[jezzy]

Hi guys,

I'm a long time fan, never had the opportunity to buy a new BMW (likely will never buy new 8) but with a small budget set aside, I'd like to get a chance to see what it's all about..!

I'm looking for a used car Audi or BMW wagon (preferably..) for under $15K Canadian, I'm eyeing 2 cars at the moment.. a beautiful Audi 2006 A6 3.2 Avant with 125k on the odo, the car's beautiful, but as usual, we can never get the maintenance records when buying used at a 3rd party dealer.. (what a joke!).

And, the other car is this beauty. It's a 328xi awd sport package 2009 navi, etc. But, it's sadly high milage.. 178k. See for yourself :

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-autos-camions...teLocale=en_CA

Now, I'm a married man, 3 boys, trading in my Honda Pilot as there's no need for such a huge beast, and I miss "driving" a real car.. my daily driver is a (hold your breath), a 2009 Elantra.. Got feels like I've been castrated!

How reliable are the BMW engines, what are things to look for and avoid (yes you'll all say high milage..) but is it common to have good running BMW cars? I'm coming from a Honda/Acura/Subaru/Mazda world..

thanks!

[ccraig13]

Depends If you're into keeping up with maintenance on your cars. I would stick to non-German brands if you feel an oil change interval is just a suggestion

[jezzy]

I'm usually at every 5000km if i love the car.. lets say this is the first time I let my car go over 10,000 without an oil change. Yes thats how much I love my elantra. =) But yes, if the car treats me well, i'll return the favour.

So, assume best thing is to bring a bmw mechanic to inspect the car for me and go from there?

how good is the nag system in these cars if i compared it to my current garmin/tomtom setup?

thanks for the response!

[GarlicBread]

Great car I have a 07 sedan and have about 100k miles on it now. No issues for me except the valve cover gasket. If you maintain it well you should be good. It doesn't have as many issues as a 335

[GarlicBread]

As for nav new gps will look much better but I like the convenience of in dash

[Digtlartst]

That is a beautiful blue wagon but wow that car was driven a LOT. The engine may have many more miles left in it but with that mileage I'd be concerned about the auto transmission, the differentials and transfer case. Also the cooling system. Manual trans are bullet proof. The front diff on my 06 touring went out at 65k miles and it's a very expensive fix.

[joekitch]

definitely get a "prepurchase inspection" by an indie bmw mechanic. you can get them inspected at a bmw dealer but its much more expensive.

[jezzy]

Thanks guys for the feedback. Agreed its a beauty but worried about the possible soon to come repairs. Im used to doing my own work on the past cars I had thanks to good diy's and the used part market. . Subaru and honda were great for this. Hows it on the bmw side? Looks like a good member community here which is comforting

I'll have to go in person and get my gut feeling working.. so far that audi's caught my heart too. And winters are long here in montreal. . I miss my subaru

Thanks!

[Digtlartst]

Audi reliability isn't any better. I've owned enough fun-driving VW's to be burned too many times: Jettas, Passats, 4s, V6s, didn't matter. Every one was utter mechanical crapola in my experience -- never again for me.

[smithf80]

Hell at that mileage everything probably already broke at some point and was already replaced, one way to look at it! hah

[jezzy]

Originally Posted by smithe90

Hell at that mileage everything probably already broke at some point and was already replaced, one way to look at it! hah

haha honestly I thought the exact same thing, at that milage it's probably already been replaced!

[jezzy]

Originally Posted by Digtlartst

Audi reliability isn't any better. I've owned enough fun-driving VW's to be burned too many times: Jettas, Passats, 4s, V6s, didn't matter. Every one was utter mechanical crapola in my experience -- never again for me.

I'm even looking at a few jetta TDI wagons, but the ones `i saw already had major rust coming through. Man complete rust buckets, as bad as Mazda's and honda's.. they just don't last the winters here in Canada.

[smithf80]

Originally Posted by jezzy

haha honestly I thought the exact same thing, at that milage it's probably already been replaced!

