330ci Preventative maintainence.
Discussion
The dealer refused to drive it or ride with me whilst i drove it to point out the issues. They put it on the ramp, told me everything was perfect, and therefore they could not fix it as there was nothing wrong with it blah blah.
They also lied at sale stating they had put brand new nangkang tyres on it, when I went to get new ones due to the horrid noise they make, the place pointed out that they only had 2mm of tread.
They are professional liars and in the future I will either business lease and pay the BIK or I will buy from a manu franchise such as Ocean BMW. There is a reason these cars cost more than a specialists do! Ocean made me feel like royalty and I was only there for a £100 part!
I did not go looking for things wrong with it, I had all sorts of people on different forums telling me I MUST change this and MUST change that or it will be dangerous, so I changed it all...and yet it still drove like a piece of s
t.
There is a difference between "could do with changing suspension shocks" and me driving down a slightly cambered road with my rear springs making DOING sounds at 5mph... for example when I shut the drivers door I got a horrid handbrake tension style noise from the rear brakes.
They also lied at sale stating they had put brand new nangkang tyres on it, when I went to get new ones due to the horrid noise they make, the place pointed out that they only had 2mm of tread.
They are professional liars and in the future I will either business lease and pay the BIK or I will buy from a manu franchise such as Ocean BMW. There is a reason these cars cost more than a specialists do! Ocean made me feel like royalty and I was only there for a £100 part!
I did not go looking for things wrong with it, I had all sorts of people on different forums telling me I MUST change this and MUST change that or it will be dangerous, so I changed it all...and yet it still drove like a piece of s
t.There is a difference between "could do with changing suspension shocks" and me driving down a slightly cambered road with my rear springs making DOING sounds at 5mph... for example when I shut the drivers door I got a horrid handbrake tension style noise from the rear brakes.
dude, i am still speechless. you bout a 12 year old car and by the sound of expect it to be minty fresh, totally silent and like new.
I've owned 4 e46's - a 330, x2 325's and m3 and they have been the best and most reliable cars I've had.
never before had change vanos, water pumps, header tanks, cam chains, just general servicing and the odd prop coupling or bearing.
it does sound like the one you had was sitting for a while and just needed and italian tune up
I've owned 4 e46's - a 330, x2 325's and m3 and they have been the best and most reliable cars I've had.
never before had change vanos, water pumps, header tanks, cam chains, just general servicing and the odd prop coupling or bearing.
it does sound like the one you had was sitting for a while and just needed and italian tune up
Well you are reading wrong then.
Over 60mph it felt like I was going to die! Which is why I am not bothered about the financial loss - what is £5500 in the scheme of things when you think you are going to die driving it?
Another 2 things about the dealership that seem wierd:
1. When I bought it, they claimed to know the previous owner, a Mr Simon George, who had it on a priv plate - S11 CNG. They said he lived locally etc.
BMW sent Mr George a letter about airbag recall which got sent on to me - MR Georges address, was listed as the actual garage I bought the car from. Yet I cannot find a Simon George anywhere to do with the garage, in fact anywhere in Plymouth - it seems Mr George does not exist. Furthermore, they had that car for sale for 3 months yet Mr George, whos address was the actual garage, owned it since 2010.
2. When I went to Ocean BMW they scanned my car key to show me what had been done, and no record of them servicing the car showed up since 2004 when it was a year old. Yet in the service book it has quite a few "Ocean BMW" stamps.
Over 60mph it felt like I was going to die! Which is why I am not bothered about the financial loss - what is £5500 in the scheme of things when you think you are going to die driving it?
Another 2 things about the dealership that seem wierd:
1. When I bought it, they claimed to know the previous owner, a Mr Simon George, who had it on a priv plate - S11 CNG. They said he lived locally etc.
BMW sent Mr George a letter about airbag recall which got sent on to me - MR Georges address, was listed as the actual garage I bought the car from. Yet I cannot find a Simon George anywhere to do with the garage, in fact anywhere in Plymouth - it seems Mr George does not exist. Furthermore, they had that car for sale for 3 months yet Mr George, whos address was the actual garage, owned it since 2010.
