I am going to be moving back to the states soon and am in the market for a used Bimmer. Below are the constraints....
Budget: Less than $22,000 (up to $25k for M3) & must have four doors
I owned a 2011 328xi before and loved it. I am looking at 2009-2012 335i and 2008-09 M3. I've been doing some research and it seems the HPFP and turbos are the weak spots, along with some slight oil leaks. Should I be concerned about reliability? I will probably be putting less than 8,000 miles per year on the car. I would like to keep it for 4-5 years.
I know 70-80k miles for modern cars isn't a lot. I would like to get a 2008 4-door M3 for around $25k but these seem to have rod bearing issues.
Not going to be taken to the track or modified. I just want a fun DD. Annnnnnd go!
It seems modern BMW's quality have gone down hill. My 2008 328i was a hot mess. Many items needed to be replaced and it was under 50K miles. I dumped it as soon as the warranty was up. It would have been 5-7K of parts alone. The bills to the warranty company were almost 10K in 2 years.
I moved to infiniti and my G37 givens up very little in driving sensation but gains oh so much in reliability. 3 years in and no money spent other than maintenance. It's hard to find a stick shift for it though.
Having seen the crop of modern BMWs that are occupying the bays of my specialist BMW indy, and hearing the horror stories of a) the host of problems with several inevitably expensive systems, and b) the absurd use of things like aluminum bolts, which frequently break when trying to remove them, I have no interest in anything BMW has built in the last 10+ years. And I'm a decades-long supporter of the brand.
Not for nothing, one of my friends is a master tech at a local BMW dealer. She owns several BMWs, but none of them newer than an e46 (2002 model year, I think). I once asked her if she was going to get a newer one and she replied "no way, anything newer is a ticking time bomb in terms of cost, even to me." Her biggest issue is that the newer BMWs use a lot of "control modules" for everything from HVAC to headlights. If a headlight goes out, t's just just plug and play or replace a bulb/relay, it's often replacing a $1000 module, which has to be actually SPLICD back into the car's wiring harness.
I am a BMW afficianado as well, but as much as I like the newer once visually and on paper, I won't even consider buying one for any reason. YMMV.
It's funny to think that even Audis these days seem to be more reliable than BMWs....
+1 for E46, and even they have some issues. You can still DIY an E46. Otherwise, buy something lightly used with a warranty and plan on replacing it after that.
I'd stay far, far away from the 335. Turbos leak, ignition system is unreliable, you'll need to media blast carbon from the manifold (though that's endemic to all DI engines), most of the HPFP issues have been resolved by now, but it's definitely a car that'll eat you alive in maintenance costs.
I briefly looked into the E90 M3, and the consensus seems to be that they're fairly reliable for a BMW. Which is how I ended up with an IS-F
In reply to calteg:
How is your IS-F? It looks like I can get into a decent one for $25-27k. Also, the IS 350 F-Sport looks like a decent option. The G37 doesn't really do it for me looks wise.
Here's my experience with newer BMWs:
2006 325ix, 90k miles. Seems to need about $1-2k per year in repairs.
2009 X3, 50K miles. Needed a fuel injector, once.
2013 E92 M3, 30K miles. Track the snot out of it. Needed a vac pump the first year under warranty, and a new rear electric sunshade the third year under warranty, but it just came down with an oil leak.
2015 228i, 20K miles. No repairs yet.
I advise people not to own a BMW out of warranty unless they're comfortable with the idea of a $2k/year repair and maintenance budget, or they can wrench on the car themselves.
Any N54 car currently on the road has a good HPFP, so don't worry about that anymore.
Likewise, most N54 wastegate issues will have manifested themselves by now if they're going to.
So the main issues are the cooling system (water pump is close to $500 for just the part) and blowby sludging up the intake.
That being said. I think the M3 will hold its value better if you can find one in your price range.
I've been looking at E39/E46/E60/E90s recently, and it looks like the best option is to buy a Camaro.
