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But at least in my area I wouldn't say the 3 series is more to insure than other cars.
You'll miss your 'bimmer.
now the BMW sits in the company garage, where i drive it once or twice a week. the scion xB gets better mileage and will cost nothing to maintain in comparison.
however, it sure doesn't drive as fun as the BMW does!
Sorry, but that's what can happen when you use the dealer for routine service-especially without a CCA discount. As I've said before: Find a GOOD independent BMW tech. Here's why:
My local shop recently performed an Insp. II on my wife's 528i. In addition to the scheduled service the shop replaced the front pads, the fuel filter(another "lifetime" component-yeah, right), and a tie rod. They also had the sled aligned. All parts used were OEM and all lubricants used were Mobil 1.
Cost:$440
As for tires? Two words: Tire Rack. I haven't bought a set of tires locally since 1994. They drop ship the tires to my shop where they are installed at a nominal cost.
You can get excellent parts and service at reasonable prices if you do a little research. It's worth the trouble.
i test drove 03 325i last weekend and i am not impressed with the steering. it is quite stiff. i would think it will be power steering. the sales guy explained that it was due to variable power steering which i did not quite understand. what is it by the way?
Thank you
Josh
as far as the dealer...i'm going to find an indy mechanic pretty soon, because i'm about 5K miles from being out of warranty.
And to answer an earlier question, I think the shark fin on the roof of the 04s might also be for BMW Assist and/or GPS navigation.
having said that, many cars can easily make it to 150k miles these days if you are willing to follow scheduled maintenance and not skimp out on things that need to be replaced.
you can purchase an extended warranty, though i'm not sure how far BMW or the warranter will go out.
the thing that i've noticed in terms of reliability figures with BMW through publications like consumer reports is that most of the problems are electrical. the drivetrain and powertrain seem to be non-issues, but little things like indicator lights and power gadgets seem to have issues.
if you are looking for honda-like reliability and durability (and worry-free maintenance), you probably won't find it in a BMW. having said that, no honda or toyota drives like a BMW, either!
there is simply no comparison between the costs of owning/maintaining a toyota or honda relative to a BMW. i love my bimmer, but it is not a cheap car to maintain.
Places like Pheonix or SoCal a Pinto could go 500,000 miles. But in the northeast it seems to me that older Japanese cars are more prone to rust to older German cars and therefore will fall apart sooner. German vehicles seem to age much more gracefully than Japanese vehicles.
:-)
What's your point, K?
well said! you forgot to add that the said Navigator has 24" wheels and Z rated tires driving around in the snow:)
We've discussed this on the board so many times, that yes a BMW will cost more to maintain, but your costs will only escalate if you continue to bring the car to the dealership once the warranty has expired. Find a good independent shop who specializes in BMWs, you'll oay less for parts and servicing the car. Join BMWCCA (well worth the $35 price of admission), it gets you discounts on parts, BMWs (after 1 year), and gives you access to information.
One of the advantages of a company having cars on a 6 year life cycle like BMW is that if there is a recurring problem or glitch that they will not only fix it in the latter part of the first year of production, but it will be non-existant at the start of the second year of production. The 2003 or 2004 3er that you buy today has been on the streets since MY '99. The free maintenance for 4 years/50K miles will definitely help. I would have no trouble stepping into a BMW as far (as ownership costs go) if something were to happen to my beloved '01 Honda Prelude Type SH.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
as far as durable vs. reliable...well, i think we've established that BMW's can last a long time if you continue to sink money into them. the only question is whether you do that at the dealership or through an indy mechanic, because there is a big difference in cost between the two options. having said that, i would stand by my point that the cost of ownership over a 100,000-mile is cheaper with a honda or toyota than with a BMW--EVEN with the included maintenance to 36,000 miles (which BMW has now upped to 50,000 miles).
http://www.bmwnation.com/ARTICLES/diy/bmwut/bmwut.html
Good luck!
if you hold onto them for the long haul like me, the japanese cars seem to be significantly cheaper. in my situation, i can put 40K miles on the car within the first 18 months, so i realize that i am in a different position than the guy who can stick within the mileage caps on a lease.
regards,
kyfdx
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regards,
kyfdx
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My current car (A4) is a dark metallic red, which looks great when clean and polished, but of course it shows dirt and scratches easily. My last two cars have been shades of red, and my last new blue car was my '72 Datsun 510 (the BMW-killer of its day!), so maybe blue would be a nice choice this time.
But I'm going back and forth between Steel Blue and Mystic Blue. I've seen a couple of Steel Blue cars on a lot in another city, but I haven't seen a 3 in Mystic. BMW also uses this color on their K1200GT motorcycle, and I like it as an m/c color, but don't know how it looks on a car.
Any owners of these colors have any pro/con comments? Would you choose it again? Please, no comments on the order of "color X is ugly...", which only starts flame wars :-).
On a Toyota it would be, say every 5,000 miles, say 20 oil services @ $30 a pop, equals $600 dollars.
Plus, all that time. I hate waiting.
That leaves a $420 difference to spend on miscelaneous repairs for the 'bimmer to get to the same # as the Toyota.
Now, back to reality......
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i don't know anyone who has gotten out of the dealer for anything less than $150 each time, and that is for an oil change and resetting some indicator lights.
how do you get $60 per oil change on a BMW?
well, if scheduled maintenance is included up to 50K miles and you dump the car before then, of course it's cheap to maintain. but for the group of us who keep the car for 100K miles or more, it's not a cheap car to maintain.
now...that doesn't mean we don't love our cars. i love my BMW and had a blast driving it to work at 90 mph this morning--i start work at 5 a.m., so there is no traffic at that time, even in los angeles! but i'm fully prepared to cough up significant money to keep driving this thing.
Despite my excessive travel, i make time to detail her car every 2nd weekend on my own because the color shows dirt FAST...
Personally I'd still go with the color because everybody is buying white, silver (or variants of gray and blue) and black and i'm not a big fan of red...
ksso
:-) Just kidding
ksso
My one Japanese vehicle (Toyota) that I stuck it out with, 2 radiators, 2 alternators, batteries, water pump, power steering pump, master cylinder, 2 brake jobs, shocks, 2 sets of tires, multiple alignments etc. I have no delusions the BMW will be cheaper, but it can't be more expensive....
regards,
kyfdx
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Truth be told I've only seen the Steel Blue on 325i sedans and 325Ci coupes (w/o SP). Personally I like it much better on the 325i than the Coupe.
My vote is for Mystic Blue!
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD