Any BMW (car) drivers input welcome on used car purchase.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Younger son sold his Prius, against my advice. This was a good car, should have taken him through at least 4 years of college. But the kid is driven, does well at school and work, wants what he wants. Bought the Prius for $4500, sold it last week for $6500. Looking for a styling upgrade, and I’ve been teaching him how do drive stick. Because Noah works all day today, my wife and I are going to look at this car today. 2011 BMW 328i X Drive (all wheel drive). If I like it, will likely buy it. I own a 2011 MINI Countryman that I absolutely love to drive. And it’s been relatively trouble-free. It’s a BMW but it’s not a BMW BMW, if you know what I mean. The only thing my car has in common with the car we’re looking at today is the stereo and the key fob slot in the dash. So, any experience with the 3 series, particularly with all-wheel drive welcome.

Here’s the FB marketplace ad:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/716137897137998/?ref=messenger_share

[Vmass]

My son bought a 4 series X Drive early on during the pandemic and has driven the hell out of. He is a snowboarder and hits all the Northeast mountains and he and GF hit up Montreal frequently. I know he has done well over 100k miles with it and as far as I know he hasn't had any issues. He does have it serviced by BMW.

[storm 64]

I didn't know BMW made cars?
My friend drove a Beemer for about 10+ years. His only complaint was the price of parts and service. He never had any major problems with it just normal maintenance stuff.
The car you're looking at does look nice!

[Vmass]

I didn't know BMW made cars?
My friend drove a Beemer for about 10+ years. His only complaint was the price of parts and service. He never had any major problems with it just normal maintenance stuff.
The car you're looking at does look nice!

I agree, if the undercarriage cleanliness/lack of rust matches the rest of the car, it appears to be a solid deal!

[rphillips]

Mass, just wondering if you may know what a BMW dealer would charge for service? A couple of yrs. ago, buddy's sister had a BMW, batt went bad. she'd not let anybody but the dealer ever work on it. Bill for batt. and install was just shy of $ 500. I, and my buddy, thought completely ridiculous, She was perfectly happy.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

I know that on my same year MINI, battery neg terminal has a IBS (not irritable bowel but Intelligent Battery System) tied into computer. New battery has to be registered by dealer or other shop with appropriate equipment so that computer will recognize as new. So battery replacement is not just a simple drop in. $500 is a lot. I’ll have to look as I just had MiNI battery replaced/registered. It was a lot less than $500 at the independent local shop I use. There are home OBD scanners available that will do the job. I don’t have one. But may invest in one if this car has the same system. Same unit may be able to handle codes and such on my Triumph MC. That would be ideal.

[rphillips]

I've not heard of registering a batt. other than for warranty info. I have heard you can connect any 12V to a male cigarette lighter plug, plug it into your cig. lighter in dash, while replacing your batt. and radio, clock, and computer stuff will never know the batt. was replaced.... Sounds reasonable, but things that were reasonable in the past, aren't reasonable any more.

[pdqford]

I know that on my same year MINI, battery neg terminal has a IBS (not irritable bowel but Intelligent Battery System) tied into computer. New battery has to be registered by dealer or other shop with appropriate equipment so that computer will recognize as new. So battery replacement is not just a simple drop in. .

Yep. And because of that “amp clamp” on the car’s negative battery terminal, if you need to charge the battery it is necessary to connect the negative clamp of the battery charger down stream of the IBS. Otherwise, the car’s computer wouldn’t recognize the charge going into the battery and will lose track of the battery SOC. Additionally, the computer needs to know if a new battery has been installed as it uses a different charging strategy with a brandy new battery vs. one with some age on it.

Isin’t that wonderful. Probably saves 0.01 mpg in fuel mileage!

[Rich82GS750TZ]

/\ good to know. Thanks.

[Vmass]

Mass, just wondering if you may know what a BMW dealer would charge for service? A couple of yrs. ago, buddy's sister had a BMW, batt went bad. she'd not let anybody but the dealer ever work on it. Bill for batt. and install was just shy of $ 500. I, and my buddy, thought completely ridiculous, She was perfectly happy.

$500 for a battery swap wouldn't surprise me at all.

My wife recently left Mercedes for something else that caught her eye, it wouldn’t have been my choice!

Her car was always maintained by the dealer. Regular maintenance of Mercedes has an A and a B service schedule, every other one. The A would be basic, oil etc in the $250 range then the B service was a bit more involved, $800 plus. But everything is extra, spark plug change is 7-$800. You pay, but they are a joy to drive and the 4matic drivetrain is spectacular in inclement weather. My wife’s dealership also picked up the car and left a loaner for every service, so very convenient.

I don’t think BMW is quite as detailed, but I know it’s not cheap.

[Nessism]

I want a BMW, from a driving perspective. The reliability and cost of ownership scares me, though.

[bonanzadave]

My grandsons 7 series had such extreme camber on the back wheels they wore out tires in 5K miles. Nice cars. Expensive to maintain!

Both he and his sister now drive Volvo S40s. Bulit proof little cars.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Well the kid just got back from driving his new-to-him beemer. He’s happy. Paint isn’t perfect ,but other than that and a headlight issue that I think is probably minor , I think we did OK. The 3 hour drive home from the used car dealer was very pleasant. The car is very fun to drive. Clutch/trans very precise, smooth shifting. Handling almost as fun as my Mini. I really like the car.

[Vmass]

Well the kid just got back from driving his new-to-him beemer. He’s happy. Paint isn’t perfect ,but other than that and a headlight issue that I think is probably minor , I think we did OK. The 3 hour drive home from the used car dealer was very pleasant. The car is very fun to drive. Clutch/trans very precise, smooth shifting. Handling almost as fun as my Mini. I really like the car.

Nice, congrats kid! The Germans have nice paint, get that thing to a correction guy and you will be amazed.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Yeah, it needs more than correction. If he keeps it long enough and really likes it, it really needs a respray.