E91 buying advice

[Davyhoogy]

Morning all. Just after any tips or advice as I'm going to view a 2006 320i touring later on today.
We have been talking about getting a new car for some time now and after weighing up options of purchasing/leasing a new vehicle, from experience you throw away £200 a month on depreciation or a car you never own.
So we are trying to be sensible and buy something that will do what we need it to for 2 or 3 years.

06 E91 with less than 80k on the clock for under £3k and very local to us, it seems very good value! There were no advisories on the last 2 mots but it is being sold by a German car specialist so any issue should have been raised/sorted.

 

[mrscalex]

Re the car you never own with lease. Not material to me. I only care about how much it costs me. Which is why I always work off depreciation rather than having x amount retained in the vehicle.

I have a £45k 330 GT from new on lease. It was on special offer and came in at the same price as a 318 base. No way could I have afforded that bought outright or at full lease price. Whatever the purchase method or age, I bring everything down to a monthly cost which allows a like for like comparison of anything to anything else

 

[5harp3y]

N46 engine in the 320i of that period (same as my wife's e87)

make sure you change the timing chain tensioner as they fitted the wrong ones from the factory which were not strong enough and the chains and guides suffer as a result.

we've done ours and although a bit fiddly wasn't too bad. part was £30 i think (from BMW)

 

[Ianmc]

I bought a 2012 325i touring new, had it fully speced (panoramic roof, 18 inch wheels etc etc), all up retail price was just under £38K, think lease cost was just over £600 PM. Cars value was £12.5K two and a half years later with 80K miles, when I bought it off the lease company.
Notwithstanding the lease company's purchasing power, I wouldn't want to fund this level of depreciation myself. Like the 10 year old option for £3K, especially if just doing reasonable mileage.

 

[Davyhoogy]

Re the car you never own with lease. Not material to me. I only care about how much it costs me.
Whatever the purchase method or age, I bring everything down to a monthly cost which allows a like for like comparison of anything to anything else

Yeah I have thought about it from that point, estates tend to quite pricey leases, so we would probably lay down 4k a year Inc insurance, whereas this option would set us back 3k in the first year and then just insurance and wear and tear any further years we own it, minus resale value.
Obviously be nice to have a new car, which I would think we will once a child comes along..

N46 engine in the 320i of that period (same as my wife's e87)

make sure you change the timing chain tensioner as they fitted the wrong ones from the factory which were not strong enough and the chains and guides suffer as a result.

we've done ours and although a bit fiddly wasn't too bad. part was £30 i think (from BMW)

Was that a recall or just common fault? I've checked this morning and there is an outstanding recall from bmw on this model.

I was just worried at approaching the 'lifetime' mileage of 100k and so a few issues may arise.

 

[5harp3y]

Yeah I have thought about it from that point, estates tend to quite pricey leases, so we would probably lay down 4k a year Inc insurance, whereas this option would set us back 3k in the first year and then just insurance and wear and tear any further years we own it, minus resale value.
Obviously be nice to have a new car, which I would think we will once a child comes along..


Was that a recall or just common fault? I've checked this morning and there is an outstanding recall from bmw on this model.

I was just worried at approaching the 'lifetime' mileage of 100k and so a few issues may arise.

Common fault but not a recall, ours had 70,000 miles on the clock when i replaced it and it was thew original (wrong) tensioner

 

[Tfp]

I've collected a few similar cars for dealers.

Looking back through service histories, and hearing about dealers repair costs, I'd be wary.

I've seen some rather large bills.

Sensors, Catalysts, engine light stuff etc....

I know every car is a risk/pot luck, but it's put me off them.

And when you hear dealers say "I'm not having anymore of them" there's a reason.

Sorry to be negative.

 

[Davyhoogy]

Bloody sold it before I got there

 

[Ianmc]

If the car was in decent condition, it was a bargain under £3K. Such is life!

 

[Z Victor 1]

Agree @mrscalex , it all comes down to what your total cost is per month.Whether that is a lease payment, depreciation,servicing or whatever, the bottom line total cost of running the vehicle is what matters.