Quick run down of buying a 1 series (E87)
Discussion
Hi all,
I'm looking for a 1 series for my Mum and have a few q's. The car needs to be auto, and ideally petrol (reliability and quick to warm up in the winter is more important than economy with this). Having a quick nose through the classifieds it looks like a 2005 120i Sport auto with low mileage (sub 50k) can be bought for around £6.5k which seems fair.
- When was the 1 series facelifted and when were the 3 door models introduced?
- The 147bhp 120i engine seems to be winning at the moment - are there any major reliability issues with these?
- Is it worth spending a bit more on a newer car, or were the 2005 models generally ok?
- Does the autobox suffer from any big problems (e.g. losing reverse gear like in the e46)?
- What options are worth watching out for on these? PDC is almost a must and quite a few tend to have it, Xenons would be nice, but few seem to have this specced.
- Do they come with a 12 year paint warranty like the later e46s?
- What is the smallest size wheel a 120i will take? (For a set of winter tyres).
Anything else to watch out for?
Thanks in advance,
Nick
I'm looking for a 1 series for my Mum and have a few q's. The car needs to be auto, and ideally petrol (reliability and quick to warm up in the winter is more important than economy with this). Having a quick nose through the classifieds it looks like a 2005 120i Sport auto with low mileage (sub 50k) can be bought for around £6.5k which seems fair.
- When was the 1 series facelifted and when were the 3 door models introduced?
- The 147bhp 120i engine seems to be winning at the moment - are there any major reliability issues with these?
- Is it worth spending a bit more on a newer car, or were the 2005 models generally ok?
- Does the autobox suffer from any big problems (e.g. losing reverse gear like in the e46)?
- What options are worth watching out for on these? PDC is almost a must and quite a few tend to have it, Xenons would be nice, but few seem to have this specced.
- Do they come with a 12 year paint warranty like the later e46s?
- What is the smallest size wheel a 120i will take? (For a set of winter tyres).
Anything else to watch out for?
Thanks in advance,
Nick
We had an early 120d (2004) a few years ago which was a nice car.
Major fault on early models was the DTC/ABS pump. Failed on ours and cost a fortune to have it replaced.
The wife knew of two people at work who also had 1 series, and both of them had the same failure.
But it might be by now that if it was going to fail, it would have done. And perhaps most have been replaced by now?
Edited to add that it seems there's now a repair kit available for the failed DTC unit, which costs about £150 + VAT from BMW themselves (which is way, way less than we paid to have our unit replaced a few years back). If only it had been available back then, I could have had a nice holiday abroad with the change...
Major fault on early models was the DTC/ABS pump. Failed on ours and cost a fortune to have it replaced.
The wife knew of two people at work who also had 1 series, and both of them had the same failure.
But it might be by now that if it was going to fail, it would have done. And perhaps most have been replaced by now?
Edited to add that it seems there's now a repair kit available for the failed DTC unit, which costs about £150 + VAT from BMW themselves (which is way, way less than we paid to have our unit replaced a few years back). If only it had been available back then, I could have had a nice holiday abroad with the change...
Edited by stevesuk on Monday 24th October 22:14
NickXX said:
Hi all,
I'm looking for a 1 series for my Mum and have a few q's. The car needs to be auto, and ideally petrol (reliability and quick to warm up in the winter is more important than economy with this). Having a quick nose through the classifieds it looks like a 2005 120i Sport auto with low mileage (sub 50k) can be bought for around £6.5k which seems fair.
- When was the 1 series facelifted and when were the 3 door models introduced?
- The 147bhp 120i engine seems to be winning at the moment - are there any major reliability issues with these?
- Is it worth spending a bit more on a newer car, or were the 2005 models generally ok?
- Does the autobox suffer from any big problems (e.g. losing reverse gear like in the e46)?
- What options are worth watching out for on these? PDC is almost a must and quite a few tend to have it, Xenons would be nice, but few seem to have this specced.
- Do they come with a 12 year paint warranty like the later e46s?
- What is the smallest size wheel a 120i will take? (For a set of winter tyres).
Anything else to watch out for?
Thanks in advance,
Nick
www.babybmw.net is the best place for 1 series advice. I'm looking for a 1 series for my Mum and have a few q's. The car needs to be auto, and ideally petrol (reliability and quick to warm up in the winter is more important than economy with this). Having a quick nose through the classifieds it looks like a 2005 120i Sport auto with low mileage (sub 50k) can be bought for around £6.5k which seems fair.
- When was the 1 series facelifted and when were the 3 door models introduced?
- The 147bhp 120i engine seems to be winning at the moment - are there any major reliability issues with these?
- Is it worth spending a bit more on a newer car, or were the 2005 models generally ok?
- Does the autobox suffer from any big problems (e.g. losing reverse gear like in the e46)?
- What options are worth watching out for on these? PDC is almost a must and quite a few tend to have it, Xenons would be nice, but few seem to have this specced.
- Do they come with a 12 year paint warranty like the later e46s?
- What is the smallest size wheel a 120i will take? (For a set of winter tyres).
Anything else to watch out for?
Thanks in advance,
Nick
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