From: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#1]
4 Feb 19:21
To: ALL
I've thought of buying a used 200-2003 Bmw 300 model, but most reviews seem to be horror stories. Expensive repairs and not very reliable.
However, for every bad review, there is a good review: reliable, best I've ever owned.
Is it just pure luck on getting a good one?? All the 200-2003 models are gonna have anywhere from 90,000 to 120,000 miles on them. I cant afford to purchase one and then have to sink thousands of dollars a year into it.
any advice?? :?
From: lh_golfer [#2]
4 Feb 19:47
To: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#1] 4 Feb 19:54
It's all about finding a well-maintained one.
Look for recent:
- Brakes, ties, etc - the usual wear stuff
- New cooling system (classic and expensive failure)
- Some suspension work would be good
There are also some interesting model year changes - after 2001 they fixed the over-boosted steering and lots more standard features in 2003+ I think.
More info than you could ever want:
From: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#3]
4 Feb 19:55
To: lh_golfer [#2] 5 Feb 13:16
thanks.
I like the idea of a 5 speed manual, and some think manual transmissions hold up better than automatics.
any thoughts
From: Joe (JAMOWAD) [#4]
4 Feb 20:16
To: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#3] 4 Feb 20:58
Yes. And easier on brakes and tires too (I had 10yrs and 155k on my acura before I replaced the brakes. About 75k on tires).
Any transmission repairs are less too (like a new clutch..not that I ever needed one so far..166k miles)
From: Nevin (NEVINW) [#5]
4 Feb 21:02
To: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#1] 4 Feb 21:49
From: Mike (MIKEUTGOLF) [#6]
4 Feb 21:49
To: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#1] 4 Feb 21:49
From: BRENTW4 [#7]
4 Feb 21:56
To: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#1] 4 Feb 22:11
You have to resign yourself to the fact that there's a good chance you will have electrical issues with just about any German car. I've had a bunch (several Audis, one Mercedes and one BMW) and all of them had electrical/software gremlins that were annoying.
The payoff is driving them. Still, before you buy a 7 or 8 year old Bimmer you better get a good line on an independent repair shop where you can get issues resolved without going broke. At the dealer and with no warranty, you will go broke.
From: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#8]
4 Feb 22:13
To: BRENTW4 [#7] 4 Feb 23:46
From: WorldsWorst9 (BYERXA) [#9]
4 Feb 22:37
To: Nevin (NEVINW) [#5] 5 Feb 1:07
You are the first person (out of a good EIGHT people) who have had good luck with an earlier X-5. Everyone else I know have had nothing but problems.
As for the 3 series, I believe the reliability is OK, but being a typical BMW it is eye watering when you do have to pay for repairs. Hard car to beat for driving dynamics however. The premier sports sedan on the market.
From: JB (JB57) [#10]
4 Feb 22:52
To: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#1] 4 Feb 22:54
From: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#11]
4 Feb 22:54
To: WorldsWorst9 (BYERXA) [#9] 4 Feb 22:54
It is funny how many people say "great car, fun to drive, but expensive to mantain."
I love the looks and I'm sure they handle well, but I dont know how much fun I would have driving a BMW and constantly worrying about what will go wrong next. LOL
But I sure want a BMW. :?
From: Mike (EKIM1975) [#12]
4 Feb 23:01
To: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#1] 5 Feb 15:47
Nice cars...I had a 98 3 series. Traded it in at the end of 2008. German engineering in impressive.
However, the repair costs are sky high. Here are some examples of dealer costs that I had:
Battery replacement: $275.00
Oil changes will run you about $100.00
They also have regularly scheduled maintainence programs called "Inspections" I and II. They are every ~12,000 miles or so with an oil change in between. These can cost anywhere from $400-$1200 depending on what they "find". And a little light comes on and tells you that it is time to take it in.
I also used an independant foreign mechanic. Their prices were better, but they were by no means doing anything for free.
This is a very good BMW forum:
http://bimmer.roadfly.com/
From: HITTHEPIN [#13]
4 Feb 23:10
To: Mike (EKIM1975) [#12] 4 Feb 23:13
For things like Battery and Oil change, he'd save a ton just doing it himself and won't have to waste time going back and forth to the dealership/indy-shop.
Thats crazy to pay that much for a standard battery and oil change.
From: Mike (EKIM1975) [#14]
4 Feb 23:14
To: HITTHEPIN [#13] 4 Feb 23:25
From: HITTHEPIN [#15]
4 Feb 23:25
To: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#3] 5 Feb 15:47
Learn to do some of the common maintenance yourself. You'll save money and you'll save time too after you get good at. Plus you'll end up loving your car even more considering you're the one taking car of it.
Despite what people might say, there really isn't anything magical to changing oil on a BMW as well as other regular maintenance items.
http://www.bimmerdiy.com/dir/e46
There are step by step directions in the link about with pictures for many of the common repairs and maintenance.
About 6 years ago, I knew nothing about car maintenance. Basically knew gas goes into the little hole on the side of the car, thats it!
Since then, with good info from the net and chats with a mechanic who's a member here, I've done(on a lexus) full brake jobs, rotors, pads, bleeding. Took parts off my throttle body and cleaned Idle Valves, changed PCV valves, AC belt, dropped the pan on trans and changed the filter, changed diff. fluids...etc.
So as long as you have some common sense, you should be just find taking care of the small stuff, which will completely off set the big maintenance and repairs.
Just this past summer I had to take the vehicle in for a Timing-belt. That was the first time I paid a dealer for work on this particular vehicle.
Only other things I've paid for was alignment several times and 2 sets of tires.
From: HITTHEPIN [#16]
4 Feb 23:27
To: Mike (EKIM1975) [#14] 5 Feb 17:59
I posted a link in my above post. If you still own your Bimmer you should take a look at it.
Oil changes are very easy to do and the oil the dealerships uses is basically German Castrol. You can buy it at Autozone for $4-$6 a quart.
From: BogeysBGone [#17]
4 Feb 23:29
To: WorldsWorst9 (BYERXA) [#9] 5 Feb 11:07
From: BRENTW4 [#18]
4 Feb 23:58
To: notta (TWOPUTTPAR) [#8] 5 Feb 15:47
No ... you generally need to find a locally owned private shop that specializes in German cars. Most towns of any size at all have one. though depending on where you are you might have a bit of a drive.
The parts and labor in a BMW dealer shop are outrageous. It's just the way it is. I got rid of my 2007 328xi recently -- I had enough issues to realize that I didn't want to own one that wasn't covered by the 4 years, 50K full warranty.
Example: My wife banged her knee on the passenger side cupholder getting out the car and broke it. BMW covered it under warranty (which was nice, because they didn't have to), but it took 6 or 8 weeks for the correct part to finally show up, and if it hadn't been covered, it would have cost me about $350 for a crappy little piece of plastic. The water pump blew out with only 17K miles on the car, and it was covered of course, but that probably would have been a couple thousand if not under warranty.
BMWs are great cars, but uncovered by a warranty they can be an absolute money pit.
I traded the 328xi in on an Infiniti G37X. Still pricey labor, but I like Japanese reliability factor better. I spent too much time in the shop with my BMW.
From: backnine3 (MHDENA) [#19]
5 Feb 0:01
To: BogeysBGone [#17] 5 Feb 9:22
From: Golfbone [#20]
5 Feb 6:11
To: backnine3 (MHDENA) [#19] 5 Feb 10:36
A while ago a german car mechanic told me to "lease a BMW but buy a Mercedes". That was a while ago.
Now I'd probably lease a BMW/Mercedes but buy Japanese. In fact...that's what I did.
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