BMW 3 Series 320I SE Z3TH

fisher8181

I am looking at buying this car

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-3-series-tax-390-full-leather-with/6401928
I have negotiated him down to €9,000

When I google that exact model there is very little information on it.

Is it not a very common model? Anyone know if they are reliable?

ION08

Why do you think its not a very common model?

Its simply a BMW 320i (E90), nothing that uncommon about it!

fisher8181

ION08 wrote: »

Why do you think its not a very common model?

Its simply a BMW 320i (E90), nothing that uncommon about it!

I don't know much about cars so when I googled the full title I got very few hits. googling e90 throws up much more!

just gave car a test drive
few things I'd like to get a bit advise on.

there were only two bmw services in the book and 5 or 6 others that were just written in with no stamp. anyone could have written them in. Even if its not an official bmw garage would smaller places not have a stamp for this?

The guy was not the person on the log book. He says he has a garage licence in which case his name does not appear on the log book. How would I know its not stolen, what sort of id am I looking for in this case?

the tyre pressure warning light was on. he says its just the sensor rather than anything wrong.

Do you think that the car is value for €9000?
Is there too many issues to not walk away from this?

ION08

fisher8181 wrote: »

I don't know much about cars so when I googled the full title I got very few hits. googling e90 throws up much more!

just gave car a test drive
few things I'd like to get a bit advise on.

there were only two bmw services in the book and 5 or 6 others that were just written in with no stamp. anyone could have written them in. Even if its not an official bmw garage would smaller places not have a stamp for this?

The guy was not the person on the log book. He says he has a garage licence in which case his name does not appear on the log book. How would I know its not stolen, what sort of id am I looking for in this case?

the tyre pressure warning light was on. he says its just the sensor rather than anything wrong.

Do you think that the car is value for €9000?
Is there too many issues to not walk away from this?

He's obviously a dealer and trying to flip the car for a profit.

Not much wrong with that, however, the fact it has 110k on the clock and only 2 VERIFIABLE services would have me walking.

Those N series engines need to be well maintained in order for them to be reliable, without proof of such maintenance you're leaving yourself open.

Much better cars out there to be had for €9000!!

bazz26

€9K would get you a decent spec 2008 petrol Honda Accord. Doesn't have the kudos of the BMW but the Accord petrols are very reliable and eat miles.

Gumbo

fisher8181 wrote: »

I don't know much about cars so when I googled the full title I got very few hits. googling e90 throws up much more!

just gave car a test drive
few things I'd like to get a bit advise on.

there were only two bmw services in the book and 5 or 6 others that were just written in with no stamp. anyone could have written them in. Even if its not an official bmw garage would smaller places not have a stamp for this?

Only 110k km on it, so its possible with long life service items (not that i agree with them) that the first was in or around the 25-30k mark, the second around the 60k mark and then all the others DIY jobs. Its perfectly fine doing DIY but i keep the receipts and sign the service book and put my number in it too so somebody could call me in the future to verify. Get somebody that knows what they are looking at to look over the car.

The guy was not the person on the log book. He says he has a garage licence in which case his name does not appear on the log book. How would I know its not stolen, what sort of id am I looking for in this case?

Ring the actual person that is on the VLC and suss the situation out. Ask the seller for the previous owners number and he he refuses walk away. I have no problem with people buying a car and trying to flip it, its natural business, just treat it as a private sale.

the tyre pressure warning light was on. he says its just the sensor rather than anything wrong.

This needs to be checked properly. The E90 has no Tyre sensors. Its based on a system that measures the rotation of the wheel and if it fluctuates compared to the other wheels its cops on that the pressure is lost. You simply reset it using the iDrive or the OBC system in the car. But, the E90 suffers from the DSC failure and it throws a mixture of the same lights so you must verify that it is simply an OBC reset or a DSC unit problem.

Do you think that the car is value for €9000?
Is there too many issues to not walk away from this?

Hope this helps.

fisher8181

Thanks for the responses guys, really appreciate it.

I think I will get him to bring it to a mechanic with experience dealing with BMW's to check it over.

Gumbo

fisher8181 wrote: »

Thanks for the responses guys, really appreciate it.

I think I will get him to bring it to a mechanic with experience dealing with BMW's to check it over.

get it booked in for an hour with Valdas in Motor Confidence, just off the Naas Road behind the old Coca Cola.

Leonard Hofstadter

Those model 320is suffer from coil pack and injector failures, I'd avoid ALL E90s built after September 2007 (unless it's one with six cylinders i.e. 325 upwards) when all the Efficient Dynamics crap was introduced.

If it's a six cylinder model, then all 325i and 330i should be avoided for exactly the same reason as the 320is should be avoided. The 335i is ok for reliability, the main problem is the turbo wastegate rattle but they all do that. I think the N55 engine is more reliable than the N54, though I can't remember when exactly the N55 was introduced, think it was early 2010?

For the diesels, all 335ds are ok as they stuck with the M57 engine throughout the E90's life cycle. The 330d got the infamous N57 engine in 2009 when the car got a facelift, so should also be avoided. The 325d kept the M57 until early 2010, any six cylinder diesel with the M57 engine is very reliable.