BMW 3-Series 2005 and earlier

memphis10

Just curious about the craze for 318 Ti. I always thought that they were not very popular and so they were discontinued. And I also thought that the 4 cylinder engine was quite underpowered and so we don't see them here in the U.S. anymore. I am a novice when it comes to BMW ownership so please pardon my ignorance. But I would certainly like to know about this enigma - 318 ti.

kyfdx

In the U.S., they weren't very popular.. They still make them for the European market. They are known as a Compact, rather than ti..

Four cylinders are still being made in Europe as well.. BMW makes great four-cylinder engines.. it just depends on your needs and wants.. Having less power puts an even greater premium on handling to go fast.. and the four-cylinder cars handle just as well as the sixes.

Just because the majority didn't want them, doesn't make them bad cars... The models we were discussing are both "sport" models, as well... with all the good handling extras.

regards,
kyfdx

EDIT: Don't forget about price... An "unloved" model can get you a lot more bang for your buck.. A really nice '91 318is might run $4500, but a comparable 325is will likely be $2K-$3K higher..

330blast

I read some posts that it is kind of "normal" that a bimmer will lose some Engine oil every 4-5K miles, thus require adding a quarter motor oil. However, my own experience is much worse than that. In the last 6 months, the engine oil light came up three times, which means almost every two months, I had to add a quarter of motor oil. I mainly use the 2001 330i for daily commute and drive no more than 1200 miles/month. No heavy traffic and no hard driving (even though the baby is built for that). BTW, if it matters, I do take the car to a back road with nice curves from time to time (every 2-4 weeks) and the engine oil warning light almost always came up after one of these enjoyable mountain road curving.
Do you folks consider this normal? Other than the mysterious loss of engine oil, the car drives like a charm and I don't see any other problems.

Thanks

div2

Actually, the ti sales numbers weren't too far off BMWNA's projections. The problem was that NA intended the ti be a "conquest" car-a model that would lure young first-time BMW owners into the fold. Instead, the ti ended up attracting a lot of hard core CCA types who bought them to use as second cars or as track rats. The four cylinder suits me fine; I used to have a 1988 M6 that made over 300 hp at the crank. I got bored with slaughtering Mustang GTs and Z28s at the Stoplight Grand Prix, though on the track it was great fun to worry 911s all day. That said, my ti is just as much fun to track-conservation of momentum is everything. I think DED Jr. once said that it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow. I think there's something to that. And anyway, I still plan to buy myself a Henna Red M1 as a retirement present.

m4d_cow

"Four cylinders are still being made in Europe as well.. "

Theyre also still available in asia, the 318i sedan out there got 145 hp, quite a decent number for a 4 cyl.

kominsky

I'm approaching 70K miles and figured it was time (past time?) to do a tranny and diff oil replacement. I intend to use Redline, but can't find any info in my owner's manual about weights or types (all it says is that it's lifetime fluid that doesn't need replacing). A while back, someone posted a page with instructions for a tranny oil swap. On that page, they're using D4 ATF. Is that legitimate for a manual tranny?

'01 330Ci

Any help will be appreciated.

div2

D4 ATF is fine for the transmission. If you don't have limited slip I'd put 75W90 in the diff. If you DO have an LSD I'd use 75W140. Those are the same viscosities and grades as the BMW "Lifetime" oils. FWIW, I use Mobil 1 ATF and gear oil. Some people claim to be able to feel a difference in shift quality when using Redline. I can't. That said, Redline makes excellent lubricants.

soverypoornow

Yup, my wife has one of the last 99 318ti's sold in the US. Has the fun M trim outside and in. It's not as quick, of course, as my 330i, but it's no less fun to drive. She loves it and pushing 100,000 miles, it's been relatively trouble-free.

brave1heart

Everything you need to know about it:

http://www.bmw325i.net/index.shtml

kominsky

Thank you, gentlemen!

cota99

Hi. I'm considering an '05 325i. I was wondering, is there is a major/noticeable difference between leather and leatherette? Are the leather seats worth the extra $1450? Thanks.

jaj

I have an '04 325 w/ leatherette and it's fine. My other vehicle has leather and I don't miss it in the Bimmer at all. Good luck.

merckx

There is an undeniabily noticeable difference in feel and smell. They do look about the same. Vinyl will last far longer with much less,and simpler,upkeep. Leather,on the other hand,ages in a pleasing fashion.

I'd say if money is a factor,as it to most of us,avoiding leather is a fairly painless way to make a car a little less expensive.

I've got two German sedans,one with leather and one with cloth,and I have to say that the seating really doesn't matter that much. It's how it drives...

cota99

Thanks jaj and merckx

cota99

I am looking into getting a 2005 325i. Here is exactly what I want: 325i with metallic paint ($30,470), premium package ($2,300), steptronic ($1,275), fold down seats ($475), xenon lights ($700), destination ($675). The MSRP total with destination is $35,220. The invoice price is $32,320, according to Edmunds.

