Parity
09-14-2019, 01:55 PM
Hey all, this will be my first time owning a BMW. I'm coming from a Mazdaspeed3 with 175k miles and a ton of maintenance that needed to be done. I was previously looking at 335i's, but don't think it's the best financial decision I should make. Going to an NA motor with less known issues I thought would be a safer thing to go with at this point in time.
I found a clean 2008 328xi 6 speed with 114,000 miles this past week for 5000. The exterior was pretty good (7/10) and the interior was as well, except it definitely needs a detail (5/10). The car has just had the water pump, valve cover gasket, ignition coils and plugs, rear struts, thermostat, and vanos valve replaced. I was able to get him down to $4750 for the car.
My first thoughts - driving it was beautiful. I've never owned a vehicle that drove so smooth in my life. It's not a turbo'd car, but man the torque and smooth range of power through the RPMs was the first thing I noticed. Braking was responsive, clutch felt great, and shifting was smooth. The only downside I would say was the while inspecting the engine bay, I noticed dried oil on the side of the motor. I presume this is from oil before the valve cover gasket and vanos were replaced. I've also had co-workers that have had the same issue and claim it's a common issue on the BMWs (and not to run away from the deal if this is the case). The only other damage were a few scuffs behind the driver side rear wheel, which I was told from backing into a curb. Otherwise, the vehicle looked and felt great.
For those of you who have had an E90 with this many miles, what are your thoughts? Did I get a good deal on this? I've searched and read the common issues and things to look out for, but for the purpose of the car I think I made out well. If I could get 5 years out of this, I'd be happy. Anything at this point is cheaper than the Speed3 repairs I'm facing in this next year (timing chain, mysterious vacuum leaks, rust on exterior, leaking oil, missing plastic pieces, blown front struts, clutch replacement, etc), and I'm not interested in keeping up with a high mileage / forced induction car at this point due to not having a garage any more and financial reasons!
I found a clean 2008 328xi 6 speed with 114,000 miles this past week for 5000. The exterior was pretty good (7/10) and the interior was as well, except it definitely needs a detail (5/10). The car has just had the water pump, valve cover gasket, ignition coils and plugs, rear struts, thermostat, and vanos valve replaced. I was able to get him down to $4750 for the car.
My first thoughts - driving it was beautiful. I've never owned a vehicle that drove so smooth in my life. It's not a turbo'd car, but man the torque and smooth range of power through the RPMs was the first thing I noticed. Braking was responsive, clutch felt great, and shifting was smooth. The only downside I would say was the while inspecting the engine bay, I noticed dried oil on the side of the motor. I presume this is from oil before the valve cover gasket and vanos were replaced. I've also had co-workers that have had the same issue and claim it's a common issue on the BMWs (and not to run away from the deal if this is the case). The only other damage were a few scuffs behind the driver side rear wheel, which I was told from backing into a curb. Otherwise, the vehicle looked and felt great.
For those of you who have had an E90 with this many miles, what are your thoughts? Did I get a good deal on this? I've searched and read the common issues and things to look out for, but for the purpose of the car I think I made out well. If I could get 5 years out of this, I'd be happy. Anything at this point is cheaper than the Speed3 repairs I'm facing in this next year (timing chain, mysterious vacuum leaks, rust on exterior, leaking oil, missing plastic pieces, blown front struts, clutch replacement, etc), and I'm not interested in keeping up with a high mileage / forced induction car at this point due to not having a garage any more and financial reasons!