3 series

peneau

Hi everybody, looking to tap into the vast reservoir of knowledge here.
Hoping to purchase a 3 Series Petrol Engine. My annual mileage or rather the other half's, less than 15,000km per year, have up to €20,000 to spend, don't mind heading cross border if nox charge+vrt permit good value, any suggestions or issues I might look out for ?
Resale not really an issue as I'll probably be keeping it for a while seeing my current drive is a 98 Mondeo, still going well, motor tax on it is nasty.

Many thanks in advance for any suggestion/guidance.

Idbatterim

peneau wrote: »

Hi everybody, looking to tap into the vast reservoir of knowledge here.
Hoping to purchase a 3 Series Petrol Engine. My annual mileage or rather the other half's, less than 15,000km per year, have up to €20,000 to spend, don't mind heading cross border if nox charge+vrt permit good value, any suggestions or issues I might look out for ?
Resale not really an issue as I'll probably be keeping it for a while seeing my current drive is a 98 Mondeo, still going well, motor tax on it is nasty.

Many thanks in advance for any suggestion/guidance.

whats in the mondeo a 1.6 or 1.8? you will likely be getting E390 I assume if going for the 2L petro bm in a manual or auto. In the scheme of things, the motor tax is an irrelevance. The finance (if applicable) and depreciation on a 20k car, will be the serious costs...

peneau

Idbatterim wrote: »

whats in the mondeo a 1.6 or 1.8? you will likely be getting E390 I assume if going for the 2L petro bm in a manual or auto. In the scheme of things, the motor tax is an irrelevance. The finance (if applicable) and depreciation on a 20k car, will be the serious costs...

Thank you for replying.

The Mondeo is 1.6.petrol. Is the BMW model you mention a hybrid ?

Idbatterim

peneau wrote: »

Thank you for replying.

The Mondeo is 1.6.petrol. Is the BMW model you mention a hybrid ?

the tax at what about E500 is not much in the mondeo. only change, if you really want out of the mondeo...

you can fiddle around with this, good options. you can then fiddle around with petrol, diesel, hybrid, plug in hybrid etc...


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/search-form?search-target=usedcars&make=BMW&model=3+SERIES&price-from=3500&year-from=2012&fuel-type=Hybrid+%E2%80%93+Petrol%2FElectric&postcode=ls298jn&isBuying=true

peneau

Yes 517 pa. Many thanks appreciate your time.

Idbatterim

no worries, I would be fairly knowledgeable on bm, also a lot of posters here are. You could take a look, maybe link to a few cars you like and we can offer some advice on them...

Idbatterim

peneau wrote: »

Yes 517 pa. Many thanks appreciate your time.

say you go 517 > 390. its a 127 euro saving. Honestly, I wouldnt be surprised if you bought a 20k bm now and in two years, its probably worth ten! Its just putting the motor tax into perspective...

Interest on twently k will be a pretty penny too...

Heres Johnny

Hi OP, if you want a new car just say you want a new car!! No point in saying you are doing it to save money as thats next to impossible when buying a new car

And no shame in wanting to change a 22 year old Mondeo

Anyway, you are here to talk BMW petrols....the car for you, I believe, is the BMW 330e. Its a plug in hybrid and its a cracker. Do a bit of research on it and come back with questions. You will get a really decent 2016 for your budget from UK and 2017s are creeping into budget too. Here is a 2016 to look at for example

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201912205490127?postcode=ba27ay&sort=price-desc&model=3%20SERIES&advertising-location=at_cars&radius=1500&year-from=2016&price-to=17000&make=BMW&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&aggregatedTrim=330e&page=1

peneau

That's great lads thank you very much.

The other half thinks after 22 years it's time for a change, still under 100,000K (92,000 miles) on the clock, if I was on my tod I'd probably keep it spend a few bob to have the bodywork spruced up as it's been a great car never had a problem with it, original gear box, exhaust, had the timing belt done soon after I got it in 2002 (the other half had it as a company car from new) it's had a new battery, that's it apart from the usual servicing parts required, pads etc.

Johnny, that's a cracker any idea on the vrt on it ?

Heres Johnny

peneau wrote: »

That's great lads thank you very much.

