BMW 3-Series 2005 and earlier

Reply

#22421 of 30250 Making a convincing argument by nyccarguy

Mar 22, 2003 (4:23 pm)

Well, those of you who subscribe to autoweek read the great article about being the car guy and other who ask for your advice and then do exactly the opposite of what you advise them to do. Here's kind of an opposite senario:

My buddy in SoCal leases a 2001 Range Rover (I know, totally unecessary) is way over his mileage (but he writes it all off anyway) and owns a 1996 Audi A4 2.8. Needless to say, he hasn't driven the Audi in about 2.5 years since leasing his Range Rover. He took the car out for a drive an noticed there was lots wrong with it. He took it to a dealer and they diagnosed more than $3000 to get it running again in perfect condition. He said to himself that he would rather trade the car into a dealer and get something new (the dealer is obviously going to just send the Audi to auction) rather than try to sell it.

His favorite car that he's ever owned was his 1995 E36 325is (5 spd, SP...). He considered a CPO 330Ci, but they sell so ridculously close to original sticker in SOCal. BMWs are somewhat ubiquitous in Orange County, so he was looking for something a little different.

He liked the G35 Coupe (don't worry, I'm not going into the whole G vs. 3 discussion), but wouldn't get one due to the "holier than thou attitude" of the Infiniti dealer who told him they're leasing the cars at MSRP and you have to order one with a $2000 deposit. He told the Infiniti dealer where to stick it.

He then went to his local Honda dealer thinking he would get something just to get him back and forth to work. The EX V6 Accord w/ a 6 speed looked nice and stickers for $28K w/ Navigation. The Honda dealer told him that they are only being allocated 1 per month and the selling price is $4k above MSRP. He walked out laughing.

He asked me what he should do. I told him that he's always complaining that nothing is like his BMW, so why don't you just get another BMW. He had a friend who bought a car at Long Beach BMW with a positive experience and headed there.

He wanted a 330Ci with SP, Leather, Sunroof, & Bi-Xenons. He spoke to the salesman and the salesman told him all about the '04s with the 6 speed and such. My friend needs a car now (due to his dying Audi and high mileage Range Rover) and asked what they had on the lot. He said, they have a 2003 330Ci sitting on the lot that they're willing to part with. The car has a lot more options than he wanted. It is Black with Black Leather, SP, 5 Speed, PP, Xenons, 18" Wheels, Navigation, & CWP After some negotiations, he and the dealer agreed to $1000 over invoice. He's picking up the car on Monday.

Sorry for the long post folks. Everybody's probably out driving anyways. What a gorgeous day outside!

Reply

#22422 of 30250 riez - by brave1heart

Mar 22, 2003 (5:59 pm)

<<<Properly geared 6-speed should increase acceleration (by having numerically higher first and second gears) and facilitate fuel- and noise-efficient high speed cruising (by having an overdrive 6th gear, numerically lower than the direct drive 5th gear).>>> All generally true but same goes for a 7-th gear, 8-th gear, etc. Why stop with 6?

Reply

#22423 of 30250 Why stop with 6? by mschukar

Mar 22, 2003 (7:19 pm)

Hmmm, good point. Perhaps a continously variable transmission would be the best bet

I have 18 speeds (2x9) on my road bike and I wouldn't mind more.

-murray

Reply

#22424 of 30250 nevcool by sedanorcoupe

Mar 23, 2003 (6:42 am)

That seems like a nice price for an '01 xi. I recently had my eye on an '01 at a local dealership which was priced at about 33K (I live in the Philadelphia suburbs). It did not move and the last time I saw it was marked down to around 30. I believe that it does not have the PP or the Sport by the way, although it does have some goodies (moonroof).

Of course, that car also does not have the mileage on it that the car that you are considering does. I forget the miles but I think that it was in the low 20's.

Here is a recommendation: go out to the bmwusa website and do a vehicle search for 3 series sedans in your region (you can vary the radius of the search around your zip code). That should give you a reasonable idea of the deal that you are being presented with.

I am tempted to say that it is a nice price, but am not expert and you need to do a bit more homework. (The other thing that is interesting is that it seems the dealership is not willing to put it in the 'certified' program; that makes me wonder if there is something in the car's history that scares them off. Perhaps it is simply that the mileage is too high.)

Reply

#22425 of 30250 More Gears (Usually) Better by riez

Mar 23, 2003 (7:25 am)

brave1heart... Isn't MB working on their 7-speed transmission? Not to mention that Audi and Nissan have their CVTs.

Yes, in most cases, more gears are "better" (i.e., promote efficiency and improve performance). How many times do you hear people moaning the unavailability 3-speed and 4-speed manual transmissions?

This also holds true for automatics. Must be one reason why BMW and others are moving to 6-speed automatics. Don't think anyone wants an old 3-speed automatic. Or ancient GM 2-speed.

Reply

#22426 of 30250 nevcool by sedanorcoupe

Mar 23, 2003 (7:54 am)

That seems like a nice price for an '01 xi. I recently had my eye on an '01 at a local dealership which was priced at about 33K (I live in the Philadelphia suburbs). It did not move and the last time I saw it was marked down to around 30. I believe that it does not have the PP or the Sport by the way, although it does have some goodies (moonroof).

Of course, that car also does not have the mileage on it that the car that you are considering does. I forget the miles but I think that it was in the low 20's.

Here is a recommendation: go out to the bmwusa website and do a vehicle search for 3 series sedans in your region (you can vary the radius of the search around your zip code). That should give you a reasonable idea of the deal that you are being presented with.

I am tempted to say that it is a nice price, but am not expert and you need to do a bit more homework. (The other thing that is interesting is that it seems the dealership is not willing to put it in the 'certified' program; that makes me wonder if there is something in the car's history that scares them off. Perhaps it is simply that the mileage is too high.)

Reply

#22428 of 30250 Riez by shipo

Mar 23, 2003 (11:55 am)

"Or ancient GM 2-speed."

Do you mean the old "Slip and Slide Power Glide"? I used to have one of those on my old Chevy Vega. :-/ Needless to say, I have become a little more discerning in my vehicle choices since then.

Best Regards,
Shipo

Reply

#22430 of 30250 ContiSport Contacts Z rated by pab5

Mar 24, 2003 (5:53 am)

My 2003 Ci convertible with Sport package has 5600 miles and the contis seem to be holding up and showing no wear. Any experiences out there?

30250 messages, Last post on Mar 24, 2013 at 11:51 AM