What do you all reckon about this offer?

panthro

panthro

panthro

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Wokingham
My mates dad is taking delivery of a boxster s (barsteward/poofter delete as appropriate) and has offered me his BMW 330Ci Sport for in the region of £11K. The car is a sport in Imola red (I think thats the colour, its a solid red), black leather seats - heated & memory, 60k on the clock, recently serviced FMBWSH), new gearbox not so long ago due to the last one breaking and a TomTom 500 thrown in for free!!. Thats as much as I know, but I am not sure if I should be biting his arm off for this deal? His boxster arrives at the end of august/beginning of september. What do you all reckon?
For those of you that own these (NickXX et al) can you give me some details on the running costs? Im currently driving a clio 172, how much more will the BMW be to run? Cheers!

(awaits possible pimpage by Nick :p)

EDIT: its a 51 (2001) reg and a manual 5 speed.
 
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Personally I'd do it :)

As bad as some say it is I really like Imola red, an the fact it'll have the later sport bumpers rather than the very early ones as it's a 51 plate it'll look very smart :)

I've been looking aroun dlately and it looks like a 2001 sport will set you back 13-14k for a nice enough example.
 
:eek:! DO IT!

GSRXMoviestar has that exact car in that colour, I believe his is a 2001 too. That is a very good price too for the mileage - sounds like it's got a good spec. Imola red is a great colour - doesn't always photograph well, but looks fantastic in the flesh, as I guess you know. It's different too if being different actually floats your boat.

Running costs, it will be fairly thirsty being a 3.0l Edit:Straight 6 petrol, but will still give good economy on the motorway. Servicing isn't as bad as everyone makes out - I'm getting an Inspection 2 (the big one) done soon, and have had a quote of £375 at Sytner BMW. We get the reduced rate as our cars are over 3 years old.

Fox will probably know the running costs of the 330i engine better than me. As you know, I drive the 330d, and Turbo failure/blocked injectors are what worry me, but these won't affect the petrol engine.

Never heard of gearbox failure before in these things, but good that you have a new one anyway. The build quality on the e46 is great. Mines ticked into the big 6 figures, and every still feels tight, and still looks new. There are no interior squeaks or rattles, and no mechanical clunking noises - it just feels like its been built properly.

BMW stealerships charge vast amounts of cash for fixing things, so try and find a good Independent garage near you as they tend to do things better and for a fraction of the cost. If you don't intend to sell the car on for a few years, get it serviced at one of these garages rather than at a main dealer to save cash.

Parts however, can be expensive. A tyre fitter found a crack in my rear wheel - which had to be replace. BMW charge £350 for a new one. A new set of tyres cost me close to £600 - as they're BIG.

Sorry, I've just rambled... hope this helps. Fire away if you have any more questions. I would post pics, but I'm sure you've seen them all before :p

Cheers,

Nick
 
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Do it, do it again, then do it once more.

Fantastic all round car, brilliant price, stunning engine. Not much more to add.
 
Rotty said:
it is

25-30mpg should be easy to attain
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hehe I knew it was, was just wanting to correct him without sounding rude :D

Go for it to be honest mate, good price, good car, if i was in a position to afford it i deffo would. nice upgrade from the clio :D

Tom.
 
panthro said:
My mates dad is taking delivery of a boxster s (barsteward/poofter delete as appropriate) and has offered me his BMW 330Ci Sport for in the region of £11K. The car is a sport in Imola red (I think thats the colour, its a solid red), black leather seats - heated & memory, 60k on the clock, recently serviced FMBWSH), new gearbox not so long ago due to the last one breaking and a TomTom 500 thrown in for free!!. Thats as much as I know, but I am not sure if I should be biting his arm off for this deal? His boxster arrives at the end of august/beginning of september. What do you all reckon?
For those of you that own these (NickXX et al) can you give me some details on the running costs? Im currently driving a clio 172, how much more will the BMW be to run? Cheers!

(awaits possible pimpage by Nick :p)

EDIT: its a 51 (2001) reg and a manual 5 speed.
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No that's a terribe deal! Don't take it, but give me his number..... :D
 
Thanks for all the info guys. I think it would be rude if I didnt take up this offer. After all I am young and single so I need to fill the void with something!

All I need to do now is sell my car......... any takers! :p

I will get some more info on the car and post back the exact specs. Also, I remember someone (Fox I think) mention that the 5 series had cam chains instead of belts, is this the same for the 3?
 
panthro said:
Thanks for all the info guys. I think it would be rude if I didnt take up this offer.

I will get some more info on the car and post back the exact specs. Also, I remember someone (Fox I think) mention that the 5 series had cam chains instead of belts, is this the same for the 3?
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You rock :cool:

Yup, the 3 has a chain too. It is the same engine that is in the 530i - all 231bhp of it :D

I'm not sure when (or even if) the chain need to be replaced. I'm guessing never, but maybe the Fox can help...
 
panthro said:
I will get some more info on the car and post back the exact specs. Also, I remember someone (Fox I think) mention that the 5 series had cam chains instead of belts, is this the same for the 3?
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The 3.0 M54 engine in the 330Ci is identical to that in the E39 530i, most of the 3.0i X5's and the 03-06 Z4 3.0i's, among others.
 
Sorry slight hijack here- I am also looking at 330's at the moment: I have seen some on the 'trader with 6 speed gearboxes... Why is this? Does a 6 speed version exist too?
 
NickXX said:
:eek:! DO IT!

GSRXMovistar has that exact car in that colour
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Indeed he does, I should post a detailed reply with various reasons to do it but I'm a little pickled at the moment so will just say 'DO IT!' and post a few pics.

BMW330ciRepaired01.jpg


BMW330ciRepaired03.jpg


BMW330ciRepaired04.jpg


GSXR_BMW330ci004.jpg
 
Just make sure it's all up together - just sold a 540 on a 98. Yes, I know it's the M62 V8 engine, but it cost a fortune mechanically to keep on the road. I have had two Beemers now , a older 535 E34 as well as the one above. A couple of mates still own newer 3 and 5's - and between us, we have spent a small lottery win in garage bills.

Cat converters, rads and electrics have been the main culprits.

Great cars though - and one of the very few driven via the correct wheels!!! :)
 
GSXRMovistar said:
How in Gods name is that possible, best I can hit is 22mpg and that's when the lass drives it. :( :p
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On the rare occasion that I took things easy, the 540 that I mentioned above was capable of 20mpg combined - and on a open run could touch 28-30.

Your lass isn't Vicki Butler Henderson by chance? :)
 
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