328i question

[Stealthmanx2]

Hello all, I don't own a BMW but am thinking of getting a 2008-2010 328i for my 16 year old daughter for her first car. All the cars I've looked at in this year range have between 120K-160K miles on them. As my username suggests, my area of cars are JDM as well as good ole American cars. Nothing I've ever owned has been European. With that many miles, what are the common big ticket items that would require a trip to the dealership for repair?

[dworthy]

Welcome to the Forum!

With any BMW, it is always recommend to get a PPI - Pre-Purchase Inspection. Typically you can get it done at another dealership or an Indy shop. This can run you $120 to $200 but it will for the most part tell you what shape the car is in. Also it is very important to see all the maintenance records, for there are "timed" items that need to be replaced on schedule.

So for fail/leak points:
Valve cover gasket
Oil filter housing gasket

While neither one of the parts cost a lot, time is what you will pay for.

Also belts have to be replaced, for if one comes off, they will get sucked into the engine and break stuff. I like to follow this: 4yr/50k miles belt replacement, 8 yr/100k miles belts and pulleys replacement.

Lastly the waterpump and thermostat will typically last 100k miles, just be sure to replace them together. Do not go cheap on these for I have seen waterpumps fail straight out the box.

While these cars do tend to have a maintenance schedule that seems a bit agressive, I try to follow it as best as I can.

[Stealthmanx2]

Thanks for the reply and advice. I intend on taking the car to the dealer like you suggested, which is why I am trying to make sure it's the right time and right car. If not, I'm going to be spending a lot of money taking cars in for free diagnostics for these little dealers. LOL Belts, WP, and pulleys are what concern me the most because unless you have those records and or if you have people who do the work themselves you don't know when or how well the work was was done. I am fortunate that I am able to do pretty much everything myself on my cars, I just don't want to buy something that I find myself over my head.

[marvinstockman]

Get the Carfax, as you don't want to buy a car with accidents or salvage title. Also, the Carfax will show maintenance history.

That said, why are you buying the BMW for your daughter? Is she a 'car person', or are you buying it for yourself?

Anyway, a BMW is just a car, and you should not have many problems working on it, with the biggest problem being that most of the work we do is 'first time' and takes three times as long.

[Stealthmanx2]

My wife is big on BMW for the "prestige" as my daughter goes to a private school. Daughter is definitely not a car person and I am more into the twin turbo JDM variety. What scares me with the car is paying for the brand which means everything costs more if I can't fix myself. I have four cars, but one is my wife's, the truck is mine. My one Stealth was my dad's before he passed away and that is the last year they made them and it's #53/57. The other Stealth has over 600HP to the wheels so she is definitely NOT driving that! LOL

[marvinstockman]

Last september, I paid $11K for a 2011 328i, rwd, with 52K miles. The car was for mysefl, and replaced a '98 M3 that my wife hated. Note, she also now hates this one, and forces me to drive her van when we go out together.

You can probably do better on price. Bottom line is that even a Camry will cost almost that much, and you'll make your wife and daughter happy. Also, the 328i has good performance, no turbo, and is a safe car.

[JDStrickland]

Hello all, I don't own a BMW but am thinking of getting a 2008-2010 328i for my 16 year old daughter for her first car. All the cars I've looked at in this year range have between 120K-160K miles on them. As my username suggests, my area of cars are JDM as well as good ole American cars. Nothing I've ever owned has been European. With that many miles, what are the common big ticket items that would require a trip to the dealership for repair?

I bought a 2008 328 in May that has 67,000 miles. I saw plenty of cars with under 10,000 miles per year.