BMW 318d Touring (2014 - f31) - maintenance costs?

[Church of Noise]

After 5 years, the lease contract of my current car is ending.
I've gotten a really good quote from the lease company to buy the car off them (for SWMBO).
The car currently is 5y old and has run 86 k miles, was serviced at a BMW dealer and spent 4 out of 5 years mainly on motorways when I had an 80 mile commute (40 one way), last year it's spent 20 miles a day on twisty roads.

I'm trying to convince SWMBO that we should buy it, yet she's worried about potential issues due to the wear and mileage.
Can anyone shed some light on how maintenance has been on higher mileage cars of this type please?

(for reference, she only does around 2k miles a year and currently has a Lexus CT200h which has 20k miles - I'm thinking this car still has a LOT more value to lose than the 318d...)

[helix402]

That’s not high mileage. However it does have the N47. Change the oil and filter every 10k miles and fuel filter frequently it’ll probably be fine.

[DailyHack]

^ yep this also.

Should be fine, if you were to buy it, gearbox and diff oil refresh would be a good thing also, as this won't have been done by BMW probably.

At least you know the car, that's half the battle and risk when buying a second hand car with possibly someone else's problems.

[Church of Noise]

Thank you both!

DailyHack said:

At least you know the car, that's half the battle and risk when buying a second hand car with possibly someone else's problems.

Absolutely!

[gtidriver]

Ive got a 2013 63 reg 320d, im just about to tick over 96000 miles and ive done 60000 in 2.5yrs. Apart from servicing tyres and a set of brakes all round its been great. Before you buy it check the steering rack by dry steering with engine off, if it knocking then it could be a new rack needed. Mine was replace a couple of weeks ago under my rolling month extended warranty.

[Mr Tidy]

I ran an E87 123d with the early N47 engine from less than 20 miles to over 81K miles over 6+ years and only had 2 issues.

The stupidly expensive AGM battery that needs coding via the OBD died in less than 5 years (£250 at an Indy), and the starter motor died after 6 years (£600+ at Sytner). So if you buy it get the stop/start coded off or turn it off every time SWMBO uses the car!

It was even on the original discs, pads and wiper blades when I sold it!

But I chickened out of the cam-chain lottery and sold it before the "Quality Enhancement" Programme began, which was a shame as it had full main dealer SH.

Still it was a great car, but as a result I discovered straight 6 petrols so it did me a favour.

[pistonheadforum]

Is the CT200h not the perfect car for somebody who is only doing 2k per year?

I know they are a bit dull - but are they not bulletproof and cost pennies to run?

[pistonheadforum]

Asking as I'm currently doing hardly any miles at the moment and thinking of getting a second hand one.

Leather seats, £30 road tax, timing chain rather than belt, Lexus reliability, drives like a dodgem for pootling around cities etc etc.

OP how has your experience with it been?

Many thanks,

[anonymous-user]

Have you asked your good lady ?

Perhaps she doesn't want to run around in a high mileage barge? The Lexus CT200h is bombroof, economical, easy to park and is absolutely ideal for pottering around.

They have also put a 15 year warranty on the batteries.

[Church of Noise]

pistonheadforum said:

Is the CT200h not the perfect car for somebody who is only doing 2k per year?

I know they are a bit dull - but are they not bulletproof and cost pennies to run?

doog442 said:

Have you asked your good lady ?

Perhaps she doesn't want to run around in a high mileage barge? The Lexus CT200h is bombroof, economical, easy to park and is absolutely ideal for pottering around.

They have also put a 15 year warranty on the batteries.

Both of you are absolutely correct, they are bullet proof indeed, and ours has indeed cost close to nothing to run.

The reason why I'd rather keep the BMW than the Lexus is because

• The BMW has more space (especially the boot) - if/when the family extends, this might come in handy.
• I strongly prefer driving the BMW (torque, steering feel)
• I suspect the total cost of ownership of the BMW between now and say 2-3 years might be lower than the Lexus as the BMW has lost already more of its value, meaning that depreciation should be actually less than the Lexus' (BMW is at less than a third of its original value, the Lexus could be sold for about two thirds of its original price so has more to go in absolute terms)

Mileage is indeed one of the main reasons for my better half to prefer the Lexus at this point. Hence my question here

pistonheadforum said:

Asking as I'm currently doing hardly any miles at the moment and thinking of getting a second hand one.

Leather seats, £30 road tax, timing chain rather than belt, Lexus reliability, drives like a dodgem for pootling around cities etc etc.

OP how has your experience with it been?

Many thanks,

I've nothing negative to say about it indeed (cheap to run, Lexus quality, leather seats, ...), except that I find it very very dull to drive.
It lacks torque (the 2 litre engine uses the Atkinson cycle, which means it is very efficient yet has little torque, the electric part tries to compensate to some extent but the sum still is not very impressive) and it feels heavy and numb in terms of steering feel.
My better half loves to drive it on the other hand (even though she feels the beemer still is a better drive - in my defense ) so I'd suggest you have a test drive. It's how we got to buy one in the first place.
For city driving, it is very well suited. (we live in the country side now)