I'd like a car for under £5K

Driven the Honda Civic 1.8 SE today was lovely to drive and much better than what I have now, do not want the SE version though. Going to look for some ES and EX versions I am not sure the different between ES and EX though, so need to research and find some in my area. :)
 
rossk26 said:
So far there are 2 people raving about the 330i who have a combined ownership of 10 months...

And PMKeates who's logic about driving standards leaves his opinions nil and void.

Hey, why don't we all sell up and buy BMW 330i's? Why would anyone buy a 1.6 focus...

OP, if you are beginning to get convinced to buy a 330i, just remember the ones recommending one either own one, or are massive BMW fanboys. Justifying purchase/bias opinions.
Those that are recommending a focus/civic do not own one, and are giving honest non bias views...
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1. I am not a 'massive BMW fanboy'. I owned an E46 because it was universally acclaimed as the best car in it's class and an E39 because it was universally acclaimed as the best car in it's class. My next car will almost certainly not be a BMW, because BMW do not make the best car in the class I want to purchase in.

2. The idea that 'recommending a Focus' is some kind of honest view is ridiculous. It's the most common car in the country (justified or otherwise). Was it a difficult 'recommendation' to make? My very first car ever was a 1.6 Escort.. but that's the sort of car it should be. Nothing more. I bought and ran my 330i when I was earning about £20k and lived to tell the tale.
anticonscience said:
Where as I had mine for 5 years, and spent a fair amount on it for water pumps, radiator, springs, brakes, tyres I got lucky with as my mates dad is the MD at Vredestein, window regulators snapping on the rear passenger door and the passenger door, all culminating in he ABS/DSC module going kaput.

My 330i for small town driving averaged 23.7MPG.

They are not 'peanuts' to run, you need a decent sized budget in reserve for things going wrong.
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You've had a few things go wrong, but a lot of what you list is general maintenance. Springs, brakes, tyres.. even a water pump is an item that almost certainly *will* fail.

23.7 MPG around town is pretty impressive. You will only get about 30 MPG out of a 1.6 Focus in similar conditions.
anticonscience said:
Because:

A) The tax is stupid
B) No-one wants to buy a massive 3.0 petrol engine with fuel prices as they are
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Unless you are buying a post-2006 car the tax is £280 a year, and the fuel economy is pretty reasonable unless you are driving a lot of miles. It's certainly not much different to a Focus/Mazda 1.6, because Ford had some of the worst performing engines - in terms of both power and economy - in the industry at the time, and the M54 in the 330i was highly economical, highly performant, reliable and in the Ward's 10 Best Engines list for 3 years running.
5UB said:
I do not think the 3 litre is really suitable for me, I can see it being expensive to insure, run fuel wise, and BMW are not known to be cheap when it comes to parts? I am sure it is a brilliant car and if I had the money I may look into one, but I want something more affordable which is just a small little runner which has more gadgets than what I have now.
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Unless you are 18 you will not see ridiculous insurance costs, they are really not much different to a Focus/Mazda 1.6 fuel wise, and BMW parts are also very reasonable if you are outside of the very large/high performance vehicles.

What you could do is start a simple spreadsheet, start filling it with facts about the running costs, and work it out for yourself. The vast majority of an E46 330i is standard stuff and can be serviced, maintained and repaired by your average shop, using either BMW parts of 'OEM spec' ones.
 
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