OT: Talk me out of this (BMW content)

[mktng]

great car. stiff ride
tiny tiny tiny rear leg room.
but tbh. i bet it'll be fine with a car seat and a toddler/kid in the back.

good trunk space. can fit a bike with the seats down
has roof rails for a rack. utilize that

but i agree. these are lease'er cars :P
however. id like one too.

[Hank Scorpio]

Coming from a Mini clubman I doubt the rear seating could be any smaller but definitely something to consider with the rapidly growing toddler in the mix. I am fairly lucky that round trip to the hospital and back is under 15 miles. I am also familiar with the pricing on service rates from the mini experience which was somewhat less than stellar. Have to give it a good thought. I noticed that the dealer already dropped the price $500 this past week so maybe they are preparing to send it to auction if it doesn’t generate much interest. Thanks for all the replies both positive and negative so far, very appreciated.

[p nut]

I had that itch many years ago. Got a bike instead. Motorbike, that is.

[andeww]

I’ve had an 07 for a long time!

Great car and I haven’t had huge issues, including some road trips
Mpg is pretty poor considering how slow it is
Crucial you have an Indy bmw mechanic to work on it when needed
I think bmw is pretty good about not outdating their body body styles

[FlashUNC]

Best advice I ever got was from a Porsche owning friend. German cars demand keeping to the maintenance schedule with a fervor usually reserved for some religions. Otherwise expensive stuff starts to break and fast.

As long as you stay on top of it, I sat go for it.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Best advice I ever got was from a Porsche owning friend. German cars demand keeping to the maintenance schedule with a fervor usually reserved for some religions. Otherwise expensive stuff starts to break and fast.

I own VWs and was married to a German car dealership (Opel) owner for many years. They are indeed designed for a maintenance schedule and the German philosophy is one of order and punctuality. Stick to the schedule and you’ll probably be OK.

Verify the warranty before signing anything. Actual repairs and parts will be expensive if/when they’re needed. Budget for this. There will be things like a timing belt and water pump in your not-so-distant future and that won’t be inexpensive.

Personally, not a fan of the sunroof because they kill headroom and are invariably a source of water ingress. But others seem OK with them.

If the warranty looks good go for it.

[biker72]

Limited Warranty: 6 Month / 6,000 Mile beginning after purchase date.

Most other "Certified" vehicles I've looked at have a 1 year warranty.

As others have mentioned adhere closely to the maintenance schedule.

[VTCaraco]

A week ago and I would have said "go for it".

My e46, which I had maintained with fervor, blew up on me last Sunday.
My son was driving from VA to VT through the snowstorm when it overheated. 10 hours at about 40 mph in 30˚ weather? Doesn't exactly sound like the highest-risk conditions. Maybe if he was setting a land-speed record in the heat of July I could blame him...
I get that he could have prevented the catastrophic loss if he had been able to IMMEDIATELY stop, but the (5 month old) expansion tank cracked, coolant vacated the system and the head cracked.
133k miles.
New tires 2 weeks ago. Heck, I had even replaced the kidney grills with new OEM (rather than aftermarket) within the last few weeks.

Gearing up to go look at some replacement options today, but not sure I have the stomach for the German options despite how wonderfully they drive.

[skiezo]

The E90 series of cars have a timing chain, just make sure the hydraulic tensioner is functioning properly and no worries. Great cars and just an updated version of the E46. 3.0L is a great powerplant and pulls harder than the rated HP. Find some seats from a sport model as they are way more comfy and offer lots of support. My past E46 and E90 were great cars and very little problems.
Parts online are reasonable and with the lighter rear end you need AWD. Driving my E46 RWD even in the rain was a chore at times.
Buy and enjoy.

[Kingfisher]

I’m a bmw fan, from motos to cars. I do agree as others have said....follow maintenance schedules. In our family I have an 18 X3 and wife a 430i currently. They are the most fun cars to drive and both built like tanks.
You only live once. The price seems right.

[GScot]

Since you claim mechanical skills it should be comparable in cost to anything else. I haven't paid as close attention to BMW parts as Audi/VW since that's what I now have but with the variety of online suppliers and strangely enough Rock Auto with a lot OEM stuff the costs are in line or cheaper than American or Japanese cars. And BMW like Audi/VW provide all of the service manuals and data without much hassle, try getting anything for a Ford or a Honda.

Everything I've done to my JSW or S5 I compare costs to a 1/2 ton Dodge and Ford pickup because that seems like it should be the cheapest thing in the US to work on. So far every job has been less expensive or about the same for the Audi. The area where the German car might kill you is labor if you have to pay someone to work on it, especially if you compare to a truck where the whole powertrain is likely to have a easy access. Worst example I can give is the A/C compressor died on the S5, annoying but I accept it as maintenance after 11 years in service. On a truck you probably have to loosen a belt and a few bolts then swap in the new one. On the V8 Audi the compressor is along side the engine and required service position which is removing the front of the car back to the engine (sounds daunting but actually easy as it was designed for this ) and supporting the engine while dropping the subframe down to get to the compressor. Labor would have been killer. I did it in the garage on jack stands over 2 mornings. But don't worry about that, with the inline six most everything you'd ever need to service is easy to access. I just happen to have a car which was folded around around a giant transaxle and engine.

[rwsaunders]

Skip the 2011 and go for this one...

https://www.paulmillervw.com/exotic-...b4eff33c4a.htm

[woolly]

Originally Posted by rwsaunders

Skip the 2011 and go for this one...



https://www.paulmillervw.com/exotic-...b4eff33c4a.htm

Why? I’d rather have the 6-cylinder engine & better steering of the other one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by p nut

I had that itch many years ago. Got a bike instead. Motorbike, that is.

GP Motorcycles in San Diego has the whole fleet of Husqvarna street-legal bikes available for test rides today. Of course, it is RAINING!

[jpritchet74]

I have 3 friends that have had new / nearly new BMW's in the last 10 years and all were sold because of problems.

That being said - that price is cheap - so if you consider that the price of admission and are willing to pay for problems when you arise then do it.

This is from the guy who bought his wife a 2011 Land Rover LR4 about 3 years ago for $30k (new it was close to $60k). The wife loved it and even though I had read the horror stories about cost of ownership I bought it. It has been mostly problem free until a month ago - in that last month we have put $6k into it for new brakes, fixing a coolant leak, and electrical issues.

All worth it - she loves that vehicle.