advice needed on 318is

pma1ums wrote: peter .... sorry to disagree with you matey ...  but a bmw   isnt that much more expensive to run than a ford. a ford may well be 30 % cheaper to run than a beeemmmer  ..however the 100% satisfaction and driving appeal wins hands down on the 30% saving ....as iam sure you will agree .

When I was looking for my car I was considering 3 cars

Mondeo ST24, BMW323/328, Nissan 200sx.

The BMW was the cheapest to insure although only just, the Nissan the most expensive. However when I contacted the respective dealers to get an idea of servicing the difference in running costs was apparent. The figures are approximate as It was a while ago

ST24, Service interval 10K, Minor service £80, Major service £200

Nissan 200sx, service interval 6k, Minor service £80, intermediate £180, major £250.

BMW328/323, service interval 7-9K, minor service £110, intermediate, £250, major £350+. On top of this brake fluid and coolant are not included in these services and need doing separately.

Ok so I accept that if the Ford turned out to be less reliable then the BMW it could have cost more to maintain, however when I looked into the problems associated with all the above cars the BMW had by far the most. The other problem with the BMW which has become apparent during owner ship is that it is very sensitive to suspension components wearing out. All the cars I have owned Fords included, have had more than 70k on the clock but only the bmw has required new bushes etc to stop it handling like a pig.

Just in case you are wondering, the BMW was a better drive than the st24, and I never drove a 200sx since I was having trouble finding a one with a manual box in my price range.

My advice about buying a BMW would be to drive it hard on the test drive. Mine felt ok when I took it out before buying it. It was only when I was used to it and I started to push a bit harder that I noticed problems.

2k    is about right for the car .but if it is a real minter then 2.5 k  could be ok if its an all singing and dancing speced car .but that would be top book price..so haggle like a demon because the dealer knows hes asking £2995.and he also knows it overpriced

the insurance quote [bearing in mind your recent succesfull pass] isnt that bad at all ...but have you tried ..the non mainstream insurers?? adrain flux/dna/carol nash etc etc .. they tend to give a more competive qoute with the same amount of cover... as the big boys brand names.what insurance group is your car????

peter ....

sorry to disagree with you matey ...  but a bmw   isnt that much more expensive to run than a ford. a ford may well be 30 % cheaper to run than a beeemmmer  ..however the 100% satisfaction and driving appeal wins hands down on the 30% saving ....as iam sure you will agree .

Alright Skanders? I think that price is a bit over the odds unless we're talking about an absolute mint car. Looking around, £2.5k can buy you a 95 model with similar mileage. Have a look on the Autotrader website to get a few examples of this then, if you like the car, go back to the garage with this in mind and an offer of about £2k and a deal of about £2.3k in mind.

An iS for a first car - can't be bad mate.

is an e36 ??? i think it must being a 92   ..

 1]   is being sold at a garage for that amount of or private???

 2]  is that your first quote for insurance??  and age or conviction would help too

are running cost for a beemer expensive .......i dont think so ..it does help if the car has a full service book ..has it got one of them up to 92 thou

let us know the answers

and welcome too