Man of Honour
BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
Caporegime
I now have a person to blame when it all goes pear shaped
Nuts!
Not too bad at all! Is it appreciating now? Solid cars from that era it seems.Just ticked over 61k - not bad for 18 years old! - it failed its recent MOT on two front ball joints (which replacement has transformed how it drives) and it had advisories for two rear tyres which I replaced with Nexen’s due to lack of availability of anything better but, tbh they seem just fine....
For its age it’s been fantastic, I expected more issues but have - as of yet - had none.
Vindication in my mind of buying the best one owner low miles example I could find, despite the nay sayers in this place!
Not a sensible purchase,I know, but I wanted another and hung out for the best I could find and it hasn’t disappointed.
Proper BMW’s both, built by engineers not accountants.
As an opposite of yours mine was an 11 owner 120k which had been modified and taken to Lithuania and back... and still pretty much bullet proof
Caporegime
'BMW-specific screenwash' - LMAO. That just tells me that a) their washer hardware is too flaky and b) BMW fans will believe anything.
Pretty much. The only time my cars have had branded screenwash was when it's been topped up during servicing.
Perhaps they get bunged up due to lack of use?
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Surely only one of those two can be true?
Caporegime
Don’t know about appreciating yet, I don’t think I’d lose on it we’re I to sell - although I’d have to wait for the right buyer I’m sure - there are much more expensive ones out there (a few which I viewed when looking for mine and rejected) most seem priced by dreamers.Not too bad at all! Is it appreciating now? Solid cars from that era it seems.
As an opposite of yours mine was an 11 owner 120k which had been modified and taken to Lithuania and back... and still pretty much bullet proof
I keep getting told to store it and let it appreciate, not what I bought it for ultimately, it’s a daily drive not a garage queen- I don’t even have a garage!
If I keep it tidy, it’ll not deprecate but the lack of depreciation will be more than offset by maintenance and my decision to maintain its BMW full history.
Yours should last, properly built and barely run in (Gibbo had a 525i e34 with north of 250k on it a while back) owners running them into the ground killed the majority of e34’s which is a shame, they are fundamentally strong cars without inherent weaknesses - with correct maintenance - which the majority in later life didn’t get.
The e38 on the other hand has many weaknesses which scrap cheaper ones, the metal fuel tank (pricey to replace or repair) the gearboxes (all auto) rarely last without fluid changes which bmw say they don’t need (they do!) flimsy cooling systems which fail and kill the V8’s especially.
The biggest issue with the e38 is what it is, a big heavy luxury car with costs to match, people buy one used for peanuts run it until it goes bang or until it needs more work than it’s worth, which is why I sought a one owner full BMW history example, one of mines later services was over £5k,it’s last owner was wealthy and looked after it properly - I doubt he got that for the car when he sold it to the dealer I bought it from a few months later but probably didn’t care....
If I maintain mines BMW history it’ll help resale later, if I start getting it serviced “under the arches” as such, it’ll lose its appeal to an enthusiast at a stroke.
I very nearly bought a lovely 740i, full history at a glance ,but, from 30k to 80k the BMW history comprised solely of oil services , the rest was F1 Autocentres and hand written receipts from a generic garage - the seller wanted £9k for it - the one I bought has things like new suspension all round in its history along with new catalytic converters, the list is endless, looking through its history it appears the owner was advised of things that perhaps needed doing at some point and got it done immediately - something the 740’s owner didn’t I’d bet!
The best one is the fuel tank, mines had two in its life(!) one was leaking the other was showing signs of corrosion on the seam (where they fail) according to the service notes, most have fibreglass patch repairs as it’s a cheap temporary fix, I did the very same with my old 728i
Edit: quite a ramble!
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Man of Honour
I've never used BMW screenwash. Never had an issue with my washers.
Because you've only had E46's - it wasn't an issue on the E39 either. It's only since the E90 era that it started to become a thing - the forums are litted with complaints from people having windscreen washer jet issues and being turned away by the dealers because they've mixed screenwash types.
It's probably only a concern if you are expecting any issues to be addressed by warranty.
So you've linked to 1 litre at £4.50 to support the point that £18 for 5 litres is 'extortionate'?
So you've linked to 1 litre at £4.50 to support the point that £18 for 5 litres is 'extortionate'?
That 1L will happily dilute to 5L, if that was £18 for 5L undiluted then ignore me completely, which when you read it back and actually apply some thought power to it... of course it is.
