I think of buying a BMW...what is your opinion?

[cosmo artemis]

Salam and good morning!Dear everybody,I am new to this forum. Actually, I am thinking of buying a beemer...currently I drive a Wira. Therefore, before I purchase one, I need your opinion of this car:1) General guide - what to look at when I want to buy a 2nd hand BMW2) How about the maintenance? Sparepare? Labour cost?3) Cost of ownership - fuel, tyres etc?I am glad if all of sifus overhere could shed me some light...Rafel

 

[Fireuz]

Hi Rafel,

Kindly introduce yourself at newbies section in here ( http://www.bmwclubmalaysia.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?30-Newbies).
I'm sure the others will share the guidance how to own the beemer.

Within simple words, the answer is; you just times with three on whatever you spend on wira. But the satisfaction on BMW, you will get thousanss of times :top:

 

[ailixhomes]

Salam and good morning!

Dear everybody,

I am new to this forum. Actually, I am thinking of buying a beemer...currently I drive a Wira. Therefore, before I purchase one, I need your opinion of this car:

1) General guide - what to look at when I want to buy a 2nd hand BMW
2) How about the maintenance? Sparepare? Labour cost?
3) Cost of ownership - fuel, tyres etc?

I am glad if all of sifus overhere could shed me some light...

Rafel

Purchasing second hand BMW car is a amazing choice at this particular time. Before buying used BMW you should check the car must have got all functions working properly. It might also be a wise decision to take the used BMW to a regional auto mechanic or a car body system professional.

 

[EL118]

Salam and good morning!

Dear everybody,

I am new to this forum. Actually, I am thinking of buying a beemer...currently I drive a Wira. Therefore, before I purchase one, I need your opinion of this car:

1) General guide - what to look at when I want to buy a 2nd hand BMW
2) How about the maintenance? Sparepare? Labour cost?
3) Cost of ownership - fuel, tyres etc?

I am glad if all of sifus overhere could shed me some light...

Rafel

sorry to say but "think twice" unless u are ready to fork out around 5-10 times of your current maintenance bills for your Wira.

 

[astroboy]

There‘s always a 1st step for everything.. good luck! You need it.. :4:

 

[gendong]

Which model do you have in mind bro?

 

[bryantg]

i think for 2 years b4 i get my e34....

 

[m0nit0r]

Commit first and the money will come..

 

[harry_7]

Dome day coming, own a UDM before too late.....

 

[tee]

I am also planning to get a Beemer soon, but fellow owners seems to be a little skeptical on recommending an Used Beemer to the newbies. Any particular reason why ? I've heard from most ppl, beemer would be cheapest Conti car to be maintained compared to the Audi & Merc. Is that statement wrong? Would there be so much of hard earned $$ spent to repair them?

 

[wingzee]

Coming from a owning history of only Japanese makes, what I can say is continental makes (BMW included) would generally require more TLC than their Jap counterparts. Used bimmer is fine as long as previous owner took great care of it (you may find a few examples under our Classifieds section), where general maintenance and replacement of wear & tear parts are done accordingly.

But some may have been thrashed along the years of ownership and not properly maintained and these are the ones new buyers should be aware of.

Always and always bring for inspection by a reputable mech before committing.

 

[haywire]

I am also planning to get a Beemer soon, but fellow owners seems to be a little skeptical on recommending an Used Beemer to the newbies. Any particular reason why ? I've heard from most ppl, beemer would be cheapest Conti car to be maintained compared to the Audi & Merc. Is that statement wrong? Would there be so much of hard earned $$ spent to repair them?

Definitely a wrong statement.

My dad is a long term Merc driver and his maintenance spending are low. Not many problems and parts are cheap.

Generally for a 10 year old E39 for example you need average RM800-1000 per month MINIMUM on maintenance provided nothing major happens.

When I say average, you may enjoy 2-3 months with only oil sercice, but on a 3rd or 4th month a big bill of RM3-4k comes. Thats how it is from experience.

