What to look for? - buying a used E91

Hey all! Long time lurker here...

I'm currently looking at buying a used BMW and i've settled on the E91 (Wagon). I found locally a 2011 328xi Automatic with Sport package and premium package. It has 176000 kms (110k miles) and the price is $10,400. The carfax is clean, but I don't have service records as the car is on the lot of the local MB dealer.

What should I be looking for when I go for a test drive? Should I be scared of the miles? 

I am fairly mechanically inclined and have owned a BMW in the past. I used to have an E36 10 years ago.

Thanks :)

Get the VIN and you can get the dealer service history from BMW (technically, they're not supposed to give this to anyone but the owner, but ask nicely and they may help you out). Mileage is not a big deal if it's been maintained; if not, well, you'll be the one paying to catch it up. For the most part, it's typical stuff. N5x electric water pumps fail, and the accessory belt drive needs to be monitored very closely - any indication of the belt walking off the tensioner or idler and you need to replace all of them. A failed belt will often wrap around the crank pulley, destroy the main seal, and scatter debris into the oily bits.

If you aren't afraid to get your hands dirty and don't mind the parts prices, the NA I6 will be much less troublesome than the turbo/V8 variants.

Typical BMW stuff still applies though.

Some say the all-wheel-drive units are failure-prone.  Who really knows?  We've owned 3 other BMW cars with the same AWD unit as the wagon, and none have failed.  The oldest unit is at about 80k miles now. 

Otherwise, it's the usual stuff we see on E90 sedans, i.e. the occasional coil pack or injector failure, dead starters, leaky oil pan gaskets.  The latter two take about 4 times the labor you would expect, and I would be mightily surprised if anyone could manage the oil pan gasket job without a lift. 

$10k sounds like a lot for the age and mileage, but I realize genuine wagons are few and far between here in SUV Central, so I guess that's commanding a premium.  If it's an automatic and you can get it with a short warranty period, even like 30 days, change the ATF and clean the pan immediately, so you can take it back if clean fluid turns out to be a death blow to the ZF gearbox.

Thanks for the comments.

I took the car for a test drive yesterday. First impressions were not great, the steering was very stiff at slow speed and when I took it out on the highway, the transmission slipped a little bit. I'll pass on this one, but i'll keep looking.

That was actually a good price for a wagon in Canada, but not with a bad transmission.  E91 steering is very stiff at slow speeds, it may be normal.

My 2011 E91 has both comfort access door handles fail due to corrosion.  They are about $700 each.  When they fail the whole locking and starting gets wonky, so check for that.  The eccentric shaft sensor failed due to oil penetration of the harness plug.  That is fairly common and expensive too.  The rear wiper pivot bearing seizes up after 5 years in Canadian winter.  Change it before the wiper motor dies.  Batteries are expensive.  Headlight washers tend to fail and leak, you can disassemble and clean them out or get new ones on ebay for about $90.

There is a recall on the blower fan motor and harness, so make sure it gets done or the car can spontaneously catch fire.  My blower died on a cold day in December leaving no cabin heat except on full front defrost, but the rear fan worked.  Wasn't too bad.

Change the transmission, transfer case and diff fluids and you should be OK.

Good car, I miss mine, but made a sacrifice so that Ms. Aspen could drive a tall wobbly X3.

In reply to al95ti :

I found the E9x steering to be too heavy, and I like heavy steering effort. I used to own an E36 and currently own an E30 and I think BMW really messed up the steering after probably the E46. It's silly. 

If you owned an E36, you know what to expect with the non-turbo cars. I'd find one with a lot of maintenance records and do a PPI. Drive the car aggressively around a round about or in a circle counterclockwise for about a minute, then pop the hood afterward. I've seen them spit oil out of the valve cover gaskets after doing this, I'm not kidding.