Thinking of buying a 2011 328i xdrive with 69k miles, I've heard from youtube videos the e90 is pretty reliable, has anyone owned or worked on one to tell me how's the reliability or what thing to look out for, and what things will break? I'm thinking of buying this week
What is your plan for this vehicle? Daily driver, weekend toy, how many miles do you want to get out of it?
Mostly Daily driver but definitely won't go more than 10 miles daily
I would not buy any 10 year old BMW for a daily driver. There are a lot of plastic parts in that engine bay that will need replacement just from heat and age.
Keeping it on the road will cost you a small fortune. You would be better off looking at other options.
A 2011 BMW 3 series is an ultimate money pit, like said above I doubt the E90 is as good as you said. I heard they are electrical nightmares, and other than that its a BMW and you will pay a fortune on repairs and maintenance. Nothing wrong with buying one if you know thats its going to cost $$$$ to keep running and you use it as a weekend toy, but buying it thinking its going to be "pretty reliable" would most likely lead you to dissapointment. Definitely got a good choice for a daily driver. I would recommend the Lexus GS as an alternative.
Reliable and older BMW cars just don’t go together. Don’t fool yourself. If you are not planning to do all the work yourself as well as get parts at reasonable prices, walk away. Owning it will be a labor of love and money.
Nicely said! Excluding depreciation, according to Edmunds, the BMW 3 series has a $40,000 5 year ownership cost, including $20,000 in repairs and maintenance (and this is just the first 5 years, the next 5 years are exponentionally worse). The most common problems include oil leaks and blown head gaskets.
"Don't fool yourself" sums it up quite well.
I've heard the opposite for the E90. Several years ago I was interested in a 2008 328xi and an ordinary 328i. I had a '94 540i at the time and it was having a couple issues I couldn't address without pulling the V8 engine out. From my gatherings, their water pumps are electric, not driven by the serpentine belt. They were failure prone and cost upwards of $500 for a replacement. I've also heard that BMW ran the front CV axles on the X-drive version through the engine's oil pan and that made changing them a real pain. The cowl below the windshield also overhangs the rear of the engine, so it's a hassle to even get at spark plugs and coil packs. I seem to remember Scotty hating that about a customer's in one of his videos.
A reliable BMW is a 528i in the E34 generation with a standard transmission, if you can find a decent one (1989-1995). They had the straight-six engine with tons of working room and they weren't too technological at that point. My 540i was an E34, but BMW crammed a V8 into the 5-Series for that car and you couldn't access the steering system without pulling the engine. A power steering leak got to the point where I was adding $50 worth of power steering fluid monthly and I sold it on.
I have experience with one of the engines available for the 2011 BMW 328i, specifically the N52 inline 6 in a BMW X5.
I owned a hand me down 2006 BMW X5 from 2016-2020, driving from about 160K miles to 200K+ miles. And the N52 is a reliable engine. The problem is cost to maintain.
I also currently own a 1999 Honda Accord since the beginning, now at about 270K+ miles.
For perspective, I spent way more money maintaining the BMW X5 in 4 years of ownership, than 20+ years of ownership with my Honda Accord.
BMW's are amazing vehicles. I loved the way the X5 performed. And how smooth it drove. But it cost me an arm, leg, and torso. Unless you are handy enough to do the work yourself, the cost to maintain them is insane. Parts alone for BMW's are insanely priced.
If I had a slush fund, I'd probably still be driving a BMW, or even venture to get a BMW as my next car. But I don't have such a slush fund, so reliable and cheaper to maintain is the name of the game. And that usually goes to Honda or Toyota.
