what do you think of this 3 series

Scania said:
Can't say I'd want to drop £20k on that tbh (I'm 43!) my money would be a late e39 M5 and £10k to run it!!

Clearly though, an M or indeed something "special" doesn't appeal to the OP or his driving style I'd imagine, a warranty backed low mileage late model 3 is quite a car for the average 24 year old by a long way (even if it's a 318d), presuming he can afford it, why not?

Not everybody gives a toss about engine size etc seems to me the OP wants a nice car, not bothered about speed etc and does the mileage to warrant a diesel....

Again, not my cup of tea, but good luck to him if it floats his boat!
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You pretty much hit the nail on the head, fast car's don't really appeal to me you can't drive fast these days anyway unless you like driving on NSL country lanes or live in germany with the autobahn. As i say i currently have a 120d m sport 2011, i find that it has more than enough power for overtaking and easily keeps up with traffic. Its only when you get to speeds well above legal limits that "performance" car's have any kind of significant advantage. Ive only picked out this 318d because its local to me and its well under 20k more like 17k.

The way i see it is its not 17k down the pan i won't be keeping it any longer than it has warranty, sure i will loose some money with depreciation but to me its not huge price to pay to be in the latest model. Personally i just like to be a bit different, most of my friends and most other people my age all drive sporty hatchbacks which i have also but i kind of like the slightly more upmarket laid back cruiser.
 
If you already have an 11 1 series it changes the maths a bit as you already have the money in a car. Is it c current generation 1 series? What do you think it's.worth?
 
[TW]Fox;25821667 said:
The 'if he can afford it' point is so meaningless, we can all afford a box of cornflakes priced at 10 quid but that's hardly a good reason to buy such a thing.

I suspect there are many better things a 24 year old could do with 20k than spend it on a 318 regardless of affordability.

At 30k a year it's going to totally plummet in value so his financial risk is significant.

It obviously depends on his circumstances, if he earns 40k a year and has a nice house and no real need for the money then go for it. Otherwise it needs serious consideration.
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So are you saying that the car isn't worth the money and the OP is getting ripped off? That's what your being able to afford a box of cornflakes for £10 alludes too?
 
Vita said:
Save your monies. Keep the 1 series till it's dead. £20k on a 318d, no just no.
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The difference price wise between my 1 series and the 3 series isn't much anyway. plenty with my spec going for around 15k the 3 series is 17k not 20k.

Money aside what are peoples thought's on the f30 in general?
 
The biggest issue for me would be the depreciation loss through your high mileage. If that's covered through a car/fuel allowance then go for whatever you like I guess. If you're having to stump up the full lot yourself I would have thought you could be a bit more clever about the purchase and claw some cash back.

You should have a fair idea of the kind of loss you'll expect if you've had the 1 series for a couple of years now and whether that's palatable or not
 
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BassHead said:
The difference price wise between my 1 series and the 3 series isn't much anyway. plenty with my spec going for around 15k the 3 series is 17k not 20k.

Money aside what are peoples thought's on the f30 in general?
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If you are right and it's a £2k cost to change my view has totally changed and I would consider this a worthy move. The 8 speed autobox is fantastic and really goes a long way to making the 2 litre diesel engine tolerable. I wouldn't ever have a manual, if your 1 series is a manual you'll notice how much nicer the auto is.
 
I have a friend who looks twelve but drives a Maserati 3200GT.

People constantly ask/say its daddy's money. But who cares. You know its yours.

Do it if you want to.

Half the people that make these threads have already made there minds up...
 
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318d.

So hateful. 4 cylinders of bottom of the range diesel goodness.

Thing is, they don't even look that special, not for the money, they are just another repmobile with that engine.
 
Spend a weekend driving it or similar spec demo car with same engine/driveline. I'm sure that would be perfectly ok seeing as you're spending a five figure sum. Nothing speaks like first hand experience, and for heavens sakes don't waste another moment worrying about what other people think of you owning it.

If it proves versatile and you like it, own it. Make an offer, don't pay the price displayed. Haggle and learn. Aside from that there is plenty of good advice already given above. Can you afford tyres, oil, maintenance etc? The usual stuff. So if at all possible, be rational, that is a fair bit of money to be spending so exploit that power you have as a potential customer.
 
BassHead said:
I am only 24 do you think the 3 series is a bit too grown up for a 24 year old who admittedly still looks around 15?:D
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Nope, I'm 24 and have a 3 series. If it was a Jag then I probably would.

I don't want people to think its my dad's car lol.
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Who cares what other people think. Irrespective of who's car it is most people that see young men or women in expensive cars will presume it's a relatives/parents anyway.
 
I had a 2013 BMW F30 320D Efficient Dynamics as a company car. It looked amazing and inside was very nice however it sounded like a tank and I personally didn't like the drive.

IMHO you really need the M sport dynamic suspension to stop the horrible body role and actually enjoy the car. It was just so boring to drive however it could easily get 50MPG in stop start traffic.
Before I had this, I was in an Audi A4 S Line 2.0 Diesel and this thing drove beautifully and sounded good (had a nice roar to it). I much preferred this to the BMW
 
Fido McNasty said:
Spend a weekend driving it or similar spec demo car with same engine/driveline. I'm sure that would be perfectly ok seeing as you're spending a five figure sum. Nothing speaks like first hand experience, and for heavens sakes don't waste another moment worrying about what other people think of you owning it.

If it proves versatile and you like it, own it. Make an offer, don't pay the price displayed. Haggle and learn. Aside from that there is plenty of good advice already given above. Can you afford tyres, oil, maintenance etc? The usual stuff. So if at all possible, be rational, that is a fair bit of money to be spending so exploit that power you have as a potential customer.
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Why are you systematically resurrecting every BMW thread you can find?
 
Fido McNasty said:
Spend a weekend driving it or similar spec demo car with same engine/driveline. I'm sure that would be perfectly ok seeing as you're spending a five figure sum.
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Very, very, very hard to manage that. Never managed it myself. Dealer I bought my 335i from thought a 2 mile test drive was acceptable.
 
[TW]Fox;26019467 said:
Very, very, very hard to manage that. Never managed it myself. Dealer I bought my 335i from thought a 2 mile test drive was acceptable.
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Baffling! Few years ago when I was looking for my 330D about half the cars I tried had the fuel light on and dealers seemed to think getting the car warm was sufficient.
 
[TW]Fox;26019467 said:
Very, very, very hard to manage that. Never managed it myself. Dealer I bought my 335i from thought a 2 mile test drive was acceptable.
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Crazy to think when I walked into Renault, they handed me the keys with a full tank in and told me to come back when I was satisfied.

Would've thought BMW would certainly be offering more than a 2 mile drive.
 
It's really strange and seems to vary from dealer to dealer.

I'd travelled up from 200 miles away, I'd placed a refundable deposit on the car yet... an accompanied 2 mile drive was all I got. Most strange.
 
Now we've covered the money side of it, I'm 24 and I've been looking at both Alfas/Octavia VRSs /z4s but also 3 and 5 series because like you I would like something a bit different to the usual fast cars that 24 year olds drive(albeit a very different price range!).

However ironically a saloon 318d just screams "no interest in cars!" and is probably the blandest car available in the opinion of car guys. However, people who aren't particularly into cars will think you're doing well and if you're not interested in cars then who cars what 'cars guys' think to be honest!

My current 'classy' car of choice is this. The colour! The wheels!
 
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