You aware this is a scam?

90% of europeans buy used german cars
either 90% europeans are retards or you are retarded
id say the later

>$10,000 gearbox repair bill
>$500 minimum for every single service

Either you guys are lying or you live in Brazil.

Do the service yourself, not hard.

I have a 31 year old BMW with 175k and my most expensive repair was an oil pan for $180. This is some good bait though

>>a month later gets a $10,000 gearbox repair bill
What the fuck? Gearbox replacements on 10 year old BMWs are nowhere near that. Usually you can get it reconditioned but even a new one entirely isn't that much.

who isnt? Dont buy a nice german car unless you can actually afford to. Its really not that hard. Idk how some people can rationalize making such a risky decision buying a used 3-series when they can only afford to maintain a used accord

replacing the gearbox cost $1400 on my 2009 335i

Have '95 Toyota and have no idea what gearbox costs.

>31 year old

It was built before they realized breaking down every 6 minutes=cash flow

>its okay for ferraris to break down when they get old
>but not bmws they should have the same parts and labor prices as a camry

because your toyota isnt near as fast, comfortable or fun.

ITT: people who have no idea how BMW cars are bought/sold OR people who are retarded and actually buy used

Here is how it works.

>retard 1 buys new bmw
>puts about 50k miles on it or 3 years, whenever warranty expires
>trades it in
>pre-owned warranty now covers it until 100k miles

as you can see, buying pre-owned through a dealership still is a feasible option

the only thing you shouldn't do is buy above 100k or buy on second hand market

Since when has Veeky Forums turned into reddit?
Buy a 300k BMW if you want. You'll be fine if you know how to wrench.

Wish we could make this a billboard

Reminds me of a story

>be apprentice
>service managers buddy buys 2012 (I think) 5 series hybrid second hand from bobs car sales as the passenger front fender and some of the bumper were damaged in crash
>another buddy does the body work for cash under the table and foreman's buddy's has a relatively new 5 series
>inside of front bumper on pass.side is the transmission cooler which was damaged and replaced by body shop.
>week later tranny goes into failsafe mode and owner tows it to our shop
>after several hours of my licensed service manager trying to find out why it won't shift and why there's a MIL for a transmission solenoid.
>"hey boss I know it's stupid but is there ATF in there?"
>service manager is kicking himself because we realize the body shop replaced the cooler but didn't bother to top up the fluid.
>only $18 CDN per litre and the fucker drank 10 litres
>now boss is pissed cause the easy fix he promised his buddy cost 200 bucks and still won't shift
>manager gives up and calls BMW to see if they have an idea
>he finds out that the 8 speed automatic transmission that runs on liquid gold can't be towed without disabling first by unscrewing a bolt on bottom of tranny which the tow truck driver did
>6 hours, $200, and tightening 1 bolt later the kraut wagon is gone and manager lost some more hair
>manager no longer tells his buddies to buy BMW's

Picture is more brilliant German engineering

Looking at 335xi around that year. Need awd for snow. Would you recommend it? Anything I should look for? Never owned a bmw before. Any other and model I should look into?

>Need awd for snow
No you don't.
Not saying you shouldn't get an AWD car, I just think you should stop making up stupid excuses.

No one wants to buy a car that spends more time in the shop than on the road unless its a classic car

Yeah, that's why when you get it, you restore it to great condition.
Of course it's not going to be as reliable as a Corolla or something like that, but the unreliability of BMW is way exaggerated

This is why you a buy a Lexus

>That's the cycle. First owner buys it for 45k. Drives it and maintains it well until the warranty comes close to running out. Trades it in. Second owner picks it up, teats it well but maybe lets the oil changes go a little longer, fixes things when he gets around to it. Several years later, trades it in. Third owner picks it up but it's at the top of his budget. Skips oil changes, blows off the service interval as it's too expensive, defaults on the loan, it goes to auction, shit corner lot dealer buys it. Fourth owner picks up what he thinks is a smoking deal, it's 20k past service, oil is black, one headlight burnt out. It's the same with any car.