Here are my questions:

1) When is the best time to get the car (I'd like it no later than February)?

2) What kind of "extra" fees will I be expected to pay?

3) What would be a fair out the door price for this car (CA sales tax= 8.25%)?

4) Are extended warranties worth the money? If so, how much should it cost?

5) Should I expect floor mats to be included? If not, how much should I pay for those?

My current car can last me a long while, so I am not in a hurry to get the car; I'd like it by February, however. Thanks for the help!

erickpl

depending on where in CA you are, you may want to check out BMW of Bakersfield. The salesman there was VERY accomodating and really helped. In Bakersfield, you may be able to get away without paying any kind of adv fees.

-Paul

bmwfrevr

Have you considered waiting a couple more months after Feb. to get the (IMO) beatiful 2006 325i with 30 more horses!!

cota99

I considered waiting, until I saw more pics of the car . I'm not too keen on the new styling...

cartalk

Pricing will obviously be affected by location and competition as well as dealer inventories.

BMW had one of the lowest average dealer inventory levels in October at only 27 days.

By comparison, GM dealers had an average stock of unsold vehicles equal to 95 days supply (and more than four months for the Suburban), Ford was at 89 days, DaimlerChrysler's stocks were at 93 days, Toyota at 40 days and Honda at 46 days.

blueguydotcom

1) When is the best time to get the car (I'd like it no later than February)?

End of January or End of Feb is a great time to buy. Jan is notoriously the worst month of the year.

2) What kind of "extra" fees will I be expected to pay?

None! Zip, zero. If somebody there says MACO, tell them no and if they won't drop the bogus maco fees, leave. You shouldn't pay for anything extra. If you want a car at costco price ($400 over invoice before rebates), contact Cunningham BMW in San Diego/El Cajon. They don't add fake fees and you can fly down here for maybe $100 max. Plus you get the fun of the drive home!

3) What would be a fair out the door price for this car (CA sales tax= 8.25%)?

Sales tax is 7.75 in San Diego. Anyway, assuming no rebates, just go $400 over invoice and then add another 10% for tax, title, etc.

4) Are extended warranties worth the money? If so, how much should it cost?

No way. The car has a 4 year warranty. If it's a bigger headache after 4 years, dump it and run!

5) Should I expect floor mats to be included? If not, how much should I pay for those?

Yes floormats should come with your car. Don't pay a dime for them.

cota99

Thanks so much! Wow, only $400 over invoice at Cunningham is SD?! That's great! I'm in LA, so a two hour drive is not bad at all!

memphis10

If I were in your position I would wait until E90 comes to the market. If I still don't like the shape or don't want to pay close to MSRP I would get E46 MY05 for a lot less. They run 2k - 3k rebates for regular model year closes. With the body style changes, you could expect huge discounts. Hey, you may be able to get a 330 ZHP for the price of a 325. I remember, 2 years back, someone in this forum was looking to buy a 330 and ended up with a 530 for about the same price. Besides, the options you want are pretty common and a lot of dealers will carry cars with your configuration.

blueguydotcom

Totally agree. Patience would pay great dividends. Get lots of a great car - e46 - for far less than the new model.

ballfire8888

I see Rhino ramps are highly recommended for DIY oil changes ... has anyone here heard of Berg ramps? They look similar.

ballfire8888

2004 325i and NO performance package so tires are 205-55-16 ... can I simply put on new 17" snow tires?

nyccarguy

why would you want to do that? If you want to upgrade to 17" wheels, you should have opted for the Sport Package in the first place that would give you high performance rubber, a lowered and stiffened suspension, sport seats, sport steering wheel... and then you could have gotten a cheap set of 16" wheels for the winter to mount on your snow tires.

If you want to get new 17" wheels, then get them with some Z rated summer rubber on them and put snow tires on your stock 16" BMW wheels. Depending on the mileage on your tires, maybe you could sell them on ebay.

smaller, narrower tires are better for snow conditions. You'll have a taller sidewall which puts more air between the tire and the wheel. That extra air will cushion the blow better if you get swallowed by a pothole. The narrower contact patch is better because you actually get a better surface area of the tire in contact with the snow.

victord1

Yep, patience is a virtue. But then you have to realize that the inventory will be limited.

Hey Blue, how's your 330 w/ZHP coming along? Are you still addicted to the exhaust note...or is it becoming more and more irritating??

