Potential E90 touring purchase

[TJenkos]

Hi guys,

I'm currently looking into E90 320d M-sport Touring models, most likely ex-lease/company with circa 50-70k.

Seen a couple about, one locally which I believe has sold already, and wondered who's had experience with ownership?

I intend on changing from my R53 Cooper S and have something more economical, practical, and most of all suitable to tow my track bike and carry all the gear.

What's there to know about them, and should I be wary of buying with this sort of mileage after 3-4 years? Is warranty a must-have?

I've definitely decided it'd have to be an M-sport, and diesel is wise... But what else should I be looking for?

Also how do leasing firms tend to flog old stock? Are they auctioned or sent back to dealers? I've only been looking at the usual AutoTrader and PH Classifieds...

Thanks in advance,
Tom

[martin mrt]

Its actually an E91, the saloon is an E90

I've never owned a 320d but I have had two previous E91s a 330 and 335d and I'm currently on my 2nd E91 335d

They are generally reliable cars, only faults I've had with mine have been a cruise control switch and door latch on my first two and a diff input seal on my current one,

Try and buy below 60k with full BMW service history and you can then add a BMW warranty

[gizlaroc]

I have had a couple of E91's, good cars, and really all the car you ever need.

Nothing major goes wrong with them, steering lock or something, it is electrical and means you can't get your key in or out when it goes, but that is about it and pretty rare, plus I think BMW sort it even out of warranty.

If you can get a post Sept. 2007 build it is worth it as they are far more economical, I had the earlier 163bhp, albeit in a smaller lighter 1 series, and struggled to average about 35mpg, and on a run 40 was the max, the post efficient dynamics facelift model E91 we had would average 46 no problem and see silly figures on a run, mid 50s pretty easily and even managed mid 70's on a bank holiday weekend in 50mph traffic in Norfolk.

Mine were both autos, pre facelift manual might fair better.

[Panda76]

Ive been running a 163 late 2006 E91 for 2 years with no problems.
Its a manual and my mpg ranges from 38 around town and mid 50's on a run at 75-80 mph.

Turbos can go pop on earlier models. Keeping the oil good,allowing the engine to warm up and letting the turbo wind down before switching off helps.

Mine has no dpf, models fitted with dpf can suffer some clogging problems if they only do short journeys or are close to 100k. If the car can not regen the dpf a new one will be needed at around 1200 quid plus fitting. There is companies out there that will remove the dpf and tell the ecu to stop looking for it for half that price.

Swirl flap failure is an early model issue and affected cars up to 2005. Issues with swirl flaps seem to be resolved. Manifolds that are modified are 577- a further modification was made and that manifold is 579. 579 was introduced from around nov 2006. My manifold is 579 build date dec 2006.

Been a good car with low service costs with the condition based servicing.

Mixed opinions with runflats-personally I hated the ride and the tramlining and constant steering adjustments to keep the car in check. I ditched mine for non run flat and bought tyre sealing gunk and a plug in compressor.
Excellent ride now and no tramlining. Transformed the driving.

I would definately have another one when the time comes to swap.

Edit to add. It would be very wise to have a good warranty as with all things bmw when things go wrong its not cheap. Make sure the warranty covers turbos as there is some weak turbines out there still ( for piece of mind if anything)

Edited by Panda76 on Thursday 13th October 08:32

[paoloh]

I know of a 330d M sport for sale.

What is your budget?

[TJenkos]

Thanks for that information, massive help. Missed out on one locally for a fair price with 57k miles on which was a bit of a bum!

My budget would be around 12k

[Panda76]

To add a bit more on runflats - they will be ok if they have lots of mileage left in them, they tend to start making the car tramline and skit about from around 8-9k onwards.
I had a new set on Contis SSR runflats on and motorway munching I got just over 12k out of them before they hit the indicators. Put up with some odd handling behaviour for a while too.
12K just ain't good enough,which swayed me way over to dumping them.
If there is runflats out there that could last as long as normal tyres and not make the car become skittish and tramline once they are worn a bit I would happily buy another set.

Good luck with finding a tourer that you want , they are like rocking horse st