Ive been looking around for a relatively reliable, fast, and luxurious vehicle for my first car and after bouncing around a lot of euro cars. Eventually I found a car that seemed to match my criteria. The car is a automatic 2011 BMW e93/335i with a retractable hardtop with 77k miles on it for $11000 from a dealer. This year of the e9x has the n55 engine which is a inline 6 cylinder with a single turbo and Ive seen there's a lot of gasket issues but nothing that seems too difficult to replace to prevent oil leaks. The one major issue I have with the car is the branded title, but after doing vin lookups the reason for it being salvaged out was vandalism and theft. It looks like someone had lived inside the car for an extended time and had sloppily spray painted the vehicle to conceal that it was stolen. The dealer that's selling the car bought it for 5000 and repainted and detailed the car. I'm looking to negotiate the car down to 7 maybe 8.5 thousand.
Do you think it would be possible or even worth buying or should I look for another car that is more reliable.
A link to the salvage auction where it was sold(including photos): Auction
What the car looks like now: Dealer listing
The word reliable and BMW don’t go hand in hand. If you’re looking for a nice luxury coupe that is also a dependable vehicle, I would suggest a Mazda Miata with a manual transmission or try to take a look at some Lexus sedan models.
Goodluck with finding a reliable car man, take care!
@jessedavis please copy + paste your response in the correct location, thanks.
No. You have lots of reasons to a avoid even thinking about that car.
Do you think it would be possible or even worth buying
NO!
Ive been looking around for a relatively reliable, fast, and luxurious vehicle
Lexus or older Volvos,
maybe an older Infiniti or Acura although those are far from ideal and don't last that long.
2011 BMW e93/335i with a retractable hardtop with 77k miles on it for $11000 from a dealer
Doesn't sound that great, it's old for a BMW, costs wayyy to much, and is from a stealer.
n55 engine
From GDi to VANOS and ValveTronic - they are far from being good engines.
branded title, but after doing vin lookups the reason for it being salvaged out was vandalism and theft
Nothing like paying thousands or at least hundreds to an electrician to deal with issues caused by theft.
Do you think it would be possible or even worth buying
NO!
should I look for another car that is more reliable.
YES.
Especially if it’s in a similar condition like Hammond’s car -
https://youtu.be/wYaXw8TZEvs
If you are willing to spend at least ANOTHER $7,500-$11,000 AFTER you get the car to sort out the things that will need to be sorted. At least!
For a first car, I personally would want something reliable, and NOT a project.
Pass. Scotty did a video on one of those a few years ago, when he was back in Houston. He points out on his scanner that the convertible hardtop has its own computer. BMWs are technical monstrosities. Half of the spark plugs are buried under the cowl, so you need a million extensions and u-joints on your ratchet to get to them.
Yeah, I definitely agree with yaser, InThrustWeTrust, kaizen and Doc. Though I do not have the depth of mechanical knowledge which they possess, just from a consumer’s point of view and someone who has been purchasing, driving and maintaining my own cars for 51 years, please give this some thought.
This car was designed to go fast and perform amazingly well. Probably that is why the original owner purchased it. And don’t you think that they likely drove the good out of it so they could experience the thrill they sought when they bought it.
It looks good on the outside, but what about the condition of the inside, the motor and transmission. Were they properly maintained or were they neglected and abused. I’m sure that the person who stole it and spray painted it, then lived in it for an extended period of time did not keep the even the basic recommended services of engine oil and filter changes, ATF changes, air filter etc. Nor do you know if the original owner did unless you have service records that show this.
As you probably know, BMW’s are very expensive to maintain, the high costs of parts and labor. But, hey, if you like to gamble go ahead and roll the dice and have some fun driving this baby. And if/when you begin to have problems with it, you can always come here to get more advice.😉
Agree with….and Dan. He had not posted yet when I began writing my response.
I'd honestly would never consider a car for sale with a salvage or rebuilt title. Unless it's being sold very cheaply I'd run away, the frame could've been bent or something.
Most cars these days don't even have frames. They're unibodies, which means the car is built kinda like a soda can. The strength is in the skin, there's no a frame like a pickup truck or old sedans like the Crown Victoria, etc.
The word reliable and BMW don’t go hand in hand. If you’re looking for a nice luxury coupe that is also a dependable vehicle, I would suggest a Mazda Miata with a manual transmission or try to take a look at some Lexus sedan models.
Goodluck with finding a reliable car man, take care!
