BMW and M Power Owners

Jez said:
Be careful buying one of these, im honestly not sure i'd bother running one any more. I did for 10k miles over a few months earlier this year and while i appreciate 10k miles in space of time is a lot, they generate endless little niggles. Silly stuff like llambda sensors and air bag sensors creating error lights.

Biggest issues;
- Rust, everywhere, especially arches
- Cooling system, Radiator, Expansion tank especially.
- General age of suspension, creaks, sloppyness
- Handbrakes are usually terrible, i had to have mine overhauled to pass MOT

Great cars....back in the 2000's
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I'd argue that those are relatively minor/usual things on a 10-14 year old car.

With the exception of rust, which is something to watch out for in anything this age or older.

The airbag passenger seat sensor is a common fault on many BMWs (and other cars). Relatively expensive to replace, unless you're confident in doing it yourself.

Main dealer managed to make mine worse in time for last MOT (they only had it in the first place due to passenger airbag unit recall) and then promptly lied about it.

I ended up getting a plug and play bypass unit (two resistors and a diode with bmw plug) overnighted from an ebay seller. Makes the system think the seat is occupied, so keeps the airbags always-on. We don't have kids, so it won't be a problem for us. £20 thanks to the postage, £10 if we hadn't needed overnight delivery heh. BMW wanted £550 fitted, indies were around £250-300... turns out the part is about £100 but needs 2-3 hours labour.

Look for one that's had the suspension overhauled in the last 2 years... or factor it into the price :)

Agree with the handbrake, bit crummy... rear caliper also needed a refurb last year.
 
cadmunkey said:
Only thing you can do at the moment is check the tyre pressure manually and see what it reads. You are meant to reset the idrive settings everytime you top up your tyres.
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Thanks mate will do, new to these sorts of features, idrive etc so as soon as a warning came up i worried i think, will see how it is later and check my pressures
 
Has anyone here had experience replacing a battery in an F10?

iDrive is telling me that I should replace the battery but I am fine to continue driving the car. It has obviously detected that the battery isn't holding charge like it used to and thrown a warning.

I believe that BMW must code a new battery into the car, which is slightly annoying. The car has only been driven 3 or 4 times in the past 5 weeks, although two of those trips were 250 miles each, and the warning has only started since this drop in use. I've put the battery on a conditioner and it passed just fine but I think the warning won't reset without it being manually reset by the dealer...
 
[TW]Fox;28572593 said:
They exist because manufacturers force them on us to save weight and costs in the pursuit of emissions targets not because they are a stunning product.
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Surely the combined additional weight of 4 run flats outweighs a single spare/spacesaver wheel?
 
Space savers are really light, easy 1 finger lift. The difference between a flimsy normal tyre and a runflat is quite substancial. I would think that difference 4 times over is going to be more than the weight of the space saver. I don't have any RFT on hand to weigh but I'm almost certian it would be the case.
 
panthro said:
Didn't want to carry this conversation on in the other thread, but it terms of what's next for me, I really like the look of this:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...port&onesearchad=used,nearlynew,new&logcode=p
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How is this HUGE SPEC!!11ZOMG ?

I hate it when people write this in adverts. From what I can see, the only options it has are sports seats and pro nav.

No comfort seats, no HUD, so SAG, no Adaptive Drive, no ACC, no rear seat heating, etc etc.

So annoying!

Yes, it's a nicely specced car, but I wouldn't get one without HUD. Is that popular in the UK? Quite popular over here.
 
Clarkey said:
Space savers are really light, easy 1 finger lift. The difference between a flimsy normal tyre and a runflat is quite substancial. I would think that difference 4 times over is going to be more than the weight of the space saver. I don't have any RFT on hand to weigh but I'm almost certian it would be the case.
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Can't find anything definitive - but using an 18" tyre as an example it sounds like there is abkut 3kg per tyre increase so say 12kg

I guess you're right - I wouldn't think a space saver at say 17" would top that
 
mjt said:
How is this HUGE SPEC!!11ZOMG ?

I hate it when people write this in adverts. From what I can see, the only options it has are sports seats and pro nav.

