Thinking of buying a BMW 1 series.
Discussion
Ashvy said:
I'm looking at getting a BMW 1 series (possibly M sport), but having never driven or owned a rear wheel drive car before I'm unsure. Does anyone have any experience of driving a 1 series or any BMW? What are they like in the snow or heavy rain?
I own a coupe 1 series. The tyres are what makes the difference in those conditions from my experience, the stock ditch finder runflats were bad but when replaced with x climates last xmas it dealt with the winter beautifully. It being rwd has never made a blind bit of difference in that regard.I had a 57 plate 123d for over 6 years and 81K miles and really liked it.
But it was time for a change - especially after I'd read some sorry stories about N47 engine timing chains! The N47 engine is what was fitted to the 118d, 120d and 123d BTW.
FWIW it looks like it is still going - it got an MOT in October 2017 at 103K miles.
As for when the cam-chains fail, it's very hit and miss - very many just keep going, but you don't hear about those! But BMW must have sold millions of them as the same engine went into the 318d, 320d and 520d as well the 1 Series diesels.
Despite that the diesels are probably the better option - the 4 cylinder petrol engines suffer from even more issues according to my BMW Indy. Best option is probably the 130i as it has a straight 6 petrol!
And even on Pirelli run-flats my 123d was hopeless in snow.
As I was no longer getting a car allowance or doing business miles I decided it was time to own a straight 6 petrol so I got the car I had always wanted - a Z4 Coupe!
I liked it so much I bought an E46 325ti as a daily, and found a used set of wheels with winter tyres on for less than £200 - no more mobility issues when it got cold!
If you buy a 1 Series and need to get about regardless of the weather I'd recommend some winter tyres, or as someone mentioned above Cross-Climates all year.
But it was time for a change - especially after I'd read some sorry stories about N47 engine timing chains! The N47 engine is what was fitted to the 118d, 120d and 123d BTW.
FWIW it looks like it is still going - it got an MOT in October 2017 at 103K miles.
As for when the cam-chains fail, it's very hit and miss - very many just keep going, but you don't hear about those! But BMW must have sold millions of them as the same engine went into the 318d, 320d and 520d as well the 1 Series diesels.
Despite that the diesels are probably the better option - the 4 cylinder petrol engines suffer from even more issues according to my BMW Indy. Best option is probably the 130i as it has a straight 6 petrol!
And even on Pirelli run-flats my 123d was hopeless in snow.
As I was no longer getting a car allowance or doing business miles I decided it was time to own a straight 6 petrol so I got the car I had always wanted - a Z4 Coupe!
I liked it so much I bought an E46 325ti as a daily, and found a used set of wheels with winter tyres on for less than £200 - no more mobility issues when it got cold!
If you buy a 1 Series and need to get about regardless of the weather I'd recommend some winter tyres, or as someone mentioned above Cross-Climates all year.
Edited by Mr Tidy on Saturday 30th June 21:54
KPB1973 said:
Flippin' eck! Did the ZF8 go pop? I sold mine on when it started sounding like a police siren in 4 gears.
Nope, although it was starting to whine in second. New steering rack.
New exhaust
New window regulators
New cooling system
New Air condenser, pump and a few other odds and sods.
Boot latch
New iDrive system.
Washer jets randomly stopped working
I'm not sure the 8k includes labour, I'm pretty sure it doesn't.
I bought the car in Feb, sold it back to them last week, seeing as I had nothing but trouble.
The local dealer to me in Bristol rhyming with lick dovett said:
Air con needed a regas, relieving me of £80, which subsequently leaked out less than a fortnight later.
Upon taking it back into them telling me it was a "leak" from the condenser, when pushed asking whether it was a hole or stone chip I was told emphatically is wasn't. When booked back in to get parts fitted they decided to change their mind, saying it was caused by a stone, and wasn't covered by the approved used warranty.
Steering rack, told them it was clicking during manoeuvres, you could feel the click in the passenger foot-well and the car was tram-lining badly, I sat with the "Workshop manager" who agreed that it was not right, and was clicking and knocking excessively. After being told on the first visit, where they took £80 from me, they then decided it was a normal noise, and the clicking was fine. When pushed if there was any chance of failure, they would only say "shouldn't be a problem" with no further mention of whether it was safe or not.
On the third visit for it, the knocking/clicking had got worse so I asked them to look at it again, and told them to drive it if required. They said they conducted a 25 mile road test and couldn't see the problem, when checked the odometer, they had done 0.2 miles. When asked why they were lying, the subject was instantly changed.
Then, on final visit they told me that BMW germany had told them not to replace any more racks as it was a common thing, and the replacement would do it anyway.
Exhaust.
Started rattling on startup, really badly. Took it in, and was told to wait until it got really bad as they couldn't do anything with it. Leaving it to get worse it went back in again for them to look at it (when it did 0.2 miles) they told me they couldn't replicate it. Bearing in mind I told them it only did it when cold, and wouldn't be as noticeably when warm. Told them to have it overnight, and to retest in the morning. They told me they had, they didn't. After a while it got to the point where it was doing it all of the time, even when driving. Asked them to take another look, they said they had, but told me it'll be £2000 for an entire new system, as the warranty doesn't cover the exhaust, apparantly.
It's worth noting that the rattle was NOT caused by a blow in the system, instead it's the valve in the exhaust that stays closed during startup to head the cat up quicker.
Window Regs:
They were clicking and popping as they went up and down, they acknowledged the fault, and told me it was the regulators, and it was covered by the warranty. Come to the time to fit it, only to be told they weren't covered by the warranty. No reason given. Only repeatedly told that they would be charged if the part wasn't faulty, and that BMW Hull (supplying dealer) would be able to do more as the profit was with them, as it was bought from them.
