BMW and M Power Owners

[TW]Fox · 27 Jul 2015 at 18:33

Ebay if you don't want to use the main dealers.

Cotswold BMW offer 10% off for members of various BMW forums, btw.

agnes · 27 Jul 2015 at 18:35

Nice! Thanks.

Ebay, there is a BMW store on there. Again, I've no idea if it's really BMW or just a store posing as them.

[TW]Fox · 27 Jul 2015 at 18:55

It's BMW UK through Park Lane BMW, which they own.

It's always looked just like regular dealer pricing to me though, so no benefit to buying locally except on specific sale items.

rodenal · 27 Jul 2015 at 18:57

There is also the likes of bmminiparts, though quite often you'll get the same price from cotswold

hlxbravo · 27 Jul 2015 at 19:23

Hi guys, have been thinkning of joining the BMW owner's list for a while now, although I haven't much idea of what you can get regarding spec vs price.

I was absolutely gobsmacked when I saw THIS posted in another thread the other day, such a great spec on a great looking car and all for 13k. It's a little high mileage for me personally but it got me looking through the classifieds.

I have seen a few different motor's and I do like the look of the 330ci but not too sure how it stacks up against the equivalent models. However I think this time around I am looking to get a diesel but know little to nothing about the versions in this variant, I am not completely sold on the diesel idea but I am sure it has to be a 3 series, as the 5 series would be a little too large for the other half I feel.

So could you point me in the direction of something I should be looking at, or the level of equipment I should expect with a budget of around 15k, could go to 16k but would prefer to keep to around the 15k mark. As for mileage I don't think I could buy second hand for anything over 20 thousand miles, 15 thou would be even better, as I have to convince the other half of this yet (and as she does not like BMW's at all....it's gonna be a tough battle already

) Not too concerned about all out warp speed factor either, as I also ride a Suzuki 1250 and that gives me the speed buzz when required.

I deliberately haven't posted any links to anything I have found, as I don't fancy getting ridiculed for my ridiculous choices

[TW]Fox · 27 Jul 2015 at 19:39

hlxbravo said:
I was absolutely gobsmacked when I saw THIS posted in another thread the other day, such a great spec on a great looking car and all for 13k. It's a little high mileage for me personally but it got me looking through the classifieds.

Errr, what?

It's a little 'high mileage'?! It's got 39k on it, it's probably one of the lowest mileage pre facelift 335i's left in the UK!?

:confused:

It's a 7 year old car with just 39,000 miles. How is the mileage 'high'?

With a budget of £15k and a desire to buy a 15,000 mile car, forget it - you won't find anything worth buying with a BMW badge fitting such a strange and narrow criteria. 15k is the sort of mileage you find on a 2 year car, and a 2 year old 3 Series isn't £15k.

You will find the majority of non-crap 3 Series for £15k will have between 40k and 80k on the clock. These are cars which cost over £30,000 brand new - they are not going to be £15k until they are older and higher mileage, they don't lose half their value in just 15k miles and 2 years! You might be able to find the odd older car with a strangely low mileage but these are rarely a sensible purchase.

If you want a car with 15k on the clock you are going to need to look at a non-Premium brand and buy something nearly new.

GT3 · 27 Jul 2015 at 19:55

If anyone wants cheapest possible genuine bmw parts and don't mind waiting a few days extra for delivery from Germany create an account at https://www.leebmann24.de/ (google translate works fine) then send them an email with your account details and say you are a member of an bmw forum and they apply a discount to your account. Some parts have anywhere between 5 and 30% off. This combined with the current euro rate means even including shipping it can work out a lot cheaper than using a UK dealer.

hlxbravo · 27 Jul 2015 at 20:03

[TW]Fox;28365348 said:
Errr, what?

It's a little 'high mileage'?! It's got 39k on it, it's probably one of the lowest mileage pre facelift 335i's left in the UK!?

It's a 7 year old car with just 39,000 miles. How is the mileage 'high'?

Thanks for your reply but I feel it has been taken out of context, I said it was high for me "personally", as I have never bought a car with that many miles on it, as I can clearly see that 39,000/7 works out at 5,571 average miles per year, which yes, I agree is nothing.

I did point out that

... I haven't much idea of what you can get regarding spec vs price.

and I was simply asking for advice.

I found these, all within my

strange and narrow criteria.

330d Touring

330d Convertible

330d SE

335i Petrol

325i SE Petrol

325i SE Petrol

330i SE Petrol

Jonny ///M · 27 Jul 2015 at 20:31

I still keep looking at E46s for some reason. I saw this one which looks nice on the surface but lacks leather and other things but has xenons.

