BMW 3-Series 2006

roadburner

I mean, if you are shelling out $275 a month to keep an old BMW in top fettle, (averaging out maintenance and major repair work, like a transmission) and there are lease deals at $389, well it's tempting to start all over again....

Agreed, but it's been my experience that you can run an E30/36/46 3 Series or E34/39 5 Series up to at least 130K-150K for less than $100/month- the monthly average usually usually works out to $50-$75. People forget that those $389/month lease deals usually require a $2500-$3500 "Capitalized Cost Reduction" -AKA down payment- and mileage is calculated at 10K-12K per year. Insurance and property taxes will likely be higher as well. And of course if you don't buy the car at the end of the lease term you have spent quite a large sum of money and have nothing but memories to show for it.

Mr_Shiftright

I would find your numbers extremely low and not typical of the average "old" BMW owner....good for you, but $50 a month for repairs and maintenance? You must be doing a great deal of this yourself and shopping very frugally for parts. Also being the original owner of the car must help in keeping costs down after warranty.

But my friends with used BMWs out of warranty spend way, way, WAY more than that, because they don't do any of the work and they are too busy to economize all that much. I'm usually the one they call for advice so I hear all the stories. They aren't as conscientious as you obviously.

rlatham

25k miles on my 2006 325i. Also without a single trip to the dealer with the exception of service and to have Sirius installed. I'm already planning on getting another one.

Oh...and the best part...600 miles on one tank of premium fuel on a recent long road trip...which averages out to just over 36 mpg.

dhanley

"I mean, if you are shelling out $275 a month to keep an old BMW in top fettle, (averaging out maintenance and major repair work, like a transmission) and there are lease deals at $389, well it's tempting to start all over again...."

Ah, well, i know a few people with older beemers too, and the cars that might typically average $275/mo for running costs aren't the same ones that have $389 lease deals.

In other words, i think an older 328i costing 275/mo is an extreme statistical outlier. I mean, that's $3300/yr. I've never even been in that ballpark, much less averaged that. I haven't tallied my records, but i think that since my warranty expired i've put about $100/mo into mine, and it was lower until some recent major maintenance items (ball joints, clutch, etc).

One of the big v12's? An m5? Oh, yeah, maybe even a low estimate, but a lease deal on one of those is likely to be a grand a month.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah but the minute your transmission fails (and I hope it never does) then you ARE in the $275 a month group...or if your timing belt breaks and smashes into the valves...

now being the good maintainer you are, this may never happen to you, but transmission failures on 4-5 year old BMWs is certainly not unheard of.

Yes of course 7 Series or M series is gonna cost you beaucoup bucks after warranty. Perhaps $275 a month is the outer limits here for all but that 10% or so of 3 series owners that might suffer the catastrophic failure after warranty. .

andys120

your timing belt breaks and smashes into the valves...

Timing belt! We don' need no stinking timing belts, my E39 has a timing chain. BMWs,before the recent infatuation with electronic gadgetry were built for the long haul. There are lots of old ones around.

roadburner

or if your timing belt breaks and smashes into the valves...

BMW NA hasn't offered a car with a timing belt since 1992. Even so, it's not like it's an unpredictable occurence- just change it at the interval specified in the manual.

shipo

"Yeah but the minute your transmission fails (and I hope it never does) then you ARE in the $275 a month group..."

IIRC, dhanley has an honest to God, 5-Speed, three pedals under the dash, stir-it-yourself manual. When was the last time you heard of a BMW 5-Speed manual failing in a 4-5 year old car?

In fact, chiming in here in support of D&B (i.e. dhanley and roadburner), excepting for those early E46 323is (plural not "is") unfortunately equipped with an automatic transmission, I cannot think of any non-M BMW with an I6 engine built in the last fifteen years or so that would cost more than $100 per month on average to maintain. And if you are a DIYer, I suspect that the number is closer to $50-75 per month.

