BMW and M Power Owners

[TW]Fox · 26 May 2015 at 19:55

Assumed it was in the UK. Odd forum to ask about buying a car in the USA on. There must be dozens of US forums?

timmeh · 26 May 2015 at 19:56

I've had a look through some other docs regarding warranty and I've no idea what I was reading last night. Loads of rabble I guess. The warranty reads like it covers a lot more than I was expecting :thumbsup:

timmeh · 26 May 2015 at 20:02

[TW]Fox;28088429 said:
Assumed it was in the UK. Odd forum to ask about buying a car in the USA on. There must be dozens of US forums?

I assumed the cars would be the same mechanically in the UK as in the US and know a lot of people here know a lot about BMWs, and I've been on here for years so just thought I'd ask around.

shadow_boxer · 26 May 2015 at 20:04

mrk said:
You've pretty much got everything well in hand there I'd say Anything major will have been flagged during MOT/service anyway.

Cheers. MOTs and services have generally been pretty good, just the usual wear and tear.

rodenal said:
Could start looking at your cooling system, particularly stat and waterpump if the expansion tank, hoses and rad seem ok. If you've never done any of the bushes they'll probably be well worn too. But if you think it drives well and haven't noticed any other issues I'd be more of an 'if it isn't broke' mindset and just keep some cash away for it.

Thanks. The water pump was one of the things I'd thought about. Read a few reports of people suggesting to replace it around the 100K mark. Bushes and wishbone I were done in my first service after I bought it around 45K. Previous MOT reports they were just starting to show signs of wear but fine for the time being.

One thing specifically I was worried about was replacing the belts. Not not which are relevant do my e46 bu I don't think any have been done before?

Thanks

rodenal · 26 May 2015 at 20:19

I dare say you might even be able to do then without removing the fan on a 320 so they're particularly simple to change if looking worse for wear.

If you're going to do the stat and or water pump just change the aux belts at the sane time

shadow_boxer · 26 May 2015 at 20:21

Okay that's great, will check them out. It's in for its mot tomorrow anyway so will have to chat to them at the same time.

commited · 26 May 2015 at 22:42

I've been hunting for a decent e39 for ages over here and they just don't seem to exist so I've started looking at e46 models, particularly 330ci models. There are 2 particular facelift ones that are looking promising:
330ci SE auto with Sport suspension/seats/steering wheel & wheels - 2 owners, 70k on the clock, FSH, v. good condition.
330ci sport manual with decent spec (no heated seats/nav) - 4 owners, 70k on clock, very detailed FSH, excellent condition.

The SE is about 1k cheaper than the sport but my thoughts are that a manual sport will be more enjoyable to drive, have better resale value and be easier to sell in the future. I can retrofit the non-sport bits to the SE for about £500.

They're definitely not as refined as the e39 to drive but I think it's a good trade off for how quickly they can be hustled down a back road. I've sort of lost my mojo for driving recently with the Saab so will be good to get a bit of driving enjoyment back.

Any opinions re auto vs manual? Rarely commute in the car, most of my driving is back roads or motorway and I do about 12000 miles/year, half of which is for business.

howler · 27 May 2015 at 14:44

A friend of mine in the motor trade has had a M135 come in and said he can do me a good deal on it

I'd never considered one before but it does look like a nice car, it is a 62 plate with 30k on the clock

I'm going to go down and take a look at it I think to see if it is something I fancy, are there any particular options that came on these cars that I should be looking for? I know that you seem to get quite a wide choice with BMWs

All I know at this stage is that it is auto with leather

panthro · 27 May 2015 at 14:53

howler said:
A friend of mine in the motor trade has had a M135 come in and said he can do me a good deal on it

I'd never considered one before but it does look like a nice car, it is a 62 plate with 30k on the clock

I'm going to go down and take a look at it I think to see if it is something I fancy, are there any particular options that came on these cars that I should be looking for? I know that you seem to get quite a wide choice with BMWs

All I know at this stage is that it is auto with leather

Pro nav and heated seats are the only things I'd want on the car. Up to you if you prefer manual or auto, but the 8 speed auto is a very good gearbox and the majority of M135i's are ordered with it.
All of them come with xenon headlights and leather as standard. In fact they're extremely well equipped to begin with so even a base spec auto will be a great car, but pro nav is a must for me.
What's the deal he's offering you?

howler · 27 May 2015 at 14:55

After having heated seats in my Golf I don't think I could live without them now

Always had manuals in the past but I could happily have an auto if it is as good as everyone says

Dr House · 27 May 2015 at 14:57

Guys I need some advice, I am back in the uk only for 2 weeks and want to move some of my cars, is this a fair price?

