Buying BMW, what to look out for?

nediaaa said:
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.
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That has no basis in fact whatsover and is purely based on personal preference for the car you own, it is clearly a massive disadvantage to have a rear wheel drive in snowy icy condions. This is a well known and accepted problem. The debate on this is pointless but the pro's and cons have to be weighed up and this is a con for BMW's but they have of course plenty of pro's as in they are nice drivers car and are fairly decent on reliability. Serviceing costs are very expensive on the other hand from main BMW dealers.
 
If the budget can stretch a wee bit more go for the 330d or 530d. The performance gains are massive and both are still cheep as chips to tax. 520d is underpowered IMO. Both are great cars to drive, but for me there is just way too many of them on Irish roads. 43% of all BMW sales in Ireland at the moment are the 520d. I'd have a Citroen C6 2.7hdi as it has the some style.
 
Ok everybody has their option on the BWM and RWD.
What do people think of a Audi A4 2.0 TDi 143 SE. Again this would be a 08 model.
 
dahamsta said:
Please provide evidence for this statement. Your opinion isn't a fact.
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It is a simple FACT that in a front wheel drive due to the engine of the car being at the front there is greater weight bearing on the front wheels which results in a much higher degree of grip in icy or snowing conditions, this has it's draw back in very powerful cars in that it does lend itself to torque steer when accelerating hard in normal/wet condition but for the average powered car, it is not an issue and has a major advantage over RWD in snow or ice when both cars are fitted with normal tyres.
Why do you think other BMW drivers earlier have said they drive around with heavy weights in the boot? Thought it was pretty obvious, to help the car achieve traction.

I have driven a vast number of cars over the years BMW's included and they have many pro's, and as I said they are good cars, but please do not let your personal affection/ownership cloud the issue as your quote above is both insulting & shows a complete lack of understanding of the car you proudly and somewhat childishly/foolishly profess to be something of an expert in driving and of course the people who went off the road in BMW's just could not drive them funny enough.
But then many studies have shown that when questioned the majority of drivers believe their level of skill behind the wheel to be significantly above average so your statement is not surprising.

I did not come on to bash BMW so don't be overly defensive of 4 wheels and some metal, try and be objective and point out some of the pro's that you feel they offer, i have already suggested some of them earlier and if I could pick a nice oil burner if would be 530d as that engine is a good as anything around and has bags of torque.
 
lyonsa3 said:
Ok everybody has their option on the BWM and RWD.
What do people think of a Audi A4 2.0 TDi 143 SE. Again this would be a 08 model.
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Fine car, very nicely finished interior, alot of them on the road it has to be said again but that is a good sign I guess.
For the price difference would you not consider a Passat say as they are a little bigger, same engine and build quality, though I appreciate the name is not quite as prestiege as the Audi but worth considering if your in that market.
 
From personal experience the BMWs are not good in the ice. As I said, it didn't affect me too much as I drive on good city roads. However I had to go out home once during the snap and couldn't make it up a certain hill. I rang my mother (sad I know) and she came to collect me. In her FWD car we sailed up the hill. A neighbour of my parents (with a steep enough driveway) had to leave their car at the end of their driveway for the period. Having said that there are options as mentioned - winter tyres and these tyre socks that can be placed over the wheels. Although a con in my book it wouldn't be enough to stop me buying another BMW (unless the cold snaps were to continue on an annual basis and lenghten in duration).
 
Folks

Please read the Posting Guidelines as going off topic and being offensive to other posters ruins a thread and wastes the moderators' time. I have deleted 16 posts.

If you want to Let Off Steam, do so in the right forum

If someone is abusive to you, don't respond in kind. If you are offended, report the post.

Brendan
 
I agree that BMW RWD are useless in the snow, as are any RWD in similar conditions. However, the simple solution is winter tires which the Germans and Dutch all use. Problem solved.
 
Both I and other BMW drivers have already stated that we have used our cars in the ice and snow and they were very specifically not "useless". My car was on standard summer tires at the time and I had no issues.

I accept the moderator's points absolutely, but these blanket statements are 100% incorrect and should be refuted to prevent other working under this ridiculous misapprehension.
 
I've narrowed it down to the BMW 3 and 5 series. I'm willing to accept the potential problems with the bad weather in the future with RWD.

Just one last question, do people think it is worth spending an extra £1000 to reduce mileage to 54,0000 miles on the 320D SE, likewise reduce the 520D to 68,000 miles?
Or do people think the mileage on a BMW diesel isn't an issue as they should last 200,000 + miles over their life span.
 
If the cars are of the the same era, they're likely the same engines. Generally speaking the bigger the engine the better the longevity, and 2l is about average, but on those kinds of mileages you're unlikely to see problems for quite some time to come on a well looked-after diesel. Your focus should really be on service history and general condition.

My dad just retired his 2l Carina at 300k and it was only just starting to act up; and the wife sold her 180k 1.9l Passat recently, still going strong on the roads out there.
 
Modern diesels are not as reliable or long-lasting as their older counterparts.
Improved power, reduced emissions and better driveability have all had their effects on the complexity and therefore fragility of modern diesel engines.

I't more or less accepted that you need to run about 20k a year to keep them in top order or you may well encounter a big bill.
Failed injectors (800 ea), Turbos (800), Clutch (1000+) can all occur around the 100k miles mark in cars that aren't pampered (full service history with correct oil) and that are driven nice and hard regularly.
Popping out for a 2 mile spin for a pint of milk doesn't count for much unless you drive it hard for 50 miles every week to get the engine up to working temp and blow out the cobwebs, so to speak.

6-10000 mile service intervals are generally accepted to be the limit.

Old non-direct injection diesels, with no dual-mass flywheel or diesel particulate filter and a simple turbo (or none at all) would easily do 3-400k miles with just a simple oil change every 5k miles.
Things have changed.

If you do high mileage, go for it, if not, ensure that the tax is cheap and drive the thing.

BMW make good ones, but look after it or it will cost you.
The VAG 1.9l Diesel is antiguated now.
The 2L is nice and refined.
The 2.2 Honda is one of the best out there. reliability wise, it's prob the best of the bunch.
Peugeot (PSA) diesels are easily the market leaders in experience, so that has to count for a lot. The new 508 looks gorgeous too !!
I'd personally look at the Subaru Boxer diesels too. The Legacy is a lovely car and you get 4wd so all this handbags at dawn over RWD being rubbish in snow (which they are, btw, compared to FWD) is a moot point.
 
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