advice when looking at a 2002 530i

ca9phoenix

ca9phoenix

ca9phoenix

Associate
Joined
15 Jul 2006
Posts
1,933
Location
1.96 to OcUK on foot
So my speck me something quick for 5k went down the drain when the wife decided she wanted a new kitchen.

I have however seen a car advertised at a garage about a mile away

2002 (02) BMW 530i Sport Manual advertised at a shade under 3k

my 04 focus 2.0 zetec is worth about that with only 33k on the clock so am planning on going to see the BMW tomorrow and see if i can get a deal.

don't know the millage yet.

Tax is the same as the focus £245 pa

MPG is pretty similar as I'm getting an average of 24.4mpg from the focus over the last 1000 miles (since April 26th)

what should i look out for when viewing?

any advice and guidance is appreciated.
 
I have exactly this car. If you are comparing the cost of tax with the cost of your Focus, do not buy one. Seriously. Mine is immaculate and was purchased at 4 years old and it still probably costs several thousand quid a year to run.

And a sub £3k one is going to be properly ropey with multiple things wrong with it.

It's a good £5k car, but its a very bad £3k car!
 
Are dealers likely to take a swap? I'd have thought they would do a part ex but actually want cash also
 
thanks fox, I'll still take a look just in case,

i don't do a huge amount of mileage (1000 miles in 4 months) so running costs fuel wise aren't expensive.

what are the likely problems that this car might encounter? stuff to look out for tomorrow?

it's manual as i know the auto's can be expensive to replace if problems occur.

are we talking clutch and gearbox issues or whole engine rebuilds?

i'm sure there will be some cash involved if i do go ahead with a deal but I'd prefer to keep it to a minimum.
 
ca9phoenix said:
thanks fox, I'll still take a look just in case,
Click to expand...

Just incase what? It comes with a cover-everything warranty?

what are the likely problems that this car might encounter? stuff to look out for tomorrow?

it's manual as i know the auto's can be expensive to replace if problems occur.
Click to expand...

Firstly read this, although I wrote it 3 years ago so the value stuff is out of date:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12914961&postcount=14

They are fantastic cars, I love mine, but they can be a complete pain sometimes and if you are not happy with the idea that over the space of 2 or 3 years you might spend more than the cars value on stuff, then buy something else. A full set of tyres will leave you with little change from £500, for example.

Mine has had a complete new cooling system, clutch, heater blower motor, suspension, alternator, wheel bearings, rocker cover gasket, VANOS oil seals, crankcase ventilation system, etc etc.

Any car for under £3k is going to have things that make it worth only £3k. This will be poor cosmetic condition, poor mechanical condition, large numbers of owners, starship mileage, patchy service records, etc etc.

With the greatest respect I don't think its a good car to buy anymore - if you only have £3-4k to spend on a car why would you want to take on a car that costs a lot to fix? Whats the point?

I really like mine but if I was buying again I couldnt buy another because they are just too old now. Even I am beginning to get a bit bored with yet another £500 bill for an 8+ year old car.

Costs aside they are fantastic, truely brilliant cars and will go down as one of the best cars BMW ever made. The sheer ease with which it handles any task you throw at it is fantastic. But time moves on, I guess, and they are now stuck in a place where the ownership cost is out of sync with the purchase price. There is the odd immaculate one around but not at £3k.

They are also a complete muppet-magnet now. This seems quite a recent thing - idiots tended to stay away from them now but over the last year I've noticed less and less older people driving them and more and more.. well... knuckledraggers. Mostly in the more shabby examples with damaged panels etc :( The sort that buy a car, thrash it about for a bit then sell it on. Probably the type flogging all the cheapo ones I would imagine.
 
Last edited:
I'll give you my situation and see if you can sympathise with me and possibly understand why this has pricked my fancy.

I'm 28, professionally employed, married, no children, own house and 2 cars.

i had a 2.3 V5 seat toledo 4 years ago, really enjoyed it as it was moderately quick, just after buying it i ended up doing a 100 mile a day commute in a new job so instead of loose cash i LPG'd it.

wife has ahd the 2.0 zetec focus from new and i hated how uninteresting it was.

12 months ago i transferred t a job 8 miles away however the seat having over 100k on it and thanks to the LPG was starting to fall appart. we dicided to lease a car through my wifes work and the SEAT was returned to sender as i still owed more than it was worth but the contract had a hand it back clause as most do.

i inherited the focus yay!

now been living with the focus since April and i am bored out of my scull never liked it never wanted it but the lease car must be used by the wife for work so it's all i have.

spare cash is being funneled into the house, new bathroom and upstairs all decorated. now all new kitchen, utility room and decorate all downstairs.

i can swallow some maintenance costs on a car, tires breaks etc are not a worry but bills over £500 every 6 months or so would be a pain.

I'm likely to keep any car that i like for about 4 years as with the SEAT i never had an urge to change it until it started to bring in bills equal to the value of the car to fix and when even the little things started to go wrong (the boot handle fell off)

i just want to leave the focus behind however i have to admit in it's 6 years and 33k miles i've never had an unexpected bill.

oh and i hate the fact it drinks fuel for no apparent reason, it's not even fast!

i don't drive like an imbecile however there are times every so often when i like to feel some acceleration and feel grip. the focus has neither.

sorry rant over
 
I had a Mondeo before the 530i.

