Consideng 325 Ci, but heard about really bad reliability, true? (more inside)

I test drove the new 325Ci coupe(stick shift) and I loved the car. But from what I have heard from some owners of older models, (80's, 94's), they give more trouble than anything. "It's always in the shop, it always needs something done," etc... Does anyone here have similar experiences? Or are you happy with your car. Do you have reliability problems?

Thanks in advance for any advice,
-Aero

I'm happy with my car, your also talking to people that have a 10-20 year old car, of course it is going to be in need of repairs more, plus the technology that was used then was really "new" and all the bugs hadn't been worked out. There are no common problems with the E46.

I've had a lot of problems with my 2000 323ci. If you check out my posting: http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=10145&goto=newpost
you will get a better idea of what I've had to deal with. Good Luck

I own a 2001 E46 325Ci manual, just like the one you tried out and i love it. I will find excuses to go drive it. As for the reliability, i have had no problems yet. I do know that in the 80s and up to possibly the early 90s bmws were known to have oil leaks. It put the car in the shop a lot but since then, BMW has corrected that problem. Therefore i say go for it man. Buy the car, im sure there will be no regrets.

Another problem with BMWs is resale value.

I've heard that their resale value was quite good but when I called my local dealership to see what the trade in value of my car was, he said $22,500. According to Kelly Bluebook the value of my car, if sold to a private buyer should be $31,000 with my current mileage and options. For the Bluebook trade in value, my car should be worth $28,100.

It sounds like your dealer is full of crap, unless you actually have $6,000 worth of repairs that need to be made to your car.

Is your car still under warranty? I'm guessing so since there are only 20,000 miles and the car is 2 years old. Maybe I'm wrong, but have you considered driving your car to another BMW dealership to have your car checked out? If this dealer is jerking you around still he's probably going to keep doing it, but all of these things that have gone wrong should be fixed under warranty, and he should know that.

Check out this site on lemon laws:
http://www.carlemon.com/

On the bottom there is a link that takes you to each state's lemon law statutes. I'm not sure if your car qualifies, but that might get you started.

Hi EdgarFan659,

Thanks for the info. I was definitely very dismayed at his offer. I think its largely due to the poor economy, but I do agree that the price seems absurdly low.