Best Regards,
Shipo

Mr_Shiftright

I'd probably bet you a good lunch you're wrong on that for the average Joe running a used Bimmer, but I don't have a clue how to collect or prove it, short of buying a used BMW I6 so..... :P

I guess my point is that after 80K, any machine is totally unpredictable. You keep saying this and that never fails but you KNOW they do...they have to...it just doesn't happen to you or me.

And DIY doesn't count for the average consumer, that just skews the data immensely.

I'd venture that if you had a shop do all your work, and you spent only $50 a month on your used Bimmer, it wouldn't be in very good shape. What do you think?

I'm thinkin' $150--$275 is where the bell curve starts and ends for 90% of out of warranty BMW owners....just my guess from experience. Just a WAG.

VEERING BACK ON TOPIC---the point is----get the extended warranty if you aren't a DIYer.

Fair enough statement?

shipo

"You keep saying this and that never fails but you KNOW they do...they have to...it just doesn't happen to you or me."

Me? I don't think I've ever suggested that they don't have the occasional failure, they do. More often than other cars? I kind of doubt it. More expensive than other cars. Probably.

"VEERING BACK ON TOPIC---the point is----get the extended warranty if you aren't a DIYer.

Fair enough statement?"

Personally I am not a fan of extended warranties. Period, full stop, the end. I was dumb enough to buy an extended warranty for a car I purchased back in 1988, and after I got rid of that car I figured that the warranty cost me about $1,600 more than the covered repairs for the car. I haven't bought one since even though every new and used car I've had has had the option of buying such a warranty.

Granted I'm a DIYer and so my costs aren't as expensive as the next individual, however, the $15,000 in extended warranties that I haven't bought can be accounted against some $4,500 in repairs (which included one automatic transmission that I paid my dealership to replace). While self insuring may not pay off on any given car, over time I believe that it pays off. Why? Well if it didn't, then the companies that sell such extended warranties wouldn't stay in business very long now would they.

Best Regards,
Shipo

dhanley

Thanks, shipo, i do drive and manual, and am a bit snobbish about it too.

I maintain that $275/mo would be a very(atypically) expensive 3-er to maintain. Sure, it's posible if an auto tranny fails, and the engine grenades someday, but i don't think such catastrophic failure only applies to BMW's--i know people with economy cars who have been socked with buge bills for failures such as this.

circlew

I'll pay for the insurance if I buy a BMW. Take a look.

http://consumerguideauto.howstuffworks.com/1999-to-2005-bmw-3-series-2.htm

Regards,
OW

jb_shin

I bought extended maintenance agreement on my 03 M5 (CPO, so warranty until 09 or 100,000 miles) for $1195. It would pay for itself when I go in for Service Inspection II and brake job. I can certainly do the brakes, but even then, the parts will cost me somewhere around $900 (rough estimate based on 500 just for front rotors and 100 or so for pads).

Can you guess how much the cats are on this thing? Granted, it is covered by Federal Emissions warranty up to 80,000, but both cats failed on mine before 50,000 and they are $2,800 each.

For some, it certainly makes sense to buy the extended warranty, or buy CPO. If I had still owned my 02 530, I would not have bothered. The guy who bought it from me hasn't spent a dime on repairs other than tires/brakes/oil. It was and is certainly more reliable than our 04 Sienna or 95 Integra at the same mileage and time.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah but you are exceptionally well qualified to deal with stuff. I'm still going to have to recommend that any BMW owner who plans to keep his car past warranty should go for the extended warranty. Sure it's a game of chance but I think the odds are only *slightly* in favor of the house.

A BMW extended warranty is like a generous slot machine. Sure, more people lose than win, but it's pretty close IMO. After all, just skimming a 10% profit isn't bad.

Older BMW 3-Series definitely have some weak spots...exploding radiators come to mind...and could they make it any easier for someone to steal your front directional signal lenses? Water pumps aren't the greatest, nor their fuel pumps. Manual trans is pretty sturdy...never saw one fail, but I have seen a few clutch disks disintegrate. (could have been driver abuse I dunno). And of course the usual German electrical demons here and there.

