325i Se - cheap as chips ?

Sneaky Peaky · 24 Nov 2009 at 12:14

What do you guys think - I have no idea on these things but seems a lot of car for the money ?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1277289.htm

[TW]Fox · 24 Nov 2009 at 12:16

It's cheap because it's an SE. It's good value though the M54 doesn't like short journeys and will clog the crankcase breather etc with mayo if you only ever use it for short trips from cold.

Sneaky Peaky · 24 Nov 2009 at 12:18

Can you remind what's the difference with the SE Fox ? Am thinking could do a quick change to something like this to get me through the winter and look for a nice Z4 coupe next year when I have some cash available..

antijoke · 24 Nov 2009 at 12:21

[TW]Fox;15385508 said:
It's cheap because it's an SE. It's good value though the M54 doesn't like short journeys and will clog the crankcase breather etc with mayo if you only ever use it for short trips from cold.

Care to elaborate more please?

[TW]Fox · 24 Nov 2009 at 12:24

Sneaky Peaky said:
Can you remind what's the difference with the SE Fox ? Am thinking could do a quick change to something like this to get me through the winter and look for a nice Z4 coupe next year when I have some cash available..

Sport adds bodykit, 18 inch M-tech wheels, Sports suspension, Sports seats, Sports steering wheel, anthracite headlining, etc etc.

anticonscience said:
Care to elaborate more please?

Condensation mixes with the oil to form mayo as it doesnt get time to evaporate during short trips. It gets a bit claggy and makes everyone think your head gasket has failed.

Sneaky Peaky · 24 Nov 2009 at 12:33

Cheers - from that list the only thing that would worry too much is not having the sports suspension. How much of a difference does it make ? Seats would be nice though. Can change the wheels / steering wheel easily enough..

You think that price is ok ?

Firestar_3x · 24 Nov 2009 at 12:42

Looks about as sporty as a canal boat, i'd go for a slightly older, an M-sport perhaps, also i wouldn't want to buy any car with so little mile on it tbh.

paradigm · 24 Nov 2009 at 13:06

Sneaky Peaky said:
Cheers - from that list the only thing that would worry too much is not having the sports suspension. How much of a difference does it make ? Seats would be nice though. Can change the wheels / steering wheel easily enough..

You think that price is ok ?

SE's have incredible body roll, I'd certainly want a sport if I had any inclination to drive spiritedly. SE seats are also more like a park bench that you slide across, rather than laterally supportive.

Sneaky Peaky · 24 Nov 2009 at 17:44

paradigm said:
SE's have incredible body roll, I'd certainly want a sport if I had any inclination to drive spiritedly. SE seats are also more like a park bench that you slide across, rather than laterally supportive.

Lol - could be interesting with leather seats !

Might have a look for a sport edition then..

Joshy · 24 Nov 2009 at 19:41

Please don't bite my head off as I know very little about BMWs Post e34, BUT, with M3 E46s approaching £10k (I know, the quality of car you'll get for that money is debatable), 98 318i's starting at £2,000 and according to Pistonheads, a few 01/02 330Ci's for £6,5000, how exactly is this 'a lot of car for the money'?

Are we purely talking about the age/mileage being low (and if so, why is it relevant considering it is still out of warranty)?

Jez · 24 Nov 2009 at 20:23

Joshy said:
Please don't bite my head off as I know very little about BMWs Post e34, BUT, with M3 E46s approaching £10k (I know, the quality of car you'll get for that money is debatable), 98 318i's starting at £2,000 and according to Pistonheads, a few 01/02 330Ci's for £6,5000, how exactly is this 'a lot of car for the money'?

Are we purely talking about the age/mileage being low (and if so, why is it relevant considering it is still out of warranty)?

Agreed. Doesn't look like deal of the century to me either unless you are anal about the OMGLOWMILEAGE aspect of it.

lambda · 24 Nov 2009 at 21:23

£8k for a 5 yer old beemer is cheap?

Are car prices still increasing? Tht sort of car would hve cost 5k this time last year

[TW]Fox · 24 Nov 2009 at 21:24

lambda said:
Are car prices still increasing? Tht sort of car would hve cost 5k this time last year

No it wouldn't.

lambda · 24 Nov 2009 at 21:36

[TW]Fox;15389779 said:
No it wouldn't.

Used car prices fell by 30%.... CBA to dig up evidence, but do a little research..

[TW]Fox · 24 Nov 2009 at 21:41

lambda said:
Used car prices fell by 30%.... CBA to dig up evidence, but do a little research..

I'm aware of exactly what happened. And at no point was the average retail value of a 19,000 mile 5 year old 325i £5k.

Scania · 25 Nov 2009 at 04:33

[TW]Fox;15385508 said:
M54 doesn't like short journeys and will clog the crankcase breather etc with mayo if you only ever use it for short trips from cold.

[TW]Fox;15385579 said:
Condensation mixes with the oil to form mayo as it doesnt get time to evaporate during short trips. It gets a bit claggy and makes everyone think your head gasket has failed.

Not just short trips from cold, nor specific to the BMW M54 either - Scania's have this issue also, even ones that rarely get a chance to cool down between driver change overs.....

This is the oil filler & cap on my 08 registered Scania R420,which has just passed 230,000km (roughly 142k miles) and is "double shifted" i.e. I drive it at night and somebody else drives it during the day....

Despite it rarely being used for short trips, the Mayo is forming already!

mjt · 25 Nov 2009 at 10:04

SEs really aren't the end of the world, as long as they're a good spec
eg. heated leathers, cruise, climate etc..

but £8k doesn't seem all that cheap.
if the price is right, i could live with an SE, but that price would have to be a lot less

[TW]Fox · 25 Nov 2009 at 10:31

R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
Not just short trips from cold, nor specific to the BMW M54 either - Scania's have this issue also, even ones that rarely get a chance to cool down between driver change overs.....

I'm not particularly bothered about what happens on a diesel truck engine, on the M54, it happens if the car is used for lots of short trips. It doesn't happen on lots of long trips unless there is something seriously wrong.

And this guy wants to buy an M54 powered BMW not a Scania lorry.

Jez · 25 Nov 2009 at 10:57

R420LA6X2/4MNA - what does this have to do with the discussion at hand? Seems like a totally random post :confused:

Scania · 25 Nov 2009 at 13:09

Jez said:
R420LA6X2/4MNA - what does this have to do with the discussion at hand? Seems like a totally random post

I read Fox's initial comment re the mayo, it stuck in my mind that a lot of the trucks at work do this, which are not used for short trips, and don't have knackered head gaskets, so I thought I'd get a picture to show it.

The point was, this is relatively common regardless of engine or manufacturer and I was trying to back up Fox's point about it not always being a sign of a knackered head gasket.

Yeah, a random post, sorry I bothered.