BMW buying advice

Bicepo

Bicepo

Bicepo

OcUK Staff
Joined
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Hi Guys,

I am currently in the market for a new motor, I have been weighing up lots of options and think I have narrowed my choices down. I basically want to know what benefits downsides there are to any of these as a potential new car for myself. I currently drive a Celica GT4 which I get 20 MPG on a good day so i'm looking for something that is going to be better on fuel really.

I am looking at getting a 3 series coupé, I have seen a couple of cars available from Autovogue as I really like the look of their cars.

So my top 3 are currently these; however my knowledge of BMW's is limited so future problems or common failures that can be avoided would be great to know.



So Number 1 in my list currently is

330D Auto

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...e/st59bt/advert-type/dealer-stock?logcode=dsp

However the car has been mapped which I am not sure is a positive or not due to furture reliability concerns


Number 2:

320D Manual

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...tock/postcode/st59bt/dealer/28129?logcode=dsa



Number 3:

325I Manual

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...e/st59bt/advert-type/dealer-stock?logcode=dsp

So your thoughts please, my maximum budget is £16K
 
First impressions of your choices - I'd opt for the 325 and add BMW's warranty to it, the first is over the mileage limit for the cheaper price afaik - and chipped so possibly excluded - if the 320d would be better depends on if you do a lot of miles, if not, enjoy the 6pot - it'll do a lot more than 20mpg average! :)

Fox will be along shortly..... :)
 
Hi Guys,

thanks for the input, I do between 12-15K miles a year with a relatively short commute to work. I really want to be seeing a 40mpg average if at all possible or at least that would be really nice.

I haven't heard anything about them, the cars certainly look the part but it all depends if they are done properly etc etc
 
Bicepo said:
Hi Guys,

thanks for the input, I do between 12-15K miles a year with a relatively short commute to work. I really want to be seeing a 40mpg average if at all possible or at least that would be really nice.

I haven't heard anything about them, the cars certainly look the part but it all depends if they are done properly etc etc
Click to expand...

Just buy a standard M-Sport. Try and get Pro Nav. If you can get a post Sept 2008 in budget then that would be good as from memory you'll get the HDD Nav with a much better screen.

As for engine, how much do you care about power?
 
Spamalot said:
Just buy a standard M-Sport. Try and get Pro Nav. If you can get a post Sept 2008 in budget then that would be good as from memory you'll get the HDD Nav with a much better screen.

As for engine, how much do you care about power?
Click to expand...

power is always good but I don't want something that costs anywhere near what I am paying for currently. Hence the first choice is a bit of a compromise of both worlds.

Economy would be my first preference, however I doubt any of them are going to be gutless.
 
With E92's try to buy privately (much better prices and specs) and stay away from remapped cars. Bmw warranty is a must imo. My car (335i) when I purchased it was over the 60k mileage limit for cheaper warranty but I still stumped up for the zero excess fully comp as imo it was worth it for the peace of mind.

Must haves for me were pro nav, 6fl usb and Upgraded audio along with the right color combination but otherwise not much else. CIC idrive is much better and really only guaranteed on 09 plates (you can get some 58 plates like fox did but iirc that's quite rare) which looks like they are out of budget.
 
Bicepo said:
power is always good but I don't want something that costs anywhere near what I am paying for currently. Hence the first choice is a bit of a compromise of both worlds.

Economy would be my first preference, however I doubt any of them are going to be gutless.
Click to expand...

In that case I would go for the 330i. Nice and fast with a 35+ MPG easy enough on a reasonable run.
 
Please don't get a lovely looking motor like that & get a diesel, Think of it as you are worth more & if you deserve a car like that then it Has to be petrol.
Please just do this one thing for me.

One from Piston heads looks best to me but I don't know **** about late motors.
 
Bicepo said:
I don't want something that costs anywhere near what I am paying for currently.
Click to expand...

Then you are out of luck because the total cost of ownership of any of these cars is going to be significantly higher than the TCO of your Celica GT4. Don't forget that the cost of finance or the cost of capital if its your own money and the depreciation you'll incur will dwarf fuel economy savings. Not to mention the fact that they are still 3+ old cars mostly therefore you won't escape maintenance costs, infact if anything they are likely to be higher, too. Most of the cars you link to have 19 inch wheels too, so tyres are very expensive.

You don't buy a £16,000 6 year old BMW because you 'don't want something that costs anywhere near' what you currently pay to run a much much cheaper car. It simply doesn't work.

Buy one because you WANT one not because you think its some sort of money saving exercise because it absolutely isn't.
 
[TW]Fox;23944706 said:
Then you are out of luck because the total cost of ownership of any of these cars is going to be significantly higher than the TCO of your Celica GT4. Don't forget that the cost of finance or the cost of capital if its your own money and the depreciation you'll incur will dwarf fuel economy savings. Not to mention the fact that they are still 3+ old cars mostly therefore you won't escape maintenance costs, infact if anything they are likely to be higher, too. Most of the cars you link to have 19 inch wheels too, so tyres are very expensive.

You don't buy a £16,000 6 year old BMW because you 'don't want something that costs anywhere near' what you currently pay to run a much much cheaper car. It simply doesn't work.

Buy one because you WANT one not because you think its some sort of money saving exercise because it absolutely isn't.
Click to expand...



Hi Fox,

Thanks for the input I agree, maintenance on the GT4 is a killer but having never owned a BMW I don't know how they compare. I have always wanted a 3 series coupé since the E36 M3 Evo was a childhood dream car :)

I don't mind the additional costs of running the car as far as the maintenance is concerned as it's not a cost that you face every week as such (unless your really unlucky)

When I say I want something cheaper to run I simply mean that it doesn't cost me £15 per day in fuel to get to work and back, as this is the cost that you feel when your filling up all the time.
 
But it still contributes to the total ownership cost. You need to look at the TOTAL cost of running a car not just a few aspects.

Two cars - A and B.

Car A uses only £10 of fuel a day to get to work. But it needs say £2000 spending on servicing, repairs and tyres a year and depreciates by, say, £3000 a year.

Car B uses £15 of fuel a day to get to work. But it needs only £1000 spending on servicing, repairs and tyres per year and depreciates by £2000 a year.

So, Car A is cheaper at the pumps - quite a lot cheaper.

But which car is cheaper to own?

Most people don't think about this when buying a car - they go to minimise the visible costs. They feel the fuel bill weekly and they notice when its smaller. But it's the hidden costs of motoring that add up to the big money, the ones people never consider until its too late.
 
Those examples are horrid!!!!

The E92 is fine without all the tat added on. Get a standard M-Sport and regale at the car you've bought.
 
[TW]Fox;23944706 said:
Then you are out of luck because the total cost of ownership of any of these cars is going to be significantly higher than the TCO of your Celica GT4. Don't forget that the cost of finance or the cost of capital if its your own money and the depreciation you'll incur will dwarf fuel economy savings. Not to mention the fact that they are still 3+ old cars mostly therefore you won't escape maintenance costs, infact if anything they are likely to be higher, too. Most of the cars you link to have 19 inch wheels too, so tyres are very expensive.

You don't buy a £16,000 6 year old BMW because you 'don't want something that costs anywhere near' what you currently pay to run a much much cheaper car. It simply doesn't work.

Buy one because you WANT one not because you think its some sort of money saving exercise because it absolutely isn't.
Click to expand...

+1
 
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