Buying BMW, looking for thoughts/advice!

downwithit

Hi looking to buy a second hand 3 series BMW, dont want to go over €6k and really want new model so 2005 onwards. Found this one, and looking for any BMW experts opinions if they think its a good buy as it looks good to me but I don't know a huge amount.


http://www.ascars.ie/viewanad.php?ad_id=905255

Thanks

MadYaker

Ah sure nobody on this forum drives BMWs, best look elsewhere! :pac:

tupac_healy

MadYaker wrote: »

Ah sure nobody on this forum drives BMWs, best look elsewhere! :pac:

Lol I do!!!!


I recently bought a 320d 04 model, very very comfy and seems to bee good mpg at the min so cant complain...

Well tax is ****e but what can ya do!

Max Power1

MadYaker wrote: »

Ah sure nobody on this forum drives BMWs, best look elsewhere! :pac:

Certainly no e46 325i's around here anyway

(Plenty of 535d tractors though) :P

YbFocus

And 30's don't forget the lesser men

With the budget and what you want to get I reckon you'll be hard pushed to find a decent one, unless these have dropped off of late?

downwithit

Anyone any thoughts on the one in the link?

YbFocus

downwithit wrote: »

Anyone any thoughts on the one in the link?

It's just bringing me to their main page man but then again I'm mobiling here.

Bigus

downwithit wrote: »

Anyone any thoughts on the one in the link?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055995976&page=2

YbFocus

downwithit wrote: »

Anyone any thoughts on the one in the link?

Got it working, very standard man.
Cloth seats etc. If that's your thing then it'll be a fine car but I'd hold out because you can get a far better specced machine than that.
Looks fine other than that though.

downwithit

Here is the same car on adverts

http://www.adverts.ie/car/bmw/3-series/bmw-320-2007/2787253

bazz26

It's a bog standard base ES model which is not a nice place to be sitting in imo. I'd rather drop back a year or two and get a better speced car.

weekaizer

I believe those petrol engines give a lot of bother with fuel injectors, can be ongoing not just a one off repair...
It is also a basic car with no extras,
Will be difficult to sell in future as its a 07 so just misses out on cheaper tax system, nasty looking wheels,
Best thing about that car is the rear wheel drive. Which I admit is appealing.
So many better options to you for 6500.
My advice would be think about a Honda accord.

Dublinstiofán

I wouldn't buy a BMW again (unless it had a full 3 yr warranty), if anything goes wrong
with them (which in my experience was quite frequently) they are very expensive
to sort out.

I got caught for two new injectors in my 2007 320i Coupe and it cost a bucket.

Also the car is specifically designed to make even the simplest of things difficult.
For example, changing a Xenon bulb involves taking the front wheel off stripping the
wheel arch and accessing the bulb through a tiny hole underneath the lining. Fecking
nightmare and very costly!

If i were you i'd buy a focus or something like that, cheap parts and you'd probably
get on the cheap tax rate with your budget too. Will save you a bundle in the long run!


Also be aware with AS Cars that you need to purchase the warranty (which is not included
in the price at an extra cost) and that if something goes wrong you have no comeback with
AS cars you must go to the external source you have the warranty purchased from.

tupac_healy

weekaizer wrote: »

I believe those petrol engines give a lot of bother with fuel injectors, can be ongoing not just a one off repair...
It is also a basic car with no extras,
Will be difficult to sell in future as its a 07 so just misses out on cheaper tax system, nasty looking wheels,
Best thing about that car is the rear wheel drive. Which I admit is appealing.
So many better options to you for 6500.
My advice would be think about a Honda accord.

Been told by basically everyone I know to stay well clear of petrol BMWs, they cause nothing but hassle but the diesels seem to be far more reliable

rocky

tupac_healy wrote: »

Been told by basically everyone I know to stay well clear of petrol BMWs, they cause nothing but hassle but the diesels seem to be far more reliable

except the pre-facelift N52s

Max Power1

Beware of the large issue surrounding the facelifted 2.0d models from about 2006-2007 onwards

tupac_healy

rocky wrote: »

except the pre-facelift N52s

Whata up with them? I bought the facelift e46, heard they are good as far as bmw's go!

rocky

tupac_healy wrote: »

Whata up with them? I bought the facelift e46, heard they are good as far as bmw's go!

