Need Opinion's QUICKLY!!

ADO

hey guys!

Ok have €8200 to spend on a car.

My cousin is getting me the car you see below, its NCT'd till 2010, have my heart set on a BMW 318 and i think this is the one for me, can you give me you opinion on it please

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=479934

JHMEG

I found that model 318 very underpowered, has (imo) questionable handling with some boat-like qualities, and I found the clutch and brake pedals too close together.

I'm sure I'll draw fire, but that's my honest opinion on that model 318, after having driven one extensively recently.

chris85

JHMEG wrote: »

I found that model 318 very underpowered, has (imo) questionable handling with some boat-like qualities, and I found the clutch and brake pedals too close together.

I'm sure I'll draw fire, but that's my honest opinion on that model 318, after having driven one extensively recently.

found it a bit underpowered myself. At the time I was driving a 1.4 Toyota Cynos and got into the Beemer and didnt feel like it had anymore power at all.

Pedals I felt were finely placed and everything else was fine with it but would expect bit more power out of the engine.

bazz26

That is the non valvetronic engined 318i afaik. I'm not sure I'd be happy taxing/insuring and running a 1.9 litre with the perforance of your average 1.6 litre.

fabsoul

go for the 320d, http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=781030

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=871645

JohnCleary

fabsoul wrote: »

go for the 320d, http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=781030

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=871645

The red one is way overpriced

--amadeus--

fabsoul wrote: »

go for the 320d, http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=781030

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=871645

He's only got 8k to spend.

As for the orig. q - personally I wouldn't. It'll look nice sitting on your drive and it's fairly low mileage for year but that's about it. It's poverty spec, won't be particulalry engaging to drive or powerful for the engine size. It will also be expensive to maintain (BM parts are eye wateringly expensive) and thirsty enough.

Why do you want it? If it's just the image the go for it. If you want to buy into the "ultimate driving machine" thing then maybe go up in years and get a car with a bigger engine and more toys (it'll be easier to shift). If you want a prestige car first and foremost them maybe look at Audi / Merc / Volvo (or even Saab).

milltown

--amadeus-- wrote: »

It will also be expensive to maintain (BM parts are eye wateringly expensive)

Piff and twaddle!

More sh1te being posted by "people who know" :rolleyes:
Most parts are very reasonable, some are surprisingly cheap. With that vintage of car, don't waste money keeping main dealer stamps in the book. Find a good independent garage and it'll cost the same or less to maintain than a similar age Astra.

One man's thirsty is another man's frugal. I had the same car with an auto box and got about 27mpg around town and 35 on a run. With a manual box you should be able to add a few empeegees onto those figures.

It's not a performance car but it's a solid, engaging drive. If it doesn't feel planted then it probably needs wishbone bushes. Common issue (on most cars) and not big bucks. Check if that's an Irish car. My sister bought a 318Ci from them and it was a SGP import that needed €500 spent on a new stereo to get the right frequencies on the radio. But no complaints about the dealer, a good car for a good price.

I wouldn't say there's much room to haggle there but see if the wheels are genuine or replicas. Also, it looks a fairly basic saloon and I didn't think the sports suspension was available on it's own without the M pack (sports seats, 3 spoke wheel, bodykit) but maybe somebody else can confirm that.

If it's what you want, go for it and enjoy it and feck the naysayers!

prospect

OP,

Those wheels won't last the pace if you do regular driving on bad roads.

--amadeus--

milltown wrote: »

Piff and twaddle!

More sh1te being posted by "people who know" :rolleyes:

I'm on my second BM (520i and now wife runs an X3) and I do know how expensive BMW parts are. All well and good bulling on about dealer stamps and local independents but you cannot get pattern parts for everything. Example - the remote locking went on the 5. I figured the key needs a new battery - but no, BMW keys have a rechargable battery that gets powered up every time it's in the ignition. When that goes you need a new key. Available only through BMW dealers. I can't remember how much but it was horrific (well into 3 figures). Standard service items (filters and the like) you can get generic parts for but not everything and if the OP puts any miles on it at all they'll be heading up towards the 100K mile mark fairly soon and that's when parts start to fail.

If you actually read my post instead of firing of random insults you'll see that I said "Why do you want it? If it's just the image then go for it". If it's the car they want then money and maintenance and all that stuff doesn't matter. But there are better options out there (including better BM's) than a base level 318.

Ferris

You are better off going for the 2L 16v '318i'. It has 147hp and better (actually excellent) economy. It won engine of the year when it was introduced afaik. It was in from september 2001 anyway. You should consider buying up north as theree are loads of these cars up there and you would get a well specced one for what you've got to spend imo. Best of luck.

N8

You will get a lot of car for the equivalent of €6K up north (accounting for €2K 30% VRT) with a much improved spec (over the poverty spec pointed out by Amadeus) and a much higher resale-ability when it comes to moving it on again. This will be improved further should you decide to buy a diesel up North or in the UK and postpone payment of the VRT until after July so establishing a lower annual tax for the vehicle as well as a lower VRT, making the car even more attractive than equivalent vehicles in the republic…..

