Scotty my friend wants to buy a black 2008 BMW Series 3 328i convertible 2D with 113,500 miles with an automatic transmission for $8500. Is this ok for the price as a weekend toy, daily driver or should she look elsewhere assuming everything checked out ok. Looks like it was made in Germany.
For weekend toy maybe, for daily driver no. You can find out wher it was made by looking the VIN. If it begins with W, it was made in Germany.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I95LurFYbtg
I hope she really likes washing this car on a frequent basis. I bought a black car once and I won't make that mistake again. Like @kaizen said, maintenance costs are outa sight.
I wouldn't mess with a 14 year old BMW at that price. The 3-series that generation (I believe it's the E90) is a royal pain in the rear end to work on. Even basic stuff.
Scotty did a video a while back on diagnosing a misfire in one. He needed to use a swivel joint and multiple extensions to get back underneath the cowl to pull the #6 spark plug and had to be extremely careful to not bust the coil. Not to mention everything else that's plastic under that hood (basically everything they can get way with making out of plastic is plastic). See if you can find it and show it to her.
The water pumps are also not belt driven, unlike almost every other car that age. It's an electronic contraption that costs $500+ just for the part, and they are failure prone.
If she doesn't mind that kind of expense, get it checked out by a good BMW mechanic.
Stay away from the 3-Series X-Drive in that generation. I've heard that the Germans ran the front axles through the oil pan on the engine and the seals eventually leak. Fixing anything requires pulling the pan and those axles out.
Assuming it checks out. If they are okay spending at least ⅓ to ½ of the purchase price per year in maintenance, it’s a great car. I generally see BMW as reliable but needs a ton of maintenance to maintain that reliability.
My only concern is if the previous owner drive it like a mad man and didn’t maintain it. If a BMW is properly maintained, it can be $weet.
there is a reason a 10 year old used Yaris and 10 year old used BMW will sell for about the same price.
