What age car to go for?

love_lifer

Hello all

Sadly my beloved 17 year old BMW 323 is likely a write off after I hit another car. About £1k work needed, possibly less. First time I've been in this situation after 34 years driving, before the haters pile in.

I was tempted to get the work done but think it's probably time to let it go as I now commute and it's not an economical car. It is lovely though.

So I'm tempted to get another BMW given the great experience I've had. What age do I look at? My mechanic reckons older cars are more reliable, so should I look at 10 or 5 year old? Money is tight so I'm looking at high mileage.

Realise this is mainly subjective but I'd appreciate opinions on reliability from people who know about such things

Thanks

Iceweasel

Try an e90 3series.

Don't listen to the nay sayers.

If you do a low mileage get a petrol.

thescouselander

Sounds like you just need to set your budget and get the best car you can with the best combination of age, mileage and condition you can get.

I'm not sure there will be much difference in reliability within a few years. I found my BMW ownership experience to be very poor - by far the most unreliable car I've owned. At least it was relitively easy to fix

love_lifer

Thanks for the messages. Yes a few mates had bad experiences but so have I with ford. It's swings and roundabouts I suppose.

I do about 6-7000 a year. A mix of local and motorway So petrol is best for this?

Herzlos

Yeah at that range you're best with petrol. Should get a better car for the same money too

forgotmyname

5 - 7 years old with a perfect service history, if the budget allows. The older you get the better the service history and papertrail.

You dont just want a stamp in the book which my mate can get done for a couple of £..

A decent stamped book where its not run to within a 100 yards of its maximum service interval and some receipts for jobs done, especially if they even minor things done like bulbs etc..

If its run to the max service interval then find another one.

bigjl

I would avoid the 2.0d to be fair, too high a risk that the camchain could be problematic.

As Iceweasal has already said an early E90 is probably all you want.

But check the BMW Forums for common problems before you buy, modern BMWs have more faults than many think.

Perhaps finding the very last of the E46 might be a good idea as it will probably be a little cheaper than an E90.

Not sure how many miles you do now but I would personally go for the six pot diesels instead of the four pots, I think a BMW should have a six pot.

I did own a 116d for a few months last year and thinking back I can't say it was that impressed. Sounded like a Bus. The six cylinders are better balanced and not as highly stressed as a four pot, I had an Omega years ago, got rid in 02, and that engine was one of the best features of the car, was pricey to service though as it needed Full Synth only and it had a big sump.

mark5

love_lifer wrote: »

Thanks for the messages. Yes a few mates had bad experiences but so have I with ford. It's swings and roundabouts I suppose.

I do about 6-7000 a year. A mix of local and motorway So petrol is best for this?

A lot comes down to previous owners and maintenance, it's not the car that's bad it's the neglect and abuse which makes the car bad.

[Deleted User]

mark5 wrote: »

A lot comes down to previous owners and maintenance, it's not the car that's bad it's the neglect and abuse which makes the car bad.

Good advice , also check out the owner if poss. If he is a youngish/tattoo`d /baseball capped clown the odds for a careful owner will reduce .Personally I m not concerned about the age, within reason, of a car, its how close it is to the production line in mileage which concern me, so low mileage only for me and never mind the age.

Iceweasel

Get a petrol - 6 to 7K a year is not enough to justify a diesel.

Even if you find a 'bargain' of a 320d beware the early N47 engines as they had problems with timing chains - but later ones (after March 20110 should be OK, as are the even earlier ones with the very reliable M47 engine.

The 6 cylinder petrols are much more refined than the 4 cylinder ones which tend to need a heavy right foot to get any real performance from them.

It's a good idea to search (better still join) a decent small friendly BMW forum.

Tell them you've had a BMW for 17 years and are looking for a newer model - you'll get lots of help and advice - on both the good points and the bad of pretty near every model ever built.

Try this one for starters:

http://www.bmwlander.co.uk/index.php?forums/

bigjl

Scarily I have heard of several PH drivers that have had camchain problems on 62 plate 5 Series at a lot less than 100k miles. That could be as a result of less than perfect maintenance of course and a lot of hard town miles

The caveat with deciding petrol or diesel based purely on annual miles is that some people may only do 6/7k but most journeys are long enough for the car and DPF if fitted to get nice and hot and Regen easily.

But some drivers do significant mileages but they are all stop start.

Such as a Home Carer, lots of short journeys then being parked up for say 30 mins, 45mins or maybe an hour. Then maybe a slightly longer run of 4/5 miles and the a repeat going to calls in a different area.

My wife does nearly 500 miles a week at the moment and it is all running here and there.

I suspect he early E90 had a DPF, what about the last of the E46? I am not big on modern BMWs.

I did get the Carly App and the proper Carly OBD Dongle though when I had the 116D, as it was apparently about to be updated to allow DPF Regen. But sold the car a few months after purchase.

I must admit I didn't read the later post regarding annual miles of the OP.

I would probably be tempted to go for a six pot petrol.