I decided to test drive a 330 w/ZHP three days ago and came away with mix feeling. The drive was wonderful. I took off alone (without the saleperson) for 30+ minutes. The ride was very compliance, considering the ultra low series tires (40 fronts, 35 rears). In comparison, my Maxima is very rough with its 50 series tires-I get tossed around like a piece of bacon on a hot skillet.
However, I'm still wondering if I can live with the exhaust rumble from the 330 w/ZHP. Maybe I can get the sport package w/SMG. Only time can tell.

m4d_cow

Yep, patience is a virtue. But then you have to realize that the inventory will be limited.

i totally agree w/ that, wait too long and you wont have much choice left, id suggest you to wait till january, where prices fall almost all the time

price to expect: id say no more than $1k over invoice, and floor mats should be included at no charge

leather vs. leatherette: id say theyre almost the same, although imo the leatherette is firmer but they last longer than leather

alibajalajaula

Vic,let me chip in.The growl of the engine has grown on me, I even enjoy it. Hey, shut the windows. Of course, it is subjective issue. I'm hitting 12,000 miles on my imola red ZHP and cannot be more satisfied, primarily because of the responsiveness of the engine, driving feedback and the feel of 6-sp short stick shift manual tranny. The other subject are the wheels: you live and die for; you take rave accolades from friends but life at 18" has it price: with such low profiles an underinflated tire is unforgiving. I check every week tire pressures; still, I lost a rear tire ($300), but I was lucky the 2nd time and managed to get it repaired. I've been considering installing a tire pressure monitoring system. Of course if you go sport, you'll deal with 17s which are more forgiving in the pocket. I am not a full believer of SMG, but each to his own, like Blue says...in overall its the closest to an M3 without breaking the bank plus with 4 portals...they may well be discounted early next year..

kyfdx

To make it clear... Since you have 16" wheels, you will have to put on 16" tires.. 17" tires won't fit on your current wheels.

I think that was your question.

ballfire8888

Thanks kyfdx & nyccarguy....

That was my bottom line question! We purchased this new 2004 325i "as is" since we felt it was decent value with ~$6,000 discuount off ~$48,000 MSRP and it had no sport pack :-( Anyways, since I think I need to get snows in Canada, if 17" would fit, I'd spring for them at the same time. Now why wouldn't they fit? Soft suspension and rubbing?

kyfdx

They will fit on the car.. just not on your wheels.. That dimension is the open hole in your tire where the wheel goes.. A 17" tire will gap a half inch all around on a 16" wheel.. No way to inflate it...

Plus your stock size is a good size for winter tires.. Not too wide to get good traction..

ballfire8888

Posting can be so difficult! I was going to get new rims AND tires! So it sounds like even though I do not have the sport package and only have OEM 16" wheels and tires, new 17" rims and tires will work with the non-sport pack and softer suspension?!

kyfdx

Definitely!! Actually, the sport suspension is lowered about a half inch, so even though you have a softer suspension, you'll have even more clearance than the sport set-up.. The 17" tire size is actually the same overall height as the 16", as the 17" tire size is a lower profile.

But, I wouldn't recommend this for a winter set-up.. I'd put 16" winters on your stock wheels, then get a new 17" set-up in the spring.. Of course, that will make your current tires superfluous....

regards,
kyfdx

shipo

The last thing that you want to do is have two sets of wheels where the 16 inch set has your summer tires and the 17 inchers have the winter tires. That is simply backasswards. Can I get away with saying that? We'll see. ;-)

Anyway, as kyfdx basically says, toss your current 16" rubber in the trash, buy a set of winter tires (TireRack currently sells a set of "H" rated Michelin Pilot Alpin tires for $440 in your size which is 205/55 R16), and then buy yourself a nice summer wheel/tire set such as 17x8 AT Italia Riva wheels with some 225/45 R17 Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires mounted on them. You can buy the whole lot from TireRack.com for about $2,200 (plus the cost of mounting the winter tires on your current wheels).

Best Regards,
Shipo

nyccarguy

That's what I was trying to say albeit a more wordy way:)-

ballfire8888

I can store seat and exterior mirror positions in memory BUT cannot seem to move them to those positions when unlocking the bimmer by remote control. For example, my wife drives car and then parks and locks it with her remote control...I unlock the car but the seat & mirrors stay in my wife's position!?

What am I doing wrong?

shipo

Yikes! I didn't scroll far enough back in the thread to see that you had taken the issue on first. Sorry about that. ;-)

Attn: ballfire8888, regarding post 27385 by NycCarGuy:

"Yeah, what he said!" ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

nyccarguy

No need to apologize. You gave him the Cliffs Notes of what I said and that's totally cool. Great minds think alike:)

I'm subliminally pushing the 330xi for my Mom as her next car. She has an Audi A6 3.0 Quattro that has a lease ending in March. She absolutely HATES it and can't wait to rid herself of it. She's also one of these suburban New Yorkers that thinks AWD is a must have (even though she got through the 1990's in RWD Mercedes with Snows at the corners). I think the 300xi is a good size car for her. I'm extremely impressed so far with my parents' first BMW, an '04 X5 3.0i SP which in addition to its great seats, good handling for a truck (I still refuse to use the term SUV), excellent interior materials, and turbine smooth 3.0L Inline 6 has given them not one single problem since mid-February with over 17,000 miles on the odometer.