Here is the car, I am just about to put a advert on PH.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1131738

Stephen B · 27 May 2015 at 16:52

howler said:
A friend of mine in the motor trade has had a M135 come in and said he can do me a good deal on it

I'd never considered one before but it does look like a nice car, it is a 62 plate with 30k on the clock

I'm going to go down and take a look at it I think to see if it is something I fancy, are there any particular options that came on these cars that I should be looking for? I know that you seem to get quite a wide choice with BMWs

All I know at this stage is that it is auto with leather

what is "essential" is different for everyone, for me the basics were...

rear park sensors [if its got fronts as well even better as the beep doesn't turn off when you take it out of gear with rear sensors only dealer should have made this clear IMO]
lumbar support
adaptive front lights with high beam assist
full black panel display
tinted glass

the wants but couldn't justify cost were ....

Pronav [can be retrofitted easily for under £700 now so its up to you]
electric seats [can't get folding mirrors without this option IIRC]
heated seats
Auto

and the waste of time for me was

adaptive suspension
full comfort access
sunroof
lane assist
extended Bluetooth

lots of other options but those are the ones that have stuck in my mind

make sure there is plenty of rubber on all tyres, ideally Michelin Pilot Super Sports, they come with about 7-8mm new but once they drop below 4-5mm the performance drop is noticeable, runcraps became an option on later cars so you should be fine

outer edges of front tyres take a beating as the compound is supposedly different, I cant say for sure but wear in this area is common

no major issues to report on the cars other than a bit of excessive creaking and rattling on the plastics that I am aware of on the couple of forums I visit, there was a brief period early on with people citing buckled alloys but not heard anything recent about it

if you go for a test drive make sure its fully warmed up and stick it in sport mode to appreciate the throttle response, sport plus if you want a looser back end and are used to RWD

Scania · 27 May 2015 at 22:03

Got chatting to an old boy tonight in Newcastle, Staffs.

I parked next to him, he had a private played facelift Alpina B12 6.0 eKat with a lowly 24000 miles on it(!) his daily driver was an f10 M5 and the e38 was his toy (along with an RS500 Sierra Cosworth!)
He looked about 90! But was a fascinating chap to talk to.

He'd owned all three cars from new, a retired airline - and I would hazard a guess at WWII pilot.

Probably irrelevant to this thread but thought I'd share!

spluff · 28 May 2015 at 09:52

I am just wondering is it difficult to change BMW windscreen wipers?

Ive got a 20012 320D BMW convertible sport plus - any ideas what wipers I need to get and where from?

Thanks

[TW]Fox · 28 May 2015 at 10:00

It's dead easy, but wipers from Euro car parts.

Malt_Vinegar · 28 May 2015 at 10:09

spluff said:
I am just wondering is it difficult to change BMW windscreen wipers?

Ive got a 20012 320D BMW convertible sport plus - any ideas what wipers I need to get and where from?

Thanks

Very easy, local motorfactors, or halfords would be able to provide them without issue. Halfords will even fit them for you for some extortionate price

You can even buy them online if you don't want to leave you seat

spluff · 28 May 2015 at 10:18

online would be cool but not sure which ones I need - don't wanna buy the wrong ones

mrk · 28 May 2015 at 10:23

You can't really buy the wrong ones from places like Euro Carparts. Universal blades will also come with multiple adapters to fit the most common arm types. As long as you get the right size (even then you can get an inch smaller or larger too) it's all good.

spluff · 28 May 2015 at 10:40

cool thanks

Gaygle · 28 May 2015 at 11:49

spluff said:
cool thanks

Get them from a main dealer with a bit of a discount. I think I paid £30 or something delivered for my ones on the E92. I've never really been a fan of any aftermarket wiper blade, even Bosch and Valeo - they just seem to streak, last a few months or bounce across the windscreen. And the genuine BMW ones come with a 2 year warranty and are cheaper than the aftermarket Bosch ones!

EDIT: £33.84 delivered from Harry Fairbairn BMW @ http://www.bmwforums.info/harry-fairbairn-bmw/