E92 320d

carrick76

I'm looking at buying a 2008 320d coupe in a private sale, it's a stunning looking car and seems to drive well in my inexpert opinion.

The concern is that it's a UK import and has had two Irish owners. Car has 40k miles on it, it got a full service at 18k and a minor one at 31k.

I'm going to get a cartell check done and have booked it in for an inspection with an independent specialist (Fahy's garage in Oranmore) who I have used for the last few years.

The question is, if the inspection works out and the car appears okay is there anything else to worry about? I've read about DPF and turbo issues with these cars on here. Will the inspection evaluate these issues?

Idbatterim

make sure it has no finance outstanding also. Did the person who originally imported it from UK, get car checked out prior to importing? given the amount hed have paid for that car few years ago, I sure hope so. I got Fahys to check my current car and they did a top job in fairness. that seems to be quite a few owners given age of the car, what is the current owners reason for sale?

carrick76

He says he has found a good deal on a 09 5 series and that he changes his car regularly. I am a little suspicious of this alright but I get the impression from the guy money isn't that big of a deal for him.

Idbatterim

refer to this guide.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056198864

also make sure to buy it from his house. your not talking about a 2-3k car here. Is it an msport? how much is he looing for and are you sure you want a diesel?

carrick76

Yes its a M-sport, automatic...looking for 20k but we haven't talked about price yet.

I met him at his house and he seems genuine. Thanks for the link, very useful guide.

Good question about diesel....I do 12-14,000 miles a year, mix of city and motorway so it is debatable whether petrol would be a better option.

Casati

Not a bad price, assuming it checks out. The number of owners is a concern, but its that uncommon for such a car to have owners for a short period of time- it is 4 years old, and as is often the case a previous owner might have needed more space than the Coupe offers

Idbatterim

one good thing about the diesel is this. although if the petrols are turbos, you would also see a good performance gain.

http://www.dmsautomotive.com/models.asp?upid=1

where is car located and where are you located? I used Fahy's but only because car was located over that side of country. I can highly recommend specialists in Dublin if you like... oh also does it qualify for the emissions based road tax or does it come under the cc system?

was just looking at direct comparables on carzone...

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/3-Series/320i-M-S/1113274322233530/advert?channel=CARS

that one is a beauty.

are you looking at autos only? if not i would test drive a manual and auto...

also see below link and maybe check out honestjohn.co.uk and http://www.bmw-driver.net/Index.asp.html

robbie99

I have an E92 myself and I don't think that DPF or Turbos are much of an issue with these.

If I was buying one I'd check for (1) cracks on the inside rim of 19" wheels and (2) wear on the inside of the rear tyres. I think all wear heavily on the inside even if the wheels have correct camber and are properly aligned. You have to run higher than normal tyre pressure to minimise the wear but lots of drivers in an effort to make the ride softer (run-flat tyres) would run lower than recommended pressures exasperating the tyre wear problem. I'd also check that (3) the clutch doesn't judder too much and (4) the battery voltage is ok. These cars have auto stop-start which make heavy use of the battery and if the battery condition is degraded, the auto stop-start no longer kicks in.

(5) I'd also double check the service history as the E92 is condition based and there's no such thing as a full or minor service. If the oil and filter needed to have been done at 18k miles, it would probably have needed to be done again at around 36k. Has it had its second oil change yet? A look at the Service indicator on the onboard computer will tell you when it's next due. The brake fluid needs to be done every second year so that could have been the 'minor' one at 31k. There'd also be an inspection service due at around 37k miles (60k km) so I'd check to see if this was done.

The fact that it was originally a UK car wouldn't bother me at all as UK ones came with a three year warranty compared with two for Irish giving the previous owner an extra year to sort out any minor issues with the car.

carrick76

Auto a preference, I have driven a few manuals and would prefer a automatic this time.

Both me and the car are in Galway city so Fahy's make sense i guess

carrick76

Thanks for the replies and advice everyone.

Sent the car to Fahy's and in the meantime did a Cartell report, turns out it was an insurance write-off.

Fahy's reported back that it had left rear damage but the repair work was good and overall the car checked out fine bar some minor items that could be sorted at the next service.

Now there could be a bargain to be had but I'm too concerned about the resale value and I'm not in any hurry to get a new car so I'm going to leave it.

The car is here if anybody is interested.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2832340

RobAMerc

I had an 06 e90 and e91 ( basically the same engine ) both autos.

My e91 had the DSC pack in at 50k miles. The e90 which I sold to my brother in law packed in at 51k miles 1 month later. Mine was covered under warranty from the garage I bought it. His was partially covered by BMW as it is a known issue ( part only I think - labour was costly)
At 57k miles mine blew the turbo ( about 2k cost ) about 3 months later the turbo on my brother in laws e90 blew,a tlhough he had put a good few miles more on his, I think she is at about 63 now.
On the last day as I drove the e91 to trade it in, the wipers stopped working !

great car to drive, really top class engineering ( bar the terrible ride when on run flats ) - but reliability is poor, and I VERY RARELY say that about any car as I am more into how I enjoy driving something than 100% reliability.

Anyway - make sure it has a full and comprehensive Full BMW service history.
Secondly - do some investigating but I think there is a breather pipe which is changed will reduce the chance of the turbo going.

Leonard Hofstadter

Bear in mind that the newer 177 bhp engine is not supposed to be as prone to turbo failure as the older engines, and does not need the breather thing (whatever it is) to be changed either.

Also, the ESP module can now be refurbed (because so many of them failed), no need to replace the whole thing for two grand like before!

Personally I'd go for a six cylinder (of either fuel), 320ds (along with 520ds) are ten a penny these days and if I was going for a BMW I'd want something a little less "common" and more left field, but they are a popular car for a reason!