But all in all, the least risky of the BMW line, the 3 series. Great cars.

shipo

I tend to think about this over the long haul. Over the driving lifetime of any given individual, he or she will most likely buy quite a number of cars, and it is my assertion that while any one of those cars would have made out with the purchase of an extended warranty, if spread out over all cars owned, said individual would have been better served by self-insuring.

Best Regards,
Shipo

Mr_Shiftright

You mean like putting aside a certain amount per month for repairs, in a money market account or some such?

shipo

Yeah, either that or just eating the expense when it hits. Personally I don't bother setting aside money for repairs; I just pay for the fix and move on.

If I had actually done the set-aside model starting with the 1993 that I bought to replace the 1989 (the one that I purchased extended maintenance for), I would have some $12,000 in that account by now. Funny thing though, that accounting assumes that the $2,600 transmission replacement that I did last year would have been covered. Given that the extended warranty that I was offered for that car expired at the 100,000 mile mark, I would still have had to pay for the tranny as the original unit went Tango Uniform at 109,000 miles. So in essence, by self insuring I was able to cover a repair that wouldn't have been covered by the extended warranty.

Best Regards,
Shipo

Mr_Shiftright

People don't read their extended warranties carefully enough either.

The best ever per month maintenance & repair record I ever achieved was on a Mercedes diesel at $83 per month over the course of about three years, with some DIY work but not all. My BMW 7 series was pretty good at about $138/month but the Saab Turbos were a disaster.

brianaudi

What do you guys think are the likely out of warranty failures on my 2006 330i. I am buying the extended warranty, the cost is just too good, but I want to have an idea of what the added costs will be?

dhanley

"What do you guys think are the likely out of warranty failures on my 2006 330i"

It it an automatic? If so, that. In general, i think bmw's fluid change intervals have become too long, especially the "lifetime" ones (and especially the auto trans fluid). If you plan to run the car for a long long time, I'd swap the "lifetime" fluids at some point, say at 60,000 or 80,000 miles.

kyfdx

It's the non-warranty stuff that will bleed you...

At the dealer:

Brakes/rotors- $400 per axle

Control arms/bushings- $500 per side

Mr_Shiftright

So control arm bushings aren't a warranty item? This is a fairly common issue on all 3 Series.

kyfdx

Nope.. included in the maintenance plan, but not the warranty. Once your maintenance plan is up, even if you have the extended warranty, no coverage... like brakes..

Mr_Shiftright

what do you mean exactly, included in the maintenance plan?

kyfdx

BMWs have free maintenance for the first 4yr/50K... You pay for nothing but tires (and fried clutches, if they can convince you it's your fault.. :surprise: ).

So, need brakes? They are covered..

Control arms and bushings? Covered..

BMW considers control arms and bushings the same as shocks/struts... a general wear item..

Crazy, I know..

Mr_Shiftright

Very shaky argument I must say. If it were true, all control arms on all cars would wear out just like tires and brakes. But they don't wear at the same rate as some BMW models do, not even close. I'm not sure why BMW eat control arm bushings--that would be interesting to know.

kyfdx

"integral part of the suspension system... gives BMWs their unique road feel, blah, blah, blah..."

Okay, that probably shouldn't be in quotes...

All I know, is when you get close to 50K miles, ask them to check the front end...

roadburner

It's the non-warranty stuff that will bleed you...

At the dealer:

Brakes/rotors- $400 per axle

Key phrase: At the dealer
Back in May of 2006 my indie BMW shop gave the E36 four new BMW rotors, Axxis MM Pads, a brake fluid flush(using ATE Super Blue Racing DOT 4), and rotated the tires- all for $627.
Two weeks ago the same shop performed an Inspection II, using Mobil 1 0W-40 in the motor and Mobil 1 ATF in the manual gearbox. I also had the shop change the coolant, align the front end, and rotate the tires- all for $496 OTD. I did change the final drive oil myself, as a friend who runs a performance shop sold me two quarts of Royal Purple Max-Gear 75W-140 for $12.
Not counting the May 2006 brake service the car has required two unscheduled repairs since January 2005- a new battery(Interstate MTP-91: $78) and a new brake light switch(OEM BMW: $15). Oh yeah, it also consumed 6 quarts of Mobil 1 between oil changes($41).
I knew I should have bought a Toyota... :P

circlew

Keep that shop. He gives great prices...for me, change car every 36K.

