It’s time to get the other half a new car and because she does naff all mileage I want to get something vaguely interesting that I’ll enjoy driving too. After many discussions we ave agreed on two cars a 130 or a 330, both must be in M Sport trim. There don’t seem to be many 130’s about and those that are for sale are miles away therefore it looks like a 330 will be the route we go down.

I know the ride will be hard having had an MSport car in the past and because it won’t do many miles I don’t see the point in buying a diesel (and I hate the noise they make). Both cars are in my preferred colour of Le Mans blue but there are variances in spec one has less stuff but has lemon yellow leather which again in my preferred choice whereas the other one has more stuff and black leather.

Funds are all in place and I’m off to look at a couple of cars this weekend. I’ve done a bit of research as to what to look out for but I thought I’d ask on here to find out what people’s experiences are.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Beat them both down on price – everyone knows that no one wants a big petrol engine 🙂

And full BMW service history, with receipts needed – if they’re not there, walk or expect a huge discount.

I don’t get the fear of petrol cars; most diesels don’t get anywhere near their stated economy and it costs more so if you don’t do many miles its daft.

One has full BM history the other had all but the last sevice. I’ll try and speak to BMW to confirm what work was done (I did that with my last one a d they informed me of the recalls and work done).

Both look pretty good on the face of it, but you never really know with second hand cars I guess.

My only concern is the auto box (but then again there are enough horror stories about clutches and dual mass fly wheels costing huge money too).

The 330 is a great car. Coupe or 4 door?

The suspension on the coupe it rock hard, the tyres very noisy, esp at speed.

I absolutely loved mine, as did all who drove it but it wasn’t a relaxing car …

Nice position to be in, envy you!

Having driven both I would personally go with the 330i, I thought the 3 felt a little better all round, just slightly better quality of finish as well.

Lemon yellow leather though, horrible old man colour 😕

What reg are you looking at Pre or Post 2007?

The auto boxes don’t really go wrong. They just need a fluid change that BMW don’t recommend.

I’ve doen around 245k miles on a 330i Auto with a single fluid change and it feels as good as they day I picked it up with 14k on the clock.

I too like lemon yellow, but it’s a nightmare to keep clean if you like wearing jeans. Many others also DON’T like Lemon yellow, so i wouldn’t let them class it as a selling point.

My advice would be to go with the one that feels right (both the seller and the car) and to chose the car that has things right with it that you can’t change. i.e. High miles can’t be changed, but scuffed wheels and stone chips can. Same with the interior, you can always change it later if you REALLY want lemon yellow.

Do you want an auto?

When you buy, ditch the run-flat tyres ASAP, it’s like changing from a 1.5″ rear tyre to a 2.5″ in terms of comfort and quality.

Going with the saloon. I’d like a touring but there is nothing in budget and the coupe isn’t practical enough (kids are a serious consideration in the next year or two all being well).

I’ve heard that the threes feel better quality. The main reason that I wanted a 130 was little car, big engine. Those that have them seem to rate them very, very highly indeed. Properly swift too.

I really like the yellow leather. The all black looks smart but is quite oppressive. I also like the combo of dark paint, light interior (and vice versa). Hate the grey though because so much of be carpet and door cards are grey too.

Remember, they are rear wheel drive, A fantastic drivers car … esp with traction control turned off,

In the winter it’s a pain in the arse ….

Daffy, both cars I’m looking at are 2006 (one 06 and the other 56). The consensus seems to be that the earlier engine is a bit more solid.

I’m not too fussed about auto or manual, they both have their positives. Having had a BMW before and a few Mini’s, their manual gearboxes can be a bit grumpy when cold. Having looked around most seem to be autos (it was he same with the E46). It seems to be the defacto choice for those buying new.

On paper there is very little to separate them so it will come down to condition, how they drive and service history. Both are a little below budget which gives us a maintenance slush fund for the future.

Mrmoofo….I’ve been there with my old one. Getting stranded on the drive in the snow – I didn’t even get chance to attempt our snowy road which is on a hill.

I’m not too fussed about that because I’ll just work from home.

All other things being equal.. Buy the car with the bigger spec and the black leather.

What kind of milage & cost are the 06 versions going for?

Have you considered a 530i Sport Touring?

There’s a few 05/06 cars kicking about on Autotrader for around £8K

Mileage seems to vary; these two are both on 74k as are a fair few others but some are well over 100k.

Price wise it seems to be between just below six for rubbish spec / high miles to right for lower miles and better spec now that they’re too old to be an approved car.

I have thought about a fiver (I love the E60 too) but they’re just too big. My other half doesn’t want a massive car.

I would go auto but then the last time I drove a BMW it was in 1982 which was my friend’s …

Also this regular oil change or auto gear box oil change.

