Quote:
Originally Posted by champignon
I have a 135is Convertible, with around 10K miles. I bought it used from Carmax, when it had only about 6K miles, which was spread between two brief prior ownerships. It's like a new car in most respects and I really enjoy it, with the caveat that where I live doesn't have the best weather for a convertible.
The big problem with owning any BMW past the warranty period is that these cars are full of expensive gotchas; more so the more recent ones. It doesn't take that many years before you are taking the risk of an expensive repair that might cost almost as much as the value of the car. Regular 135i cars have depreciated to that point already. My 1M has a bad odor inside which I think indicates an imminent A/C evaporator replacement, to the tune of $3500. The 1M is obviously valuable enough that doing this repair is a no-brainer.
But what if you owned a 2010 135i with 60,000+ miles that was worth under $10K? What would you do?
So just picking up an older BMW with hydraulic steering and road feel isn't necessarily a smart thing to do unless you are well-capitalized and willing to spend what it will take to keep the car on the road.
My next new BMW may be a Miata.
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That’s what after market warranties are for. I bought a 2012 135i with 38k miles last year and bought the CarMax MaxCare warranty for a couple of grand, and, after blowing the trifecta of charge pipe, water pump and OFHG in the first year, among other things, the warranty paid for itself in the first year, and I have four years to go. The warranty work is still done at the dealer, so it’s easy.