2. When I went to Ocean BMW they scanned my car key to show me what had been done, and no record of them servicing the car showed up since 2004 when it was a year old. Yet in the service book it has quite a few "Ocean BMW" stamps.
twoblacklines said:
I did not go looking for things wrong with it, I had all sorts of people on different forums telling me I MUST change this and MUST change that or it will be dangerous, so I changed it all...and yet it still drove like a piece of st.
Take my advice: never take advice from people on the internet!t.nitrodave said:
dude, i am still speechless. you bout a 12 year old car and by the sound of expect it to be minty fresh, totally silent and like new.
I've owned 4 e46's - a 330, x2 325's and m3 and they have been the best and most reliable cars I've had.
never before had change vanos, water pumps, header tanks, cam chains, just general servicing and the odd prop coupling or bearing.
it does sound like the one you had was sitting for a while and just needed and italian tune up
Same as this, I paid 3k for my 52 plate 330 ci sport and other than consumables nothing has needed changing. It sounds like the garage ripped you off not just on the sale price but also on the car history. I've owned 4 e46's - a 330, x2 325's and m3 and they have been the best and most reliable cars I've had.
never before had change vanos, water pumps, header tanks, cam chains, just general servicing and the odd prop coupling or bearing.
it does sound like the one you had was sitting for a while and just needed and italian tune up
All sounds very frustrating and I feel for you as it know it'd infuriate me. It's for reasons like this I was prepared to travel any distance to get the right one.
nitrodave said:
I can't quite believe what I am reading here.
You sold it to WBAC at a huge loss so soon after buying it? and You spent £2.5k in 3 weeks knowing the trader is responsible for any problems you had with the car after purchasing it?
I hope this is a wind up.
Just went back a page and read this as well... What a nutter. You must have money to burn if you can afford to write off that much cash in such a short space of time, I take back any sympathy as it appears that you didn't try very hard to get the dealer to resolve the problems. You sold it to WBAC at a huge loss so soon after buying it? and You spent £2.5k in 3 weeks knowing the trader is responsible for any problems you had with the car after purchasing it?
I hope this is a wind up.
This thread is just bonkers.
Isn't MOT mileage check/consistency and service history checks with the appropriate garage standard practice, even for a trade car?
My friend ended up buying a Z4, and although in good nick the MOT cert was taking time to turn up. I advised him to check on-line and yes, the mileages were about 20k out!
So in the end he asked to return it, they said no, then he rang his credit card company (he paid min amount on credit card), and then they took it back and gave a full refund.
So my advice, put the £500 on a credit card, then pay the rest as you desire. You then have the consumer protection stuff on your side, and the credit card co.
Even from an approved garage like BMW, do your checks. Check everything all the time! It takes an hour tops and can save a lot of hassle/headaches later.
Get MOT mileages, service history mileages, dates, line them up and check for anomalies. Just do your homework as there are tons of dodgy crap cars out there.
I bet this one has been sat for years given the details and issues. Again this shows up in a mileage/date plot. Cars sat around for ages is not a good thing.
Dave
Isn't MOT mileage check/consistency and service history checks with the appropriate garage standard practice, even for a trade car?
My friend ended up buying a Z4, and although in good nick the MOT cert was taking time to turn up. I advised him to check on-line and yes, the mileages were about 20k out!
So in the end he asked to return it, they said no, then he rang his credit card company (he paid min amount on credit card), and then they took it back and gave a full refund.
So my advice, put the £500 on a credit card, then pay the rest as you desire. You then have the consumer protection stuff on your side, and the credit card co.
Even from an approved garage like BMW, do your checks. Check everything all the time! It takes an hour tops and can save a lot of hassle/headaches later.
Get MOT mileages, service history mileages, dates, line them up and check for anomalies. Just do your homework as there are tons of dodgy crap cars out there.
