BMW virgin with questions...

[robster180]

Hi Guys

My name's Rob and I'm new here...been saving my pennies with the intention to buy a Porker but due to unforeseen circumstances I now need to ferry passengers around, so thought I'd better look into a saloon so I can get people in and out the of back.

Anyway to cut a long story short, I'm looking at 4 door BMWs like the 320d, what's your opinion of these? Running Costs, Service Intervals, BM Dealers or Indy Servicing etc etc

Any recommended used dealers or pre sales inspectors?

I live in central London and will have to do motorway miles to help my folks out

I've got around £10k to play with as I don't wish to part with all my saved pennies on this car.

All help would be gratefully received

[belleair302]

If buying a 320d look closely at an Alpina D3 (430 built). The question is are you buying newish or something 2 or so years old? BMW Car magazine did a buying guide for these last month (December 2008).

[Crombers]

belleair302 said:

If buying a 320d look closely at an Alpina D3 (430 built). The question is are you buying newish or something 2 or so years old? BMW Car magazine did a buying guide for these last month (December 2008).

Might have to look pretty hard to find one for £10k!

[belleair302]

Ahhh good point. I would be looking at a touring, better styling, more space and no real drop in performance.

Buy the best you can afford
Look for accident damage
Check all the electrics
Look at tyre wear for suspension issues
Look at bills not just service log
Start the car both cold and warm
On test drive use the brakes at speed to check disks
I would also look for a good independent garage to undertake your work and get the engine tuned with a decent chip....ie Evolve, DMS etc.

Servicing intervals will depend upon how you drive the car, not mileage. Change the oil every 6,000 miles regardless of what the service book says.

[robster180]

belleair302 said:

Servicing intervals will depend upon how you drive the car, not mileage. Change the oil every 6,000 miles regardless of what the service book says.

Oh really! Any chance you can explain more? Are services normally annual or Bi-annual?

are official BMW servicing costs outrageous?

[belleair302]

BMW servicing costs are not outrageous, but their hourly rate for additional work is. If the car is driven on motorways your engine will be doing less work than town stop / start driving thuis servicing intervals will be slightly less.

Modern BMW's have a Service 1, then an oil service, then a service 2, then oil service, then a service 1 etc. The lights on the dash go from green, through amber to red for when you need a service. Unless you hammer the car or do huge mileage, one major service each year and an oil change or two will do.

Independents charge less for labour, some do more than BMW main dealers when looking after your car and often have more experience.

[robster180]

Thanks! that's all very helpful and insightful

[MitchT]

We wary of 320ds with plastic swirl flaps which can break and be ingested into the engine. If you're one of the unlucky few the car will need a new engine. BMW usually pay for this but you'll have to cough-up for labour of about £2k... which is pretty harsh when the failure is down to them using unsuitable materials. I've only heard about this issue - I'm not an expert on it - So do some research. I don't think failures are widespread but if you do happen to be one of the unlucky few it's gonna hurt your wallet.

Edited by MitchT on Saturday 31st January 12:04

[sprouting]

how many miles are you going to be doing, you might find a petrol model suits your needs, with the difference in purchace price of about 11p per litre, no turbo failiers to worry about and when you want to put your foot down a much nicer engine note.

[Neil.D]

If you were looking at buying a porsche, and now thinking of a BMW diesel then your priorities have seriously changed! The 320 is seriously slow so dont expect any thrills whatsoever.

The servicing comes up on the amount of fuel that passes through the injectors - ergo - drive it hard and the service will come up quicker.

Leave it in the garage and not drive it at all and it will need a service every 2 years.

[fluffnik]

Spend ~£7k on an ALPINA B10 V8 and keep £3k or contingencies and extra fuel

Cheaper and MUCH more fun than a 320d.

Edited by fluffnik on Sunday 1st February 02:12

[belleair302]

Don't tease. The E38 7 series is an amazing buy at the moment. Large, fast, well engineered and a wonderful ownership prospect if purchased with care.

