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maint on 100k+ BMW?

S

soccerballtux

Lifer
looking at a 2007 328i manual with 116k for $13k.

I have a Scion tC no down time never broke down love it don't feel a reason to get rid of it...but I can sell it for more than what I paid for it (Toyota name+rebuilt with 65k mile engine/85k chassis and repainted front last month+some folks around me that love that "style" of car).

I will do my own research so don't spend too long educating me just wondering if I should even consider this.
 
You are better off asking your question on a BMW forum.

In general you need to do your own work and/or have deep pockets if you own a high mileage BMW.
 
soccerballtux said:
looking at a 2007 328i manual with 116k for $13k.

I have a Scion tC no down time never broke down love it don't feel a reason to get rid of it...but I can sell it for more than what I paid for it (Toyota name+rebuilt with 65k mile engine/85k chassis and repainted front last month+some folks around me that love that "style" of car).

I will do my own research so don't spend too long educating me just wondering if I should even consider this.
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2007 is the e90 right? The turbo cars had all sorts of problems with the HPFP early on, but 328 should be solid. It might need clutch though, depending on the prior owner's driving habits.


Also $13K isn't really a good deal, my brother just paid $16K for an 07 335i 6 speed with some 90k miles on it.
 
if its like the e36/46 brothers. Then at 100k, it should need a cooling system overhaul as everything is plastic and prone to breaking pretty soon.

A good look over the suspension is due as well.

i think the motor and drivetrain is solid tho. I'm indifferent on the whole 10k OCI if that car is one of those.
 
DO NOT buy a German car outside of warranty period unless you want your wallet and bank account to hate you.

Even though you might get lucky and get away with it for some time......the risk is high.

Germans engineering = overly expensive and complex for NO apparent reason.
 
Vdubchaos said:
DO NOT buy a German car outside of warranty period unless you want your wallet and bank account to hate you.

Even though you might get lucky and get away with it for some time......the risk is high.

Germans engineering = overly expensive and complex for NO apparent reason.
Click to expand...

Unless you know how to DIY... or know what you're doing in general.
 
T2urtle said:
if its like the e36/46 brothers. Then at 100k, it should need a cooling system overhaul as everything is plastic and prone to breaking pretty soon.

A good look over the suspension is due as well.

i think the motor and drivetrain is solid tho. I'm indifferent on the whole 10k OCI if that car is one of those.
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yuck

agree on motor.

manual would mean at least nothing out of the ordinary besides clutch plates.
 
Vdubchaos said:
Germans engineering = overly expensive and complex for NO apparent reason.
Click to expand...



That is SOOO true.

I owned a late '90's Golf once. When I bought it, the power locks weren't working well. Figured it would be a somewhat simple fix. Little did I know how stupidly the power lock system was designed, or overengineered.

Instead of using elec. solenoids at each lock, VW used a vacuum system with hard vacuum lines running from each door back to the trunk where a vacuum motor/pump resided. Thankfully, it was a leak in the pump itself and not a crack in the lines.

How can something so simple as a power lock be designed so Rube Goldberg-ish? Only the Germans.
 
Meghan54 said:
That is SOOO true.

I owned a late '90's Golf once. When I bought it, the power locks weren't working well. Figured it would be a somewhat simple fix. Little did I know how stupidly the power lock system was designed, or overengineered.

Instead of using elec. solenoids at each lock, VW used a vacuum system with hard vacuum lines running from each door back to the trunk where a vacuum motor/pump resided. Thankfully, it was a leak in the pump itself and not a crack in the lines.

How can something so simple as a power lock be designed so Rube Goldberg-ish? Only the Germans.
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People forget that this was one of the reasons Germans lost the war too.....hehe

They overly engineered their tanks and they were heavy, took long to make....expensive to repair/fix...and hard to work on.

😎

I guarantee you, NOTHING has changed.

Also, don't take what I said to the extreme. There is things on German cars that are simple to work on and no different than most cars. Unfortunately there is also MANY things that simply blow my mind when I see how they were designed/put together etc.
 
Vdubchaos said:
Worked on German cars over last 13+ years (Mostly VW/Audi with mix of MB/BMW)

But thx
Click to expand...

Maybe it's just you then?

I can't speak to VW, but I've owned 4 audis including the current, 2 benzes,2 porsches including current and 1 bmw and I've yet to experience this wallet hating you thing you speak of. All of these were used by the way, with mileage ranging from 60K to 140K.

They stopped doing the vacuum locks around 2000, last car that i owned that had it was a 96 A4.
 
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halik said:
Maybe it's just you then?

I can't speak to VW, but I've owned 4 audis including the current, 2 benzes,2 porsches including current and 1 bmw and I've yet to experience this wallet hating you thing you speak of. All of these were used by the way, with mileage ranging from 60K to 140K.

They stopped doing the vacuum locks around 2000, last car that i owned that had it was a 96 A4.
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Ok but you are taking what I said to the extreme.

I NEVER said that EVERY German car is unreliable. I simply said that I wouldn't take my chances with a used/old one.

Also have you actually worked on any of the cars you owe?
 
Vdubchaos said:
Ok but you are taking what I said to the extreme.