I must say that is a really nicely equipped car, beautiful exterior color, nav and xenon too.

Wait do you mean 178km... meaning only 111k miles...? Thats not nearly as bad as 178k miles. Might have confused some of us Americans. 178k seemed unusually high...

[bbbuzzy]

Remember folks, this car is in Canada and the odometer reading is in kilometers. 178K kilos is around 110K miles. If this car has been well maintained, it should run well for a long time. I bought my '06 330i 5.5 yrs ago at 107K miles. Now it's at 152K miles and runs great. Over the years, I've replaced a few things (water pump, thermostat, valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket, oil pan gasket, blower motor, but it has never stranded me and the things I replaced were done proactively, or to stop a leak. Never a big deal and my experience is just one data point. Less than $3000 in repairs over the years. Cost does not include maintenance and tires. This car eats tires!

Good luck with your decision.

[jcut825]

Is it just me or does something look really off with the headlights in the pictures. Its like they are cross eyed? Right side is pointing down?

Edit: Exhaust also doesn't look 100% stock to my eye. Or the brushed aluminum trim on the paddle shifters or gear selector. I thought 328s had chrome and 335s had the brushed?

[jezzy]

Originally Posted by smithe90

I must say that is a really nicely equipped car, beautiful exterior color, nav and xenon too.

Wait do you mean 178km... meaning only 111k miles...? Thats not nearly as bad as 178k miles. Might have confused some of us Americans. 178k seemed unusually high...

Thats correct, it's 178k not miles. =)

[jezzy]

Originally Posted by bbbuzzy

Remember folks, this car is in Canada and the odometer reading is in kilometers. 178K kilos is around 110K miles. If this car has been well maintained, it should run well for a long time. I bought my '06 330i 5.5 yrs ago at 107K miles. Now it's at 152K miles and runs great. Over the years, I've replaced a few things (water pump, thermostat, valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket, oil pan gasket, blower motor, but it has never stranded me and the things I replaced were done proactively, or to stop a leak. Never a big deal and my experience is just one data point. Less than $3000 in repairs over the years. Cost does not include maintenance and tires. This car eats tires!

Good luck with your decision.

Thanks, this is good news and hopefully I get as lucky with my choice. I'm going to see a silver 09 wagon tomorrow also, but no bells and whistles.. since its next door, may as well, But they're asking $25k which is ALOT more than the high mileage $14K blue one I posted above fully loaded.

[jezzy]

Originally Posted by jcut825

Is it just me or does something look really off with the headlights in the pictures. Its like they are cross eyed? Right side is pointing down?

Edit: Exhaust also doesn't look 100% stock to my eye. Or the brushed aluminum trim on the paddle shifters or gear selector. I thought 328s had chrome and 335s had the brushed?

I will pay careful attention to this, perhaps Canadian models are a bit diff? (for the aluminum part). The headlights I'll need to look into

edit : by the way, the front view is taken with a fish eye lens, distorting the photo so it fits into the frame..

[Rusk335ie92]

Don't buy either.
If you cannot afford a car with low miles you are looking outside your price range. Go buy a honda or a toyota with low miles you'll spend less time in the garage

[jezzy]

been there done that, need something different, I can afford it but used with so-so milage.
thanks for the honest feedback tho!

[Mardio]

Originally Posted by 19Ambitious335ie92

Don't buy either.
If you cannot afford a car with low miles you are looking outside your price range. Go buy a honda or a toyota with low miles you'll spend less time in the garage

+1 save your cash, both of these are pricey to fix.

[jcut825]

Originally Posted by jezzy

I will pay careful attention to this, perhaps Canadian models are a bit diff? (for the aluminum part). The headlights I'll need to look into

edit : by the way, the front view is taken with a fish eye lens, distorting the photo so it fits into the frame..

Good call on the fish eye lens. I would just take a quick look anyhow to be safe. When I got my car I did not notice a small headlight issue and that does cost some money to fix.

All the best.