330ci Sport 2004/5 - Advice please

330ci Sport 2004/5 - Advice please

Author
Discussion

aruck

Original Poster:

829 posts

240 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
Hi,
I am looking to buy a 330ci sport, 2004/2005 model as soon as I can find one. Can anyone tell me if there is anything I should know or be looking out for?
What are the service intervals? Rough Cost? When does cambelt require a change? etc.
Many thanks in advance
Adrian

Deano_BMW

428 posts

187 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
no cambelt mate its chain driven.
service intervals vary on your driving style/conditions etc. 12-15k is the norm though i think.
costs are high at main dealers, much more reasonable at an indy's.only 3 main types. oil service, inspection I and inspection II.
brake fluid and coolant are evry 2 years regardless.

blackburnbmw

2,336 posts

199 months

Wednesday 28th January 2009
quotequote all
I would look for a FSH & sensible mileage for the age and of course good condition. Service intervals count down on the dash - tend to be around 14 - 15,000 depending on how the car is driven. I believe the cam is chain driven. Suspension bushes can get a bit loose at higher mileage. Does it have to be that age? (see profile)

Ash-GT

241 posts

226 months

Thursday 29th January 2009
quotequote all
Its worth looking at the soft trims that go around the door shuts as they tend to sag even on low milage cars they are aprox £200 a side from bmw and sometimes get cut off.

aruck

Original Poster:

829 posts

240 months

Thursday 29th January 2009
quotequote all
Can anyone give me an idea of cost for the 3 service types; oil service, inspection I and inspection II?


Car needs to ideally be less than 6 years old due to the company I work for requiring a condition report every year for cars over 6 years old and it's a bit of a hassle I'd rather avoid.

Cheers

thehos

923 posts

185 months

Thursday 29th January 2009
quotequote all
aruck said:
Can anyone give me an idea of cost for the 3 service types; oil service, inspection I and inspection II?


Car needs to ideally be less than 6 years old due to the company I work for requiring a condition report every year for cars over 6 years old and it's a bit of a hassle I'd rather avoid.

Cheers
spec 1
oil
spec 2
oil
spec 3
oil..................etc

Onetone

37 posts

213 months

Thursday 29th January 2009
quotequote all
Have had three 330 Ci's (all M sports) over recent years, admittedly not for the last couple though - the arrival of kids!!!!

Have got nothing but good things to say about them. Great engines and driving machine. Not a single problem with any of them - each owned for approx 2 years covering about 60K miles each. As with all BMW's though, it's all about the extra's - I always spec'd mine very highly in the vane hope that it would increase the re-sale/trade-in price. Ha ha, bloody ha. Suspect I am not the only mug to do this and therefore would urge you to try and find one with as many extras as possible - won't be that much more expensive but will add to the enjoyment of owning one.

Servicing costs roughly as follows> Oil £150, Insp 1 £250, Insp 2 £350. Obviously depends on whether you go to a main stealer or a local specialist.

Tyres will be about £150 a corner, assuming you don't go cheap.

Fluid change, every 2 years regardless of mileage - about £100.

Happy hunting

aruck

Original Poster:

829 posts

240 months

Thursday 29th January 2009
quotequote all
Thats good to know. Was worried the costs would be higher than that. Been driving a 3.2 Vectra for the last year and costs aren't too dissimilar.
Just need to find one now for the right price and convince them to take my Vectra as part exchange.

Edited by aruck on Thursday 29th January 09:27

Onetone

37 posts

213 months

Thursday 29th January 2009
quotequote all
Plenty of good deals to be done at the moment.

My approach (has been pretty succesful over the years) is to work out exactly how much cash you want to part with, and then say...... I want that car, and I want you to take this car, and I've got a maximum cost to change of £xxxx. Can we do a deal today or do I have to go somewhere else.

At the end of the day, whether they do you a good discount on the new car, or give you a high price for your trade in, its irrelevent - it boils down to your cost to change, and once they know exactly how much hard-earned-cash you're prepared to part with, its up to them to crunch the numbers.