2011 135i?

[zx3psyko]

Hey, all. I've been lurking here for a few weeks, but first time posting. I've been a fan of BMWs all of my life, but never an owner. I was going to wait a few more years to purchase something used in the 25-30k range, but now I have an opportunity which I wanted to run by you guys for your opinion. Especially since I love manuals, and they seem to be disappearing, even in BMWs.

I have a friend who's leaving the country and is selling his 2011 N55 135i 6MT (base, no frills, no nav, no mods). Blue exterior, black leather interior, overall in very good condition inside and out. He says he's going to put it up for 13-14k, but will sell it to a friend for $11k. It has 96k miles at present, is his daily driver, so might be near 100k when he sells it in a month. He's the second owner and has put 60k miles on it in the last 2.5-3 years. He's given me a spreadsheet of all the maintenance he's performed (I'll try to attach to this post).

**My main question is, is this a good price and a good purchase, or a possible ticking time bomb? It will be my daily driver, and I only drive maybe 5k miles/year. My wife is in grad school, we have an 18-month old in Montessori, so our budget is a little tight right now, but I make pretty good money and can put away $150-200/month towards future repairs.

I'm not a gear-head, but I do oil changes, ac charge, and brake swaps on my cars for the last 10 years, and am willing to do more, mainly because I love to learn new skills and save money. Based on this spreadsheet, there's a bunch to do in the next 5k miles or so though. My current daily driver is just a base-model 7-year-old Mazda 3 with 65k miles (hand-me-down from my wife, who we got an SUV for last year) which I really don't like - and again, a stick-shift BMW is my dream car and I will be purchasing one within the next 3-5 years no matter what.

**My second question is - for the eager novice, can I do a lot of the maintenance and upkeep on this myself, and is this spreadsheet good to follow for future work?

Thanks in advance for any advice - please let me know if you'd need any more information to make an educated opinion. I'd love to drive this car for the next 4-5 years or more and maybe teach myself and my son some more maintenance, and just have a great time, but don't want to turn this into a money-pit for my family.

[________]

I'd buy it.

[olds350]

Your friend did very well at keep a log of maintenance, I do the same to track upkeep and mods on all my cars. That's a decent price and you have history which is a big plus in my book. As long as you take stock of the fact that car will need maintenance while you own it, you should be good.

Search this forum for good/bad/ugly on 135s and go from there, lot of good info buried within these forum walls...

[Esteban]

If you haven't read this already:

The Ultimate 1-Series Buyer's Guide

[mfindigital]

The manual definitely seems to bump the price a bit. I got my 2011 with 40k miles for 17k (before warranty, delivery and lojack). It was from a dealer but all the way in Georgia, one of the lowest priced clean 135i I could find. Seems like an OK deal here, but yes, odds are good it will be a bit of a money pit. Doing your own labor helps, and buy parts from FCPeuro and ECS Tuning to save some coin.

[zx3psyko]

Originally Posted by Esteban

If you haven't read this already:

The Ultimate 1-Series Buyer's Guide

Thanks! Yep, I read this when he first mentioned he would be selling, and it was a gold mine.

[zx3psyko]

Originally Posted by mfindigital

The manual definitely seems to bump the price a bit. I got my 2011 with 40k miles for 17k (before warranty, delivery and lojack). It was from a dealer but all the way in Georgia, one of the lowest priced clean 135i I could find. Seems like an OK deal here, but yes, odds are good it will be a bit of a money pit. Doing your own labor helps, and buy parts from FCPeuro and ECS Tuning to save some coin.

So manual adds to the price nowadays?

You think the labor won't be too complicated for someone who's willing but has only done bare maintenance tasks before?

Thanks for the reply, and the FCPEuro and ECSTuning ideas. I've used Rock Auto for parts on my last few cars, but they were all Fords. You think FCP and ECS beat out Rock for price/quality?

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...harged,1446313

[Gangplank]

The maintenance chart looks good. Similar to the schedule I use & maybe even a bit more maint. than required on certain items, but that's good. Maintenance is inexpensive compared to repairs.

The price seems good. How's it compare to the NADA Guides & Kelly Blue Book prices? And in the 135i a 6MT is getting pretty rare, and few to no options is preferred by some.

Use FCPEuro. They give a lifetime warranty on parts & stock quality OEM & OE Supplier parts. I stopped using ECS/Turner/Pelican after their mergers.

[tracer bullet]

Just agreeing it's a good prices as well, especially for a car that appears to be taken care of by someone who actually cares.

I wouldn't say it's a ticking time bomb, but yes it will be some work now and then. Perhaps if the good price being asked for offsets some of the future costs?

[Happy Jose]

Add a few extra dollars, and you'll easily find a car with 50->70K miles. A 100K miles is just too many for a used car no matter how well it was taken care of.

If you insist on buying it, offer him $7K. You'll need the dollars for all the repairs you are going to have. BTW, are you sure this guy is a friend?

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Happy Jose

Add a few extra dollars, and you'll easily find a car with 50->70K miles. A 100K miles is just too many for a used car no matter how well it was taken care of.

