Friday 2nd July 2010

SOTW Special: BMW 328i Touring

Riggers goes a little mad and chucks his own hard-earned at a leggy BMW

---

Foglights off, please

I blame my father for this. Back in 1998 he was toying with buying an Impreza Turbo wagon, a Volvo V40 T4, and a BMW 328i Touring. I was desperately hoping he would pick the 328i, but in the end he plumped for the Volvo.

Admittedly at the time I thought this was okay, as the 850 T5 was still around, and Rickard Rydell was halfway to winning the then mega-glamorous BTCC. But I still wished he had gone for the BMW; I had fallen in love with its unfussy, blocky-yet-smooth shape, and the allure of its creamy straight six. I was also taken with the fact that it was a faster sprinter than its saloon brother: my memory tells me 0-60 figures of 6.1secs versus 6.4secs, though I can only find the figures for the saloon (part of a five-star Autocar road test, no less).

A quick wash at the local hand car wash...

In retrospect I realise that the near-£30k cost of a well-specced 328i versus the £22,000-ish price of the Volvo we eventually bought; so Dad, if you're reading this, I don't blame you for buying the V40. But I do blame you for me buying the car you see here because, 12 years on, I am finally scratching that 328i Touring itch.

When our own classified admin guru Rusty-C forwarded me the advert as a potential SOTW, I very nearly asked him to delete the ad (I didn't of course - that would be grossly unethical). It just felt like exactly the car I'd been looking for. It was Boston Green, it had the alloys I remember seeing in the magazine road tests (lovely, delicate 10-spoke jobs), it had beige leather. Heck, it even had dual-zone climate control and rear parking sensors. This was a car that cost more than £26k when it was new - and probably beyond £30k with all the option boxes ticked - being offered for £995.

...inside and out...

It even appeared to have a full service history, and a quick HPI check seemed to reveal no particularly chequered past.

I definitely had to see it. There followed a weekend of nervousness as I tried - but failed - to get in touch with the vendor. Eventually I managed it, and Mr Will and myself trundled over in the PH Landie to take a look.

The car we were presented with, however, was not quite the cherished high-miler I had imagined. The lacquer was peeling off the paintwork in a few places, there were more than a few scratches (including a touched-up key line all the way down one side), and there were two chunky dents, one in each rear door. I felt a bit deflated.

...and she looks quite respectable

Still, we had a good nose around the car and, beyond the cosmetic issues, things seemed fine. The tyres were good, the engine showed evidence of a replacement engine block (no nikasil cylinder lining problems here, and there was very little evidence of rust.

A quick spin around the block cheered me up still further. The engine seemed smooth and solid, the five-speed auto responsive, and the steering and suspension felt fresh and free of suspicious knockings. I was pretty much smitten.

Then we looked at the history. This revealed a string of service stamps, and all the old MOTs. It also revealed the fact that the odometer is currently reading a thousand or so miles fewer than it did when it was MOT'd last September. Ah.

Cabin tidy but 'lived-in'

Perhaps I should have walked away right then. Trouble was, by this point I was so keen on the car that I didn't. Instead I offered £900 for the car, to which the seller, using a spectacularly curious haggling technique, responded with the offer of £870. Gentleman that I am, I accepted.

So I am now the proud owner of a scruffy, 14-year-old BMW of dubious mileage. Is it clocked? Probably. Could it have been a typo at the MOT station or simply a dicky mileometer? Maybe.

I don't care, really - because I think it's brilliant. And I've been in plenty of 200k-mile-plus cars, and this doesn't feel like one. Besides, as the vendor rightly pointed out, if you were going to clock it, wouldn't you just 'misplace' the incriminating MOT certificate?

Just don't mention the dent...

I'm barely five days into ownership, but so far my 328i has been right on the button. I do have my fingers firmly crossed, though. Philip Larkin wrote that "They **** you up, your mum and dad." I sincerely hope the car that I've bought precisely because my parents never did proves him wrong.

Advert reproduced below:

BMW 328I TOURING AUTO SUPERB (1997)
140,000 miles £995

BOSTON GREEN METALLIC WITH OATMEAL LEATHER TRIM , SPOKED FACTORY 16 INCH ALLOYS WITH NEW TYRES ICE COLD AIR CON. POWER WINDOWS, MIRRORS, LOCKS, ON BOARD COMPUTER , PARKINGSENSORS , SWITCHABBLE AUTO , DUAL AIRBBAGS , SECURITY SCREENS.

...or that one...

REMOTE FOB LOCK , MUSIC ETC ETC . VERY SMOOTH AND POWERFUL DRIVES LIKE THE DAY IT LEFT THE SHOWROOM , MOT . ROAD TAX . INVOICES FULL BMW HISTORY 140K PLUS MILES AA-RAC INSPEC WELCOME 995.00 SOUTH CROYDON

[zakelwe]

"Instead I offered £900 for the car, to which the seller, using a spectacularly curious haggling technique, responded with the offer of £870."

That's the sort of thing I'd do whilst being "a bit flustered".

If you had made a counter offer should you have done £850 or £920 to beat him further down I wonder? I guess we will never know now...

That's the best colour for those cars too.

Andy

Edited by zakelwe on Friday 2nd July 11:15