Keep the revs under 7,000...too much oil going up in flames!

Regards,
OW

Mr_Shiftright

I agree---thats a bargain basement set of prices. Maybe I'm just used to indie rates in California ($100/hour).

roadburner

Maybe I'm just used to indie rates in California ($100/hour).

I am pretty fortunate. The independent shop I use is one of the most respected BMW shops in the area. They also service Porsches and the odd Ferrari or Lambo(they were servicing a Countach on my last visit). As for some of the other costs, I did replace the battery myself; the nearest Interstate dealer is a good friend and sells them to me at his cost. The brake switch was DIY as well but the $15 number was the BMW CCA member price OTD from my local BMW dealer. And my local BMW dealer's service prices aren't all that bad either; they changed the ATF and the final drive oil on my wife's E39 5er for 110.00, and two years ago they changed the coolant on my E36 for $85.
I did forget to list one expense: In 2005 I replaced all four Z-rated Kumho tires for $370. As always, I used Tire Rack and had them drop-shipped to a Tire Rack approved installer, who charged just $40 to mount all four(which I included in the $370 price).

Mr_Shiftright

yeah your shop rates seem about 65% of California. Kumhos are a great bargain tire. I'd use them. I don't think mileage on them will be all that high but all the user reviews seem pretty positive.

manualguy

The last time I heard of a BMW manual transmission failing was about 2 months ago when the transmission in my 2006 325i failed after only 14k miles (2yrs).

I am hoping you are correct about the long term maintenance costs though, because I just love the car and plan to keep it long enough to fight my kids for a ride.

br
manual guy

Mr_Shiftright

Well you know every car made, including Rolls, Ferrari, etc., is going to have that fractional percentage of assembly errors at the factory, or machining problems, etc. This is the roulette wheel of mass production...but generally the odds are pretty good on this not happening. I'd be more worried about incompetent repairs, oil changes, etc as the car ages.

dittykb

First, I'm thinking about buying the following vehicle that has a clean Carfax history, one owner, end of lease.

2006 330i 4 door auto
Black/Black
Sport Package
35000 miles
$28000

1. Does this sound like a good deal?
2. Should I extend the maintenance warranty to 6/100,000 for $1600?
3. I only want to keep the car for 2-3 years or 80,000 miles which ever happens first, is there anything major that I should expect during that time?

Thanks a bunch!

roadburner

1. Does this sound like a good deal?

It doesn't sound too bad, but I don't follow the market that closely. Why not ask over in the "Real-World Trade-In Values" topic.

2. Should I extend the maintenance warranty to 6/100,000 for $1600?

Not if you are only going to keep it to 80K.

3. I only want to keep the car for 2-3 years or 80,000 miles which ever happens first, is there anything major that I should expect during that time?

Not really; at @60K the car will need the major service which BMW calls an Inspection II. It costs from $500-$700 depending on where you live and who performs the work. You might need brakes as well- $250-$500 an axle subject to the previously mentioned variables. I'd also figure in a couple of oil changes -which is a dead easy DIY procedure- and that's about it. I'd be extremely surprised if the maintenance/repair costs exceeded $50/month from 35K-80K.

pat

Here's the link: brianaudi, "BMW 3-Series Oil Questions" #155, 28 Aug 2007 10:25 am.

aprao

I recently bought a 2006 325i (CPO). I really like my car! However, when I move from a complete stop the car is not as quick as I would like it to be.

I certainly feel there is at least one second gap before it picks up. The salesman says I am not imagining things and it is by design which he calls 'speed by wire' or something.

Is this true? Does anyone else experience the same with their 2006 3-series sedans?

fedlawman

"when I move from a complete stop the car is not as quick as I would like it to be."

BMW came out with a fix for this 325i problem - the 330i.