If you insist on buying it, offer him $7K. You'll need the dollars for all the repairs you are going to have. BTW, are you sure this guy is a friend?

You'd be hard pressed to find a 2011+ with that much mileage for the prices you're quoting.

$11k is a very fair price, bring it to a BMW dealer and have them do a full PPI. It'll cost $150-$175 and even if you decide not to buy it it's well worth it and would help your friend sell it so he might consider chipping in to the cost.

$200-ish a month is a lot to just think of "putting aside" I think you'd be much better served getting an aftermarket warranty if at all possible, certainly worth looking into.

As outlined in the Buyers Guide Esteban linked, there are some things you need to look out for, and at 100k miles there's a lot of stuff you should have done even though it's not in the service books:

• Trans fluid
• Coolant
• Oil Filter Housing Gasket (if not already replaced)
• Thermostat/Water Pump (if not already fixed)

These few things are super common failure points and will not cost too much to have taken care of.

[zx3psyko]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

You'd be hard pressed to find a 2011+ with that much mileage for the prices you're quoting.

$11k is a very fair price, bring it to a BMW dealer and have them do a full PPI. It'll cost $150-$175 and even if you decide not to buy it it's well worth it and would help your friend sell it so he might consider chipping in to the cost.

$200-ish a month is a lot to just think of "putting aside" I think you'd be much better served getting an aftermarket warranty if at all possible, certainly worth looking into.

As outlined in the Buyers Guide Esteban linked, there are some things you need to look out for, and at 100k miles there's a lot of stuff you should have done even though it's not in the service books:

• Trans fluid
• Coolant
• Oil Filter Housing Gasket (if not already replaced)
• Thermostat/Water Pump (if not already fixed)

These few things are super common failure points and will not cost too much to have taken care of.

Thanks! Yeah, the pump and thermostat were replaced at 60k. The others sound like easy DIY'ers. As far as the extended warranty, I've been looking around for a few days and the information is not very clear. Most of them are warranties up to 100k - which doesn't help me if I buy it at 96-98k. I've found websites like Endurance, but they don't mention readily anywhere if they will do over 100k miles. They only have a "fill in your info here so we can call you daily for the next year!" section.

Do these warranties ever actually come in useful after 100k? Wouldn't they be pretty well geared towards avoiding any actual payouts?


EDIT: I called the top two - Endurance and Carchex, and got quotes on their warranties - which cover "anything that touches oil" in the engine, the transmission, electrical system, luxury electrical, and the turbo. I'm not sure I'll go with either of them, considering that I'm only going to be doing 4-5k miles/year, but I'm still thinking. Here are my notes from them, in case anyone else was thinking of getting a warranty:

Endurance Select Premier
5 years/75000 miles
$50 transfer fee
18 monthly payments - $200 (190 first month) - $3789 or 36 months @ $99
Turbo covered, transmission, drive axle assembly, ac/heat, electrical (starter, ignition, alternator), cooling system, electrical, luxury electrical
Not covered: clutch, clutch assembly
- 60 days/1000 miles before first claim


Carchex Silver
3 year / 36,000
$245/month for 18 months or 183/month for 24 months - $4412
$100 deductible
Turbo covered, transmission, drive axle assembly, ac/heat, electrical (starter, ignition, alternator), cooling system, electrical, luxury electrical
Not covered: clutch, clutch assembly
- OEM or greater quality parts
- 30 days/1000 miles before first claim

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by zx3psyko

Thanks! Yeah, the pump and thermostat were replaced at 60k. The others sound like easy DIY'ers. As far as the extended warranty, I've been looking around for a few days and the information is not very clear. Most of them are warranties up to 100k - which doesn't help me if I buy it at 96-98k. I've found websites like Endurance, but they don't mention readily anywhere if they will do over 100k miles. They only have a "fill in your info here so we can call you daily for the next year!" section.

Do these warranties ever actually come in useful after 100k? Wouldn't they be pretty well geared towards avoiding any actual payouts?

No problem. Coolant is easy, trans fluid (tricky to refill especially without lift) and OFHG (need to remove intake manifold) are not.

Extended warranties on used cars are usually calculated as existing mileage + new coverage. So if you're getting a 100k mile warranty the clock on that 100k coverage starts from the date of purchase, if you have 93k miles on that car you're covered till 193k or whatever the year term is (3 or 5 years usually).

The things that will void your warranty and prevent payouts vary with each provider. For me, performance mods technically void the warranty for whatever item was modified and whatever items it also impacts.

Here's a thread I wrote up on my warranty experience so far: https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show...0#post21101060

I include all details including cost of my car and the warranty itself, and repair invoices paid so far so you can make your own decisions about value vs initial cost.

Also, there's usually a clause that states a repair that is estimated past the value of the vehicle will "total" it and you'll get a final payout and your warranty will be void after that point.

[________]

I don't recommend getting a warranty as anything that's bound to break now (apart from turbo and whatnot) are wear-related items not covered by any warranty (O2 sensors, suspension components, thermostat, etc.)