Cooling system.
This was caused by them, and refused to acknowledge it. Cooling fan on constantly (even on a cold start!) and the cooling pipes started weeping - reported it to them, told it wasn't them and I must've had someone else look at it?!
Boot latch.
It failed, the day before I was due to go on holiday, their advice was to "not use the boot" f
king helpful, huh? Complained to BMW UK and got that replaced, under warranty.
iDrive:
Since purchasing the car certain elements of the bluetooth streaming on iDrive didn't work, skipping songs, and would randomly cut out. Tried on multiple phones, all same issue. Dick lovett said can't replicate it, when asking what they did, they said they played the radio - so didn't look at the fault.
Washer jets:
Randomly stopped working. The relay was kicking in and there was full fluid (I topped it up, thinking it was that). No leaks. Reset the battery to retry the iDrive, the jets started working again. Didn't speak to dealer about.
All of this on a car with an approved used warranty, and 3 years old (64 reg)
I then spoke to BMW Hull, with me wanting to file a rejection with them, they asked if they could look at it, as they simply couldn't believe how badly Dick lovett had treated me, and was confident most, if not all of it would be covered under warranty.
Took it up to them, every single part was covered under the AUC.
Rack, exhaust, regulators, Air con, Cooling bits, iDrive, everything was covered.
At that point I'd lost any trust in the car, and wanted rid. They bought it back off of me. Yeah, I could've pushed for a rejection, but I couldn't be assed with the hassle it would've caused, and the money I would've got back wouldn't have been much more than what they paid me anyway.
TL;DR:
Local dealer fked me over and repeatedly lied to me. Supplying dealer 240 miles away said it was all covered under warranty.
Air con needed a regas, relieving me of £80, which subsequently leaked out less than a fortnight later.
Upon taking it back into them telling me it was a "leak" from the condenser, when pushed asking whether it was a hole or stone chip I was told emphatically is wasn't. When booked back in to get parts fitted they decided to change their mind, saying it was caused by a stone, and wasn't covered by the approved used warranty.
Steering rack, told them it was clicking during manoeuvres, you could feel the click in the passenger foot-well and the car was tram-lining badly, I sat with the "Workshop manager" who agreed that it was not right, and was clicking and knocking excessively. After being told on the first visit, where they took £80 from me, they then decided it was a normal noise, and the clicking was fine. When pushed if there was any chance of failure, they would only say "shouldn't be a problem" with no further mention of whether it was safe or not.
On the third visit for it, the knocking/clicking had got worse so I asked them to look at it again, and told them to drive it if required. They said they conducted a 25 mile road test and couldn't see the problem, when checked the odometer, they had done 0.2 miles. When asked why they were lying, the subject was instantly changed.
Then, on final visit they told me that BMW germany had told them not to replace any more racks as it was a common thing, and the replacement would do it anyway.
Exhaust.
Started rattling on startup, really badly. Took it in, and was told to wait until it got really bad as they couldn't do anything with it. Leaving it to get worse it went back in again for them to look at it (when it did 0.2 miles) they told me they couldn't replicate it. Bearing in mind I told them it only did it when cold, and wouldn't be as noticeably when warm. Told them to have it overnight, and to retest in the morning. They told me they had, they didn't. After a while it got to the point where it was doing it all of the time, even when driving. Asked them to take another look, they said they had, but told me it'll be £2000 for an entire new system, as the warranty doesn't cover the exhaust, apparantly.
It's worth noting that the rattle was NOT caused by a blow in the system, instead it's the valve in the exhaust that stays closed during startup to head the cat up quicker.
Window Regs:
They were clicking and popping as they went up and down, they acknowledged the fault, and told me it was the regulators, and it was covered by the warranty. Come to the time to fit it, only to be told they weren't covered by the warranty. No reason given. Only repeatedly told that they would be charged if the part wasn't faulty, and that BMW Hull (supplying dealer) would be able to do more as the profit was with them, as it was bought from them.
Cooling system.
This was caused by them, and refused to acknowledge it. Cooling fan on constantly (even on a cold start!) and the cooling pipes started weeping - reported it to them, told it wasn't them and I must've had someone else look at it?!
Boot latch.
It failed, the day before I was due to go on holiday, their advice was to "not use the boot" f
king helpful, huh? Complained to BMW UK and got that replaced, under warranty. iDrive:
Since purchasing the car certain elements of the bluetooth streaming on iDrive didn't work, skipping songs, and would randomly cut out. Tried on multiple phones, all same issue. Dick lovett said can't replicate it, when asking what they did, they said they played the radio - so didn't look at the fault.
Washer jets:
Randomly stopped working. The relay was kicking in and there was full fluid (I topped it up, thinking it was that). No leaks. Reset the battery to retry the iDrive, the jets started working again. Didn't speak to dealer about.
All of this on a car with an approved used warranty, and 3 years old (64 reg)
I then spoke to BMW Hull, with me wanting to file a rejection with them, they asked if they could look at it, as they simply couldn't believe how badly Dick lovett had treated me, and was confident most, if not all of it would be covered under warranty.
Took it up to them, every single part was covered under the AUC.
Rack, exhaust, regulators, Air con, Cooling bits, iDrive, everything was covered.
At that point I'd lost any trust in the car, and wanted rid. They bought it back off of me. Yeah, I could've pushed for a rejection, but I couldn't be assed with the hassle it would've caused, and the money I would've got back wouldn't have been much more than what they paid me anyway.
TL;DR:
Local dealer f
ked me over and repeatedly lied to me. Supplying dealer 240 miles away said it was all covered under warranty. Edited by Blanchimont on Tuesday 3rd July 18:01
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff