3 series BMW

jezzer

Folks, a 2.0 diesel 3 series BMW, 04 reg, any experienced heads any advice on buying that type of car? I have never had a bmw before, are they reliable? economical? i hear parts for them are expensive but its a reliable type of car then that woulnt be a problem

Idbatterim

firstly do you need a diesel? i.e are you doing the mileage to warrant one?

jezzer

well diesel is cheaper right? i would do a long trip every weekend and about 45 minutes each way to work, i currently have a petrol and i cant keep it filled

Idbatterim

What are you driving at the moment? Do you have a link to the bm?

jezzer

i dont unfortunately the person that is selling it doesnt have it online, the car seems in reasonable condition but i have no experience with BMW's so basically i want to make sure they are a reliable car, thats the main thing for me, currently driving a 1.4 renault megane, got it cheap from a friend who emigrated, not a choice of car i would go out and buy, electrics are terrible, its a very soft car but i must say the engine never gave me a days trouble, always started on the button

bazz26

It's a 10 year old car so how reliable it will be will boil down to how it has been maintained by it's owners over the years. The problem with BMW diesels and cars in general of that vintage is that there are alot of dogs for sale that have been dogged and not been maintained properly. You will find good ones but be prepared to pay top money for them.

Most common problems on those BMW diesel engines are with blown turbos due to the turbo breather filter getting blocked and starving the turbo of oil. The quality of turbo fitted to that engine back then was also questionable and later changed to a more reliable unit. Another common problem is with the manifold swirl flaps, these can and do break off and get ingested into the engine causing major if not fatal damage. Easy and cheap enough to proactively have them replaced with blanks.

As with most BMWs the cooling system is a weak point so make sure the car is not overheating. My advice is get the car inspected by someone who knows their BMWs.

jezzer

thank you much appreciated, over all would you say in general terms that they are a reliable car?

Idbatterim

yeah you would have to have it checked over by a specialist preferably. The tax will be an extra euro or so a day 9 (insurance you would have to check), I am not sure what the bm will cost you and if you need to get finance on it, but throw in those two along with the bm costing more to maintain, it might not make sense. If you were driving a 2L petrol, I would say definitely get shut, but a 1.4 megane cant be that hard on fuel surely? what are you throwing into her every week?

Moneymaker

jezzer wrote: »

thank you much appreciated, over all would you say in general terms that they are a reliable car?

That's kind of like asking how long is a piece of string, no offence.

The vast, vast majority of cars are reliable providing they are well cared for and serviced. You've been given some good advice here, do some research elsewhere and talk to people you know who are knowledgeable about what you're looking for.

Have a read of the 'Buying a Used Car' guide here for general advice.

Best of luck with the purchase.

jezzer

thanks guys, i know what you mean, sometimes you hear certain cars a re reliable like toyota and some are not like jag

lawred2

BMW will break you whenever you get to service time

10 years old

Personally... unless it's in mint condition; I'd be steering clear

jezzer

i appreciate that guys, what about a 10 year old peugeot 405? would i be better looking at that?

saucyleopard

I'd take the peugeot over the BMW if it was me. Parts are too expensive for the bmw and from what I have heard you need to buy them too often.

jezzer

thanks saucyleopard and lawled2 much appreciated

bazz26

jezzer wrote: »

i appreciate that guys, what about a 10 year old peugeot 405? would i be better looking at that?

saucyleopard wrote: »

I'd take the peugeot over the BMW if it was me. Parts are too expensive for the bmw and from what I have heard you need to buy them too often.

General servicing on my old BMW was not hugely different to what I am currently paying for my VW. Some BMW parts are expensive alright especially complicated parts but that goes for most German cars too.

jezzer

how was your experience with the bmw compared to the vw?

bazz26

The BMW was a superior car to drive but I find the VW CR engine to be a bit more torquey in the lower gears and refined. I'll probably go back to BMW again though as I enjoy the way they drive, just not one of their current 4 cylinder diesel engines.

R.O.R

bazz26 wrote: »

The BMW was a superior car to drive but I find the VW CR engine to be a bit more torquey in the lower gears and refined. I'll probably go back to BMW again though as I enjoy the way they drive, just not one of their current 4 cylinder diesel engines.

First of the B47 engined motors should land soon. First ones will be the LCI X3 models, but all 5 Series ordered now will get that.

Don't know (and don't really care) much about the X3, but the 520d B47 has 190ps, with only 109g (Manual & Auto - on 17's).

bazz26

Lets hope the timing chain issue is finally put to rest.

Leonard Hofstadter

Have BMW put the timing chain on the front of the engine at last, just in case BMW haven't bothered to fix the timing chain problem, or claimed to have fixed the timing chain problem but really haven't?

Anyway, no doubt there will be some sort of very expensive problem with the new B47 diesel in time to come, BMW simply are not capable of making a four cylinder diesel that is reliable, apart from the dog slow 318tds back in the 90s (of course, back then, BMWs were a quality product and apart from the Nikasil problem on some petrols were actually reliable in those days).

It may be a 'new' engine this B47 lump but it's got the exact same cubic capacity, not to mention bore and stroke, as the notoriously unreliable N47 diesel so I'm wondering just how 'new' it really is.

Thus far we know BMW are capable of making a complete balls of swirl flaps, turbos and crankshafts (the root cause of the timing chain problem) with their diesels.

Anyone want to take bets on what catastrophic problem(s) the new B47 engine will suffer from as the miles pile on;)?

pandaflop

bmw parts arnt expensive if u are sensible and dont listen to garages who whistle and sigh over prices, like the others have said get someone to take a look, failing that take it on a good test drive with bumps and hills and such to see if anything falls off or boils

jezzer

thank you, very sensible advice