:(

The fourth owner was me. I picked up a 02 325XI Feb 2012 for 4,400. I didn't really know much about cars at the time so I was like lol BMW why not.

I stuck with it though and just repaired what was wrong with it. Mostly just brake and suspension work. Only thing I had to do in the engine bay was fix the "DISA valve" which sucked ass.

136,000 miles and I plan to keep it till it explodes.

I don't know man, literally importing potential terrorists by the thousands seems pretty fucking retarded to me.

Hey, you found out why you can pick these barges up for under a grand.

And not V6 FWD base models either, I'm talking 4.2l V8 and AWD here.

>500 minimum

I'll disagree with this. My car costs more at the mechanic, but not that much more than my moms Toyota. The key is to take it to like a small mom and pop shop and not like a "EUROPEAN PERFORMANCE" shop or whatever. The mom and pop shops will find good deals on parts for you; whereas, the european mechanics just slap in Sticker parts from the dealer which cost a fortune. Plus the labor prices are cheaper. I've done a bit of work on this car myself and honestly I don't think they're that hard to work on. They're just cars.

Also according to the service manual they recommend you change the oil every 15,000 miles. I don't go quite that far, like every 10,000 miles. But it pretty much negates the fact that the oil changes cost more due to just being able to stretch it farther than conventional that's 3-5,000 miles.

i daily a 528i and ive never once had a problem except a coolant
you idiots fell for the he fell for the bmw meme meme

op here. i know about 6 people irl who were BLACKED by BMW .... a car dealer himself steered me away from buying his own bmw

well to be fair I bought it at 1200miles and I live on a tiny ass 21x7 island
I know im well below 10k miles

malta? :/

new providence

i bet parking is a nightmare eh lol?

previous 5 series looked better. this one is longer and less dedined

fuck yeah parking is a nightmare
its always been a weakness of mine and the car only makes it more obvious

park it like an asshole. its what i do (i drive a sedan too)

...

I guess they can be turned into drift missiles without any remorse

already had several 10 year old BMW's. one e39 530d with 270kkm on the clock back in 2013 and had a 2005 e60 530d with around 300kkm. replaced the turbo for the e60 and several minor issues,but didnt break the bank. i loved it though. decent power for the mpgs it gets. went back to e39 though.

>Buy a 2000 328ci with 340000 km on it for 1800cdn

>has some performance parts

> haven't had an issue other then a loose spark plug with it

Did I just get lucky or have other people had luck with old BMWs ?

As with anything, it depends on the previous owner. But I've recently started driving around an 04 325xi which needed new brakes and strut mounts, and all the parts as far as I've looked into are any more costly than the parts of any other car. From everything I could tell from looking at the design of the car through my autismo engineering goggles, its sensibly designed, and I've never read online that they're a bitch to work on. I was worried about that myself, but I really enjoy the car and actually look forward to working on it more. It has 229000km, but it runs like a top and its a manual; plus I'm the second owner, so I guess that helps.

tl;dr- know what you're buying and how to fix basic things, because even brakes for a Camry are 1000+ at a shop.

>timing belt
>new radiator, cooling system
>ICV replace
>coolant temp sensors
>fuel filter
>TPS
>AFM sensor
>fuel injectors
>Rear subframe mounts rip out of the body
>Rear trailing arm bushing mounts rip out
>Rear Shock mounts rip through the body
>Front strut towers mushroom and crack open
>Motor mount tabs on the subframe rip
>valve cover bolts stripped
>timing cover gasket bolts stripped
>rattling near the dip stick tube $400 part, valve coming apart sending metal rod through the intake destroying engine
>leak prone: valve cover gasket, where the oil filter connects, the fucking coolant mating line behind the engine
>Piece of shit plastic part
>trunk leaks
>battery tray rust
>rear defroster stop work
>control arm/trailing arm bushings
>SI batteries
>broken odometer gears
>rocker panel rust
>exhaust hangers rotting out
>exhaust clamps rusting off
>vacuum leaks
>broken interior door handles
>failing or broken door locks
>power steering leak
>window switches dying
>a/c not working
>sheet metal on the car being too thin in stressed areas
>front shock towers have sheet metal half the thickness on most cars
>RTAB pockets and front strut tops mushrooming RTAB pockets rip out at 50k miles
>its a progressive failure
>Same with the front strut tops You start to notice the studs aren't all pointed directly up
>Rear subframe mount failure
>oil pump nut
>diff bolt
>diff gear bolts
>The "subframe tearing"
>body of the car failing where the bolts that attach the suspension carrier
>parts of the subframe fail: the sway bar mounting tabs, and where the trailing arm attaches. There is no easy repair
>failure at the weld of the threaded rods that the RTAB carrier bolts to
>rear shock mount is a common failure item the best fix for this seems to be welding a duplicate of the shock tower over the damaged one
>A lot of things needed replacing which I didn't have the money for at the time.

