BMW 318 2008

duffman3833

looking to buy BMW 318i 2.0 petrol and want to know of any issues. It has stop/start tech so not bad on fuel and would rather petrol over diesel but are the petrol BMW's more reliable, anything i should look out for?

Leonard Hofstadter

A 320i is the same size engine and has pretty much the same mpg and CO2 ratings but that bit more power, so I would suggest looking at one of those if you can find one that is.

I don't think there's any major issues with these cars nowadays (there were well documented problems with the coil packs and injectors when these engines were first introduced but google tells me BMW did a recall back in 2010 so there shouldn't be problems any more) but condition and service history is key with any BMW; they do not take kindly to neglect or abuse, but I must admit I don't know a whole pile about that generation 3 series so hopefully one of the more knowledgeable boardsies will be able to help you out even more .

landmarkjohn

We have two 318i in the family fleet. A 2006 and a 2008. Both bought at about six or seven years old.

In hindsight if I were buying those cars now I would budget approx €200 in parts and replace 4 X coil and plugs on taking ownership. And then you should be good on that front for maybe 60K miles. Coils are a consumable item on these cars IMO.

Good cars though, enough power for most, comfortable and handle well with reasonable economy.

duffman3833

On the ad he says "The car has a full service history
Serviced up to date receiving New oil filter all new plugs and a New set of coils" so thats a bonus. 2 things i dont like about it is, it has run flat tyres and analog heater controls instead of climate control (looks nicer)
Its a clean car from the pics

mickdw

I didn't think bmw ever got a handle on the numerous issues with the petrol engines of that era. I didn't think that replacement coil packs etc did permanently cure the issues but I might be wrong.

bazz26

Analog heater controls usually means it's a bog standard ES model, they can be a miserable place to sit in due to the lack of standard equipment. On a 2008 you should be looking for a SE as a minimum or an Edition model which came with extras like leather seats and nicer alloy wheels. Facelift model arrived at the end of 2008 which had a number of improvements

Stallingrad

As bazz says, pre LCI Edition came out in 2008 and had some tasty equipment. However, I think the stop/start models are where the trouble started with coil packs so I wouldn't let that (useless) feature influence your purchase.

duffman3833

well this car has those extras, leather seats, 17 rims and i believe it is a facelift model. The only options really missing is climate ctrl and cruise ctrl

upon checking the ad, its now removed so might be sold already

landmarkjohn

Stallingrad wrote: »

However, I think the stop/start models are where the trouble started with coil packs so I wouldn't let that (useless) feature influence your purchase.

Plenty of coil pack failure pre stop/start and I have had 2 fail on N52 six cylinder. With the 4 cylinder engines keeping coil pack in the boot is a good idea as the local mechanic can diagnose and replace quickly even on a Saturday afternoon.

I don't know how coil packs fail, some breakdown in the material I guess and these BMW do seem to suffer more than most but other makes are not totally immune.