Looking to buy my first BMW

[dv55xc]

Originally Posted by Happy Jose

If you've been happy with your Japanese rides, you likely won't be happy with a BMW or any other German car especially if you are buying used.

Some what better reliability will be had with the N55 than the N54 which had a lot of problems. Your focus seems to be tunability. If you buy one of these cars, don't modify it and pray it hangs together.

BMWs have a very poor record for reliability. When they break and they will, repairs will be very expensive. In fact, so expensive that owners have gotten rid of it unable to afford the tab. One big problem with these cars is the slogan, the ultimate driving machine. Many owners think they are driving a racing machine and thoroughly beat the crap out of it. Thus a used BMW is likely to be a money pit.

However, if you have mechanical skills and have the patience to understand the car's problems, you might enjoy your ownership. For most people who have some money in their pocket, the best way to own one is buy new and trade every four years, the end of the warranty.

The One has many virtues. I consider my One the best driving and most enjoyable car of all of my current and previous vehicles. And money isn't a concern for me, and I can do a lot of repairs myself. If you depend upon a vehicle to earn your daily bread, have limited financial resources, and require rock solid dependability, stick to you Japanese rides.

I put tunability aside for this purchase tbh. I have my other car for modifications. I can always figure out more power later if I really want to one I learn and understand the car.

[dv55xc]

Originally Posted by minirips2

Your list of wants is pretty specific. So was mine. I wanted a 6MT 128i in Crimson Red with sport package. I only found two of those. One I made a deal on. I flew to Ohio to check it out. It was a total pile of junk. Bad clutch, steering wheel off-center, a bunch of fault codes, (but no CEL), No coolant in the tank, and cheap 18" wheels with no name rubber. I walked away. No wait....I RAN away! The other one was at a dealer with a ton of negative reviews and a damage issue on the CarFax.
I ended up settling on a non-sport 6MT in CR. Slicktop with Idrive. I had a local BMW dealer do a PPI. It checked out with a couple minor issues, some of which the selling dealer fixed without me requesting them to. Nice. I found a cheap set of sport seats within a hundred miles of my house and installed them. Not too hard, considering the original seals were non-powered, and the replacement seats were electric. Since I plan on some suspension mods (I already have installed M3 RSFB's), the rest of the Sport spec stuff is basically moot. I have put over 20K miles on it without any issues.
I guess the bottom line is that if you can't find exactly what you're looking for, there is still a lot you can do to make it the car of your dreams. Good luck finding a worthy example.

PPI is at the top of my list. If I have to go far for a car I'm arranging a ppi for the owner to complete before I even consider traveling. Hopefully something local will pop up. I don't like the idea of settling but we'll see.

[PA135ii]

They are maintenance machines. Here is a pic of mine. Year one of the one. 127K
But has been throwing CEL's since last June. Sunk money into her and now it's hard to get rid of it. If it's not your primary car then you should be able to enjoy for a while.

[Moveitsmikey]

Originally Posted by PA135ii

They are maintenance machines. Here is a pic of mine. Year one of the one. 127K
But has been throwing CEL's since last June. Sunk money into her and now it's hard to get rid of it. If it's not your primary car then you should be able to enjoy for a while.

Jeez. Sorry to hear you wresting with CELs hope you get it fixed soon so you can enjoy her. Beautiful ride!

[PA135ii]

Originally Posted by Moveitsmikey

Jeez. Sorry to hear you wresting with CELs hope you get it fixed soon so you can enjoy her. Beautiful ride!

Thanks.

I should have my car back next week from the shop. Indy shop says it had a bad exhaust gasket. So must be throwing the code. I do like it a lot, just hard to keep dumping money into her after a while.

It has a flash tune from OE Tuning, which gives it 370 hp 380 tq.
Also a VRSF 5" stepped intercooler with upper and lower charge pipes. And a BMW SSK. It's a lot of fun.

When I drop down a gear and accelerate onto a highway it's incredibly fast.

[Moveitsmikey]

Originally Posted by PA135ii

Thanks.

I should have my car back next week from the shop. Indy shop says it had a bad exhaust gasket. So must be throwing the code. I do like it a lot, just hard to keep dumping money into her after a while.

It has a flash tune from OE Tuning, which gives it 370 hp 380 tq.
Also a VRSF 5" stepped intercooler with upper and lower charge pipes. And a BMW SSK. It's a lot of fun.

When I drop down a gear and accelerate onto a highway it's incredibly fast.

Nice. I had my woes with mine as well. Warranty covered about 8k of work. I should be good for awhile now. Modding is fun and addicting I Def want to go FBO