Buying BMW, what to look out for?

Hi,
I'm looking at purchasing a 3 or 5 series in the uk soon.
Both would be 08 year to avail of lower tax bands.
The cars i'm looking at would be 08 320D SE with 67000 miles on the clock 177 BHP and,
08 520D SE with 80000 miles and 177 BHP.

Car will mainly be used to get to work. Kids will be in it the odd time (not much if I can help it). Second car is a people carrier to ferry around the kids.
Though to myself about time I got a nice car for myself.

If purchasing such cars what should I be looking out for?

What are peoples options on the milage?

Looking for any other info that people might think I need to know to make a better informed decision.

Cheers.

You probably know all this, but whatever you do, make sure you do a full vehicle check, including ownership, finance, clocking,vehicle history etc. There have been various horror stories about all of this, so exercise extreme caution.

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Having bought recently in Scotland would have a look at the attached.

I bought a 08 car via the UK in Feb; it has 100k miles on it.

Mine was a compnay/fleet car. Welll looked after, with a detailed service history.
The number of miles didn't bother me.
I'd be more suspicious if it had 25,000 miles on it!

My buddy sold his 2006 520 last month; felt it was too low powered for a 5 series (2 litre engine) and thereby resulting in lower miles-per-gallon.
You'll prob get better fuel economy in the 3 series..but I'm most certainly not a BMW expert/fan/critic

AFAIK all BMW's are still rear wheel drives, so they are very poor in slippy conditions, A neighbour of mine has a 520 series, and he could not use the car at all last December due to snow and ice. He had to use his wife's ford fiesta.

I have a 320i petrol (new model) and it's a lovely car to drive. One thing to consider is that both models come with Runflat Tires as standard. Whilst these are not meant to puncture/blow-out then can cost upto a grand for a set. You can switch back to "normal" tires but this requires you to buy a spare wheel....there is no place for this in the 3 series, but the 5 series has a small hole that would probably fit one of those skinny (orange) spare wheels that you see around the place. I'd also get confirmation that all the warning lights are enabled..there are probably threads on this worth looking up. When I looked to buy mine I had a look in the UK too but found the difference wasn't worth it...I was able to buy from a local BMW mean dealer with a full 12 month warranty. I have had 2 calls from BMW Ireland in the past 3 months enquiring was I happy with my car. I also heard an ad on the radio yesterday saying that main BMW dealers are now upping the warranty to 2 years to perhaps you should look to buy here.

Just to add...the reason I went for the 3 series over the 5 series is that the 3 series is meant to be safer (5 stars as opposed to 4 stars)...see the euroncap reports.

Finally, you should test drive both cars...the 5 series has that iDrive system which I think is a bit fiddly...

Given the issues BMWs faced in the bad weather earlier in the year and which seemed far worse then other makes (especially their issues handling icy hills) would you really want to buy one?

Would have to report same on issues on icy conditions, neighbour could not even get out of drive on small incline due to rear wheel drive. Nice cars to drive and I have considered them myself in the past but they are in my opinion actually dangerous in icy - snowy conditions so I would not consider after the last few winters we have experienced. Audi A6 would be my pick if i was buying a prestiege motor like that, they are very reliable, lots of space and good image, cheap enough to pick up used also.

johnnygman said:

Would have to report same on issues on icy conditions, neighbour could not even get out of drive on small incline due to rear wheel drive. Nice cars to drive and I have considered them myself in the past but they are in my opinion actually dangerous in icy - snowy conditions so I would not consider after the last few winters we have experienced. Audi A6 would be my pick if i was buying a prestiege motor like that, they are very reliable, lots of space and good image, cheap enough to pick up used also.

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After my very tongue in cheek post earlier, a serious response to above.

I would never be swayed in my choice of car by the few days of ice and snow we get. I drive a rear wheel drive car and, while it was awkward last winter, I was able to get round as well as the next man. Four 25KG bags of salt in the boot helped!

callybags said:

After my very tongue in cheek post earlier, a serious response to above.

I would never be swayed in my choice of car by the few days of ice and snow we get. I drive a rear wheel drive car and, while it was awkward last winter, I was able to get round as well as the next man. Four 25KG bags of salt in the boot helped!

