BMW 316/318 Advice

asmith

Hi folks,

I'm looking to buy a 07/08 BMW and was wondering if you could help me out with some advice. My budget is about 38k which means it's either the 316, 318 or maybe a 320. From reading these an other forums the 316 seems to get a real bashing as being the badge seekers choice but with all the bashing I've found very little discussion about the actual car. The lack of power isn't an issue for me (I'm coming from a 1.4 Megane so anything would be better). Is it really as bad as it's made out? Would the 318 diesel be a better option?

Any and all advice gratefully accepted.

Captain Slow IRL

I think the valvetronic engines are great - the 316 is a peppy little car, not so much as the 320, obviously, but that shouldn't matter unless you're going racing it! AFAIK, the 318 and 320 share the same engine - it's just a different engine management program running it (not sure about "chipping" current bmw's)

I'm biased against diesels but the 318d isn't a bad car - it'll definitely have more punch than it's petrol equivalent.

Have a test drive in each, no point someone else telling you what you like.

VH

asmith wrote: »

The lack of power isn't an issue for me (I'm coming from a 1.4 Megane so anything would be better)

owing to the increased weight of the 3 over the megane a 316 might actually be slower

copacetic

asmith wrote: »

Hi folks,

I'm looking to buy a 07/08 BMW and was wondering if you could help me out with some advice. My budget is about 38k which means it's either the 316, 318 or maybe a 320. From reading these an other forums the 316 seems to get a real bashing as being the badge seekers choice but with all the bashing I've found very little discussion about the actual car. The lack of power isn't an issue for me (I'm coming from a 1.4 Megane so anything would be better). Is it really as bad as it's made out? Would the 318 diesel be a better option?

Any and all advice gratefully accepted.

for 38k you will easily get a 320. Be careful with the pricing on carzone most of them are at least 5k overpriced at the moment.

Work out the new price on bmw.ie and take 20-25% off for an 08, 30-35% for an 07, that is your target price. You may not get it but you should get close to it.

bazz26

To be honest if I was spending a whopping €38k on a car I would be aiming for something a bit more special than a 1.6 litre.

R.O.R

For €38k you should be able to get one of the 318d ES Edition models brand new. 17" Alloys, Full Leather, Multi Function M-Sport steering wheel, €150 a year road tax.

There are still a few around in the dealers before the facelifted model is launched shortly - at a 5% premium over the current model on 318's and 2.5% on the rest of the line up (although the 335d goes down due to emissions improvements).

asmith

Thanks for all the info folks. I've decided to go for either the 318 or 320 depending on which one comes within my price range. Ideally it would be an SE since they seem to have a few nice extras.

Captain Slow IRL wrote:

I'm biased against diesels but the 318d isn't a bad car

Any particular reason Captain? I've heard diesels can be a bit more expensive to maintain, is this true. I'll not be doing a lot of mileage (<15k a year), but the diesels seem to be more economical and have lower co2 emissions.

Captain Slow IRL

It's just personal preferance, I like petrol engines! The new diesel engines in the bm's are impressive though - very quiet and smooth. (even the "poverty spec" 318d and 520d!)

There isn't much difference between the petrol and diesel service intervals, and the current cbs (condition based service) has fairly large intervals between the service items. The only major difference in servicing them might be the oil and air filter, but cost-wise, there's feck-all in the difference. They take roughly the same quantity of oil as well, so there's no real advantage to either in regards servicing. I'd say the diesels might be slighty more happy to go through pads and discs more-so than the petrols, but if you're saving money at the petrol station it should balance out!