Oppopinions: cheap E90?

"BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind" (briangriffinsprius) 05/22/2018 at 19:14 • Filed to: None

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Someone is selling a 328xi for $3200 with 163k miles. Seems cheap enough to be “eff it” money. What should I be looking for besides normal maintenance schedule issues?

His Stigness > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 05/22/2018 at 19:44

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Everything.

Oil sludge? Check.

Water pump that either isn’t working or about to go? Check.

Suspension doneksis? Check.

Trans about die? Check.

Broken pcv hoses? Check.

Serpentine belt probably about to fall off? Check.

VANOS solenoids leaking oil? Check.

Valve cover pissing oil? Check.

Oil pan pissing oil? Check.

O2 sensors on their last legs? Check.

Interior falling to pieces? Check.

I’m probably forgetting things, but this is definitely not “sure, why not” territory.

Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 05/22/2018 at 19:57

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Eric @ opposite-lock.com > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 05/22/2018 at 20:33

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A fire so you have the rest of that dumpster fire?

Everyone I’ve known that had a BMW with that many miles spent a lot more than that purchase price keeping it running.

functionoverfashion > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 05/22/2018 at 21:37

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The comments here do NOT make me confident about selling my wife’s 2007 X3 with 207,000 miles. At least I know ours drives very nicely and has been maintained properly. As much as is reasonable anyway.

Still... some of His Stigness’s checklist is true.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > His Stigness 05/22/2018 at 22:32

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You’re a treasure to Oppo

Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition > functionoverfashion 05/22/2018 at 22:37

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Yeah good luck with that one.

His Stigness > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 05/22/2018 at 23:11

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Well I do what I can. =]

His Stigness > functionoverfashion 05/22/2018 at 23:12

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If you keep on top of things pretty much everything I listed can either be prevented or dealt with in short order without effing up the car.

But, most people don’t and ignore shit which causes a cascading effect of more problems.

Audistein > His Stigness 05/23/2018 at 00:14

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Also failing injectors, failing ignition coils, failing fuel pumps, and headlights which entirely loose power. That’s not to mention a bunch of common oil leaks like oil filter housing gasket and rear main seal among many others. Leaks from the coolant tank and power steering fluid reservoir are also popular.

His Stigness > His Stigness 05/23/2018 at 01:17

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Edit:

I forgot leaking oil filter housing gaskets.

How could I forget that one when I spent a lot money on tools specifically for those stupid things!

functionoverfashion > His Stigness 05/23/2018 at 08:55

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Exactly. For example, we just replaced the water pump, t-stat, a couple related hoses. Suspension is tight. Oil is good, this car never makes short trips, so no mayo, and frequent changes with synthetic oil. Oil leaks... maaaayyybe? But nothing catastrophic.

His Stigness > functionoverfashion 05/23/2018 at 11:42

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I think the best thing an owner can do is do 5k mile oil changes. I was shocked, but then not, when I pulled the valve cover on a car that had done 90k miles and ALWAYS did 10k mile oil changes using BMW oil. So clearly 10k miles and regular BMW oil is not enough to stave off sludge. When I was running a German shop I would try to sell BG oil flushes and additive packages all of the time. I have seem them work, and I have plenty of lab tests to prove my additive packages work.

functionoverfashion > His Stigness 05/23/2018 at 11:48

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That’s what we’ve done: 5-6k oil changes all along, in all our cars.