No comfort seats, no HUD, so SAG, no Adaptive Drive, no ACC, no rear seat heating, etc etc.

So annoying!

Yes, it's a nicely specced car, but I wouldn't get one without HUD. Is that popular in the UK? Quite popular over here.
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HUD is ultra rare. As is adaptive drive. Most UK cars will be 520d with few options but M Sport. In the UK it's about looking good for lowest monthly cost rather than having a well specified car.

Which is a real shame.
 
crinkleshoes said:
Depends on what spec and history you are looking for.

And for this age, don't buy purely on mileage.

You may have a 2005 330i that's done 60k harsh miles with rotting bushes that hasn't been well looked after.

VS a 2002 330i with over 100k miles that's been looked after by main dealer and specialist, with the rubber all replaced and shocks refurbed or replaced not too long ago.

Just to give you an idea anyway...

The engines go on for a long time if they've been well looked after... it's more likely for the rest of the car to fall apart around it.
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Jez said:
Be careful buying one of these, im honestly not sure i'd bother running one any more. I did for 10k miles over a few months earlier this year and while i appreciate 10k miles in space of time is a lot, they generate endless little niggles. Silly stuff like llambda sensors and air bag sensors creating error lights.

Biggest issues;
- Rust, everywhere, especially arches
- Cooling system, Radiator, Expansion tank especially.
- General age of suspension, creaks, sloppyness
- Handbrakes are usually terrible, i had to have mine overhauled to pass MOT

Great cars....back in the 2000's
Click to expand...

crinkleshoes said:
I'd argue that those are relatively minor/usual things on a 10-14 year old car.

With the exception of rust, which is something to watch out for in anything this age or older.

The airbag passenger seat sensor is a common fault on many BMWs (and other cars). Relatively expensive to replace, unless you're confident in doing it yourself.

Main dealer managed to make mine worse in time for last MOT (they only had it in the first place due to passenger airbag unit recall) and then promptly lied about it.

I ended up getting a plug and play bypass unit (two resistors and a diode with bmw plug) overnighted from an ebay seller. Makes the system think the seat is occupied, so keeps the airbags always-on. We don't have kids, so it won't be a problem for us. £20 thanks to the postage, £10 if we hadn't needed overnight delivery heh. BMW wanted £550 fitted, indies were around £250-300... turns out the part is about £100 but needs 2-3 hours labour.

Look for one that's had the suspension overhauled in the last 2 years... or factor it into the price :)

Agree with the handbrake, bit crummy... rear caliper also needed a refurb last year.
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Thanks guys,
Quite a bit to look out for. The golf is OK (he says) but it's starting to flash up a few faults now - getting to the point where repairing some of them could cost more than the car is worth.

I thought the 330 ticked quite a few of my boxes now I'm not doing many miles. Don't really know what else to take a punt on.
 
crinkleshoes said:
I'd argue that those are relatively minor/usual things on a 10-14 year old car.
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I wouldnt...BMWs of this era are problematic even for their age IME. The cooling systems are fragile, the handbrakes are an issue, they burn oil as if it is fuel, this just isnt the case with a lot of other cars. I am no stranger to older cars, i also have a few others - none of them have the inherent issues that this era BMWs seem to consistently exhibit.
 
Nothing a little adjustment during MOT won't keep in check each year :p Unless you mean the common corrosion on the handbrake shoes :o In which case mine has recently been cleaned and greased up proper post brake refit!
 
crinkleshoes said:
What is your budget? What kind of miles are you planning to do? Work or Personal? Etc...

Maybe create your own spec-me thread with those details and more...
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Don't have a set budget at the mo, probably around 4k as I don't want to have to take out a loan to pay for a car. Be in a better position towards the end of this year as my CDL payments will finish.

Mileage-wise, not many, 20 miles a day round trip to work - say 10k a year tops. Diesel is the same price as petrol /l around me at the mo so, I'd prefer a petrol engine next even though I'd lose 10-20mpg (£300 ish a year?).

I don't know what other motor can offer the same all-round package as the 330i... Love to have other suggestions to look at, my only other thought is a Octavia VRS...
 
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