I'm a fud

Anyway...are cloth seats that bad, I have them just now.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...nual-fsh-1-year-mot-6-months-warranty/4503061

[TW]Fox · 27 Jul 2015 at 20:37

hlxbravo said:
I found these, all within my

330d Touring

Perfectly illusrtates my point - it's 12 grand but its almost 10 years old! Low mileage cars like that are always utterly silly money, I would take a 40k mile car over a 10 year old car any day of the week.

330d Convertible

£15.5k for a 7 year old discontinued model 3 Series...

330d SE

Big money, really poor spec... because its 'low miles'.

etc etc.

All of those are sub £10k cars really. Nothing there stands out, but all are big money because of the comedy low mileage which adds nothing to your ownership experience.

£15k can buy you a current generation 320d with sensible (ie 50k) miles on it.

rodenal · 27 Jul 2015 at 20:38

(E46) It's priced at least a grand too high for a saloon and personally I'd want leather

Also a personal thing but the coupe and estate both still look reasonably fresh vs the saloon imo

Vita · 27 Jul 2015 at 21:05

I paid £2.5k for my e46 330i on an '02. 71k miles, HK sound system heated leather seats and xenons. Also came with some ACS bits.

GT3 · 27 Jul 2015 at 21:13

I wanted a 330i or ci wasn't bothered, but every one I looked at from £2-3k was shabby condition and all had some form of rust starting. Found a 325ti Sport for £2k in decent condition and no rust but not everyone can put up with the looks.

Jonny ///M · 27 Jul 2015 at 22:00

I've always wanted one since the E46 M3 came out and I can't afford to run one of those!

Ended up buying an Astra at short notice when I did come to get a car and spend about £5700, I could have got a 330 then but didn't have the time to find a good one compared to the ten a penny astra.

The Astra has did it's just with needed nothing other than service parts for coming up just shy of 90k, bought at 64k. Once my mrs moves her then my mileage should drop quite a lot, probably to half so around 12K so I can afford to have the car off the road etc.

Still don't think it'll hit the spot if I spend £4k on a 10-12 year old car which will obviously have niggles. I'd be looking for it to be perfect which I know isn't entirely possible.

rodenal · 27 Jul 2015 at 22:14

The newest and likely least hassle you're going to get for that sort of money is a hot hatch of some sort, or maybe a very nicely looked after legacy if you can find one

E46's aren't hard to work on and parts range from surprisingly cheap to lol from BMW - its more labour that kills it if you aren't handy

Jonny ///M · 27 Jul 2015 at 22:23

rodenal said:
The newest and likely least hassle you're going to get for that sort of money is a hot hatch of some sort, or maybe a very nicely looked after legacy if you can find one

E46's aren't hard to work on and parts range from surprisingly cheap to lol from BMW - its more labour that kills it if you aren't handy

I feel I've had enough wet and windy nights under cars but that could change!

My mates had problems when fitting cheapo control arms and bushings, think they ended up bodging the hell out of it and having to grind the subframe or something. I'd have proper parts on it and have to do it all properly. I can also hear a knock from the rear which he doesn't seem bothered by.

I wish I liked the interior of the R26 Meganes, love the whole package of engine, brakes, looks and seats but the dash

VXR won't feel crazy different from mine and has the same gearbox so same possibly problems.

EP3 has an engine I'd like but not the biggest fan of the styling at all.

Maybe I should just get shot of the astra and spend £1-2k on a 182 and deal with it!

mrk · 27 Jul 2015 at 22:27

E46s are old and pants, you don't want an E46.

MoRT489 · 28 Jul 2015 at 01:22

opstrat said:
will do thanks. i thought about small claims court but with the guy advertising the work with a months guarantee then i doubt there would be any point.

I would ignore the 1 month guarantee thing, it's just a bs marketing/protection ploy. The real point is that anything done to a car should surely last a year (minimum) and if it starts degrading/failing after just three months it should be easy to argue it was not fit for purpose - in this case the paint/application method on the alloys for road use.

Scania · 28 Jul 2015 at 10:18

Agnes, As far as the remap goes, I'd not be too worried about doing it to a manual so long as I treated it with sympathy but I certainly wouldn't want to push an old auto to the limit of its capability, whilst the remap may pay for itself fuel wise, I'd rather not risk the bill for a gearbox rebuild / replacement.
As Fox says, drive it for a while first then decide if it really needs it, I very much doubt it will.

Leeroy Jenkins · 28 Jul 2015 at 19:49

mrk said:
E46s are old and pants, you don't want an E46.

Take that back!