Best place to buy a used BMW?

tykesi

gilberto wrote: »

Don't waste everyone's time

Why not, you do!

gilberto wrote: »

just contribute with useful advice.

Feel free to do this yourself...

neilmcl

gilberto wrote: »

Sorry but rather than derailing this thread why don't you actually help the OP with information? Don't waste everyone's time by trying to play a game of "catching DM" and rather, just contribute with useful advice.

No need to play "catching DM", you've been caught. Move on.

daveyjp

Crazystar wrote: »

Thank You All for the replies. Even I am inclined to go to the dealer for the peace of mind but main dealers are 4-5k more expensive than places like Cargiant.

wrt reliability, I have heard different opinions - some say its been very reliable for them and others say its been a crap. Difficult to judge the reliability as there is no real data.

Other question, how expensive it is to maintain a car like bmw x3, what would be the yearly costs??

Any 4-5 year old car can be a lemon - that's why you need to factor this in when buying and if your budget is £15k, find one at £12k and have £3k for any repairs.

As regards running cost I have a friend who had a 330i and his wife has an X5 4.0d. Both were bought on the same day 5 years ago. In October last year, at 4 years old the X5 suffered a failed cylinder head gasket and a week later the 3 suffered a failed water pump which lead to further damage. Despite arguments with BMW no contribution was forthcoming so that was close to £3k in repairs.

The 330i was sold earlier this year, but at the end of October this year the X5 threw up another major fault on the transmission which won't be cheap to fix.

If you have lemonade pockets, don't buy a car with champagne running costs.

motorguy

daveyjp wrote: »

Any 4-5 year old car can be a lemon - that's why you need to factor this in when buying and if your budget is £15k, find one at £12k and have £3k for any repairs.

As regards running cost I have a friend who had a 330i and his wife has an X5 4.0d. Both were bought on the same day 5 years ago. In October last year, at 4 years old the X5 suffered a failed cylinder head gasket and a week later the 3 suffered a failed water pump which lead to further damage. Despite arguments with BMW no contribution was forthcoming so that was close to £3k in repairs.

The 330i was sold earlier this year, but at the end of October this year the X5 threw up another major fault on the transmission which won't be cheap to fix.

If you have lemonade pockets, don't buy a car with champagne running costs.

An X3 isn't really a "champagne lifestyle" car though is it?


Running costs should really just be tyres and servicing.

I'd an X5 and it took in total 6 tyres a year (4 fronts, two rears) @ £250 a corner, so its worth checking out costs for stuff like that (it ran on 20s)

I'd say a car like this could generate a £3,000-£4,000 bill if you're really unlucky (as could most cars these days) and being a heavy ish 4x4 theres increased likelihood of an event like that, so either be aware it might happen and plan for it or extend the Approved Used warranty.

gilberto

daveyjp wrote: »

If you have lemonade pockets, don't buy a car with champagne running costs.

Rightly said. 4.0D and the 330i are high performance cars, both achieving 0-0 in under 6 seconds and will have high running costs and more parts likely to fail.

motorguy

gilberto wrote: »

Rightly said. 4.0D and the 330i are high performance cars, both achieving 0-0 in under 6 seconds and will have high running costs and more parts likely to fail.

I've seen no evidence though that the O/P is looking for a high end X3 have we?


A 2.0d X3 or even a 3.0d is hardly living the champagne lifestyle is it?

Herzlos

gilberto wrote: »

Rightly said. 4.0D and the 330i are high performance cars, both achieving 0-0 in under 6 seconds and will have high running costs and more parts likely to fail.

Irregardless of the accuracy of the above statements, none of it has any relevance to this thread.

The OP is asking *where* to buy, not anything else. No-one cares if anyone knows the 0-62 speeds of any car's we're not even talking about here.

motorguy

Herzlos wrote: »

Irregardless of the accuracy of the above statements, none of it has any relevance to this thread.

The OP is asking *where* to buy, not anything else. No-one cares if anyone knows the 0-62 speeds of any car's we're not even talking about here.

Unless you're a BMW fanboy like Dark Matter....

gilberto

Excuse me but I am not DM and I am not a fan of BMWs. As I have said, they are great car to drive but very unreliable. Their popularity rose from their distinguished handling and performing attributes but most sensible people on the road realise that our public roads are not race tracks.

Tothepoint.

gilberto wrote: »

Excuse me but I am not DM and I am not a fan of BMWs. As I have said, they are great car to drive but very unreliable. Their popularity rose from their distinguished handling and performing attributes but most sensible people on the road realise that our public roads are not race tracks.

You were and you were a fan of the mighty M cars.