Merc and BMW prices, BMW are much more expensive on parts. Example, when I go to chop shop to buy a gear knob for my dad's Merc, it was RM50. Came back next week, saw a nice gear knob for my BMW, its RM100. Both are similar looking. When asked, the answer was commonly heard 'BMW maaa!'

 

[tee]

That's really a bummer then. There goes all the intention for me to get a used beemer. as much as i love the cars, i don't think I'll be able to fork out expenses just to repair this guys. Guess I'm not ready for it yet. Unless i can afford to get a new ones. Thanks guys.

 

[Chrix]

Salam and good morning!

Dear everybody,

I am new to this forum. Actually, I am thinking of buying a beemer...currently I drive a Wira. Therefore, before I purchase one, I need your opinion of this car:

1) General guide - what to look at when I want to buy a 2nd hand BMW
2) How about the maintenance? Sparepare? Labour cost?
3) Cost of ownership - fuel, tyres etc?

I am glad if all of sifu's over here could shed me some light...

Rafel

Many good advise from others, but let me share a story of a friend's Wira & my 20year old BMW.

His Siemens Wira has had throttle body issues, engine leaking issues, gearbox issues, air-cond issue.. brake issues.. wheel bearing issues.. he has spent close to 5k on some of these repairs (not including gearbox).

In contrast, my BMW has had leaking issues and that was fixed (well..untill now the head seems to be leaking again, what joy. Thus far ).

Like many others said, if the previous owner had taken care of it well, you wont have to fork out the few grand needed to rectify issues that comes with owning an decade or more old car.

As for workshop costs & labour.. my experience is if you go to a "authorised BMW specialist", it will cost more. If you go to a normal workshop but has many bimmers in & around it, it would cost less.

As for fuel & tires... that depends, auto or manual, heavy foot or not, low profile or otherwise. You shouldnt worry about this part.

Also, you have to remember BMW's generally are more advanced (in terms of electronic features) compared to their Japanese counter parts. Compare a 90's E36 to a 90's Corolla for example.

But I gotta say... my previous 4AGE ITB Blacktop Corolla had insane wheel spinning power yet so fuel efficient.. damn I miss those days.. lol
"
Good luck..

 

[ashman55]

Go for it.otherwise you end up never to drive your dream car.You will end up driving a car because of it resale value.what your family ,friends opinions,etc.

 

[mizhan]

generally, if one is undecided on BMW ownership, it is best not to take the plunge. many if not all owners of BMWs are so due to reasons other than rational.

 

[MadZiZ]

Haha soooo true bro Mizhan. Think before you leap. But if still can't sleep at night and can't eat then you know what you have to do Like buying anything research is the most important start!!!! Just don't take ppl's word......be patient and shop ard until u pull the trigger. A wise man said to me once.... "You only live once but live in between your means" LOL!!! Head the advise carefully.....

 

[tee]

Thanks Guys.. So as much as crave and hunger for the BMW emblem, what do you mostly look at to get a proper car ?
Service Records, maintained parts, talk to their mechanics? How would you classify the car is in good condition and its safe ?

 

[slyder]

Tee, all the comments given by everyone here are valid points. Especially Haywire comment about Mercs vs BMW. It all depends on how mass produce or how long a particular model has been in the market. Even the Merc 124 series headlamp are cheaper than proton / mitsubishi.
Just like to add dont let haywire figures from e39 scare you too much. his Average monthly is more from the e39 side. which generally 5 series parts are price a "little" more than 3 series.
That said some things are based on the availablity like some e30 parts might cost more that e36 or e46 due to no longer in production and less dismantler cars available.

What i can share coming from Jap based car which my last one was toyota, you be surpised some similiar parts are sometimes cheaper or at most 10- 20 ringgit more.

Also another thing is reason why maintainence of BMW is more compared to Japanese is more due to the fact there are more engineering parts which in turn creates the UDM driving experience.

hope this helps you in making your decision.

 

[tIANcI]

BMW cars will usually Banyak Minta Wang as it get's older. That is the price of owning a Continental car.