--amadeus--

This might just be me being super paranoid but...

17" M-Tec alloys wouldn't have come as standard on that car and would cost a tidy amount to put on. The rest of the car looks like it's clean and straight and hasn't been modded at all, no upgrade on the ICE, no signs of spoiler or other bodykit for example.

Why add just fancy wheels? I know that it probably originally came with steel wheels but why go up to such flashy wheels and not do anything else? Wonder how the last owner drove it?

Fancy after-market alloys always ring a vague bell with me, but like I said it's probably nothing.

endplate

--amadeus-- wrote: »

I'm on my second BM (520i and now wife runs an X3) and I do know how expensive BMW parts are. All well and good bulling on about dealer stamps and local independents but you cannot get pattern parts for everything. Example - the remote locking went on the 5. I figured the key needs a new battery - but no, BMW keys have a rechargable battery that gets powered up every time it's in the ignition. When that goes you need a new key. Available only through BMW dealers. I can't remember how much but it was horrific (well into 3 figures). Standard service items (filters and the like) you can get generic parts for but not everything and if the OP puts any miles on it at all they'll be heading up towards the 100K mile mark fairly soon and that's when parts start to fail.

If you actually read my post instead of firing of random insults you'll see that I said "Why do you want it? If it's just the image then go for it". If it's the car they want then money and maintenance and all that stuff doesn't matter. But there are better options out there (including better BM's) than a base level 318.

I think you'll find that a replacement key is a rare requirement and you were unfortunate to need a new key. But that shouldn't be included as a running expense of a car. Servicing parts are a running expense and yes you can get genuine parts from dealers not connected to BWM ie GSF carparts off the Nangor road or in Beaumount D9 They give you the choice of either genuine or spurious parts for a little less. When a car gets old why bother ripping yourself off by continuing to get serviced by main dealers there are plenty of Independants who will do a better job in most cases but will all usually charge a lot less

milltown

endplate wrote: »

I think you'll find that a replacement key is a rare requirement and you were unfortunate to need a new key. But that shouldn't be included as a running expense of a car. Servicing parts are a running expense and yes you can get genuine parts from dealers not connected to BWM ie GSF carparts off the Nangor road or in Beaumount D9 They give you the choice of either genuine or spurious parts for a little less. When a car gets old why bother ripping yourself off by continuing to get serviced by main dealers there are plenty of Independants who will do a better job in most cases but will all usually charge a lot less

Agreed.

And a replacement key for most cars these days will cost the wrong side of €100, usually closer to €200. The amount to spend on the upkeep of a car is directly related to the value of the car. If your 5 is worth upwards of €20k then by all means splash a few hundred quid to save having to turn a key in a lock. For a car worth €8k the decision, as I see it, is between a 2nd hand key from Ebay and a few quid to somebody to code it if it's your only key, or just get used to turning the key in the lock again.

With the exception of the fuel filter (€70 :eek:) I don't think there's worthwhile savings to be made using pattern parts for servicing. I think Amadeus is confusing maintenance with repairs. Ask a Passat or A4 owner who's had a timing belt change fall due about maintenance costs and they'll tell you about eye watering.

Btw, my "insult" wasn't random. You'll notice that I only quoted the part of your post I took umbrage with.

--amadeus--

If you read the post you'll see that I wasn't confusing servicing with repairs.

In fact that was exactly the point I was trying to make.

I specifically mentioned getting non-BMW parts for routine servicing and I also said that as the miles climb more parts are going to fail. Older cars - of any marque - are less reliable and more prone to failure. This is because of the routine wear and tear on components that are not replaced during a regular service. My main interest is classics - believe me, I know the difference between a failure & repair and a routine service!

Servicing costs on a 9 or 10 yr old BM won't be the different to any other car.

But if / when parts fail (and on a 9 / 10 year old car parts will fail) then a BMW will - on average - be more expensive to repair. Clutches, starter motors, the cooling system, electrical components, things like wiper or electric window motors and the like are common failures on older cars.

Now depending how mechanical you are you could get friendly with a scrap dealer and / or do the work yourself. You could get lucky and run teh car for two or three years and never have a problem. But in general an older car will have more failures and an older BMW will cost you more to keep on the road than an similar age non-prestige marque car.

ADO

hey lads,

thanks very much for all your replies, i have taken EVERYTHING you have said on board and decided that im going to decline on this car. However i do have my heart set on getting a bmw, im going to look at 2 more today that are new'r and around the same price and less mileage. I suppose the reason i want a BMW is because i love the way they drive, im not looking for a fast car, just somthing luxiourios (cant spell, too early in the morning) :P

basically i'd get more pleasure out of driving a bmw then driving a skoda,mondeo or golf......

again thank you very much for all your help guys and pointing out the reality high's and low's

if you have anymore suggestions id be glad to hear them

ADO.