Nothing, that's my point; no general problems for the pre-facelift petrol N52s

tupac_healy

Max Power1 wrote: »

Beware of the large issue surrounding the facelifted 2.0d models from about 2006-2007 onwards

Sorry Rocky...

I quoted the wrong post, I meant to ask what is up with these!!!! My fault!

bazz26

timing chain issues.

Max Power1

tupac_healy wrote: »

Sorry Rocky...

I quoted the wrong post, I meant to ask what is up with these!!!! My fault!

Seem to have a lot of issues with the timing chain devouring the engine.

Lots of threads in the past about it on this forum

Heres the watchdog about it.

tupac_healy

Max Power1 wrote: »

Seem to have a lot of issues with the timing chain devouring the engine.

Lots of threads in the past about it on this forum

Heres the watchdog about it.

Good to know as I was thinking of staying BMW for a while!!

Max Power1

tupac_healy wrote: »

Good to know as I was thinking of staying BMW for a while!!

Do! Just get a proper engined one! The issue only affects some of the 2.0 diesels.

tupac_healy

Max Power1 wrote: »

Do! Just get a proper engined one! The issue only affects some of the 2.0 diesels.

I wont be changing for a long long time, my first one and I can see me sticking with them alright! Out of curiosity, what engine should I consider say 2006ish....

Max Power1

tupac_healy wrote: »

I wont be changing for a long long time, my first one and I can see me sticking with them alright! Out of curiosity, what engine should I consider say 2006ish....

Well ... I would reccomend the 3.0d engine from that era as they don't suffer from the same issues.

Then again I might be biased, as I have an e60 with that engine

Bugnut

I've driven BMW's on and off since the late 80's- E21's - E30's - and I'm currently sporting an E36 touring, great machine, not the greatest performance but at 250,000 miles and 45 mpg all day long its a workhorse.

Now your E90 question - some of the issues with the E46 were rectified in the E90
Injector issues do still exist and are costly, in fact parts for the E90 seem to be more expensive than the E46.

The 320 petrol IMHO is a bit wheazy for a petrol engine - the 320D is a much better drivers car and the 330D is a cracker although Automatics should be avoided unless you know the car - a new gearbox will set you back about €4500 or €8000 from BMW.

They come with lifetime oil ???? - so they give up the ghost at about 70k miles, whats that all about ?

I wouldnt touch a 320 or 330D without a trusted and ontime service record as the turbos suffer a lot from infrequent oil changes.

As suggested by an earlier poster , I would be going a little older and getting a better spec car.

Idbatterim

what kind of mileage are you doing op?

downwithit

max 20k KM a year

Idbatterim

ok well that car that you linked to is more than fairly priced for the mileage and spec, in my opinion only thing really missing is the leather interior (which you could retrofit) if you like... Please do not buy any bmw in that price range or indeed any car, without having it checked out by preferably a bmw specialist first...

AfroSonic

Dublinstiofán wrote: »

I wouldn't buy a BMW again (unless it had a
Also be aware with AS Cars that you need to purchase the warranty (which is not included
in the price at an extra cost) and that if something goes wrong you have no comeback with
AS cars you must go to the external source you have the warranty purchased from.

Do you have any further info on AS Cars? I'm also looking at one from them. He was pretty grumpy regarding a test drive the other day. Are they a reputable company etc?

macjohn

downwithit wrote: »

Anyone any thoughts on the one in the link?

Its the very basic introductory model, (known as es. It goes ES, SE, msport)
cloth seats, intro level alloys, manual air con,
when you go to sell on anyone that is into bmws will be looking for a better spec so could be hard to sell on. Particularly a pre-face lift e90 with low spec.

How fixed is the budget?
I would go down a year and get better spec.

thecomedian

tupac_healy wrote: »

Been told by basically everyone I know to stay well clear of petrol BMWs, they cause nothing but hassle but the diesels seem to be far more reliable

Maybe on the 4pot petrols.
I've never heard much wrong with the 2.5 and 3.0.
Definitely not all BMW petrols give nothing but hassle.
The 2.0 diesel 05/06 had a few problems.

