Mileage on used 3 series

[RiknRoll]

Hi all, wanted to get people's thoughts.

After the very regrettable sale of my 2007 2.5T Mondeo Ti X Estate (manual) daily runabout (owned for 12-13 years). I've been struggling over the last month or two over what to replace it with (honestly nothing I've tested has been quite as good an all-rounder or me).

After much deliberation I'm moving towards the 3 series xdrive touring, preferably 330d or 335d (though maybe open to the 320i/d). Xdrive (or fwd) for me a must due to ability for usage on snow. It seems to be a good mix of being grown-up for a long trip, fast enough, fun to drive and practical.

However, it's obviously a more expensive option and I want cheap motoring as it's meant to be a runabout - and with that in mind for about £10-15k it's hard to find cars with much under 100k miles (and a decent spec would be nice). I've never actually bought a car above 50k in the past. My Mondeo went at 77k, largely due to mounting repairs due to corrosion from heavily salted roads, despite driving only about 4-5k a year on it.

So my question is this - how does the 3 series cope with "higher" mileage (100k+) at around 10 years old? I realise history is essential. Suspension parts/corrosion, exhausts, gearboxes, and of course the dreaded timing chains (which so far I've read is an item to do usually between 100-150k). What parts have people cars generally wanted for?

[LastPoster]

My 330i is 2017 and 86000 miles. I have had it for a little over 5 years and 70000 of those miles

No issues with rattly trim or electrical things failing. New front struts at the last MOT as one had failed, £900 fitted for a pair and made a world of difference to the ride. Whilst that s earlier than I would expect I think it was a combo of run-flat tyres and appalling roads for a fair amount of a 80 mile, 3 day a week commute

Bit of an engine issue related to VANOS control, sorted by the local Indie with a full software update.

[danb79]

RiknRoll said:

Hi all, wanted to get people's thoughts.

After the very regrettable sale of my 2007 2.5T Mondeo Ti X Estate (manual) daily runabout (owned for 12-13 years). I've been struggling over the last month or two over what to replace it with (honestly nothing I've tested has been quite as good an all-rounder or me).

After much deliberation I'm moving towards the 3 series xdrive touring, preferably 330d or 335d (though maybe open to the 320i/d). Xdrive (or fwd) for me a must due to ability for usage on snow. It seems to be a good mix of being grown-up for a long trip, fast enough, fun to drive and practical.

However, it's obviously a more expensive option and I want cheap motoring as it's meant to be a runabout - and with that in mind for about £10-15k it's hard to find cars with much under 100k miles (and a decent spec would be nice). I've never actually bought a car above 50k in the past. My Mondeo went at 77k, largely due to mounting repairs due to corrosion from heavily salted roads, despite driving only about 4-5k a year on it.

So my question is this - how does the 3 series cope with "higher" mileage (100k+) at around 10 years old? I realise history is essential. Suspension parts/corrosion, exhausts, gearboxes, and of course the dreaded timing chains (which so far I've read is an item to do usually between 100-150k). What parts have people cars generally wanted for?

Personally I'd rather have a car that has high miles and has been looked after, maintained well and serviced within an inch of its life; than a low mileage car that has little to no SH etc

However; when I bought our F31; I wanted under 100k miles and under 10 years old as I wanted to add BMW fully comp warranty, which I did and it paid off in dividends in the 1st 15 months through wear and tear on a few parts that would have been a couple of big bills etc

[Cheddarbang]

RiknRoll said:

Hi all, wanted to get people's thoughts.

After the very regrettable sale of my 2007 2.5T Mondeo Ti X Estate (manual) daily runabout (owned for 12-13 years). I've been struggling over the last month or two over what to replace it with (honestly nothing I've tested has been quite as good an all-rounder or me).

After much deliberation I'm moving towards the 3 series xdrive touring, preferably 330d or 335d (though maybe open to the 320i/d). Xdrive (or fwd) for me a must due to ability for usage on snow. It seems to be a good mix of being grown-up for a long trip, fast enough, fun to drive and practical.

However, it's obviously a more expensive option and I want cheap motoring as it's meant to be a runabout - and with that in mind for about £10-15k it's hard to find cars with much under 100k miles (and a decent spec would be nice). I've never actually bought a car above 50k in the past. My Mondeo went at 77k, largely due to mounting repairs due to corrosion from heavily salted roads, despite driving only about 4-5k a year on it.

So my question is this - how does the 3 series cope with "higher" mileage (100k+) at around 10 years old? I realise history is essential. Suspension parts/corrosion, exhausts, gearboxes, and of course the dreaded timing chains (which so far I've read is an item to do usually between 100-150k). What parts have people cars generally wanted for?

My thoughts.....based on what you've written:

Nothing is as good as a Mondeo in your eyes.

You want the moon on the stick for £10K.