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I have a 2002 BMW 318i and that's what I did as well. That said I didn't really choose to drive a BMW. My brother was selling his and wasn't getting any takers so I took pity on him and bought it off him as he needed the cash.

It's a nice car to drive other than the problems with the ice.

I know what you mean and they are nice enough cars but let's be honest we had near 2 months of it solid ice and snow in parts and anyone who has kids also will understand that it's an unnecessary risk if you had to drive them to school and the like.

Dragging around bags of salt is hardly practical or economical and another winter like the one just gone would make in my opinion a rear wheel drive car a poor choice. I met 2 BMW's on the main road on seperate occasions which had just lost control and gone off, places where a front wheel drive or even better all wheel drive would never go off on. Perhaps a good choice for a younger driver who wants a "sporty" image/drive but I think that another winter like this gone and most people would agree that they are far from ideal winter cars. The sound of my neighbour continuosly spinning his wheels at 7am every morning and the racket that went with it may have clouded my judgement though.

I drive a 2001 3 series and wouldn't swop it for anything (except a 5 series !).

Made it to work every day during the snow , just had to be a little more careful then on a FWD. For the other 360 days of the team the RWD gives you a better drive.

Thanks for all the advice on 3 and 5 series.
I didn't think the bad weather over the last couple of winters would have that sort of effect on BMW (RWD).
As I travel 50 miles round trip to work each day including weekends when the roads aren't gritted as much (or at all where I'm from, going by last year) I'll have to take this into consideration.
Would still like a 3 or 5 series but could not afford to be without car if weather gets bad. Do people think I letting the fear of potential bad weather get to me?

If so I'm also consider a 09 mondeo or 09 insignia. What do people thing of these cars or would it be still worth it to go for a BMW?

Thanks for all advice.

Great to have a forum like this to get vital information.

Hi, I haven't driven a Mondeo but I've driven an Insignia. It's a nice car alright, but the feel and build quality are nothing compared to a BMW. The plastics felt a bit cheap and it's not as sure on the road IMO. The 3 series is constantly rated as best in its class for the last 20 years by the likes of WhatCar etc and also scores well in the JDPower owners satisfaction survey (as does the 5 series). On the road they're excellent. I wasn't too troubled during the snow, but then live in the city and have a short commute on good roads. You can get winter tyres and also winter socks (??) to put round your tyres. The A6 was the other car I was considering...a fine solid motor and built like a cage. The diesel would be the one here. Best of luck anyway and happy motoring.

callybags said:

I would never be swayed in my choice of car by the few days of ice and snow we get.

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The performance of BMWs during the recent prolonged periods of bad weather should influence buying habits. They became close to useless.

Gekko said:

They became close to useless.

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That's just an exaggeration.

I made it to work every day last winter.

Missed 1 day the winter before, but there wasn't a car on the road that day.

jhegarty said:

That's just an exaggeration.

I made it to work every day last winter.

Missed 1 day the winter before, but there wasn't a car on the road that day.

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It's not an exaggeration.

It was a major talking point in our office. A lot of my colleagues drive BMWs and virtually all of them had massive problems. Some couldn't get out of their drives. Some couldn't get into their drives.

It is not an exaggeration or an inaccuracy to say that BMWs were dodgy during the bad weather.

becky said:

I have a 2002 BMW 318i and that's what I did as well.

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Snap.

I've a 30 mile each way trip to work and didn't encounter any problems over the cold snap. Now, I'm lucky that all of my journey is on a national route but the RWD didn't cause any issues at all.

I drove from Killeagh in east Cork to the top of Hollyhill in the city on several days during the cold snap, including the very worst days, and the closest I had to out-of-the-ordinary was a slight crab up the hill after Midleton, and having to avoid the idiots in the outside lane on the way home.

People having trouble should switch back to FWD. If they can't drive a RWD, they shouldn't have them.

If someone cannot drive a RWD on the snow then maybe they should not be driving. My wife has a 2004 BMW 3series and never slipped off the road. When in snow yuo have to be extra careful as in any car.
a FWD my be 5% better but thats all.