Buying a 2 year old BMW 3 series saloon, which one?

[chukwe]

I'm planning on buying a used BMW 3-series 2017 or 2018 saloon, but looking for the most reliable variant?

I currently have an E90 2006 BMW 318i 202,000 miles.

Which model variant is the most reliable out of them?

[Greg the Fish]

LOL! 'Reliable'..........'BMW'............pull the other one.

[chukwe]

You mean that no BMW 3 series is reliable?

[zedx19]

This is PH, M3 or nothing.

[toon10]

I'd not be too concerned about reliability on a BMW that new. I went from a 2006 E90 325i to a 2016 m135i. In 8 years of driving the only time I've had either car in for a fault was on the E90. Turned out to be a coil pack and very cheap to fix.

Edited by toon10 on Thursday 26th September 09:28

[RobM77]

chukwe said:

I'm planning on buying a used BMW 3-series 2017 or 2018 saloon, but looking for the most reliable variant?

I currently have an E90 2006 BMW 318i 202,000 miles.

Which model variant is the most reliable out of them?

I'm not aware of any particular problems.

One thing I must warn you of though is that compared to your pre-LCI E90, the standard SE suspension on the 2017/2018 model will feel very soggy and understeerey - I can't overstate that! The 2017/18 MSport suspension is roughly equivalent to the pre-LCI E90 SE (standard) suspension in my opinion (having done 100k miles in my '07 pre-LCI E90 SE, 90K miles in my post-LCI '10 E90 ED, and then test driven a 2017 F30). Beware of people calling MSport a bone shaker - this is old news dating back to the MSport of your current car's era - things have changed a lot since then, with the whole range of 1, 3 and 5 series taking a step away from classic BMW ride and handling towards the underdamped understeer setup that most modern cars have. The other suspension option you have, if you're very keen on handling, is Birds aftermarket, which is about £2k fitted; it's stunning and I had it on my '10 E90 for about 40k miles.

ps: Filter all replies to this thread to take into account British people's irrational hatred of BMWs.

Edited by RobM77 on Thursday 26th September 09:31

[chukwe]

zedx19 said:

This is PH, M3 or nothing.

Just checked it out. Can't afford it.

[chukwe]

RobM77 said:

I'm not aware of any particular problems.

One thing I must warn you of though is that compared to your pre-LCI E90, the standard SE suspension on the 2017/2018 model will feel very soggy and understeerey - I can't overstate that! The 2017/18 MSport suspension is roughly equivalent to the pre-LCI E90 SE (standard) suspension in my opinion (having done 100k miles in my '07 pre-LCI E90 SE, 90K miles in my post-LCI '10 E90 ED, and then test driven a 2017 F30). Beware of people calling MSport a bone shaker - this is old news dating back to the MSport of your current car's era - things have changed a lot since then, with the whole range of 1, 3 and 5 series taking a step away from classic BMW ride and handling towards the underdamped understeer setup that most modern cars have. The other suspension option you have, if you're very keen on handling, is Birds aftermarket, which is about £2k fitted; it's stunning and I had it on my '10 E90 for about 40k miles.

ps: Filter all replies to this thread to take into account British people's irrational hatred of BMWs.

Edited by RobM77 on Thursday 26th September 09:31

Thanks for your reply.

So I should go for the MSport model of any variant I decide to buy.

What does the BIrds do to the car?

[RobM77]

chukwe said:

RobM77 said:

I'm not aware of any particular problems.

One thing I must warn you of though is that compared to your pre-LCI E90, the standard SE suspension on the 2017/2018 model will feel very soggy and understeerey - I can't overstate that! The 2017/18 MSport suspension is roughly equivalent to the pre-LCI E90 SE (standard) suspension in my opinion (having done 100k miles in my '07 pre-LCI E90 SE, 90K miles in my post-LCI '10 E90 ED, and then test driven a 2017 F30). Beware of people calling MSport a bone shaker - this is old news dating back to the MSport of your current car's era - things have changed a lot since then, with the whole range of 1, 3 and 5 series taking a step away from classic BMW ride and handling towards the underdamped understeer setup that most modern cars have. The other suspension option you have, if you're very keen on handling, is Birds aftermarket, which is about £2k fitted; it's stunning and I had it on my '10 E90 for about 40k miles.

ps: Filter all replies to this thread to take into account British people's irrational hatred of BMWs.

Edited by RobM77 on Thursday 26th September 09:31

Thanks for your reply.

So I should go for the MSport model of any variant I decide to buy.

What does the BIrds do to the car?

Not necessarily; it depends if you value comfort or handling more. Given that you're used to your pre-LCI E90, ask yourself which direction you'd like the balance between comfort and handling to go. M Sport is roughly the same feel as SE is on your car, perhaps a bit more sporty, although the biggest difference to ride will be wheel size, because E90 SEs came with 16s as standard, but F30 MSports had 18s I think. To keep the rolling circumference the same, the M Sport 18s run thinner sidewalls, which give a more positive turn in, but make the car jiggle more over road imperfections (secondary ride). F30 SE suspension is, to my senses at least, like a bouncy castle; my Dad loves his though, so each to their own.. Try both if possible!

Birds suspension is an aftermarket suspension kit designed by a well regarded BMW specialist in Slough as a replacement for M Sport. Unlike most kits, they haven't gone for a "lowered look" or any crap like that, they've genuinely spent time and effort trying to improve how BMW M-Sport cars drive on UK roads. The first stage is springs and dampers, and then beyond that you can spec ARBs. I had those three new components fitted to my post-LCI and it was fantastic, especially the ARBs. On the negative side, insurance companies can be suspicious (mine were fine because the car wasn’t lowered), it is an expensive addition to a secondhand car for £10k-£15k, and it may affect warranties (I don't know on this one as my E90 was out of warranty when I bought it). In summary, the Birds kit has softer springs, but firmer dampers, and is designed to work with non-RFT tyres that have softer sidewalls to remove that jiggle I spoke about earlier.

Edited by RobM77 on Thursday 26th September 13:46

[ZX10R NIN]

chukwe said:

Thanks for your reply.

So I should go for the MSport model of any variant I decide to buy.

What does the BIrds do to the car?

Go for the 340i in M Sport trim.