In 2.5 years of Mondeo ownership, my total repair costs were less than the first month in the 530i :D

They are great cars but they will cost a lot more than the purchase price. Sometimes you might get lucky for a few months - heck I had 18 months of no bills at one point - but then it'll get you back :p

If you really want a 530i - and they are really good - buy a decent one not a £3k crap one. I wouldnt even go and view it unless you know them as you possibly wont spot whatever the reason its so cheap is anyway. Especially if its at a trader!

But I recommend you read what I've written again. It's very hard to justify the costs involved when youve only paid £3k for the car. I can justify it - just - because I paid a lot more for it a long time ago. But only just. It's why I'm thinking of moving to something much newer. There comes a point where you just get bored of another 4 figure spending spree in a month on a car thats over 8 years old. In June of this year for example it ended up costing me something like £1300. That was an unusual month as several things came at one but it gives you an idea of the potential, doesnt it?
 
Last edited:
A good friend of mine (my pall starting my kitchen tomorrow) had a car off the seller, came with a 3 month warranty and as his circumstances changed 6 months later actually bought the car back from him. It can't hurt having a look and a chat with the bloke.

only really seen the car when driving past over the past 2 days. it might be a complete wreck inside, from passing it looks straight on the outside and i can see black leather inside.

i might even take a few pics.
 
MrLOL said:
Quick rundown of unexpected bills fox ? to illustrate your point a bit better ? :)
Click to expand...

I was avoiding doing it because it would shock me to add it all up but these are the ones off the top of my head (So I'm probably missing a few bits out)

Cooling system replacement £500
Heater Blower motor £330
Alternator £270
Clutch £400
VANOS seal replacement £250
CCV replacement £200
Wheel bearings £100 each
Rocker cover gasket £60
Aux drive belt replacement £130
M-Tech II Suspension dampers £180 each + fitting

Paid for by BMW Warranty:

Propshaft £2000
Gearbox £3000

Routine stuff...

Inspection II £340
Inspection I £220
2x Oil Services @ £200 total
Brake fluid @ £60 x 2
Front pads at £34 (A reasonable bill! Hurrah!)
3 complete sets of tyres and 2 sets of rear tyres @ about £2k?

No warranty offered by a dealer flogging 2002 530i Sport's for under £3k is going to be worth the paper its written on. It isn't advertised on Autotrader either unless its the black one which is a 2001 not a 2002?

Oh and my rear parking sensors have broken this month. So now I cant park :p
 
Last edited:
What fun will you get from such a small commute that will make a car significantly better than the focus?

I'm currently going the other way, my 330d is being used less now that I can use the wife's focus on my 7 mile commute. Mainly because it costs significantly more than the focus and it's so short that I don't get to enjoy anything about the car!
 
You should get top money for it when you sell it on though Fox, i've spent loads on mine over 8 years and it pains me to have to sell it on due to needing a practical car.
 
for the main part the non warranty parts don't scare me, as my SEAT had a similar list.

clutch £400
coil pack x8 (constantly popping due to heat) £30 each (£80 for the first 2 until i sourced them)
Temperature sensor £60
Boot handle £30
glove box lock £50
Oil leak £150
Indicator relay x2 £50
Rear suspension £150
Indicator stalk £80
Bushes £150 (ripped off good and proper)

What really concerns me is the gearbox and prop-shaft!

i had a look on autotrader too and it's not on there. it's blue and definitely an 02.
 
beermonster said:
You should get top money for it when you sell it on though Fox, i've spent loads on mine over 8 years and it pains me to have to sell it on due to needing a practical car.
Click to expand...

I'll get virtually nothing for it when I sell it on because the mileage is too high. People would rather buy one thats in worse condition with worse history with half the miles.

ca9phoenix said:
What really concerns me is the gearbox and prop-shaft!
Click to expand...

The gearbox is a bit misleading, it wouldnt spring back to centre coming out of 5th. BMW insisted box replacement was the only way to fix it. I didnt argue but I doubt it really needed something so drastic.

If you really are happy with the costs then they are great cars - I would estimate probably £1000-£1200 a year in running costs inc tyres?

I still dont think a sub £3k one is the way forward though, I just cant see how it can be a nice example. And why would you want a shabby one?
 
If it looks like a pile of the proverbial i don't think i'd touch it with someone elses barge pole.

if it looks in order and drives well i might take a punt on it. i can't say until I've seen it.

the only other stepping stone is the Wife. The V5 of the focus is in her name and she might not let me change it yet.

if you look closely you can see an exact replica of her thumb print in the centre of my forehead!

(as i said the speck me something quick for 5k turned into a new kitchen :( )
 
Too much scare mongering going on here, go and look at the car, drive it, look at its bills and history and take a punt.

Who the hell buys a £3k car expecting it to last forever?

Just because the seller is asking £3k for it, when others are asking for £5k for the same model doesn't necessarily mean that the car is a duffer - I find a lot of private sellers are clouded by how good they think their car is and price them out the market!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom