E90/91 buying advice.

[valiant1]

First of all apologies as I'm sure all the info I need is in here somewhere but search is borked yet again and I ain't trawling through 700 odd pages to find what I need.

Anyway, looking at my options when it comes to replace the focus in 6-12 months and I've taken a liking to a 3 series touring around 2007/08 vintage (that is e90/91, right?).

Has to be a petrol as my milage doesn't warrant a diesel and I'm looking at a 318/320 or possibly stretch to a 325.

Now, am I right in thinking that these engines have been around for yonks so should be fairly bulletproof? Is the 325 worth the extra costs over the 318/320? Any other problem areas I should be looking for when I finally go looking?

Would you pay the premium for a BMW used car rather than from a general dealer?


Basically I'm after a buyers guide and any help would be appreciated

[RiccardoG]

Some time in late 2008 there was a change to the direct petrol 6 cyl injection engines, these are less reliable than the older versions (non direct). For the 325i in particular, you can tell as power went up as did displacement to 3 litre.

We've had a 325i Touring since new, issues we've had :

- A couple injector replaced (resolved free under recall campaign)
- High pressure fuel pump replaced (resolved free under recall campaign)
- Windscreen cracked
- Leaking washer reservoir (not resolved)

In addition the engine occasionally still misfires when accelerating. Despite its 220bhp its not very fast, certainly doesn't feel it anyway.

I am also not a fan of the very hard suspension through which you feel ruts and bumps in the road (we're on 16" wheels with runflats and non-sport suspension). The manual gearbox has a long throw and notchy feel, some like it some don't. The clutch delay valve (standard on all manual BMWs) makes it difficult to have smooth changes, particularly 1st to 2nd. Its noisier on the road than an equivalent Merc C Class.

Despite all the above, which may seem quite critical, its a relatively nice car overall and we will probbaly keep it for quite some time, probably more because we bought new and cash!

If you're still keen on the petrol E91, my advice would be to get 325i pre-08 in automatic with non runflats.

[chris_w]

Hi, we bought an '07 325i Touring M Sport about 6 months ago. Had 32k miles on it and felt like new (as did the cars with double that mileage that I test drove). We also don't do big miles so sticking with petrol over the diesel was a no brainer.

We test drove the 4 pots and there is no comparison in terms of smoothness, the 6 pot wins hands down unsurprisingly. Agree with the post above that the transmission isn't the easiest to shift smoothly with, I've onlt just found out about the clutch damper valve (CDV) so will get this removed to see if it helps.

Performance isn't earth shattering but pulls well enough, especially if you rev it. Incidentally, I don't think power was increased with the change to the 3 litre engine, only the torque figure rose. I test drove both and can't remember noticing a massive difference between the two.

MPG varies from mid twenties about town to mid thirties on the motorway. It's a very nice mile muncher.

Ride seems ok, I've seen some say they prefer the M Sport as they use better quality dampers? Either way, there's noticeably less roll and is a nice balance for us.

Only issue with ours has been a steering column fault that resulted in a new column and a hefty £600 bill, ouch... It's a common fault and the replacement part is upgraded to avoid a repeat, look for evidence that this might have been done.

[chris_w]

valiant1 said:

Would you pay the premium for a BMW used car rather than from a general dealer?

No, because it is quite a premium that you'll pay. If you look through the classifieds you'll see that most main dealers stop trading the 4yr plus cars and suddenly the asking prices plummet. I reckon we saved about 4k buying privately so, even with the cost of our steering column fault to pick up, are still well ahead.

[valiant1]

chris_w said:

valiant1 said:

Would you pay the premium for a BMW used car rather than from a general dealer?

No, because it is quite a premium that you'll pay. If you look through the classifieds you'll see that most main dealers stop trading the 4yr plus cars and suddenly the asking prices plummet. I reckon we saved about 4k buying privately so, even with the cost of our steering column fault to pick up, are still well ahead.

Thanks guys, this is the type of thing I needed to know.

I must admit there is a sizable difference between main dealer prices and general dealers and was mainly thinking about main dealers for the warranty. However, in searching around I've found out you can buy an AUC warranty provided you have FBMWSH so if you buy right you'll still be quids in with warranty costs on top.

I guess I'll have to try both variants and see which one suits.

[RiccardoG]

Just make sure you get a car with less than 60k miles as the BMW warranty nearly doubles in cost when over that mileage.

Another tip is to pay monthly, as opposed to annually, as that way even when you do go over the 60k mark you won't see a price difference.