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Caporegime
Flaky hardware I think, my sisters M4 (which hasn’t done 2k miles yet) has only the drivers side washer working (and it’s got BMW fluid in it!) her 1 Series is the same.
My 18 yr old e38’s washers work fine , I’ve sinned and got diluted Aldi screen wash in the main reservoir and concentrate in the smaller one, even the headlight washers - pointless as the are imo - work just fine,so much so the lights noticeably dim when you use them.
Soldato
Looking to find a familyish car (first child arriving soon) and looking into a 3 series touring. Need petrol as we do quite a few short trips, and it won't be used for commuting. Want something ideally not much more than 60k miles as don't want mounting repair bills, and with a budget of £8k, have struggled to find many petrols. Initially wanted to find a 320i or 325i but basically resigned to having to go for a 318 as that's all there is on the market - mental how many more diesels than petrols around for estates too.
Anyway have come across this and went for a quick look yesterday and quite liked it. Just looking for a sense check for if it's decent value as the market for petrols is so sparse, it seems to tick all the boxes but keen to hear if anyone has any thoughts, or can think of decent alternatives.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201802143718819?advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=8500&year-from=2009&fuel-type=Petrol&maximum-mileage=70000&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&sort=price-asc&postcode=gu215jx&year-to=2014&radius=35&body-type=Estate&make=BMW&model=3 SERIES&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1
Anyway have come across this and went for a quick look yesterday and quite liked it. Just looking for a sense check for if it's decent value as the market for petrols is so sparse, it seems to tick all the boxes but keen to hear if anyone has any thoughts, or can think of decent alternatives.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201802143718819?advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=8500&year-from=2009&fuel-type=Petrol&maximum-mileage=70000&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&sort=price-asc&postcode=gu215jx&year-to=2014&radius=35&body-type=Estate&make=BMW&model=3 SERIES&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1
Honestly, if you want something that won't give you mounting repair bills, don't buy a 7-year-old BMW. FWIW, the E91 isn't all that big either.
Get something like a Focus Estate. Boot is huge, quite a few petrols around, and you can get 2014s in budget..
Caporegime
This seems like immensely sensible advice to me.
Soldato
Yeah that is a good shout. We have been looking at more family sensible options like Qashqais and Hyundai ix35's too, just part of me would really like to have something that's nice to drive (I know it's only a 1.8 but I imagine it'd go a fair bit better than a 1.6 focus OR almost any small SUV) and well spec'd, and just wondered if that was a decent specimen.
Will take a look closer at the Focuses, quite soulless though.
Will take a look closer at the Focuses, quite soulless though.
Caporegime
Arguably yes, but, just because the internet is full of tales of woe on old BMW’s it doesn’t mean they are all crap, far from it!
Some of my examples, I bought an e36 318i at 125k miles, ran it to 175k miles and it needed a service and new exhaust back box.
e38 7 Series, 98k to 125k, broken drivers door handle, snapped exhaust mount and a leak on the fuel tank (fibreglass patch for under £70) and a service, the gearbox was sometimes slow going from 4th to 5th - the subsequent owner ran it for another 29k and never had the ‘box looked at.
e36 328i Ran for 9k miles, needed a thermostat.
e39 528i bought at 260k miles, ran for another 5k needed nothing although the auto gearbox was getting slow changing from 4th to 5th (much as the 728 did)
e46 318i bought at 80k ran for 5k needed a plastic pipe that broke on the cooling system.
e39 530i Sport, brake pads & discs, but it then died spectacularly by blowing a head gasket and the gearbox failing in the same week, arguably it might have done twice the mileage on the clock.
e38 735i, two ball joints in ~ 6k miles- 18 yr old but only 56k on the clock when I bought it, other than two tyres, it’s needed nothing else.
You could have these issues on any car, BMW or not, you buy an old BMW on condition not age or miles is the golden rule, if you can find a low mile one owner example then so much the better but equally that doesn’t necessarily mean a 5+ owner 100k+ mike example will be a nail either.
Depends what you want, for what I paid for my 735i the arguably sensible option would indeed have been a 5yr old Focus diesel with ~50k on the clock, I’d have found it boring undoubtedly but it would have been dependable and cheap to run.
Instead, I’ve got a car I love, gets attention wherever it goes, is comfortable, a modern classic and an old school petrol V8 and something I genuinely love driving or indeed just looking at.
Depends entirely what a car is to you, what you want from it and what it means to you and all of that is endlessly subjective.
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As above and also the 18i/20i with the N42 and N46 (and the diesel N47 18d/20d) have a lot of issues with timing chain/belt(?) which make them an engine to avoid