E46 was the last good 3 Series.

Euro cars are considered premium in the US for some reason

Care to elaborate friend. I might not need it, but I'd prefer easy mode for winter.

Get snow tires and git gud.

Summed it up perfectly. Used to work at used car lot that sold a lot of exotic shit heaps to dumb fucks.

Now I manage an auto repair shop that specializes in exotic shit heaps.

European luxury cars, especially audi's excuses for vehicles, are absolute piles of junk.

Well looking at europistan, I would say that well over 90% are absolutely fucking pants on head retarded.

A lot of those buyers are buying based off of cars that German manufactures used to make, the new shit they put out is pure junk. Lexus and Cadillac practically buried BMW alive.

4th owner here

Almost at 200k

The Toyota is better in every single possible way that actually matters to an adult. Once you have a job or a small business, you will understand. Faggot.

>especially audi's excuses for vehicles, are absolute piles of junk.
What would you expect from overpriced VWs with some extra leather

Don't even get me started on the VW Phaeton we service once a week. Europeans (mainly krauts) made a few good vehicles back in the day, I seriously do not get the prestige that German cars have. Modern ones are the worst cars that money can buy.

>buy bmw
>fix loose battery
>remove secondary cats
>40% ethanol tune
>fmic
>michelin pilot ss
>kinda drove off the new car buzz so i added 8k hard miles in about 2 months.
>passed up zzr600
>passed up stingray convertible

git gud and do a prepurchase inspection/long solo test drive and dig up those service records

>buying ANY luxury car that isn't a Lexus

Do you guys know anything about motor vehicles? It seriously baffles me how people buy a luxury car that doesn't have the luxury of working.

Any modern BMW, AUDI, or MERCEDES is junk. my family owns a repair shop and we have been in business for 40 years. Just had a 2012 AMG Mercedes with a failed fuel pump, the entire cabin reeks of gasoline.

How is it that the epitome of "luxury" has such bad quality control? There is a early 90s merc on our lot with the original fuel pump still working.

blacked?....
The last time i heard that expression was when my high school badminton coach got his lighter stolen

BMW is a nigger tier car so niggers buy them and black out the tail lights and all the windows have limo tint.

Just take a look at the average BMW faggot and look how he drives, it is as if these people are always late to a dick sucking appointment.

why do all the euros buy german cars than?

is acura not a luxury brand?

i kinda want to buy a 07-08 TL type-s

thing is easy to repair and the engines and trans should last forever

YFW thats the year the tranny breaks the most

Good luck finding one. I'm in NJ and they are IMPOSSIBLE to find with a fucking 6 speed. There are 2 in a 100 mile radius.. One has 151k miles and is 13k and the other has 81k miles and is 19k....

auto or manual?

how'd they sell so many 3rd gen TLs if the tranmission was shit?

>One has 151k miles and is 13k
did they replace the timing belt and clutch? if it's in the NE wouldn't it be rusted to shit too so that price is insane.

Not a scam. If you can't afford a luxury car then don't buy a luxury car. Stupid poor people giving nice cars a bad rep.

literally made that all up
you work retail, if that, and live with mommy
guaranteed bus rider. literally all you will do in your reply to this is deflection, 100% guaranteed
completely made up. you are deluded

>mad 3rd owner of a BMW that's about to fall apart detected
0/10

Does anyone own an e39 540i? Let me know if yours was/is a shitheap. I was looking to pick one of the those bad boys up.

