Whatever. Used 316Ti's are bought by the kind of people who are eeking their way into BMW ownership, they stretch themselves when really they should have bought a focus or similar. And they maintain it accordingly.
BMW 316i Compact's, Reliable?
- Thread starter Colbaker
- Start date
Whatever. Used 316Ti's are bought by the kind of people who are eeking their way into BMW ownership, they stretch themselves when really they should have bought a focus or similar. And they maintain it accordingly.
What is a chav going to with a 316? He's not exactly going to be burning around the estate with the 100bhp or whatever that the engine produces. He'll want a Astra GSI or some other loud, lairy equivalent. Sure you'll occasionally find one that has blacked out windows and chav signatures all it over but that affects any non-current generation BMW. The Compact isn't a particularly good looking car - horrible headlights and stubby looking rear end - so its not exactly going to have much pose value. I'd hazard a guess that he'll prefer a older but similar priced E46 coupe or the cheaper E36 318is to ruin.
If you pick up a 2002 E46 Compact, what do you think the ownership history is going to have been? The first owner, pretty wealthy if then can spend £16k or whatever on a new hatch. Sold after 4-5 years with what's likely to be a perfect (primarily warranty based) maintenance history. Next owner will be pretty chuffed that he's picked up a pretty immaculate BMW hatch. Drives it for 3 years, towards the end of which, he might be moving it into indie territory and not necessarily want to 'take a no expenses' approach to it. That car, at 7-8 years old isn't exactly going to be disintegrating is it, with the doors falling off, when the E46 has such proven mechanicals.
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I thought if you turned off DSC it resulted in instant death?
Am alone in hating the look of the compact? I think they look vile, especially the one with those horrible front lights.
I think the main point is, you'll get a newer, better condition Focus for the same money than you would a 3-series. Unless this is in debate.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Really, so chavs never drive underpowered hatchbacks? You'll never find them in 316i's or 1.2 Saxo's?
Is this another case of assuming interior build quality equals reliability?
Just because the door goes thunk, just like a golf, doesn't mean it's not going to break. A 3k focus (or mondeo) would be a much better bet. I doubt a 316ti is going to throw up anything major, but I think the safe money would be on a car that started off cheap and decent in the first place - eg the ford
Just because the door goes thunk, just like a golf, doesn't mean it's not going to break. A 3k focus (or mondeo) would be a much better bet. I doubt a 316ti is going to throw up anything major, but I think the safe money would be on a car that started off cheap and decent in the first place - eg the ford
I agree with this 100%.
I really don't get this forum's common assumption that if something is cheaper than it perhaps should be then it is automatically a steaming turd. There is no reason that a E46 Compact priced at £3,000 would be anymore reliable than one priced at £5,000.
Limiting your choices of car based on price is just as stupid as limiting your choices if car based on an arbitrary mileage limit.
Well thats that then, lets all go and buy really cheap BMW's, they'll be super reliable and in great condition.
How many cheap E46's have you tried to buy, Joshy, out of interest?
Is the answer zero?
Shabby, tired base models at the bottom end of the price bracket are a pain and are trouble. There exist very few really nice examples for bottom dollar. Partly because the nicer examples... are worth more.
Although what you say is partly true but not in the way you'd hope. I dont think a £5k E46 is likely to be hugely MORE reliable than a £3k one - that is to say to a certain extent most older premium cars can be a pain.
And limiting choice based on price is very sensible. With a budget of £5k for example you would not go shopping for an E90 330i.
How many cheap E46's have you tried to buy, Joshy, out of interest?
Is the answer zero?
Shabby, tired base models at the bottom end of the price bracket are a pain and are trouble. There exist very few really nice examples for bottom dollar. Partly because the nicer examples... are worth more.
Although what you say is partly true but not in the way you'd hope. I dont think a £5k E46 is likely to be hugely MORE reliable than a £3k one - that is to say to a certain extent most older premium cars can be a pain.
And limiting choice based on price is very sensible. With a budget of £5k for example you would not go shopping for an E90 330i.
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To an extend, what you say makes sense. However, there comes a point where you cannot buy a good example of a certain car for a certain price.
I don't know where that price is for an E46, but I'd believe the BMW experts/fanboys
[TW]Fox;16460788 said:
But exactly what potentially catastrophic realibility issue is it going to have?
I completely accept your point that you have to be careful with older low priced examples, but 316 Compacts live within a different sub-market to the likes of E36 or E46 Coupes which tend to attract more chavvy types, the older and cheaper they are.
Take this evening for example. I was on my way to football and a '53 E46 Compact went across the roundabout in front of me. Who was in it? A middle aged / middle class looking woman with her husband in the passenger seat. Should I be asking her if she's been hooning it to the garden centre and back, and skimping on servicing?
