How reliable are 3 Series that has over 100,000milege?

3Series79

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#1
Hi, I am new to this forum. I am considering about purchasing below vehicle but was concerned about the milege and how reliable 3 series are after 100,000mi. Main reason for this consideration is the budget and I always admired bmw and would love to finally own it. Your input and advise on purchasing this vehicle is a good idea or not will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Year: 2000
Make: BMW
Model: 3 SERIES
Body: 4DR
Engine: 2.5L I6
Transmission: Automatic
Drive Type: rwd
Color: TITANIUM SILVER
Interior Color: GRAY
Interior Type: LEATHER
Mileage: 111,879
Stock: T5512
VIN: WBAAM3345YFP77496

PRICED-$13,991

If I decide to get this car it will be my daily driven car to work 5-10mi a day, and occasional weekend outing on weekends 60-80mi. I hope to own this car for next 4-5 years. What possible problems will I face during that time?
 

Big Daddy

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#2
Welcome to the board! When maintained properly BMW engines will last well over 200k. The automatic transmission may be another issue as I have never owned one in a 3 series. The price you describe is average assuming that there are not a lot if extra options that were purchased with the car. If I were truly interested in this car I would take it to an independent BMW shop and have it checked out throughly.
 

3Series79

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#3
Thanks for your comments super moderator. This car is being sold by a local dealership and I believe all dealership are required to have certain test passed on used vehicles for sale. I plan to test driving this car very soon. What kind things should I look in deatil for and what sort of question should I ask to the sales person while test driving?

While I was browsing this forum waiting for replies I read a complaint about door panel falling apart and side speakers making rattling noise. Is this really that common on 3 series?

Thanks again.
 

Big Daddy

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#4
I am not sure how common the door panel thing is but you could make a quick inspection of those during your test drive. I would not trust any dealership to tell me everything that is wrong with a used car they are selling me. Is this a CPO car with a warranty? If that were the case than I may forgo the inspection. I would have the car inspected by another BMW shop, if the car is in good condition they should not object.
 

3Series79

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#5
How do I go about having the car inspected by BMW shop without purchasing it? Will the dealership let me take the car to BMW shop? I was hoping that the sales person will show me the print of the carfax and history of this car during our negotiation. The dealership that I found this car is actually an Infiniti dealership. I am also new to purchasing a car through a dealership so please bare with me for lacking in knowledge and what may seem like a common sense. I really appreciate your help.
 

Big Daddy

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#6
Carfax will not tell you anything other than ownership and maybe if it has been in an accident. (I know people who after being in major accidents repaired the car themselves and never reported the accident, Carfax cannot catch this) Tell them you want to take the car for a test drive ALONE, than take it to a BMW shop and have them give it a once over, it may cost you a couple of bucks but than you can negiotiate from there. If they object I would not buy the car.
 

Bmw 325i 7803

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#7
carfax is useless... it's just for kicks... A high-mileage E46 is eh... depending on how it was maintained. If it has 112k the auto tranny is due for a breakdown within a year or two depending on how abused it was, or this might not be the case as it is the lower hp model. The only things I can think of would be control arms, window regulators, sunroof clips, and the transmission as potential trouble spots. Like Big Daddy said, test drive it and take it to a local BMW dealer and for $100 they can take a look at it. 14k is a little high on the asking price, you know if you only wish to keep the car for 3yrs and drive low mileage you can get an extremely good lease on a NEW 2005 325i which would probably end up costing you 14k after 3years if you negotiate right, and it's fully warrantied with maintenance included for 4yrs/50k miles.
 
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#8
[thumb] Welcome to the forum dude. I have a 2000 323i with a standard transmission. I currently have 160,900 miles and counting. I bought the car in Europe brand new in July 1999. At 157,000 miles my clutch decided to go south followed by my transmission at 157, 500. I have other minor repairs such as the rear passenger window regulator, the control arm bushings and the bearrings in the pullies all have been replaced. I take it in for all scheduled maintenance appointments at every 30,000 mile interval as well as get my oil changed at 7,500 mile intervals. My only suggestion is to take it to an authorized BMW stealership or an independent service representative to get an independent inspection of the vehicle before you buy it. They will tell you whether to purchase the car or not. Happy Motoring... Lets us know how you make out...[driving2]
 
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#9
i have an 87 325 is. the odometer stoped working a couple of years ago at 186k. i bought it used from an individual who was not forthcoming about repairs or maintence records. it has had some colision dammage to the front end which was repaired. it is hard to start, has electrical gremlins, and various mechanical failures at the most inoportune moments. i love it. i have rebuilt the alternator and starter, replaced one u joint in the drive shaft, (yes it can be done) replaced the batteries in the si board, repaired both fuel pumps, replaced the brake pads, and preformed the various preventive maintence items. the passanger seat belt dosent allways latch securly, something i dont know if i want to fix or not, the ex-wife might just want a ride some day.
 

William330

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#10
Just go into this deal with your eyes open, if you do need any
repairs down the line, you'll pay a lot to have the work done.

You may have no issues at all, but the scheduled maintenance and
any repairs will be out of warranty, and you'll get hit with a big bill
at the BMW dealer.

This would apply to any out-of-warranty used BMW, though, not just
one with 100K miles.
 
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#11
William330 said:
Just go into this deal with your eyes open, if you do need any
repairs down the line, you'll pay a lot to have the work done.

You may have no issues at all, but the scheduled maintenance and
any repairs will be out of warranty, and you'll get hit with a big bill
at the BMW dealer.

