Best place to buy a used BMW?

tykesi

fred246 wrote: »

Either in overtime, more years working before retirement or less spending elsewhere unless you've inherited a fortune or won the lottery etc.

Nonsense....

gilberto

This exactly as poster above says. The ironic part is that if you look at the buyers of BMW cars from the likes of Car Giant, almost all are middle/lower class earners yet want the glitz and glam of having a "prestige" car.

neilmcl

fred246 wrote: »

A bit off topic but still MSE. I work in an industry with plentiful overtime if you want it. I was talking to a colleague who had worked every Sunday for the last year. We discussed his daily rate. We then moved onto cars. He was saying that he had bought a new BMW but it wasn't quite the engine he wanted so he'd swapped it. Exactly the same car but a bigger engine. He said he'd paid extra to jump the queue. It just turned out the extra he paid was exactly the same as his yearly overtime payments. We both realized this. I was thinking what an idiot. I think he was a bit embarrassed. People can choose to buy these prestige vehicles but you have to realize that they cost. Either in overtime, more years working before retirement or less spending elsewhere unless you've inherited a fortune or won the lottery etc.

Had he already collected his car before changing because that would've been quite an expensive mistake I'd imagine.

fred246

Yes. He decided he wanted the more powerful one. Is there an M version of the Z4? I have no idea. It was exactly the same car just bigger engine. I thought to myself he has worked every Sunday for a year for maybe 1 or 2 seconds off his 0-60 time.

motorguy

gilberto wrote: »

This exactly as poster above says. The ironic part is that if you look at the buyers of BMW cars from the likes of Car Giant, almost all are middle/lower class earners yet want the glitz and glam of having a "prestige" car.

Maybe they just want a nice car and they like the particular bmw they bought?

Why does it have to be about projecting glitz and glamour and "champagne lifestyle on a lemonade money wage"?

The 3 series is probably best in its class and has reasonable resideals and quote easy resold. Probably the boxes most people tick when they buy one.

motorguy

fred246 wrote: »

Yes. He decided he wanted the more powerful one. Is there an M version of the Z4? I have no idea. It was exactly the same car just bigger engine. I thought to myself he has worked every Sunday for a year for maybe 1 or 2 seconds off his 0-60 time.

I'd have remapped the one he had or put a tuning box on it.

Iceweasel

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??

I would still say to look for a BMW AUC car from a BMW dealer.

I know too many people who have had problems with warranty claims from non-BMW dealers.

Don't buy anything that doesn't have a full BMW service history - as that can give you problems too - I know it shouldn't - but again I know people who have a load of hassle.

As for the maintenance, costs that depends to a great extent on the annual mileage you anticipate.

BMW can offer an AUC Service Inclusive plan which (depending on exact model) will cost around £450 -£500 for 2 years.

If you do over 15K a year you would likely get 3 oil-change services, plus a brake-fluid change and a few filters (air & fuel, or spark-plugs)) which would be less than the full BMW cost of those services.

However if you do less than 15K you are unlikely to get more than 2 oil-change services so the Service Inclusive would be a bad idea - better just to get the car serviced at the walk-in price.

Without knowing your annual mileage and your preferred engine choice, the annual cost is a bit like How long is a piece of string?'

force_ten

gilberto wrote: »

This exactly as poster above says. The ironic part is that if you look at the buyers of BMW cars from the likes of Car Giant, almost all are middle/lower class earners yet want the glitz and glam of having a "prestige" car.

nothing worse than buying a poverty spec eco box just to impress the neighbours with the blue and white propeller

Iceweasel

force_ten wrote: »

nothing worse t han buying a poverty spec eco box just to impress the neighbours with the blue and white propeller

Actually it's not blue and white.

It's white and blue. LOL

They make a big thing of pointing that out when you go on any of the various BMW factory tours or visit the BMW Museum/BMW Welt.

It's the colours of the flag of Freistaat Bayern - the Federal State of Bavaria.

neilmcl

force_ten wrote: »

nothing worse than buying a poverty spec eco box just to impress the neighbours with the blue and white propeller

Define "poverty spec eco box".