Should I buy 2011 335i with 85,000

Muleski · 06-04-2021, 04:14 PM

I agree, I'd fix the turbos. You know the car. Keep it.

OliverR · 06-04-2021, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vivek.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OliverR

The reason I'm considering the new car route over a repair is not because I want to save 3k, it's cause my car is old (146,000 miles) and I know it's just going to keep getting harder and harder to maintain as it ages. Whereas buying a 4 year newer car with 60,000 less miles is going to be cheaper to maintain. Not to mention it's a more reliable engine with the n55. Financially it makes more sense to me to use that money as a down payment on a new car that is going to save me more on maintenance costs then my monthly finance is going to be. Not to mention saving the money I get for my current 335i to use for repairs on a new one. Am I wrong? TL;DR: Yes If I'm strictly choosing between repair and new 335i, it a seems like a win win to go with the new car. I get a new car and I'm saving money in the long run.

Lets do the math from a pure expense perspective; I'll ignore financing costs and say you're spending $9k to have a newer car with a presumed lower maintenance cost. How long will it take you to spend $9k on repairs on your 146k mile car?
Note: This is after you've spent 3k on the turbos which I have deducted from the $12k cost of the N55 car.

My guess? A pretty damn long time. I'd hazard that putting the next 50k miles on the N55 car would cost more than half as much in maintenance as putting the next 50k miles on the 146k mile car. Let's call that figure 2.5k and 4k respectively. So in 50k miles you'd have spent $7k on your current car and $14.5k on the new one. Even if you get 3k for your 07 with blown turbos you're still 4.5k in the hole.

If you want the newer car because you like it more and want it that's one thing, But I don't think that saying it will cost you less in the long run is true.

You make a pretty solid point. I'm definitely leaning toward repair now. However a lot of repairs or replacements that are usually done on n54 as old as mine aren't done on mine. Most notably the injectors and hpfp. Plus getting it to "pass" smog is absolute nightmare I have to go through every 2 years. It just feels like I'm gonna save money in the long run by getting a newer one, but considering how many have told me otherwise I'm probably wrong. I appreciate the response, I'm going to start looking around for replacement turbos.

E92N55Jeff · 06-04-2021, 07:07 PM

I just bought a used 86k milage 2011 bmw 335i coupe couple months ago, coming from an n54 myself I can say, yes, n55 is more reliable but they still have the same water pump and thermostat issue, hpfp issue, also valve cover, and gaskets. Its a bmw, you should always expect something to go wrong. I say get a maintenance report and see what has been replaced already and what hasn’t. Around the 80k miles mark is when the issues usually start to happen if haven’t already.

06-04-2021, 04:14 PM	#23
Muleski New Member 0 Rep 9 Posts Drives: 2006 325xiT Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Boston, MA iTrader: (0)	I agree, I'd fix the turbos. You know the car. Keep it.
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06-04-2021, 07:07 PM	#25
E92N55Jeff Registered 0 Rep 4 Posts Drives: bmw 335i Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Las Vegas iTrader: (0)	I just bought a used 86k milage 2011 bmw 335i coupe couple months ago, coming from an n54 myself I can say, yes, n55 is more reliable but they still have the same water pump and thermostat issue, hpfp issue, also valve cover, and gaskets. Its a bmw, you should always expect something to go wrong. I say get a maintenance report and see what has been replaced already and what hasn’t. Around the 80k miles mark is when the issues usually start to happen if haven’t already.
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