Bought a 120I Hatchback 2010 - What's next?

[Potatobake]

G'day I ended up buying a 120I (E87) hatchback second hand from a dealership and I received it today. The dealership has taken the vehicle to a mechanic for inspection and clean prior to delivery as well although I think it would have been a cursory "vehicle wont crash as soon as it drives" check.

The vehicle also has 160k km logged on the Odometer, so it is by no means a new vehicle. While I am happy to have gotten my first car, I am also slightly concerned about the maintenance side of things.

Should I take the vehicle into a BMW Dealership and ask for them to do a check on the vehicle?
What are some stuff I should be aware of in terms of maintenance/ taking care of the vehicle?
Would it be possible to retrofit the vehicle with some sort of GPS in the head unit/ on the dash? Vehicle comes with a storage compartment on the dash and no built in GPS or reverse camera (I think it has reverse alarms instead).

Thanks

(Also first post, yay :p)

[MarcoZandrini]

Welcome to the addiction. Once you own a bimmer/beemer you won’t own anything else. I’ve been addicted since 1974.

Did the dealer give you the results of the mechanic’s inspection? Did the car come with any maintenance history?

Fluids are the secret to keeping a car running. That means changing the oil and filter every 7k miles. Disregard “change the oil when the car tells you to change them.” It’s BS. Buy high quality, fully synthetic oil and an oil filter made by Mann. Aftermarket oil filters suck. They have a tendency to disintegrate after 5k miles.

Does the car have a manual or automatic transmission? Regardless, 50k miles is when the fluid needs to be changed. The filter in the automatic transmission needs to be changed also. I bet the transmission fluid has never been changed! so, expect dirty fluid. Modern BMW transmissions, both manual and automatic, use some type of automatic transmission fluid.

The fluid in the differential needs to be changed at 50k miles. Now, BMW may not have put a drain plug in
the differential. In that case the oil fluid needs to be vacuumed out, and replaced with a high quality, fully synthetic gear lube 5 (GL5) fluid of the proper viscosity. Typically it’ll be 75W90, but check your owners manual.

The consensus here and on other bimmer forums is that the cooling system needs to be overhauled every 100k miles. Why? The cooling systems are made of plastic, good German plastic, but plastic nonetheless. The installation of aftermarket cooling system parts is strictly verboten (forbidden in German). Aftermarket cooling parts will fail and leave you with a very large, BMW branded paperweight. These engines are made so aluminum and do not tolerate overheating. If you have no indication that the cooling system has been overhauled, overhauling it must be at the top of your list. An overhaul includes:
- water pump
- thermostat
- upper and lower radiator hoses
- radiator
- engine block coolant drain plug crush washer
- BMW coolant
- distilled (and only distilled) water
- main serpentine belt
- AC compressor belt (if separate)
- pulleys

Power steering fluid is the most neglected fluid in the car. Use a turkey baster to remove the fluid in the reservoir and fill it with the appropriate fluid. Start the engine, turn the steering wheel from full left to full right several times, sg
shut off the engine and repeat.

www.realoem.com is the place to go for part numbers and rudimentary parts breakdowns. Enter the last 7 characters of your car’s vehicle identification number. Hit enter and bookmark the page. Your car is very logically “broken down” into various systems. Hey, it’s a German car!

Here in the US we have the BMW Car Club of America (BMWCCA). I bet you have something similar in Australia. They should be a chapter of the club in your area. It can be a great resource for shop recommendations. I highly recommend that you avoid the dealer for maintenance and repairs. Find a reputable indie shop that specializes in bimmers in your area.

Lastly, get the OBDFusion app for your smartphone or tablet. Then go in Amazon to buy a VeePeak WiFi adapter. This app is the consensus go to app for scanning the engine computer (DME in BMWspeak), checking various parameters and logging data for analysis in Excel. It comes in both iOS and Android flavors. Never leave home without it!

[Potatobake]

Unfortunately the dealer did not have the maintenance history. I think the mechanic's inspection is a legal compliance thing rather than a vehicle longevity thing as well, since it is basically a certification for road safety rather than vehicle condition per say.

but to sum it up, the things that I need to do are:

1) Check if oil has been changed, if not, do so.
2) Check if transmission fluid has been changed, if not, do so.
3) Check if cooling system has been overhauled, if not, do so.
4) Check if power steering fluids has been changed, if not, do so.
5) Get the OBD2 dongle you recommended and stick it in and download the app.

And in the long run

1) Change engine oil and filter every 10k km (HA, METRIC!)
2) Change transmission fluid every 80k km.
3) Change differential fluid every 80k km.
4) Overhaul cooling system every 160k km.

And where possible, get 1-4 done through a reputable licenced repair shop rather than the BMW dealership..

I already have 1 OBD2 dongle that I got for cheap from Nonda, or is that thing pretty much to be avoided? (A bit of a "get what you paid for" thing)

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Since I do not know when/ or if ever any of those things were done by the previous owner/ owners, I plan on taking the vehicle to a more reputable mechanic and then having everything done, then starting my own maintenance log on it.

[NHinNC]

I had some of the same issues as you, except my e88 has fewer miles (70K).
I see no way to check the fluids issues that you suggest to check, so I will change them, and then I know as a starting point of my ownership.

I will certainly check out that suggested dongle - I do have an issue with the climate control, and at this point, I see no way other than pulling things apart to troubleshoot, so it seems essential, unless one wants to bring the car into the mechanic at every issue.

Good luck with your car!