I NEVER said that EVERY German car is unreliable. I simply said that I wouldn't take my chances with a used/old one.

Also have you actually worked on any of the cars you owe?
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The S4 I bought as a project with a blown motor and built one from scratch.


Paid about 800 for new parts for the rebuild and about the same for a new short block with crank/rods/pistons and all the journal bearings (came out of a burned out car).
 
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Vdub is our resident anti-german (BMW in particular) ATG resident.


He hates german cars because his mom scratched up the buttons in her x5, and he broke it while fixing it. That means BMWs are all over complicated and suck.

Really, take it with a grain of salt.


German cars aren't THAT bad but you need to know what you're doing. At >100k make damn sure it's been taken care of, otherwise you end up spending more money than if you'd bought a low mileage good example in the first place.
 
halik said:
The S4 I bought as a project with a blown motor and built one from scratch.


Paid about 800 for new parts for the rebuild and about the same for a new short block with crank/rods/pistons and all the journal bearings (came out of a burned out car).
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Depends what parts doesn't it.

Go ahead and get a quote from Audi dealer on the new motor.....I'm willing to bet it will be 2x-3x the price of your average LS2 motor which performs better, is easier to work on, WAY more efficient and more reliable.

IIRC W8 motor for the Passat/Pheaton was around $20k!!!

Also don't make me post the Timing chain pick of the all mighty......"not complicated" 4.2 Audi.....

picture.php

url

I'll pass.....
 
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Vdubchaos said:
Depends what parts doesn't it.

Go ahead and get a quote from Audi dealer on the new motor.....I'm willing to bet it will be 2x-3x the price of your average LS2 motor which performs better, is easier to work on, WAY more efficient and more reliable.

IIRC W8 motor for the Passat/Pheaton was around $20k!!!

Also don't make me post the Timing chain pick of the all mighty......"not complicated" 4.2 Audi.....

picture.php

url

I'll pass.....
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Using a w8 is not fair. I saw that timing chain in person and cried. Good thing I didn't have to work on it.

Compare it some more fair items like a v6 twin turbo of a BMW to that SHO. It will should be in the same ballpark.
 
Vdubchaos said:
Depends what parts doesn't it.

Go ahead and get a quote from Audi dealer on the new motor.....I'm willing to bet it will be 2x-3x the price of your average LS2 motor which performs better, is easier to work on, WAY more efficient and more reliable.

IIRC W8 motor for the Passat/Pheaton was around $20k!!!

Also don't make me post the Timing chain pick of the all mighty......"not complicated" 4.2 Audi.....

picture.php

url

I'll pass.....
Click to expand...


Yeah, german cars are more expensive,is this really the point you're trying to make?

I prefer timing chain over belts, especially on that block. It was trivial to put together, 4 chains: 1 for chain for timing on each bank, one chain to drive the two in sync and one to drive the oil bump, water pump and shaft driven ac compressor. The tensioners and guides were like 300 bucks in total. Hell I even rented the timing tools to set it; the only PITA part was finding a deep reach triple square bit to toque down the head studs.

mqn2.jpg


Maybe used german cars are aren't for you, specifically. Anyone that can DIY will get a ton of value.
 
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Hugo Drax said:
Someone here bought a used BMW and it was costing him 1200 a month in maintenence.
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Who was this person? $1200 I believe if he doesn't know how to turn a wrench or something major happened.

I've only replaced a few items on BMWs and there weren't too horrible. Control arms, ccv valve and all those random parts in the throttle body area. Didn't have to replace a throttle body tho. All sensors seem to be normally priced. U might pay a 10-25% premium for parts. But actually I like the aftermarket brands on the euro guys better.
 
We've done a bunch of price comparisons on here and there is not much difference, in many cases BMW junk was less for common items.

To me, there two legitimate concerns with out of warranty german... One is labor rates. +20% or more if you live in a smaller city.

Another is 'large item' prices. Engines, transmissions, new and used are $$$.

I've owned and worked on (as a DIY-er) many german cars, and they're not that bad compared to equivalent domestics or asian.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
We've done a bunch of price comparisons on here and there is not much difference, in many cases BMW junk was less for common items.

To me, there two legitimate concerns with out of warranty german... One is labor rates. +20% or more if you live in a smaller city.

Another is 'large item' prices. Engines, transmissions, new and used are $$$.

I've owned and worked on (as a DIY-er) many german cars, and they're not that bad compared to equivalent domestics or asian.
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This. Honestly the key is to pick a car that doesn't have big-item weak spots, so you can DIY and don't have to buy the big$$ items.

BMW E46 is about as great of a daily driver sedan/coupe as you can find and maintenance there is minimal. Compare that to something like the C5 RS6, where both the torque converter or trans crap out couple thousand miles.
 
There's a reason they drop off so hard in value at 100k miles. Lots of expensive maintenance to be had if you want to follow the maintenance schedule. Now I've always been curious if you just completely ignore the maintenance schedule how much life you could get out of one of those BMWs. That I'm not exactly sure.

Same thing happens with Mercedes, etc. Though I'd say you'd be much better off getting a BMW than used Mercedes.
 
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