bmw/3_series/postcode/yo311eb/radius/1501/keywords/m%2520sport%252C%2520leather/fuel-type/petrol/transmission/manual/maximum-age/up_to_3_years_old/seller-type/trade_adverts/maximum-mileage/up_to_80000_miles/body-type/coupe/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/sort/priceasc/page/3&logcode=p

Cyrus

the quality of those autovogue kits isnt the best by all accounts,

all fibreglass

eugh

Leonard Hofstadter

I would not be buying a 320i for the following reasons:
- the diesel is the one most people will be interested in come resale time
- the few who do want a petrol will want more poke than what the least powerful 3 series coupe has, they will be looking at a 325i or else a 335i, also the 320i Automatic is in the same tax band as the 325i Automatic, making it even more pointless
- most importantly, the 320i is proving to be extraordinarily unreliable, high pressure fuel pump problems, loss of power, it's an unmitigated disaster, just look at any 3 series forum.

BMW have now apparently solved the swirl flaps, they have been redesigned and crankcase breather problems(meaning that the turbo really shouldn't go now in them) with the diesels so apart from the DMF which goes in every diesel(and some petrols as well) with a manual gearbox there should be absolutely no problems with them. I would, however get the oil changed every 10,000 miles/1 year whichever comes first, leaving the same oil in an engine, especially a complicated diesel for any longer is suicidal IMO.

To summarise: either buy a 320d if you want diesel or a 6 cylinder model if it's a petrol you're after. And get an auto in both cases, the petrols because they won't sell without it, the diesels because the road tax savings will be more than blown away by the cost of replacing the DMF when it goes, which it will.

macdonagh2007

BMW dealer in London got back to my son this evening. The dealer will take Stg 22,800 for it instead of the orignal asking price price of Stg 23,450.

This is an 09 320i M Sport Coupe with 3780 miles on the clock. I think he should deal at this stage. Any views

Leonard Hofstadter

macdonagh2007 wrote: »

BMW dealer in London got back to my son this evening. The dealer will take Stg 22,800 for it instead of the orignal asking price price of Stg 23,450.

This is an 09 320i M Sport Coupe with 3780 miles on the clock. I think he should deal at this stage. Any views

Please re-read my post. The 320i specifically is proving to be extraordinarily unreliable. Get the diesel or else a more powerful petrol. Even if a 320i was reliable it would be saleproof because people here are going to want the diesel when you want to sell it on. The VRT is also lower in the diesel(not sure if this applies or not) too.

MarkN

I know someone with a 320i coupe for 3 years... there's nothing wrong with it.

You can't say an entire series of petrol engines fail, yes there's problems, no it's not every single car.

Same goes for transmission, some will want a manual, some will want an auto, I think you're giving the guy very biased advice here.

Some people don't give a damn what the next person wants, they buy the car for themselves, if he wants a petrol, let him buy a petrol.

If he wants to buy the car let him buy the car!

The Pontiac

kebrosnan wrote: »

Checked it out in What Cars on-line valuation tool and that price looks about right. Apart from VRT costs, as far as I can see this model would be subject to €630 per year for road tax. Would you not consider a diesel version which would have a lower road tax and better resale prospects if it is imported to Ireland?

As far as I know a 2009 BMW 320i M Sport would have a tax rate of €302 per anmum. CO2 Exhaust Emissions 154 g/km.

From What Car Magazine: For a petrol-engined coupe, the 320i is exceptionally economical and has low emissions. The M Sport model has sportier looks and suspension than the entry-level SE.

Cars Registered Outside of Ireland

A private car first registered abroad prior to 1 January 2008 will always be taxed on engine size (c.c.). The CO2 based motor tax system does not apply to second-hand imports that were registered abroad prior to 2008.
A private car first registered abroad between 1 January 2008 and 30 June 2008 inclusive and subsequently registered in Ireland will be taxed on whichever is the lesser of the motor tax rates based on engine size (c.c.) or CO2 emissions.
A private car first registered abroad after 1 July 2008 and subsequently registered in Ireland will be taxed on CO2 emissions.

The aim of the new motor tax system is to encourage the use of smaller, cleaner, fuel-efficient cars in the fight against climate change by reducing the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) from cars to help protect the environment and improve local air quality. Link

EDIT: Just saw Robbie's post now clarifying the motor tax on post number 5. Sorry, don't know how I missed it.

Gumbo

macdonagh2007 wrote: »

BMW dealer in London got back to my son this evening. The dealer will take Stg 22,800 for it instead of the orignal asking price price of Stg 23,450.

This is an 09 320i M Sport Coupe with 3780 miles on the clock. I think he should deal at this stage. Any views

i think we would have to see the car. have you got a link to it onlone or anything?

PS - so i was bang on with my guide price at what the dealer woulf sell at

veetwin

Have to agree with captainspeed on this one. The 320i coupe is the least desirable of the lot particularly in manual. If your going 4 cylinder then diesel is the only way to go. 6 cylinder petrol or diesel are much better but again go for the auto unless you really want a manual.

kebrosnan

kebrosnan wrote: »

Checked it out in What Cars on-line valuation tool and that price looks about right. Apart from VRT costs, as far as I can see this model would be subject to €630 per year for road tax. Would you not consider a diesel version which would have a lower road tax and better resale prospects if it is imported to Ireland?

Apologies all, my source was incorrect on the emissions. Otherwise I agree with the rest that diesel is the way to go in a 3 series to give you the best chance of resale in the future.

Leonard Hofstadter

MarkN wrote: »

I know someone with a 320i coupe for 3 years... there's nothing wrong with it.

You can't say an entire series of petrol engines fail, yes there's problems, no it's not every single car.

Same goes for transmission, some will want a manual, some will want an auto, I think you're giving the guy very biased advice here.

Some people don't give a damn what the next person wants, they buy the car for themselves, if he wants a petrol, let him buy a petrol.

If he wants to buy the car let him buy the car!

Yeah but if you want a petrol in not just any old BMW, but a BMW Coupe, a supposed Ultimate Driving Machine, why would you buy the least powerful model? If it's because of economy/taxation reasons then the 320d is better on both counts with the added bonus of having more power so it will be faster.

Not all 320is are bad, but since they changed them back in 08 or whenever they got all "green" they have turned out to be really bad. It's all over 3 series forums that the current engine in them is junk. There is nothing wrong with the 320i's before they greened them up reliability wise but again the 320d has more power and does more mpg so it is still a rather pointless model. And the older "non green" model is much higher in VRT than the new unreliable greener model making it even more pointless to import. At least in the old 3 series the 320i had a 6 cylinder engine and 20 more hp than the 320d and the 320d back then had swirl flaps and turbo problems meaning that those are a money pit and you'd be mad to buy one over the petrol 320 or even a 318i.

The auto is a personal thing but unless it was extremely bad I would rather an auto over a DMF manual.