Automotive ADD, 128i, salvage titles?

Ok, so probably not going to buy one of these any time soon, but I have a thing for the 1 Series and I was looking on Craigslist...

First up - a whole slew of early cars in the $10-12K range. That "probably not" could change to "probably" without a lot of trouble - yeesh.... Man is that tempting.

Second up - a whole bunch of these things with Salvage titles?

Is there something with these I haven't caught up to?

Best guess would be a combination of high depreciation and high cost of parts.

The thing is that maintenance on a 128 isn't really that bad. However, it's true that most people in the market for a used 1-series want a 135.

I searched bimmerforums and 1addicts after posting this to see what the deal was - I think there was just a spate of 1's in SoAZ that insurance must've been written off, and that somebody thought they could buy out and make money on.

On one of those sites, they had some reliability stats, and the 128i was below the average repair rate per so many cars; 135's had more repairs than average.

Which is making it awfully tempting to trade out the newer Focus for an older 128 - what stops me is that the Focus has been the car everybody uses when theirs breaks, and nobody in my family cares for them the way i do (dirt, parking in places where the potential for door dings is lowest, etc...).

Ugh.

I want one of these.

I'm a long-term owner of two cars with the same motor as the 128. It is a super motor, powerful and smooth.

The motor in the 135 is the first iteration of the twin turbo six. I never owned one, but it had a bad reputation for breakdowns.

My experience with maintenance on the older of the two x.28 cars (a frequently-used 2006) has been this: budget $2,000 a year, parts and labor. You probably will do better than that, but you may not. The other x.28 (a 2009 used more like every other day) has been a different story, no significant costs yet.

You can do fluid changes, brakes, suspension, and exhaust work on modern BMWs pretty easily. The prices on parts are barely tolerable.

But the engine bay is a different story. Do some browsing around on what it would take to do a simple thing like replace the starter, or change out a leaky oil pan gasket. Very long jobs. Even replacing a fuel injector is a PITA.

P.S.: I'm also an E21 guy. K-Jet rules! (not)

I'm interested in this thread too...not the salvage part, but the 128i part. I'm searching for a new-to-me car and have found I can pick up a 2011-2012 128i w/Premium Package for under $16k. Very tempting. They're smaller than the 3 series, but they're also a bit lighter. Are they as fun to drive as the 3 series? Also like the idea that they're more reliable than a 35 series engine. I drive a ton and don't have time/skill for repairs, so I have to farm it all out (except for oil changes, brakes and the like).

Jamey_from_Legal wrote: You can do fluid changes, brakes, suspension, and exhaust work on modern BMWs pretty easily. The prices on parts are barely tolerable. But the engine bay is a different story. Do some browsing around on what it would take to do a simple thing like replace the starter, or change out a leaky oil pan gasket. Very long jobs. Even replacing a fuel injector is a PITA. P.S.: I'm also an E21 guy. K-Jet rules! (not)

That's pretty much all I do anymore anyway, and I think for the "reliable" BMW products, the $2K a year habit must be something they engineer in.

Way, way, way back when, I thought about a MINI, and I asked the guy I get parts and (sometimes) labor from what the deal was.

For BMW, pretty reliable, but for those coming out of Toyota's and Honda's, the "habit" was an affront.

I came out of driving 10 and 15 year old cars, no bigs - though with 63K miles on the Focus and nothing but gas and oil, I'd have to get used to it again.

And, K-Jet FTW! Actually, I would've stayed with K-Jet, but when I pulled the motor apart, I let everything sit too long and it gummed up. Weber 38/38 runs pretty nice now. Well, not now now, since I had to tear the motor back down, but, when it did... (and will rise again someday!).

Yeah, Weber 38/38 here too, with an M20B23 and a manifold from a 320/6. But that motor is now sitting in a corner needing a rebuild, so I'm using Motronic on an M20B25.

If you don't mind the $2k/month risk, I like the "onesie" better than the e90, just because it's not so big. And they both have that N52 motor, which I'm pretty crazy about.

BTW, my N54 powered 135i only puts me back $2k/year so I think $2k/year on an N52 is very generous.

When the N54 bites,it bites hard. My brother just replaced both turbos and had the intake cleaned. $6k USD. Engine out job.

Aspen wrote: When the N54 bites,it bites hard. My brother just replaced both turbos and had the intake cleaned. $6k USD. Engine out job.

Ouch. No can do that one. For an entire car (like "the answer" though it was $5K & change) I can do. For just motor work, that hurts.

Maybe once I'm not subsidizing the daughter's rent (for college - she graduates in May), and the son ships off to AF basic (February), I can start to move towards my goal of a 128i... Lord willing.