Used 2000 328CI

[DrkMnX]

Hi I'm new to this forum, I am looking at buying a used year 2000 BMW 328CI with automatic (tiptronic) transmission, sports and premium package. The car I'm interested in has about 45000 kilometres on it which is fairly low and is Titanium Silver with M style rims and Harmon Kardon sound system upgrade. The car is fully loaded and pretty much packed with every option and I think it still has balance of factory warranty. The price of the car is around $34000 Canadian. I've noticed that the average price for other year 2000 328CI's with less options are around $40000+. This gets me a little worried since the car is being sold at a used car dealership, not BMW and as a result it is not a certified series BMW. The price is really good and the car looks very good but am I in danger of buying a lemon or a car with a bad history? The salesman says the car has never been in a collision. Also, could the mileage have been messed around with, cuz year 2000 with only 45k and fully loaded with a low price seems too good to be true. Is there anyway I can look up the history and service records of the car? And how do I check if the car has any problems? Can I take the car to a BMW dealership and have them look at it? Lastly, this is my first BMW, I currently own a Honda Accord but it's beginning to show it's age, my friends and family think BMW's are unreliable and say they have lots of minor electrical problems that will lead to high repair costs. Is this true? My uncle owned a 7 series and it had a lot of problems. Can someone shed some light on the reliability issue for me, THANX!

[323imankiks]

I bought my car last year used from a different dealer than a bmw dealership. It was not certified however it had remaining warranty on it 4 years 50K. It had about 44500 miles. So far my car has worked without any problems have about 52 thousand miles on it now. As for electrical glitches i have had zero. To check vechile history try carfax or ask your dealer for one they should give you one otherwise you have to pay something. This gives you a history how it was bought if any accidents etc. As for mileage that is not bad for a bmw they should last many years. Mileage on these cars will be very difficult to tamper with since they are digital. Maintenence on these cars are about every 15K or at least once a year.

[akhbhaat]

Was your uncle's 7 series an E32 (1988-1994)?

Those are notoriously unreliable, due to complex electronics. I had an 89' 735iL which had an appetite for batteries and transmissions. I wouldn't use anybody's experience with an E32 as an indication of overall reliablity across the BMW line...the smaller cars, particularly the 3 series, are usually far more reliable.

The 7 series in particular has always been an expensive beast to maintain, mostly due to electrical issues. BMW seems to enjoy cramming as many technologically advanced features as possible into the flagship line, and this is usually costly to the consumer in terms of maintenance and downtime. Most mechanics I've talked to don't enjoy doing work on the 7 series because of the complex electronics, which are often difficult to troubleshoot, and electrical repairs usually require a lot of disassembly and labor.

328Ci will probably cost somewhat more than your Honda to maintain, but if it has been well taken care of (scheduled service done on time, oil changed, recalls performed to satisfaction) then it should be reasonably friendly to your wallet. Once the warranty expires, do NOT take it to the dealer for servicing...find a qualified independent mechanic, and you'll pay maybe 50-75% as much as you would at the dealer. Dealer prices on parts and labor are usually inflated heavily.

Even better, if you're a true enthusiast (or become one ), buy the E46 service manual, buy your parts wholesale and learn how to do some of the more basic repairs/servicing yourself.