318i M Sport 2007

Zurbaran

Went to see an Alfa 159 (mentioned in another thread) today but he had taken it offsite as a deposit was taken. Whilst there the below 318 caught my eye. I'm no mechanic but it seemed in great nick to me and drove well so I'm thinking of going for it pending getting it checked out by somebody who knows what they are doing.

Before I pay the money for it to be checked can anybody see a reason I should swerve it? Also am I correct in thinking this car is pre all the injector/ coil problems with the efficientdynamics version that came in mid 2007/2008?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.carsireland.ie/county/dublin/bmw/318/detail.php?ad_id=1638625&r=s.php%3Fm%3D10%26o%3D942%26l%5B%5D%3D10%26g%3D3%26z%3D7

goz83

She is a lovely car. Best colour imo and I can see why she caught your eye. Seems like good money too. You could do worse. Get it looked at before committing a cent to it though.

keno-daytrader

Didn't see a service history for it?

Idbatterim

something at the below link may tickle your fancy op.

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=15

about the only thing I would say is, if paying the 2L tax, Id prefer the 320 to the 318, obviously same tax, just different power output...

just checking the market quickly, the below is FAR FAR better value and better spec too... half the milage, leather interior, d reg, 320 instead of 318, streets ahead all round...

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/bmw/3-series/used-2007-bmw-3-series-320-e90-i-dublin-fpa-3573365418981858307

Zurbaran

Thanks for the replies. I only had a quick look at all the paperwork he had it certainly had a history. Are the injecters and coils a problem on these?

Idbatterim wrote: »

something at the below link may tickle your fancy op.

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=15

about the only thing I would say is, if paying the 2L tax, Id prefer the 320 to the 318, obviously same tax, just different power output...

just checking the market quickly, the below is FAR FAR better value and better spec too... half the milage, leather interior, d reg, 320 instead of 318, streets ahead all round...

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/bmw/3-series/used-2007-bmw-3-series-320-e90-i-dublin-fpa-3573365418981858307

That certainly is far better although I would be doing a trade in so buying private is not an option. I should sell mine privately but tbh im too lazy and I don't want to wait weeks.

He's offering me 2k for my 06 Fiesta 131km on the clock. Probably should have mentioned that. Also I won't do the deal unless I can get a further discount. Any thoughts on what would be a fair price all considered?

Idbatterim

Can you not sell the fiesta privately? its not much money, buy the bm and then sell the fiesta, you will be up 2-3k I reckon... with the far better bm and selling privately

if the private seller for that car I linked to, has it up for E5900, what do you reckon you would sell the one you linked to, a day after you buy it? 5k at a push, wouldnt surprise me if you got E4500 for it...

Zurbaran

Idbatterim wrote: »

Can you not sell the fiesta privately? its not much money, buy the bm and then sell the fiesta, you will be up 2-3k I reckon... with the far better bm and selling privately

if the private seller for that car I linked to, has it up for E5900, what do you reckon you would sell the one you linked to, a day after you buy it? 5k at a push, wouldnt surprise me if you got E4500 for it...

I know what your saying would be the best way to save but I have nowhere to keep a second car and don't want to go through the trouble of selling private for the sake of around 500 quid (would be looking for a quick sale).

Your guess of 4500 sounds about right to me so I think I will need him to come down a fair bit in price for it to be a good deal.

Idbatterim

surely you can park the fiesta up somewhere easily? I reckon you are talking well north of E500, the 320 despite asking the same price, is far better value than the 318. Look I wouldnt advocate this for 300-400 euro, but I reckon you are talking being atleast 1.5-2k better off all in...

Leonard Hofstadter

Idbatterim wrote: »

something at the below link may tickle your fancy op.

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=15

about the only thing I would say is, if paying the 2L tax, Id prefer the 320 to the 318, obviously same tax, just different power output...

just checking the market quickly, the below is FAR FAR better value and better spec too... half the milage, leather interior, d reg, 320 instead of 318, streets ahead all round...

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/bmw/3-series/used-2007-bmw-3-series-320-e90-i-dublin-fpa-3573365418981858307

What difference does it make if it's got a D reg? This is the most ridiculous comment I've read yet. A D reg means the car has been driven around town all the time so will have no go (because all the valves will be carboned up), knackered suspension and a knackered clutch from all the town driving. Oh, and since it's a UK car originally, that means it will have almost certianly been clocked and will be worth less*.

(* None of this is strictly true, but it's about as stupid as the stereotype that a 'country' reg car will have been abused and the suspension will be wrecked from all the boreens. I'm sorry to go on the attack so much, but this bullcrap about D regs really gets on my nerves, and if the D reg is an advantage from a resale point of view, then it's wiped out by the car being an import and all the SIMI propaganda about imports - even without seeing the clocks the number is a clear giveaway that this car is not originally Irish. It really annoys me when so-called car enthusiasts see a D reg as an 'advantage' or a sort of 'optional extra', if you are a proper petrolhead you judge cars on condition, age, mileage, performance etc not where the first owner bought it.)

