Super cheap 335i ev3

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
9,712
Location
Retired Don
Hi guys,

So I really can't decide what car to get now I've got rid of the XFR.

Whilst looking at 335i's I came across a cheap 335i Activehybrid. The reason it's so cheap is it's done 166,000 miles and in 4 years...

I know it's a bad idea so talk me out of it!

Mal
 
These are cheap even with normal mileage on let alone with starship mileage. The used market seems to hate them. I almost bought an Active hybrid 5 twice but chickened out both times.
 
Uncertainty mostly. They seemed to get cheaper and cheaper by the day and I saw the same examples up for sale for months. I was concerned about future battery issues and nobody at BMW could reassure me that the insured warranty would cover the batteries – the policy hasn’t been written with vehicles like this in mind and excludes ‘batteries’ presumably originally intended for a conventional car battery. So the uncertain residuals combined with uncertain future repair costs put me off – only to then find they were even cheaper a few months later leading me to reconsider it again. It is an enormously complicated car and there are very few of them around so I honestly didn’t fancy the idea of trusting a local independent to look after it.

It’s essentially a heavier 335i/535i with a little extra power which largely offsets the weight deficit. I think it’ll only do ‘up to’ 2 miles on pure battery power and at Motorway speeds it seems to just be a heavier 35i.
 
166k in 4 years is crazy. Id be worried the car was an Uber taxi in a city.

Are BMW using the ultra long life oil for this car?
 
It's just over 40k a year, I do nearly that and driving isn't even my job! Probably a rep or something.

Maybe but BMW's are hard on suspension. 166K around town would need a lot of maintaining. Even 166k motorway mile the car would have ro be very cheap and very well maintained before I'd even consider it. Plus if it long life oil I probably wouldn't bother.
 
Uncertainty mostly. They seemed to get cheaper and cheaper by the day and I saw the same examples up for sale for months. I was concerned about future battery issues and nobody at BMW could reassure me that the insured warranty would cover the batteries – the policy hasn’t been written with vehicles like this in mind and excludes ‘batteries’ presumably originally intended for a conventional car battery. So the uncertain residuals combined with uncertain future repair costs put me off – only to then find they were even cheaper a few months later leading me to reconsider it again. It is an enormously complicated car and there are very few of them around so I honestly didn’t fancy the idea of trusting a local independent to look after it.

It’s essentially a heavier 335i/535i with a little extra power which largely offsets the weight deficit. I think it’ll only do ‘up to’ 2 miles on pure battery power and at Motorway speeds it seems to just be a heavier 35i.

You basically make the same conclusion I made a few years back when I looked at them. In the end, I bought a Lexus hybrid instead.
 
Really interesting as Ive been looking at these too recently...particularly the 535i variant. Residuals would be less of a concern as I would plan on keeping it a good while (had my e46 for 9 years). Anyone have any info as regards to reliability of the EV aspects?
 
I've also been looking at them as well and saw that high miler, it's been there for a few weeks.

As Fox has pointed out the advantages of the electric motor have been largely offset by the additional weight, the only real saving that I can see is on the annual road fund/tax?
 
Yeah, to be honest, I could could really do with the extra space and practicality of a 5 series, but I just prefer the 3 so much more. The 335i keeps jumping at me!
 
You'd be surprised what Uber are on the roads. It's not like a regular taxi service at all.

We once got carted around in a '90s S600, the driver's Prius was getting work done so he was using his son's car :eek:

Pretty sure that's against Uber's terms but whatevs.
 
Hi guys,

Don't think I ever mentioned in the end - I got an E60 535d with mega miles in the end! A nice spec with HUD etc. I'll keep it a year or 2 until we decide what we are doing with our house extension. I ideally want to either get an XFR again, or maybe an M5 or similar!

PS Fox, remember my old E46 330i SMG/SSG - it's still going strong - around 150k miles now. Still with my brother in law so I drive it every now and then :D

Mal
 
Back
Top Bottom