BMW advice really needed!!

carlos30

Ladies and Gentlemen

I would really value anybodys advice in the purchase of a BMW car

I would like to buy a BMW car in Febuary , 2008 , I have roughly about 17 - 18,000 euro to spend on this car

realistically the year would have to be 2000 , black , 3 / 4 door and milage no more then 70 - 80,000

The problem i have is that I with these new gas ommisions taxes been introduced by the goverment

I will probably have to settle for a 1.6 / 1.8 engine which i do not mind , as I could not afford to pay 2 thousand pound a year tax for ommissons from a heavier engine ie ( 2 Litre )

reason why I am looking for help is that I have been reading car mags , websites , and reviews from people who have bought BMW 316s AND BMW 320S ( this is what I could realistically only afford )

and they seem to have encountered countless problems with them and suggest to buy the BMWs with bigger engines etc

I have completly lost by all of this , as i have my heart set on a BMW

but people have been warning me not to by the ones I have mentioned above and BMW are rubbish cars

is this true , what type of BMW would anybody recommend , I could not really afford to be spending lots of money fixing my BMW as I have saved for a long time to get this money and feel very dishearted about all this

what should I look out for or should I just avoid by this car if its a luxury I cant really afford

I really really would like to purchase one , can anybody advise , maybe you have a BMW that never gives you any problems , maybe you could advise me what type of car tax i would pay on a BMW 1.8 engine ?

I would really appreciate any help , I have just joined but have been reading the motor section on this website for a while and find it very useful

thanks

Guy:Incognito

carlos30 wrote: »

Ladies and Gentlemen

I would really value anybodys advice in the purchase of a BMW car

I would like to buy a BMW car in Febuary , 2008 , I have roughly about 17 - 18,000 euro to spend on this car

realistically the year would have to be 2000 , black , 3 / 4 door and milage no more then 70 - 80,000

The problem i have is that I with these new gas ommisions taxes been introduced by the goverment

I will probably have to settle for a 1.6 / 1.8 engine which i do not mind , as I could not afford to pay 2 thousand pound a year tax for ommissons from a heavier engine ie ( 2 Litre )

Is this not in a sticky somewhere? EDIT http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055199036

. The new tax rates are only for cars registered after July 08. Anything bought before that stays on the old system (+9.5 % for under 2.5 lt from feb)

cantdecide

Find some balance here, carlos30. If you have €18,000 to spend on a car then you can't be that badly off.

If I were in your situation,

1) I would consider getting a car with lowest mileage possible,
2) be prepared to go a little older than you had in mind,
3) DON'T rule out larger petrol engines than you have in mind. Tax IS a penance, even if it's at the old rates but you can't have it all your own way- it's a question of value over cost IMO and better BMWs don't have 4 cylinder petrol engines.
4)maybe spend less on the purchase to give a safety net if the unexpected happens.
5) If you're doing a ton of mileage, diesel is the way to go. If it's low mileage you're doing, just get the best you can and don't let marginal differences in tax etc get in teh way of enjoying a speccy BMW.

Don't be scared, most of all- BMWs are not commodity cars like lesser brands so a nice BMW will turn heads at any age as long as it's speccy and well kept.

In a nutshell, there are good reasons to buy and not buy ALL shapes and sizes of cars. When you find something specific, post a link.

here's one
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=869396

Elessar

As said, anything bought between now and July is on the old tax system, so you'll only be paying the current rate.

I have a BMW 320i coupe, 2001 reg and it has not given me a single problem. I would advise you to go for the 320 as it's a 6 cylinder - the engine is smooth and almost bullet proof.

For the type of money you have you could easily get a 2001/2002 model as I paid 18k for mine back in July and they price constantly goes down. Are you going diesel or petrol? If diesel, I would stay away from the 320d up tp 2003/2004 as they have a lot of turbo problems.

Try and go for cars with the extras, like leather, climate control, Harman Kardon etc. And buy one with a full BMW service history if you can find one - you can verify this by calling BMW and giving them the car serial number and they will confirm (or call the specific dealer where it was serviced).

BMWs are not rubbish cars, just make sure you find one well serviced. As I said my 320ci has not given me any trouble and the 6 cylinder engine really suits the car. Tax is about 790/year with the new rates. If you can afford it, go for it (or a higher model if you want) just be sure you can afford the petrol!

Any more questions just ask.

rebel.ranter

You will get more car for your money by going for a saloon car (4 dr) than you will by opting for the Coupe (3 dr).
I have noticed here in Cork that there are a substantial amount of UK import BMWs, Audi & Merc around 2001/2002/2003. e.g anything with a 02-C- greater than approx 24500 is most likely an import.
(I drive two UK imports & watch the reg numbers here & I am sad enough to spot the higher numbers).
So if you are looking at cars be sure to verify it's history, I wouldn't rely on service books in the glove box either, a fake one all stamped up can be bought for as little as €40.
As others have said there is no need to go for a Diesel model (& pay a premium for the privilege) if you are not doing high mileage.

As for Road tax this is an yeasy one to figure out you should really just look at: http://www.motortax.ie
to see the various rates of road tax for the different engine sizes.

Also you should get a few sample insurance quotes on the models you are most interested in.
I would say that in general a BMW is no more or less reliable than other makes of car. I am on my 8th BMW & I have had various issues, big & small with some of them over the years but by the same token I have had issues with new company cars that I have had during the same time.

If it were me I would hold out for a car with extras like leather & CD (believe it or not this is an extra), low mileage (50k miles), good colour, 6 cylinder engine (i.e. 2.0L or bigger).

What are you driving now? Just so maybe people can offer an insight into the differences in running costs.

carlos30

thank you so much for everybody that replied back to me

I have a lot of respect for people who were kind enough to take time and

give me their time

i am trying a ford focus now its a 1.8 03

i really have saved hard to get the money up , I always wanted a bmw and I really going to take time to read over all the advice that I got

i was afraid to go higher then 1.8 engine because as said i thought i would be thousands every year but I am going to slowly go through the rates again

i took for granted that cd and usual features were extras in bmw

and i am probably now going to look for petrol and I do use my car a lot as i work as a estate agent in dublin but I dont travel all over the country

if and when i buy one should i contact BMW main office with the serial number to track down the history

I am a complete novice and this but thank for your time everybody and your patience

Karl

Andrewf20

Whats the biggest criteria are you looking for in a car? 4 doors, looks, space, ecomony, performance, cheap to maintain, comfort etc?

carlos30

carlos30 wrote: »

thank you so much for everybody that replied back to me

I have a lot of respect for people who were kind enough to take time and

give me their time

i am trying a ford focus now its a 1.8 03

i really have saved hard to get the money up , I always wanted a bmw and I really going to take time to read over all the advice that I got

i was afraid to go higher then 1.8 engine because as said i thought i would be thousands every year but I am going to slowly go through the rates again

i took for granted that cd and usual features were extras in bmw

and i am probably now going to look for petrol and I do use my car a lot as i work as a estate agent in dublin but I dont travel all over the country

if and when i buy one should i contact BMW main office with the serial number to track down the history

I am a complete novice and this but thank for your time everybody and your patience

Karl

Might want to hop over to http://www.bmw-driver.net

Thats were most of the Irish beemer heads are found.