The other half thinks after 22 years it's time for a change, still under 100,000K (92,000 miles) on the clock, if I was on my tod I'd probably keep it spend a few bob to have the bodywork spruced up as it's been a great car never had a problem with it, original gear box, exhaust, had the timing belt done soon after I got it in 2002 (the other half had it as a company car from new) it's had a new battery, that's it apart from the usual servicing parts required, pads etc.

Johnny, that's a cracker any idea on the vrt on it ?

It says 900 euro in vrt calculator. So its a sub 20k car all day long.

You could pick up a high mileage SE model for about 15k now but I'd go for a nicer example like this one. Theres loads of them out there so have a good look

peneau

Brilliant going to try and sell that to her. Thank you again

Heres Johnny

peneau wrote: »

Brilliant going to try and sell that to her. Thank you again

Do a bit of research!! Its a PHEV so its not for everyone but it sounds like it might suit a low mileage driver like herself. Do you know the way they work? Plus its BMWs early PHEV model, the ones now are far better for electric range but obviously they are still over twice the price

crystalbrite

Heres Johnny wrote: »

It says 900 euro in vrt calculator. So its a sub 20k car all day long.

You could pick up a high mileage SE model for about 15k now but I'd go for a nicer example like this one. Theres loads of them out there so have a good look

Wow, the VRT on that is quite low.
I've been looking at 2016/2017 A4s and I'm calculating VRT of 3000/4000€.

Is it cheaper on the BMW due to the lower CO2 emissions of 49 vs. 128 on the Audi?

peneau

Whilst no expert, yes I think I can get my head around the machinations. It does sound like the perfect fit, herself mainly uses the car and normally short/medium trips with a two or three excursions to Galway yearly. Couple of charging points in my place of work. Some lovely examples on that site, decisions, decisions ! Delighted I decided to ask here, thanks again.

Heres Johnny

crystalbrite wrote: »

Wow, the VRT on that is quite low.
I've been looking at 2016/2017 A4s and I'm calculating VRT of 3000/4000€.

Is it cheaper on the BMW due to the lower CO2 emissions of 49 vs. 128 on the Audi?

Are the A4s diesel or petrol?
Either way they will attract a higher vrt bill than a plug in hybrid.

Heres Johnny

peneau wrote: »

Whilst no expert, yes I think I can get my head around the machinations. It does sound like the perfect fit, herself mainly uses the car and normally short/medium trips with a two or three excursions to Galway yearly. Couple of charging points in my place of work. Some lovely examples on that site, decisions, decisions ! Delighted I decided to ask here, thanks again.

Read a few reviews and there's a really big thread on here that started years ago if you can find it, there's a couple of owners on it that have contributed too. Some people don't like these and think they're a waste of time but it depends on the type of usage it gets to be honest. But even if you have to dip into the petrol tank a bit I like the idea of covering a normal weekday commute on electric power and if, as you say, you have charge points in work it sounds like it might do the job for you pretty well.

Watch YouTube videos of 330e too... So many available.

One other thing as well to be aware of if you are not fully versed on BMWs model styling variants, it is the difference between the SE and the m sport models, mainly to do with styling and how the car looks but some functional difference too.

Personally I'd only buy msport myself but it has harder suspension which isn't to everyone's liking.

Do your research 20k is a fair whack of money to drop if you're coming from what is essentially an early 90s car and there's plenty of options out there.

Widescreen nav is a good option in them but most have standard smaller screen. Most should be well enough equipped for your needs though.

peneau

Johnny, feels like I should be throwing you a few bob for all your help !:)

Will have a dig around for that thread

crystalbrite

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Are the A4s diesel or petrol?
Either way they will attract a higher vrt bill than a plug in hybrid.

~4000e for a 2017 A4 1.4L tfsi petrol. Few 100e cheaper if you go 2016 I think.

bazz26

crystalbrite wrote: »

Wow, the VRT on that is quite low.
I've been looking at 2016/2017 A4s and I'm calculating VRT of 3000/4000€.

Is it cheaper on the BMW due to the lower CO2 emissions of 49 vs. 128 on the Audi?

There is a rebate of up to 2,500 off the VRT figure due on hybrids. The 330e is a plug in hybrid.

Heres Johnny

peneau wrote: »

Johnny, feels like I should be throwing you a few bob for all your help !:)

Will have a dig around for that thread

Not at all, happy to help, as are many here. Here is the thread in question

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=98481326

shnaek

330e has a tiny boot, just something to keep in mind if you need boot space.