A guy I work with recently traded his X plate 320i in for a new A4 Avant. The car was that horrible grey colour, had orange repeaters and green mould all along the window frames. I also don't think it had been washed in years. He got £1.5k p/x for it. But he's been the owner from new and it has a FBMWSH.
My car's another example. It's got parking scrapes and dents across the doors, rear wing and bumper. It's got patches of paintwork where I've had a go with touch up paint and other parts where Chips Away have had a go at it. The interior smells of cigarette smoke and had Coke and food (accidentally) dropped inside it on more than one occasion. By your criteria, its a tatty, tired example. But then you look at the service history and you see that everything that's needed to be done mechanically, has been done. All the Inspections, cooling system, suspension, sensors, steering pump, thermostat and various switches, from memory. All with stacks of paperwork showing a full BMW/indie history. But if I sell it tomorrow, I'm going to get pennies for it, even though whoever buys it is going to get a bloody good car without any mechanical problems.
Not every low priced BMW is a dog. You just have to keep your eyes peeled for a good one, and look at the type of owner you're buying from and the car's history. If its had all the necessary work done on it, why should it be a problem? A 2 owner 316 Compact with full history and evidence of a conscientious maintenance regime really isn't something that going to explode with some sort of catastrophic mechanical failure.
I've got to agree somewhat with MarkDavis on this one, though there was a lot of generalising going on in this thread about chavs before that.
If you know your stuff you'll go and look at a car and give it a once over first hand, check the history and what's been done etc. Just because it's a certain type of car doesn't mean it's been treated badly, that's generalising and even jumping to conclusions. A cheaper 316 compact might not be pretty and could be a bit tatty visually, but if you check what's been maintained and how, it may be just fine too. Take the family Focus example - might be a bit worn out cosmetically, but if owned by someone like that, is probably not in bad mechanical shape. I don't see how that's any different for a 316 compact, could have been someones work car that had to be maintained well and reliable, but not necessarily pretty.
This forum scaremongers too much sometimes. I'd never ask for purchasing advice here anymore for fear of being judged based on barely any fact. Sometimes you can be helpful, but most of the time condescending to people just wanting some help.
If you know your stuff you'll go and look at a car and give it a once over first hand, check the history and what's been done etc. Just because it's a certain type of car doesn't mean it's been treated badly, that's generalising and even jumping to conclusions. A cheaper 316 compact might not be pretty and could be a bit tatty visually, but if you check what's been maintained and how, it may be just fine too. Take the family Focus example - might be a bit worn out cosmetically, but if owned by someone like that, is probably not in bad mechanical shape. I don't see how that's any different for a 316 compact, could have been someones work car that had to be maintained well and reliable, but not necessarily pretty.
This forum scaremongers too much sometimes. I'd never ask for purchasing advice here anymore for fear of being judged based on barely any fact. Sometimes you can be helpful, but most of the time condescending to people just wanting some help.
Then you wouldnt be considering a 316i Compact. It's quite clear he doesnt know his stuff.
If you just want a reliable car for £3k then an old BMW isn't the answer - something newer from someone like Ford, Seat, etc etc is going to be a far nicer ownership prospect. It'll be newer and cheaper to fix if it breaks.
Why not? It's a bad idea - end of.
Older BMW's are fine if you particularly want a BMW, you enjoy what it is that makes a BMW a BMW (Not just referring to RWD here) and your eyes are open to the fact it will cost more than your average Ford equivilent to keep on the road. Many people, myself included, are happy to pay that premium. And for these people, great, an older BMW is a good buy (Though not really a 51 plate E46 at less than £3k).
But for everyone else, the average man in the street who just wants a nice reliable car, why take on the potential hassle? I had a good look at this end of the E46 market - I was technically in with a better chance of finding a good one as I was prepared to find an older car - but every single car I saw without exception was just... a shabby old BMW no doubt hiding a myriad of potential areas of expenditure. It's just not worth it for somebody who just wants a car. It's also virtually impossible to chart the ownership history of these cars once they reach this age. They have just been owned by too many people. You might get lucky with a one owner example but really, I found it hard enough to find one of those at 4 years old let alone 9.
Whats the point? Why take the risk on? What benefit does a 316i Compact offer over something like a Focus or a Leon which is worth the potential faff? Just as an example - the one in the OP is on 18 inch wheels. 4 tyres for those wheels is in the order of about £450 for some half decent ones (Falkens or something, 4 Michilens are closer to £600). A Focus 1.6 Zetec will be on 15's, 4 similar quality tyres will be HALF the price. See my point yet?
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