Daffy – Member

The auto boxes don’t really go wrong. They just need a fluid change that BMW don’t recommend.

I’ve doen around 245k miles on a 330i Auto with a single fluid change and it feels as good as they day I picked it up with 14k on the clock.

I don’t get the fear of petrol cars;

Me neither, but you’re buying so use it as a beat ’em down.

The auto boxes don’t really go wrong

I beg to differ – my 535i’s went and it wasn’t worth fixing (£900 as a starter just to ‘look’). And the BMW specialist said that when they were new(ish) they changed many of them under warrenty. But no way would I buy either a 130 or 330 without an auto box.

I wouldn’t buy an e90 saloon, they lose money faster than Sheikh in a Ferrari dealership. A 130i however….yes, but ONLY if it had Xenon lights, Auto box, Nav, bluetooth, power mirrors, leather and heated seats. Preferably in grey too.

….but that’d cost me the best part of £10k

Wife has an Msport 320 touring and compared to my 5 series Msport the ride is pretty hard and jittery. Know I prefer the bigger car.

Main point however was invest in some spare alloys and winter tyres and they become eminently usable in snow. £600 saw us sorted in the wife’s car ( I can borrow a 4wd if needed from work) and it was rock solid in the snow and ice. Would also make me ditch the run flats next time round as the ride was vastly improved.

Depending on the age check if it has had any DSC (traction control) issues as ours had to have it fixed.

Similarly there can be issues with coil packs and injectors in some as well and it may have had new improved ones fitted.

Daffy – I figure that at the age / price range we’re looking at, it’s done the worst of its depreciation. Also for practicality reasons it makes sense. Ironically for some reason if a 130 was the route, I’d want a manual because I think it suits the car better…pretty much that spec though but in Le Mans blue.

Bruk – I’d really like to consider the 5, but its just a tad big. Our drive is an odd shape and I think we’d struggle to fit both cars on. I’ve read about issues with the coil packs and injectors.

You say going with saloon for practicality but just be aware fold down rear seats seem to an option and aren’t present on many saloons, makes it rubbish to chuck bike in. I have a e46 coupe m sport and have been looking at the newer e92 coupe. All the coupes seem to have split folding rear seats making it more practical for throwing my bike in with front wheel off, or anything long! (cant be arsed with racks!)
And don’t worry about kids too much boot is plenty big enough for most push chairs and putting a baby in a baby seat is actually easier when approaching from the front!
I have had my coupe for 5 years with 2 boys from 1yrs up to 11, no complaints.. In fact they prefer going in that vs our more spacious cmax.

The coupe feels loads more special, try one!

You on the right track with straight 6 BMW petrol, still not bored of mine!

130i for awesome drive (so i hear) while you have no kids, 3 coupe if you want something a bit practical still with a bit of X factor!
You can sell that to the boss too ‘we have to get the coupe, it’s more practical than the saloon!’

Got an 06 330i on 90k miles. great car. piss poor mpg though. Only issue outside standsrd maintainance has been auto box fluid change. but i now think vanos solenoids are duff. thats a cheap fix tho

Not too fussed about lobbing bikes in the back – I’ll leave those duties for the company car! The non-folding seat sin the saloon is odd, but they’ve always been like that.

Just got back from seeing the one with yellow leather and it was really nice and in good nick; it had a few marks which is to be expected on a seven year old car but no dents or dings. The interior was in good nick too, the odd mark here a d there but no stains on the yellow leather (which I really like). The sun roof was a nice option and the car much lighter with it (the black head lining I’d nice but makes the car feel dark).

It pulled well and sounded ace. The ride was much better than I was expecting and there didn’t seem to be any rattles despite the poor condition of our roads. All in all, a really nice car.

From experience of my 320d wagon:-

Make sure it’s got Xenon headlights. The standard halogen ones, even with upgraded bulbs are just crap. On a wet road with oncoming traffic, I’m literally blind.

Get a full 4 wheel alignment (aka Hunter or KDS) done as soon as you can, unless the service history shows one has been done recently. Makes a hell of a difference to the ride and handling. Getting mine done was worth 15mph on a straight bumpy road.

The Alpine audio upgrade (tweeters in the front doors by the wing mirrors) is well worth having.

The only thing that’s gone wrong with mine is the bluetooth module has died – seems to crop up on the forums as a fairly regular failure, with no known solution other than replacement and recoding by BMW at full main dealer prices. Worth checking it’ll connect to your phone before handing over any cash.

Winter tyres are a must. The ride is MUCH nicer anytime it’s below about 7°C. And snow ceases to become much of an issue too…

Despite the frankly shite low speed ride, mine still puts a big smile on my face everytime I get into an NSL road. If I had to replace it I’d gladly have another, but would go for a 330 i or d (depending on price).