You want it to be bomb proof and never rust.

Yeah, good luck with that.

100K/10 years is average mileage. "Higher" mileage would 150-200K. I know of two F30 330d airport run taxis that are on well over 300K and still going strong.

As with ANY car, it's 90% owner treatment and 10% design/materials flaws.

Almost all grossly exaggerated BMW "horror stories" are down to owner neglect.

You're not going to get a million positive reviews or hand holding with any car purchase. Just buy the bloomin' thing and enjoy it.

Or just buy another Mondeo.

If people put as much energy into just enjoying their choices in life as they do being risk averse and not committing to anything until they've asked a 1000 people first, they'd be much happier.

[andyvtr]

I sold my 2014 f31 330d rwd a couple of years ago with nearly 130k miles on the clock and it was still a great car. Apart from the front arches which were starting to rust, so I’d pay special attention to those when viewing any cars. A gear box service would be beneficial too at around 80k miles. However if I’m honest mine was never done and still performed well. Mine went for £10500 2 years ago and was very well specced.

[sortedcossie]

Tourings do hold their value a bit better.

I've got a really high spec'd 2016 F31 335d, just clicked over 65k miles so I can't comment from personal experience but I do have friends who've had N57'd engined models that have done more than 3 times what mine has done.

Mines a keeper TBH, took me over 3 months to find the one I purchased. Had it 4.5 years now, been a good companion.

[Dannbodge]

Not a 3er but my F11 5er is 2010 and has 150k miles on it.

If you put it on a ramp or got someone to look round it/drive it, you'd guess it had half of that.

They age pretty well but a per all other cars, suspension bits will start to need doing at some point.

[IanJ9375]

Our old F series 330d company car had done 120k in 4yrs and the only failure it had was the horns had failed - it's partly the reason why there's an F80 Comp on the drive.

Checking it's MOT its now sailed beyond 180k on a 2015 plate

[RiknRoll]

danb79 said:

Personally I'd rather have a car that has high miles and has been looked after, maintained well and serviced within an inch of its life; than a low mileage car that has little to no SH etc

However; when I bought our F31; I wanted under 100k miles and under 10 years old as I wanted to add BMW fully comp warranty, which I did and it paid off in dividends in the 1st 15 months through wear and tear on a few parts that would have been a couple of big bills etc

Very interesting, I hadnt actually thought of a potential Warranty! Out of interest what parts went on it ? I'm just curious as I've yet to hear much other than people talking about timing chains on these cars (and there's definitely worse engines for that).

[RiknRoll]

Thanks all, some really useful stuff here actually, I'm not after horror stories, just what I can sensibly expect to spend, or may need doing on these cars at that sort of mileage. I'm aware they are generally reliable cars and that no car is immune or perfect!

[danb79]

RiknRoll said:

Very interesting, I hadnt actually thought of a potential Warranty! Out of interest what parts went on it ? I'm just curious as I've yet to hear much other than people talking about timing chains on these cars (and there's definitely worse engines for that).

When it first had a health check and aircon service - they found all the suspension rubber parts had perished; also the tailgate had a shutting issue, horn was intermittent etc. That was all fixed on one claim (in 2 separate jobs)

2nd claim was the rocker cover gasket and rocker cover had failed due to age/wear & tear etc - they ended up replacing those and a number of pipes/connections and the intake manifold as well due to damage when they removed it...

Thats it - but for £500 (x2 £250 claims), going by BMWs prices and guestimating their labour - we'd have been looking at close to, if not over £5k in bills!

As I'd never owned a BMW this young (2015); I wanted the warranty as peace of mind and had it for the first 2 years

[Mr Tidy]

My 2005 330i has done 130K and still performs brilliantly, although I've had a couple of electrical issues in the 6+ years I've owned it but no rust. I'm pretty sure someone on here has one that has done 400K so I expect it to just keep running.

The 6 cylinder diesels ought to be just as capable of similar mileages. The only cam-chain issues I've read about relate to the 4 cylinder diesels, which is one of the reasons I sold my 123d on 81K!

[doc261]

danb79 said:

When it first had a health check and aircon service - they found all the suspension rubber parts had perished; also the tailgate had a shutting issue, horn was intermittent etc. That was all fixed on one claim (in 2 separate jobs)

2nd claim was the rocker cover gasket and rocker cover had failed due to age/wear & tear etc - they ended up replacing those and a number of pipes/connections and the intake manifold as well due to damage when they removed it...

Thats it - but for £500 (x2 £250 claims), going by BMWs prices and guestimating their labour - we'd have been looking at close to, if not over £5k in bills!

Do they really cover suspension rubber parts and parts that have failed due to wear and tear?

As I'd never owned a BMW this young (2015); I wanted the warranty as peace of mind and had it for the first 2 years

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Mercedes W212 E220 diesel.