She's going to test drive some cars tomorrow.

victord1

Thanks for the update.

Yeah, a 330i w/ZHP is a perfect get-away and/or weekend car.

gordonwd

So is my 325i going to beep at me every time I start it up for the rest of the winter? I thought this only happened when the temp dropped down through about the 37F mark, but this morning in a parking lot at 27F or so it beeped and flashed the temp when I started it up.

This is the only truly annoying thing I've found in my car, but I sure hope it isn't going to do this for the next 5 months!

ru777

Hi Cota99,
I too am considering a 2005 325xi -and some dealers in PA have indicated they may not take orders for 2005's after late Jan -because the 2006 production is supposed to start.

I think Jan/Feb is a good time -but I am concerned they may not take the order for a 2005 325.
What does you research indicate ?

Thanks
Ru777

ps: I am not a fan of the 2006 325. Besides it will have LOTS of glitches due to its first year production.

kyfdx

Yes.. it will beep at start-up if the temp is below 37F..

And it will beep any time the temperature drops to 37F.

I guess its possible they can de-program that function, but I doubt it...

shipo

Oddly enough, that is one of the features I like most about my 530i compared to my previous 328i, the way the 37 degree alert is presented. In the 328i, if I didn't acknowledge the display by immediately pressing the button on the turn signal stalk, then the display stayed on the OAT setting. With the 530i (an old 2002 E39 version), the display "bongs" and shows me the OAT for a few seconds and then reverts back to its regularly scheduled programming. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

memphis10

My 2003 325 behaves exactly the opposite way. It first beeps and scares the hell out of me and then stays there. I usually have the time displayed and I have to manually get rid of the temperature display and get the time displayed again. It's quite annoying to have to do it several times a day. I thought that this was one of the key memory settings and the temp alarm could be turned off, but I am not sure.

shipo

Your 325i works the exact same way my 328i did, I think. In my 328i, when the alarm would first go off, the temp display would blink, and if I hit the button on the turn signal stalk while the display was blinking, it would revert back to my previous display, which in my case was also the clock. If I didn't get to it soon enough, then I had to cycle the display back to the clock, very annoying.

In the 530i, the temp display shows up, and then goes away after a few seconds, MUCH less annoying. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

erickpl

Keep in mind, just because the new 3 comes out next year, you may not necessarily see a drop in prices. When the E60 debuted, E39 sales went UP and there was not a lot of discounting to be done because people didn't like the new E60 as much as BMW was thinking they would.

Time will tell as the new 3 arrival gets closer.

-Paul

uv4me

I am in the market for a 2+2 convertible (yes...I know this is the sedan forum!) and would like feedback regarding maintenance costs of the 325 after the warranty has expired. I would likely purchase a 3-4 year old 325 hopefully around the 30k area. I worry that the maintenance of the BMW (vs a Toyota Solara or Saab 9-3) would be far greater than other cars. For instance, what does a typical oil change run? I love the look of the 325c and think it is the great car, I just worry I won't be able to afford it in the long run. Thanks in advance for your input.

blueguydotcom

Hey Blue, how's your 330 w/ZHP coming along? Are you still addicted to the exhaust note...or is it becoming more and more irritating??

Love it.

I decided to test drive a 330 w/ZHP three days ago and came away with mix feeling. The drive was wonderful. I took off alone (without the saleperson) for 30+ minutes. The ride was very compliance, considering the ultra low series tires (40 fronts, 35 rears). In comparison, my Maxima is very rough with its 50 series tires-I get tossed around like a piece of bacon on a hot skillet.
However, I'm still wondering if I can live with the exhaust rumble from the 330 w/ZHP. Maybe I can get the sport package w/SMG. Only time can tell.

At constant speed it makes almost no noise. At WOT throttle it has a nice growl. FWIW, I find my bro-in-law's normal 3 to be too quiet now. Lulls me too much.

blueguydotcom

totally agree w/ that, wait too long and you wont have much choice left, id suggest you to wait till january, where prices fall almost all the time

price to expect: id say no more than $1k over invoice, and floor mats should be included at no charge

1k over invoice? That's super pricey even right now! I expect by january rebates will be popping up for the 3 (probably 1k or so). Even without rebates a new 3 shouldn't be more than $400 over invoice. If you can't swing that where you are, fly to a place where it can be done. It's worth it to me to spend $100-200 on a flight if I'll save $500-600 on the cost. I'd rather pay Jet Blue, Alaska or Southwest than an evil dealership!