The other one I was supposed to see sold first thing this morning which was a shame.

The one I drove today only had the halogen head lights, so that’s interesting. Been there with the wheel alignment; the specialist I used in Burton was the only place that could align my old 325 for sensible money (BMW charge crazy money for it). I tried a place in Nottingham that was highly regarded on Audi / VAG forums but they did a crap job.

From what I’ve read the Business head unit is pretty pants ad Professional one is better (the car I saw today had the later). The Bluetooth function worked when th guy demonstrated it to me.

I just need to decide if now is the time to buy a car or not. I’ve jumped in a few times before and it’s not gone to plan and being in a position where we have more money spare each month I can’t decide if I want to spank it away on a car yet or not. I know we’re not spending loads compared to what sone people do.

Amazingly the insurance is cheaper than on her current car (a little Corsa that she bought when we finished uni in 2005). I hate said car with a passion but it costs naff all to run and seems really reliable. Hmmmmm.

I’m interested in this auto box fluid change issue if anyone is in a position to explain? I’ve a ’52 330i on 105k miles and had the fluid changed at 80k miles as many of the internet say you should.

Lately though, some people are saying this is a mistake. Seeing all the “chaff” that came out with the old fluid makes me wonder how this could possible be a bad thing?

That seems to be a total change of attitude. When I had my E46 325 everyone recommended changing the fluid in the manual and auto boxes. The sealed for life thing does seem mad; like you say over the years the oil will deteriorate and get filled with worn parts from the box.

Can’t explain why attitudes have changed.

Second the comment about budgeting for some winter wheels and tyres, but not the one about the xenons – never had any trouble with the halogens.

One thing to look out for if you’re buying an 06 is a problem with the fuel vent pipe getting worn where it passes through the body, which causes it to leak fuel when the tank is full. There’s a £5 preventative fix, or it’s about £800 for a dealer to replace the pipe after gets worn through. I think they sorted it on later 2006 cars, but never did a recall.

I’ve had my 330d touring from nearly-new in ’06 and still think it’s a great car. Would definitely buy the same again.

Thanks for that. It’s got Ann BM service history aside from the last one recently done at a local specialist so I’m going to call the BM dealer on Monday to find out more about the work tat has been done to it. The car was their demonstrator before being sold to an older guy who used them for its maintenance.

I had a Lemans blue 130i and I loved it.
Manual, black leather and fully loaded apart from heated seats,xenons and satnav

I wish we still had it, but the mrs wanted an estate……
So we now have a 535d m-sport touring, which is pretty phenomenal.
It doesn’t sound or feel like the 130 though, but it’s still impressive and in real world conditions it’s probably more composed and faster.
Get winter wheels and tyres, now is a good time to buy 😀
I did all last winter in the 130 on its Berlin taxi spec wheels but it was fine, never got stuck, always knew what it was doing.
You will need 17″ steels minimum to clear the brakes too

We’ll…I’ve bought it.

I made a cheeky offer and we met somewhere in the middle. I’m pretty happy – doing as much checking as I can without forking out for AA inspections or taking it to a garage, it seems like a pretty solid car. The exterior and interior is in good nick, it drives well enough and and everything seems to work. Its below out budget too, so we’ll have a war chest should owt happen.

Hopefully picking it up on Saturday – I’m going to be a sad git and get stuck into giving it a good clean over the weekend (clay, polish, glaze and wax).

Also looked into racks and will be getting a rear mounted Thule rack for it – found one that doesn’t seem too expensive and it gets good reviews. It won’t get used loads, but its still nice to have.

130 or 330 ?

330 M Sport auto – Le Mans blue, Dakota lemon yellow interior, Professional stereo, bluetooth, sunroof etc.

I really like the 1 Series, but as a longer term car it just didn’t feel big enough inside especially after the Golf which felt huge (possibly even bigger than the 3 inside).

Nice, the 1er is not a big car inside I agree

Shame really because they’re really nice and have aged much better than a Golf (inside and outside). If it had been purely about driving, the 130 would have been the car.

Picked the car up this week and had a mammoth cleaning session today. It looks pretty good for a seven year old car, it has the odd mark but it drives well enough and it sounds lovely. Here are a couple of pics

Thanks for the help chaps.

advice

Nice wheels.

Was wondering when someone would correct the spelling!

I know…it was late when I started the thread. By the time I realised, it was too late to edit it.

That’s nice, I like the blue. The cream (yellow?) leather however….

What’s the mileage on it? The interior looks pretty sharp considering its age.

Cheers. The interior does divide opinions but I like it.

It’s just ticked over 75k. It’s worn it’s miles pretty well and feels nice enough to drive so fingers crossed it’ll be alright. It certainly pulls pretty well.