Reporting in

>buy 2001 320ci for £600
>"120,000" miles but old mots have numbers as high as 145,000
>litetally everything is wrong with it
>oil leaks from every seal
>gearshift is looser than a whores cunt
>headlights explode constantly
>only drivers side window opens
>read suffrage shakes like parkinsons
>still put 14000 miles on it in 6 months
>sell it for £500 to the next sucker after an oil change at

Also I was the 6th owner

my 540i
it's a good car, you will be working on it a lot if you have high standards

>It's the same with any car.
Expect they're poorly engineered and cost way to fucking much to fix

>source me: second 335i owner.

Unique build, first time I've ever seen a shitty lowering job, some stickers, and plastidipped black wheels on a mid 90s-early 00s BMW, good work

Want to get a 318is. Has anyone driven one before? From what I've heard they aren't hard to maintain and parts are fairly inexpensive. I already have a e90 series for a daily but I just want something cheap, light, and fun. No under carriage rust at all, fairly clean. It was my second car of choice since the e36 m3 I wanted was so rusted a mechanic told me I wouldn't even be able to track it going forward.

Also, am 3rd owner of my e90, oil change every 10k miles so far. Nothing's blown up at 75k miles. Will be doing a transmission fluid swap and water pump/thermometer change so long as I get the 318is. Otherwise will be moving on to another vehicle altogether I think.

why do germans dominant the luxury market if they turn into shitheaps all the time?

>90% of europeans buy used german cars

>Live in germany
>used car market is mostly german cars

since when are coilovers and volk te37 a shitty lowering job and plastidipped wheels

why can't germans make cars that are actually fixable?

when it's ugly as shit like your car

who the fuck told you that looked good?

Fourth owner of an E32 here (like pic related). Second owner was a mechanic at BMW, third owner (guy I bought it from) was an enthusiast and it's had nothing but genuine parts wherever possible for it's entire life. I've had it go to 3 different mechanics depending on where I was at the time and all said it was in immaculate condition.

I also have an E36 325 and I've ever had a problem with it. I'm third owner for that one.

Honestly, just service shit regularly and do checks on important components and they're fine. It's all a meme.

How many miles? Sounds like no one drove it.

The E32 just passed 198,000 miles. The E36 has 139,000 miles.

why do Americans drive unrefined cubes of iron?
>2 valves per cylinder
>V8
>automatic 3 speed
>suspension from a covered wagon their ancestors crossed the plains in

Americans buy Japanese cars though

So half the life of a civic

They're fixable if you're smarter than the average American. I worked briefly at a repair place in NJ and they couldn't figure out how to do the ball joints on a 90s Camry.

and i've seen mercedes with over 750k miles.
apples and pears.

this , the average american mechanic only knows 2 things , pushrods and leaf springs. most take one look at a diesel VW and dont know what they are looking at. I work on my own cars now, theres an infinate amount of information on how to repair them and no mechanic wants to touch a diesel golf worth more than a mustang.

>leaf springs
i still cant believe they still use them on cars today. didnt one of the recent corvettes use leaf springs?

>over engineer everything so fixing things is a PITA for no reason
>not even "over" engineered to last so things break just as soon as shitbox GMs that only rental companies buy
>call americans dumb because they see through this stupidity

euros everyone

I guess you missed the part where I'm American and work in repair places in America with Americans?

Other Americans everyone.

yup and live rear axles on mustangs in the last 10 years. seriously a fucking girder with a wheel on each end

why are you pretending to be american, kraut nigger?

no one is falling for your stupid meme that shitboxes are reliable just because hans built it.

shouldn't you be figuring out a way to cheat on some more emissions test right about now?

Didn't like what you were hearing eh? Stay mad faggot. Believe whatever will help you sleep at night.

If you want true pain to work on, Italian cars is where it's at. And old Land Rovers.

Expect the gearbox to need a full rebuild/replacement some time after 200,000 k's

Other than that they're pretty good, not cheap to own by any stretch, but not as terrible as newer BMW's