bmw 316i 2002 126k for €4100? worth it?

RoyalMarine

hi guys, been car hunting all day now, and ive found something im interested in, and wanted your opinion.

2002, bmw 316i 1.9, blue.

mileage, 126,000 miles.
NCT is due jan 2012.
tax is due now.

bodywork, checked it over for about an hour today, and there is 1 tiny dent, and garage said they would sort it.
interior is perfect, but i did notice it only has a radio/tape deck, but thats not a problem as i always connect my itouch to my radio for music.
electric windows, airconditioning etc all work perfectly.

engine has been serviced recently, and full history available.

2 owners. first guy had it for 4 years, and sold it to a bank manager who had it since. he retired, so i assume he's not a boy racer.

its got 4 brand new tyres, and alloys are in perfect condition.
spare is great too.

so, what do you guys think? advertised for €4,500, and he finally agreed on €4,200.

it also comes with 6 month warranty.

I dont know much about buying car's, but i said best place to get advice is here, so here i am

colm_mcm

any service history?

RoyalMarine

full service history available, and after looking at it, there has been no accidents or repairs out of the ordinary.

service was all done local to where the car is now, and where the previous owner's live, so i assume its cocher.

colm_mcm

maybe check out this one too:

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/318/201018197881200/advert?channel=CARS

same engine, more hp lower miles and better spec.


If it has a CD changer, it'll be in the boot on the passenger side.

RoyalMarine

nice find, only problem is i need to find one closer to donegal, as im stuck here until i can buy a car and move home from college.

bazz26

Have a look at this one, its the more powerful 318i but it has less mileage, looks alot fresher, SE spec and will come with some sort of warranty.

Should be able to buy that for around €4600 I'd imagine:
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201012197381924

qz

That 1.6 would break your heart. Would you consider a slightly older 318 or 320 even if tax and insurance aren't too much of an issue?

colm_mcm

316i is a 1.9 litre.

320d

Had a 316 myself for a few years, one thing I would check is if the headgasket was replaced - had to replace it in mine due to a faulty thermostat but it ran perfect after that - I have talked to a few that this has happened to once it reaches 110-115k miles.

veetwin

qz wrote: »

That 1.6 would break your heart. Would you consider a slightly older 318 or 320 even if tax and insurance aren't too much of an issue?

Think the 2002 316 was an ancient 1.9l unit. The 318 however has a 2.0l 143bhp engine which is superior in every respect and only a little more to tax. The 320 of that era was a 2.2 6 cylinder with I think 170bhp. This would be the one of choice were it not for the c€800 tax. Also for that reason not that many about. I had a 2002 318 and could not fault it. The engine while not ultra fast was smooth and refined and not too bad on economy provided you were not too heavy on the right foot. A mate had the 316 and there was no comparison. The one in Donegal looks pretty good.

Owen

It's probably at the bottom rung of it's depreciation, or close to it. Last year I saw a mint condition 2004 316i SE with half leather and a sunroof, 61k miles sell for 8k. This year the same car should be 6k, which means the 01 you're looking at should honestly be approx 2k, but this is Ireland, and cars get to around 3/4k and people will pay it all day long.

RoyalMarine

320d wrote: »

Had a 316 myself for a few years, one thing I would check is if the headgasket was replaced - had to replace it in mine due to a faulty thermostat but it ran perfect after that - I have talked to a few that this has happened to once it reaches 110-115k miles.

service record says it was done 6 months ago.

veetwin wrote: »

Think the 2002 316 was an ancient 1.9l unit. The 318 however has a 2.0l 143bhp engine which is superior in every respect and only a little more to tax. The 320 of that era was a 2.2 6 cylinder with I think 170bhp. This would be the one of choice were it not for the c€800 tax. Also for that reason not that many about. I had a 2002 318 and could not fault it. The engine while not ultra fast was smooth and refined and not too bad on economy provided you were not too heavy on the right foot. A mate had the 316 and there was no comparison. The one in Donegal looks pretty good.

cant pay that much tax. €5xx is more than enough.

PaintDoctor wrote: »

It's probably at the bottom rung of it's depreciation, or close to it. Last year I saw a mint condition 2004 316i SE with half leather and a sunroof, 61k miles sell for 8k. This year the same car should be 6k, which means the 01 you're looking at should honestly be approx 2k, but this is Ireland, and cars get to around 3/4k and people will pay it all day long.

the one im after is a 2002.

bazz26

There is about €32 per year difference between taxing the 316i and 318i litre.

Leonard Hofstadter

The 318i is a 2.0(from 01 onwards), there is virtually no difference on tax between a 1.9 and a 2.0(30 euro if even that).

A 2.0 318 has 143 hp, not bad, whereas a 1.9 316 has a pathetic 105 hp.

You're paying 1.9 road tax for a car that has less power than many 1.6s, in fact a 1.4 Toyota engine from the same era has almost the same amount of power(97 bhp), the 316i is that underpowered.

CaraFawn

Obviously OP is not after a quick car.

I had a 316i before, 102HP model, frankly it was grant. Even with a few people inside. This is not a bullet by any means, but this is not a slow car for city center driving, and confortable enough that can bring you from A to B without hassle. I pushed the car to 210 Km/h before, so it is not That slow.

Anyway a 318i, even though it has a bit more power, will disapointed on fuel consumption. A 320d will be much more effective than a 318i. Even the 2L version.

As others said, service history is The thing to check.

TestTransmission

CaraFawn wrote: »

Obviously OP is not after a quick car.

I had a 316i before, 102HP model, frankly it was grant. Even with a few people inside. This is not a bullet by any means, but this is not a slow car for city center driving, and confortable enough that can bring you from A to B without hassle. I pushed the car to 210 Km/h before, so it is not That slow.

Anyway a 318i, even though it has a bit more power, will disapointed on fuel consumption. A 320d will be much more effective than a 318i. Even the 2L version.

As others said, service history is The thing to check.

You are a god amongst men,pushing a car past its top speed.

CaraFawn

TestTransmission wrote: »

You are a god amongst men,pushing a car past its top speed.

Top speed is a figure on a white paper as you know.
I probably had winds on my back, but period I went to 210.

EPM

Indicated 210? Speedo's always over read

CaraFawn

EPM wrote: »

Indicated 210? Speedo's always over read

Yeah ok by 5-10km/h alright
Ok I probably was at 200 km/h

veetwin

CaraFawn wrote: »

Obviously OP is not after a quick car.


Anyway a 318i, even though it has a bit more power, will disapointed on fuel consumption. A 320d will be much more effective than a 318i. Even the 2L version.

In fairness there is a big difference between 105bhp and 143 bhp for the sake of €32 tax per year. Don't know what the difference in consumption would be but I would suggest that a modern more powerful 2.0 will be if anything better than an underpowered 1.9

Leonard Hofstadter

The 2.0 is a modern twin cam 16 valve Valvetronic unit, whereas the 1.9 is a really old tech single cam non Vanos never mind Valvetronic 8 valve engine.

The 1.9 is very prone to head gasket failure and overheating as well, something the 2.0 is not prone to(although that has its own issues with the Valvetronic mechanism not working).