This would apply to any out-of-warranty used BMW, though, not just
one with 100K miles.
Unless you can do all the work yourself and somehow get the parts cheap, but realisticly in most cases you are absolutely right.
 

sly

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#12
andreyiv said:
Unless you can do all the work yourself and somehow get the parts cheap, but realisticly in most cases you are absolutely right.
Unless I could do almost all of the maintenance myself, I wouldn't buy a high mileage BMW. The cost of parts and labor for German cars is extremely high.

Two of my friends have high mileage 993s that they picked up for under $40K. They use their 996s for pleasure and do all of their own maintenance. There are so many places that offer wholesale prices for Porsche and BMW parts, that it is possible to maintain these cars on a tight budget, provided that you can do the work yourself.

Dealerships make money on parts as well as on Installation. Most BMW dealerships charge at least $90 an hour for labor and time charges are fixed for each installation activity. The fixed charges are typically much higher than the time taken to do the work, so don't be upset if you are charged for 8 hours of labor when the mechanic completed the job in 5 hours.
 
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#13
sly said:
Dealerships make money on parts as well as on Installation. Most BMW dealerships charge at least $90 an hour for labor and time charges are fixed for each installation activity. The fixed charges are typically much higher than the time taken to do the work, so don't be upset if you are charged for 8 hours of labor when the mechanic completed the job in 5 hours.
This doesn't apply if you take your car to a specialist BMW mechanic as opposed to a BMW dealership. My car has relatively low mileage for it's age: my E30 318is has only done 130,000km in 15 years. Having said that, a BMW with that sort of mileage is not going to lose much (if any) resale value because it wasn't serviced by a BMW dealership. In any case, the BMW dealerships don't exactly have the best reputation for price-fairness or attention to detail. There are countless examples of the dealers taking shortcuts in order to increase their profits on a massive scale. I'm completely happy with my mechanic because he's German and was trained by BMW in Germany. More to the point, he's a car-enthusiast before he's a large money-grabbing organisation and this is reflected in his thoroughness and attention to detail when servicing my BMW.
 
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#14
sly said:
Unless I could do almost all of the maintenance myself, I wouldn't buy a high mileage BMW. The cost of parts and labor for German cars is extremely high.

Two of my friends have high mileage 993s that they picked up for under $40K. They use their 996s for pleasure and do all of their own maintenance. There are so many places that offer wholesale prices for Porsche and BMW parts, that it is possible to maintain these cars on a tight budget, provided that you can do the work yourself.

Dealerships make money on parts as well as on Installation. Most BMW dealerships charge at least $90 an hour for labor and time charges are fixed for each installation activity. The fixed charges are typically much higher than the time taken to do the work, so don't be upset if you are charged for 8 hours of labor when the mechanic completed the job in 5 hours.
Yup, that is why nothing on my car has been fixed at the dealership for the whole time that I have owned it. The most expensive part I bought at the dealership was under 40 dollars because I needed it that same day. I actually try to do everything I can on this car myself, two things I couldn't do myself were: the O2 sensor because I didn't have the right tool and topping off tranny fluid because I didn't have a drive way nor could I fix it on the street (illegal).

I actually look forward to doing work on the car, gives me that feeling that I can do it if I want and that it runs on my elbow greese. Maintainingthesethings is part ofthe funof ownership I think.

The reason I said what I said before is because I don't know how the person asking the question feels about doing your own maintanance.
 
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#15
wow I wish I knew how to do a lot of maintenance on my car myself. I have been going to the dealer for practically everything... What is the best way to learn to do some common things on my own?
 
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#16
Pick up the Bentley Manual for your car. Even if you never do any work yourself, you can talk intelligently at the dealership and know a bit about what's wrong or might need fixing before you walk in the door. The Bentley Manual is MUCH better than the Haynes, but I have both for cross-reference. Bentley spells all of this out very clearly with pictures to help.

After you study the Bentley and are ready to try something, Google it. You will almost always find BMW maintenance tips and other help on the net somewhere, sometimes it's even correct!

Things that I and many others consider a DIY job:
- Front brake pad replacement (easy)
- Front rotor replacement (fairly easy)
- Rear brake pad replacement (easy)
- Rear rotor replacement (fairly easy, unless the parking brake shoes hang, more of a pain to get the rotor off)
- Spark plug change (easy)
- Air Filter change (REALLY easy)
- Micro Filter change (easy)
- Cooling hose replacement (fairly easy)
- Flush brake lines (easy, especially with a power bleeder while you are doing brake job)
- Other basic tuneup procedures

Ok guys and girls, what else did I miss that should be on the list?
 

William330

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#17
That's a nice list Kirby, but I must be dangerous with a wrench, because
while changing the spark plugs on my old car, one of the new plugs went
in angled by one thread, and that stuck plug remained in the car until the
day I sold it.

:)
 
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#18
Oil and coolant changes are also fairly easy. The only hard thing about the coolant change is bleeding the system probperly (at least on my car). I imagine shocks shouldn't be too hard to do either.

The only way you can learn is through practice. I have the Haynes manual and I almost never use it because most of the time, things I find online are a lot more useful. Start out with easy stuff and then move on to something harder. Watching your mechanic also helps, if you can that is.
 
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#19

William330 said:
That's a nice list Kirby, but I must be dangerous with a wrench, because
while changing the spark plugs on my old car, one of the new plugs went
in angled by one thread, and that stuck plug remained in the car until the
day I sold it.

:)
 
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#20
William330 said:
That's a nice list Kirby, but I must be dangerous with a wrench, because
while changing the spark plugs on my old car, one of the new plugs went
in angled by one thread, and that stuck plug remained in the car until the
day I sold it.

:)
[ohcrap] [ohcrap] [ohcrap] ......
 


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