Dublinstiofán

AfroSonic wrote: »

Do you have any further info on AS Cars? I'm also looking at one from them. He was pretty grumpy regarding a test drive the other day. Are they a reputable company etc?

I didn't buy after i met them and they told me that the warranty had to be purchased from an external source who they said i would be dealing with if anything went wrong.

I ran a mile at that stage so i cant comment any further.

rocky

thecomedian wrote: »

Maybe on the 4pot petrols.
I've never heard much wrong with the 2.5 and 3.0.
Definitely not all BMW petrols give nothing but hassle.
The 2.0 diesel 05/06 had a few problems.

Agree for the 2.5 and 3.0 petrols pre facelift (N52). The facelift ones are plagued with injector and coil issues (N53+), some with HPFP failure (N54)

Ipro

Op ,

Their great cars to drive. Go for a diesel. Impressive mpg and enough power for the cars in general.
I agree with one of the other posters , go for a older model with better spec (this will be much nicer to drive and hold it's resale value)
The only bad point is their a bit more expensive to repair than other cars but in general their very reliable and won't leave you stuck at the side of a road.

To sum it up their a safe reliable and comfortable car that offers fantastic value for money if you go for the older ones (say e46) etc

Best of luck and let us know what you choose.

Idbatterim

i have suspicions about certain dealers and the quality of stock they sell! But every car has to be judged on its own merits. Go look at car, if you like it make an offer, if you are agreeable on price, leave a deposit to secure car, get a receipt for this (The deposit is to be refundable if anything major to be found wrong with the car) bring the car to a bmw specialist and have it checked out. Also I would be doing my own car history and finance check...

Ipro

Idbatterim wrote: »

i have suspicions about certain dealers and the quality of stock they sell! But every car has to be judged on its own merits. Go look at car, if you like it make an offer, if you are agreeable on price, leave a deposit to secure car, get a receipt for this (The deposit is to be refundable if anything major to be found wrong with the car) bring the car to a bmw specialist and have it checked out. Also I would be doing my own car history and finance check...

Will a dealer give you the car for a few hours to bring it to a specialist if you only pay the deposit ?

Knew it was possible to bring a mechanic , didnt know they would allow you to bring the car to the mechanic.
If this is common then ill start using this method when upgrading in the future.

Idbatterim

Will a dealer give you the car for a few hours to bring it to a specialist if you only pay the deposit ?

Knew it was possible to bring a mechanic , didnt know they would allow you to bring the car to the mechanic.
If this is common then ill start using this method when upgrading in the future.

IF they dont, they can forget selling to me anyway! The vast majority of cars purchased are ten a penny cars, i.e. a 318/320 etc, now they are still far better than most cars in my opinion, but they arent scarce! anyone who has an issue with me purchasing a car that is going to cost thousands, plus interest and god knows what if its a lemon, can take a run and jump... Any car I have purchased or my brother (and its several bm's) have never had an issue with it, actually one spurious garage did, but when they knew they would lose the sale, they agreed to it (there were engine issues with it). Another mate got one checked and was able to knock a further few hundred of the asking when several issues were identified!

Ipro

Idbatterim wrote: »

IF they dont, they can forget selling to me anyway! The vast majority of cars purchased are ten a penny cars, i.e. a 318/320 etc, now they are still far better than most cars in my opinion, but they arent scarce! anyone who has an issue with me purchasing a car that is going to cost thousands, plus interest and god knows what if its a lemon, can take a run and jump... Any car I have purchased or my brother (and its several bm's) have never had an issue with it, actually one spurious garage did, but when they knew they would lose the sale, they agreed to it (there were engine issues with it). Another mate got one checked and was able to knock a further few hundred of the asking when several issues were identified!

Cheers for that tip ;-)

Idbatterim

Lads im open to correction here, but I believe this car has the older 150bhp engine, i.e the one that doesnt have injector issues...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_3_Series_(E90)