Plus you pay for the insurance and deductible any time you use. Might as well save the cash and figure it out, especially if you're willing to do some work yourself.

I have an extended warranty on my X3 as it's automatic, but do not have it on my 135i. It paid itself on the X3, would've been a waste on my 135i.

[mfindigital]

A warranty can cover much of the wear items listed above if you go with the platinum type packages. I chose a drive train + warranty for mine, cost was about 2k. There is great peace of mind knowing if the engine or tranny go that I will have those items covered. Either of those is about 10k in repairs.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by OnerDriver

I don't recommend getting a warranty as anything that's bound to break now (apart from turbo and whatnot) are wear-related items not covered by any warranty (O2 sensors, suspension components, thermostat, etc.)

Plus you pay for the insurance and deductible any time you use. Might as well save the cash and figure it out, especially if you're willing to do some work yourself.

I have an extended warranty on my X3 as it's automatic, but do not have it on my 135i. It paid itself on the X3, would've been a waste on my 135i.

Many warranties cover these types of items, it's unusual for a warranty to consider things like the thermostat or suspension components to be a "wear item". However it is worth reading the clauses and specifics carefully for each company and warranty package.

Also, o2 sensors are frequently covered for emissions regulations under a separate extended warranty, though this is not always the case.

[zx3psyko]

Originally Posted by Matticus91

No problem. Coolant is easy, trans fluid (tricky to refill especially without lift) and OFHG (need to remove intake manifold) are not.

Extended warranties on used cars are usually calculated as existing mileage + new coverage. So if you're getting a 100k mile warranty the clock on that 100k coverage starts from the date of purchase, if you have 93k miles on that car you're covered till 193k or whatever the year term is (3 or 5 years usually).

The things that will void your warranty and prevent payouts vary with each provider. For me, performance mods technically void the warranty for whatever item was modified and whatever items it also impacts.

Here's a thread I wrote up on my warranty experience so far: https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show...0#post21101060

I include all details including cost of my car and the warranty itself, and repair invoices paid so far so you can make your own decisions about value vs initial cost.

Also, there's usually a clause that states a repair that is estimated past the value of the vehicle will "total" it and you'll get a final payout and your warranty will be void after that point.

This is all great info. I read through your whole post. A few questions though - what was the warranty you went with? Also, I've read through the fine print on two different warranties and they both talk about getting regular oil changes every three months from a certified shop or they won't cover repairs. That will get expensive pretty quickly, right? I was planning to do my own oil changes. I know oil and filter changes on a regular car can be $50-100 a pop, so on a BMW I'm sure they'd be more, and every three months is a headache when I'll only be putting 3-400 miles/month on.

[tock172]

I'm all for the warranty. Exercise due diligence, and find a service agreement with a contract you consider appealing for a good price. It's extremely difficult if you already own the car, but very easy when you're buying.

I wrote an article about this at the link below. Most people will try to talk you out of one of these warranties because they don't understand how they work and haven't done the necessary research. I have: https://bimmerlife.com/2018/01/29/af...nty-may-worth/

[Gangplank]

Look into the Route66 warranty. It was the least expensive & most widely accepted/recommended shops when I was shopping. You get it through a credit union.

So far it's fixed a OFHG, oil level sensor, window washer pump & nozzle in the bumper. I'm about half way to it paying for itself & it's good to 2021 & 100k mile/5 years, fully transferable, no deductible.

[swunder]

I also have Route 66, through penfed. Haven't used it yet, only been 6 months.

It's not a total 'loss' if you don't recover all the money -- you get piece of mind for 5 years and are not anxiously worrying about the check engine light coming on every time you drive.

[zx3psyko]

Originally Posted by Gangplank

Look into the Route66 warranty. It was the least expensive & most widely accepted/recommended shops when I was shopping. You get it through a credit union.

So far it's fixed a OFHG, oil level sensor, window washer pump & nozzle in the bumper. I'm about half way to it paying for itself & it's good to 2021 & 100k mile/5 years, fully transferable, no deductible.

Yeah, that one sounds great, and I actually may finance half of this car through Penfed so it might work out. Unfortunately this car will be near 100k miles already, so I won't be able to get that 5 year/100k. I think they will only do a 3/36 for me, for around 3k. The only thing that bugs me is the proviso that I need to pay a shop to change oil and filter every 3 months or they may not pay out when there's a repair.

[Gangplank]

Originally Posted by zx3psyko

Yeah, that one sounds great, and I actually may finance half of this car through Penfed so it might work out. Unfortunately this car will be near 100k miles already, so I won't be able to get that 5 year/100k. I think they will only do a 3/36 for me, for around 3k. The only thing that bugs me is the proviso that I need to pay a shop to change oil and filter every 3 months or they may not pay out when there's a repair.

I don't believe that's correct. I change the oil every 7500 & it's not been an issue. On my 2011 the coverage is 5 yrs & 100k from the mileage, but I probably won't get to 100k by that time.