BMW 320D Touring

Garyj881

Garyj881

Garyj881

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Joined
29 Sep 2006
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2,193
Location
West Yorks
After my 2015 Octavia got written off this week. I'm looking at my next car purchase. I've considered an Octavia Vrs, Merc Cla and now leaning towards a BMW 320 D M-Sport Touring, X Drive on a 2014 with 100k mileage.

My budget is 13k. I'm a fisherman so either need an estate or I'll have to go back to Skoda. The 320D Touring fits the bill, looks stunning, plus has 9k of factory fitted extras.

My only concern is whilst I've never owned a BMW, I've always heard they're not the most reliable and can be a money pit. I've had an Alfa so ideally don't want to go down that road again......

What are people's experiences, and what would you advise? Am I taking a big risk considering the mileage and age?

The car has full service history but also not sure what buyers are covered by when buying from car traders, if anything.
 
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100k for a diesel isn't bad but I would be careful about the price at that mileage.

I bought a 2015 BMW 320i xdrive Touring from a fairly local dealer just over a year ago. It was £14k with 41k on the clock. The car is lovely to drive, on the open road we use Comfort mode and Sport on the more winding roads up here in the Highlands. The only money I have spent on it is for petrol, MoT, Insurance, Road Tax and 2 new tyres.

I will say that it is NOT as comfortable as my old Saab 93 Vector Sport 150HP Estate nor does the boot have as much space but it is a much more rewarding car to drive; it just goes where you point it. Additionally, during the recent ice and snow it was easy to drive with the xdrive while 2 wheel drives were struggling and wheel spinning.

I was given a 6 month warranty from the garage with a 3rd party company but didn't need it.
 
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Blueball said:
we use Comfort mode and Sport on the more winding roads
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it's got adaptive suspension ?

having an older touring 320i i6, if I update, I'd only take an M with adaptives, otherwise the state of the local pot-holed roads is not really compatible with M,
I'm also sceptical on lost mpg of xdrive, and would just put some cross-climates on if I regularly had problems in winter time, but the goodyear efficient grips have been fine.
 
jpaul said:
it's got adaptive suspension ?

having an older touring 320i i6, if I update, I'd only take an M with adaptives, otherwise the state of the local pot-holed roads is not really compatible with M,
I'm also sceptical on lost mpg of xdrive, and would just put some cross-climates on if I regularly had problems in winter time, but the goodyear efficient grips have been fine.
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Yes. When we go into sport mode you can feel the whole car just "tighten up".

I was using Conti Sport 6 run flat tyres in the winter and because they are not winter tyres you could feel a little bit of sideways slip sometimes but the xdrive felt extremely positive otherwise - better than I expected without winter tyres TBH. Admittedly they are fairly new tyres so almost full tread.
 
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Be aware that BMW changed their engines in around 2015, e.g. for the 2ltr petrols from the N20 to the B48. The newer engines are supposedly a LOT more reliable.
I've no idea about the diesels, but it's possible that they had the same update, so do check.
 
I've also read that the 2.0 litre diesels are considerably more reliable 2015 onwards. Pre-2015 models supposedly have issues with the timing chains which obviously can throw up some big bills.
 
Blueball said:
100k for a diesel isn't bad but I would be careful about the price at that mileage.

I bought a 2015 BMW 320i xdrive Touring from a fairly local dealer just over a year ago. It was £14k with 41k on the clock. The car is lovely to drive, on the open road we use Comfort mode and Sport on the more winding roads up here in the Highlands. The only money I have spent on it is for petrol, MoT, Insurance, Road Tax and 2 new tyres.

I will say that it is NOT as comfortable as my old Saab 93 Vector Sport 150HP Estate nor does the boot have as much space but it is a much more rewarding car to drive; it just goes where you point it. Additionally, during the recent ice and snow it was easy to drive with the xdrive while 2 wheel drives were struggling and wheel spinning.

I was given a 6 month warranty from the garage with a 3rd party company but didn't need it.
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It sounds like you got a decent deal, the secondhand market is a bit crazy right now though so prices have risen. Buying a xdrive BM is preferred for obvious reasons.
 
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@Garyj881 I think I did, very pleased with it. Car prices in the North of Scotland have historically been lower than further South. The advice was always to sell a car down south and buy one up north.
 
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Blueball said:
@Garyj881 I think I did, very pleased with it. Car prices in the North of Scotland have historically been lower than further South. The advice was always to sell a car down south and buy one up north.
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They are lower, but the selection up here is just awful if you’re after anything remotely special or even slightly unusual or specific. When I was after my 428i GC I ended up having to travel to Ipswich to get one. It was that or south wales.
 
Make sure the boot/ rear seats unfolded area is big enough.
An Octavia is a far bigger load space than a 320d.
The length of your rods/holdall might have to go between the front seats.
Amd don't get it near muddy lanes when fishing or you might need a push, unless a x drive.
 
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MissChief said:
They are lower, but the selection up here is just awful if you’re after anything remotely special or even slightly unusual or specific. When I was after my 428i GC I ended up having to travel to Ipswich to get one. It was that or south wales.
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I was lucky, I only had to go to Elgin. :D
 
m4rmite said:
Make sure the boot/ rear seats unfolded area is big enough.
An Octavia is a far bigger load space than a 320d.
The length of your rods/holdall might have to go between the front seats.
Amd don't get it near muddy lanes when fishing or you might need a push, unless a x drive.
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Its the xdrive version and yes I'd need to confirm length for the fishing gear. The Octavia was very roomy, so don't want to fall short moving to the BMW.
 
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