I bet this one has been sat for years given the details and issues. Again this shows up in a mileage/date plot. Cars sat around for ages is not a good thing.
Dave
THE HPI check came back all clear. It only had one MOT cert in the service history... I don't know how you get the rest off them from Vosa like WBAC can/do to check that theirs line up?
I kept taking the car back but they said there was nothing wrong with it so couldn't do anything. Paid with debit - I simply don't do credit cards. Bear in mind they are a 60 mile round trip on A roads and going there takes up the best of 3 hours by the time I speak to them etc.
It does look like it has been clocked. They are still selling the car I traded in for 8k for 11k with less miles listed (and more spec options) than it had when I sold it to them... I wonder if they have clocked that also?
I kept taking the car back but they said there was nothing wrong with it so couldn't do anything. Paid with debit - I simply don't do credit cards. Bear in mind they are a 60 mile round trip on A roads and going there takes up the best of 3 hours by the time I speak to them etc.
It does look like it has been clocked. They are still selling the car I traded in for 8k for 11k with less miles listed (and more spec options) than it had when I sold it to them... I wonder if they have clocked that also?
Well I'd learn to use credit cards, because the protection they offer is great in these kinds of cases.
My friend had real trouble returning his clocked car, despite the car actually being ok and feeling very good for the miles it *really* had.
He returned it because it was clocked and it was the insurers who made all that happen. I'm fairly sure within a month they'd disappeared and re-appeared under a new name somewhere else. Not good.
Remember a trader may also not have your money to give you back if you want them to. So again using a credit card gives you protection because they will refund you if you buy a dodgy car!
In your case, had you just held back on spending/wasting money doing jobs on it, and done some homework post sale, there is a good chance you could have returned it had you contacted the appropriate places.
You've learnt a very very hard lesson any way.
Do more homework in future. All the information should be there for you to make a full and realistic appraisal before buying. If it's not, then just walk away as it's almost always gonna be a sign of something dodgy in it's past!
Dave
My friend had real trouble returning his clocked car, despite the car actually being ok and feeling very good for the miles it *really* had.
He returned it because it was clocked and it was the insurers who made all that happen. I'm fairly sure within a month they'd disappeared and re-appeared under a new name somewhere else. Not good.
Remember a trader may also not have your money to give you back if you want them to. So again using a credit card gives you protection because they will refund you if you buy a dodgy car!
In your case, had you just held back on spending/wasting money doing jobs on it, and done some homework post sale, there is a good chance you could have returned it had you contacted the appropriate places.
You've learnt a very very hard lesson any way.
Do more homework in future. All the information should be there for you to make a full and realistic appraisal before buying. If it's not, then just walk away as it's almost always gonna be a sign of something dodgy in it's past!
Dave
It was an expensive lesson but a good lesson.
Already picked up a good, low mileage a3 s-tronic tdi for replacement. Bit soul crushing going from 230hp 3.0 NA Petrol rwd to 140hp, turbo diesel fwd hatchback but atleast it costs next to nothing to run... insurance is half, mpg is double, etc.
Already picked up a good, low mileage a3 s-tronic tdi for replacement. Bit soul crushing going from 230hp 3.0 NA Petrol rwd to 140hp, turbo diesel fwd hatchback but atleast it costs next to nothing to run... insurance is half, mpg is double, etc.
Agreed, ish.
My 04 Z4 is still going strong.
It's starting to need a few more quid spent in some areas but if you stay on top of it it's all ok and still completely reasonable VFM.
Downside is I'm gonna have to be selling it next year as a baby is on the way... really struggling to think what I want to replace it but I think an E90 330i Msport touring is the way to go.
Closest thing to the M54B30 engine in a newer car
Dave
My 04 Z4 is still going strong.
It's starting to need a few more quid spent in some areas but if you stay on top of it it's all ok and still completely reasonable VFM.
Downside is I'm gonna have to be selling it next year as a baby is on the way... really struggling to think what I want to replace it but I think an E90 330i Msport touring is the way to go.
Closest thing to the M54B30 engine in a newer car
Dave
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