To the OP, that 318i looks mint, the only real problem with it that I can see is that it's going to be about as slow as a funeral on the performance side, I drove a few E46 320is with the vastly superior six cylinder engine recently and it's OK performance wise but it's certainly not a very fast car, and that has 41 more bhp than what you're looking at. It won't be dangerously slow, or anything like that, but it certainly won't be an 'Ultimate Driving Machine', or anything close.

The 320i is an automatic, now presumably they're better on the E90s, but on the E46s the auto saps a load of power, as I alluded to above in the E46s, the 320i is not a fast car with a manual gearbox and it's very underwhelming with the auto, no go in it at all - in actual fact in the E46 the 320i with an automatic gearbox is officially slower from 0-60 than the 318i is with a manual gearbox, despite the power and cylinder difference. Even if the automatic in the E90 is much better than in the E46, it's worth bearing in mind that the 320i in the E90s has 20 less bhp (and worse than that, two fewer cylinders) than the E46 until the Efficient Dynamics models came out in late 2007 so I wouldn't be in a mad rush to buy it. Now if you prefer an automatic that's all well and good, but if you're not bothered there won't be any performance advantage going for the 320i but you will have higher fuel bills (because of the automatic gearbox), so the 318i wins out for me every time. It also has the advantage of being an original Irish car and best of all, it has alcantara rather than leather - having driven BMWs with alcantara and leather (and owning a BMW with a leather interior myself), I can tell you the alcantara seats are a good bit more comfortable as the material is a lot nicer to sit on in my honest opinion.

Zurbaran

Couldn't come to an agreement on it unfortunately. Ended up €500 off his lowest.

Idbatterim

I didn't realise the 320 was an auto...

bmwguy

Zurbaran wrote: »

Couldn't come to an agreement on it unfortunately. Ended up €500 off his lowest.

Loads of them out there

Zurbaran

bmwguy wrote: »

Loads of them out there

Wasn't really considering one till I saw this one in the flesh, will be keeping an eye out for them in the future.

Zurbaran

So moving on from the BM I am now considering making an offer on the following C class. Will cost a lot more than the 318 but is an 09 so I will lengthen the loan. Anything I should be looking out for with these?

The miles seem low and part of the drivers seat is worn going by one of the pictures, potential that its clocked?

http://www.stillorganmotorcompany.ie/viewanad.php?ad_id=1641749&r=

Zurbaran

Also I drove a lot of the previous version of this car and never really liked them much. Is this model much of an improvement?

bazz26

I think stretching timing chains were still an issue with those early petrol kompressor engines in that model.

unkel

Zurbaran wrote: »

I am now considering making an offer on the following C class.

Check out how much the motor tax is on it and report back here

Zurbaran

unkel wrote: »

Check out how much the motor tax is on it and report back here

750. Have my suspicions that it may be clocked. I shall report back after having a look.

unkel

You sure? What's the reg? My sister in law has that engine in her E-class and it's €1,200. I guess maybe the C-class is just a tiny bit lighter, moving it into the lower CO2 class...

Zurbaran

unkel wrote: »

You sure? What's the reg? My sister in law has that engine in her E-class and it's €1,200. I guess maybe the C-class is just a tiny bit lighter, moving it into the lower CO2 class...

I put a same year c180 reg into the motor tax site and thats what it came up with.

Leonard Hofstadter

Refinement wouldn't be a strength of these and that M271 engine is prone to timing chain problems, if not caught in time it can irreparably damage the engine. I've never driven one but I'd expect it to be completely different to the BMW, I'd expect it to float about a lot more on the road and be nowhere near as good in the bends, but on the flip side it will be a good bit more comfortable than an M Sport BMW in particular.

At the end of the day, if absolute reliability is a priority, buying a premium German car is not a good idea; BMW, Mercedes and Audi can suffer from very costly problems (which are entirely the result of poor design on their part) if you're not careful with both the model you buy and doing preventative maintenance! Premium German cars are lovely things to drive and be driven in, and as long as you go for a decent spec one with a leather interior, will make you feel special being in it, but the likes of a Ford or a Toyota is going to cost a lot less to run and will be far more reliable as well.

Zurbaran

captainspeed wrote: »

Refinement wouldn't be a strength of these and that M271 engine is prone to timing chain problems, if not caught in time it can irreparably damage the engine. I've never driven one but I'd expect it to be completely different to the BMW, I'd expect it to float about a lot more on the road and be nowhere near as good in the bends, but on the flip side it will be a good bit more comfortable than an M Sport BMW in particular.

At the end of the day, if absolute reliability is a priority, buying a premium German car is not a good idea; BMW, Mercedes and Audi can suffer from very costly problems (which are entirely the result of poor design on their part) if you're not careful with both the model you buy and doing preventative maintenance! Premium German cars are lovely things to drive and be driven in, and as long as you go for a decent spec one with a leather interior, will make you feel special being in it, but the likes of a Ford or a Toyota is going to cost a lot less to run and will be far more reliable as well.

All good points. I was looking at Honda Accords but they cost pretty much the same and I would like a rear wheel drive which is pushing me in this direction.

I won't lie, the badge is of value to me. In saying that, if this car feels like the previous gen I won't be buying it.