Seriously though, most newer cars (2004+) cars have "drve by wire" throttles and all of these cars I've driven suffer from some sort of artificial throttle response. Some cars are too sensitive at throttle tip in (and tend to be very jerky), I think BMW went the other way and made it too "loose" so it wouldn't be jerky.

I don't know whether BMW can do an ECU "re-flash" to help you, but you might ask your dealer about it. Otherwise, you will get used to it soon enough and learn to anticipate it. After a short time, you probably won't even notice it anymore.

roadburner

And it's not just the drive by wire throttle; if your 3er is a slushbox it will start off in second gear unless you override it.

wcheek

MY 325i 2006 MODEL HAS THE SAME BRAKE PEDAL STICKING PROBLEM NOTED IN THE BMW335i DURING THE COMPARISION ROAD TEST RECENTLY POSTED ON EDMUNDS WEB SITE BETWEEN A 2007 BMW 335i AND THE NEW 2008 MERCEDES C CLASS. DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM WITH THEIR 3 SERIES BMW?

manualguy

Ouch! CAPS off please. No, my 325i brake pedal does not stick.

manual guy

wcheek

The pedal doesn't actually stick but the brake releases suddenly instead of gradually as the pedal is let out after stopping at very slow speeds as in inching into a parking place. It doesn't occur in models with manual transmissions.

davidd3

The other day I heard that engine ticking noise again, the same I noise which led to a lifters replacement and 3 weeks at the service center over the summer. Haven't heard it again since then, but now I'm worried it may be a recurring and unfixable problem. It happens that I have a service appointment next week for several other issues (been waiting almost a month - that's how long it took to get an appointment with a loaner car). I'll mention this to them and ask them to check it out. I never felt so sick just from a sound before. I never want to hear that sound again! 2006 330i, 33,000 miles.

faeuy

i want to ask how much is BMW 328i 2006 and 2007? thx for the info...

blueguydotcom

328i is a 2007 and up model. The e90 in 2006 came only as a 325 and 330i. Check edmunds TMV for your area as resale pricing varies greatly by region and content.

davidd3

2006 330i, 34k miles.

Another 2 days in the service center, with no good results.

They tried to fix my steering wheel lockup starting problem by reprogramming. Didn't work. Happened again today. This means another service appointment where they'll take apart the steering wheel.

They ordered a part for my driver's door panel where a layer of plastic film is peeling. That'll be a separate appointment after the part comes in. They never seem to have the parts I need in stock, which is another source of aggravation.

Road noise issue was diagnosed as cupping of the OEM Bridgestone tires. They only have 22k miles on them and lots of tread left. They recommended new tires for $900. We declined. Now we're thinking about running our winter wheels/tires until near the end of our lease in August.

Mrs. D, who handles our service appointments, is highly annoyed but torn. When everything is right with the car, it is the best car we have ever had. However, we have had more problems with this car than all our previous and current cars (all Japanese cars) combined. It will be a difficult decision whether to get another BMW. That we would even consider getting another one give all the problems we have had with this one speaks volumes about how good a car this is when all is well.

circlew

Did you lease or buy, David? I leases my '06 330xi and outside of a wiring harness change due to failure of the Air Bag warning system, the car has been perfect (ahem, except for the RFT issue).

My strategy was lease in case of the situation you are in. I plan to lease from now on.

Regards,
OW

davidd3

OW,

I'm leasing the car and boy am I glad that I did. It will be someone else's problem and not my problem after the warranty and free maintenance period expire.

It's good to know that your car has been so comparatively trouble free. Perhaps I was just unlucky. If I can come around to that view, I will be more tempted to lease another one (well, not exactly another one since the 330i no longer exists).

Regards,

David

manualguy

I have a 2006 325i with manual transmission. This morning I had the a/c off and the sunroof open while driving to the train station. It is only a 5 mile ride with about 12 traffic lights. At one of the red lights, my hand strayed to the leather pouch surrounding the stick shift and I could feel that it was much warmer than the 65F air. No other part of the car inside felt warm.

Is this normal?

manualguy