[Job38]

If four doors and a 2.0L diesel are the criteria, I honestly can't see the point of buying a BMW.

£10K would but a new model Mondeo !

[robster180]

...OK so here's an update...

I ended up taking on board your advice and skipping the 320d, I checked out Alpina's and liked them but would've been slaughtered by the other half for not getting a modern motor, so I ended up with a e90 330i SE, so far so good, it oozes a touch of luxury and has a bit of power to boot.

I do have a question about Servicing though...

When I fire her up, the Red Service light comes on then disappears, when going through the OBC with the storks (no iDrive) to find out what the next service is, there's no requirement for a service yet...the only thing that's red is the symbol with a Car with a 'SS' sort of squiggle above it. (Think of an 'S' drawn above another but slightly offset

I've searched the manual's and can't find this symbol, is this a common signal that I shouldn't be worried about, or am I due a visit to the service dept? Also when I turn the engine off, I get a yellow oil light - yet the oil indicates that there's plenty in reserve

Any help or advice?

[Zeonalarm]

robster180 said:

so I ended up with a e90 330i SE

Did you manage to stick to your £10k budget?

[grahamm]

robster180 said:

...OK so here's an update...

I ended up taking on board your advice and skipping the 320d, I checked out Alpina's and liked them but would've been slaughtered by the other half for not getting a modern motor, so I ended up with a e90 330i SE, so far so good, it oozes a touch of luxury and has a bit of power to boot.

I do have a question about Servicing though...

When I fire her up, the Red Service light comes on then disappears, when going through the OBC with the storks (no iDrive) to find out what the next service is, there's no requirement for a service yet...the only thing that's red is the symbol with a Car with a 'SS' sort of squiggle above it. (Think of an 'S' drawn above another but slightly offset

I've searched the manual's and can't find this symbol, is this a common signal that I shouldn't be worried about, or am I due a visit to the service dept? Also when I turn the engine off, I get a yellow oil light - yet the oil indicates that there's plenty in reserve

Any help or advice?

It sounds like it needs a service. The service indicator lights come on for a few seconds when you turn the ignition on. Five green lights mean it has recently been serviced. An orange light means a service is due and I think red means a service is overdue

[robster180]

Under the 10k budget - Yes fair bit under, I found a high miler (81k) previously owned by BMW, I guess as a courtesy or company car.

I'll post some piccies when I get a mo.

Thanks for the advice, I'll book in a service, I guess it's a minor one as everything else indicates it doesn't need looking at for quite a while

[mike325112]

grahamm said:

robster180 said:

...OK so here's an update...

I ended up taking on board your advice and skipping the 320d, I checked out Alpina's and liked them but would've been slaughtered by the other half for not getting a modern motor, so I ended up with a e90 330i SE, so far so good, it oozes a touch of luxury and has a bit of power to boot.

I do have a question about Servicing though...

When I fire her up, the Red Service light comes on then disappears, when going through the OBC with the storks (no iDrive) to find out what the next service is, there's no requirement for a service yet...the only thing that's red is the symbol with a Car with a 'SS' sort of squiggle above it. (Think of an 'S' drawn above another but slightly offset

I've searched the manual's and can't find this symbol, is this a common signal that I shouldn't be worried about, or am I due a visit to the service dept? Also when I turn the engine off, I get a yellow oil light - yet the oil indicates that there's plenty in reserve

Any help or advice?

It sounds like it needs a service. The service indicator lights come on for a few seconds when you turn the ignition on. Five green lights mean it has recently been serviced. An orange light means a service is due and I think red means a service is overdue

The E90 has the same software as my 1 series, so it won't have the five lights etc. I think its brakes but I can't remember, it is in the manual though, I've had it on mine. If you bought it from BM then I would give them a ring, they shouldn't be selling car with a service light on.

Edited by mike325112 on Wednesday 18th February 13:09