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Car Forum / BMW Cars / February 2008

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06 330 I

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Dana - 08 Feb 2008 03:11 GMT
Thinking about purchasing a dark Grey 06 330 I with 32000 miles on it . The
vehicle seems very clean .Assuming it's had all it maintenance what do you
think are my chances of having an enjoyable ownership experience . I only
had Japanese cars for the past 10 years or so . I'm looking for a different
type of ride . I want a radical change. Do you think I'm asking for trouble
as there's only about 18 months left on the factory warranty . Any thoughs
would be greatly appreciated . Thanks in advance .
                                                      -Dana
Pete - 08 Feb 2008 04:03 GMT
> Thinking about purchasing a dark Grey 06 330 I with 32000 miles on it
> . The vehicle seems very clean .Assuming it's had all it maintenance
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> you think I'm asking for trouble as there's only about 18 months left
> on the factory warranty .

Get the CPO warranty to cover you up to 100k miles/6 years.

Pete
Dana - 08 Feb 2008 07:53 GMT
>> Thinking about purchasing a dark Grey 06 330 I with 32000 miles on it .
>> The vehicle seems very clean .Assuming it's had all it maintenance what
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> Pete

Unfortunately , I don't think that's available . I'm buying from a private
individual .
Pete - 08 Feb 2008 19:13 GMT
>> Get the CPO warranty to cover you up to 100k miles/6 years.

> Unfortunately , I don't think that's available . I'm buying from a private
> individual .

Since the car is still under the original warranty, you can just talk to a
local BMW dealer to have it certified as CPO.  Of course it's going to cost
money, so you have to decide if the price is worth to have that peace of
mind.

I bought a 4 year old e39 with 30k miles a while back, non CPO.  In the
first year alone, I spent $5K on it.  Granted, not all of it was repairs.
About half of it was maintenance which the warranty or CPO would not have
covered anyway.  But still, if this car keeps breaking at this rate, getting
an extended warranty of some sort would have been cheaper.

Pete
admin - 08 Feb 2008 20:03 GMT
>>> Get the CPO warranty to cover you up to 100k miles/6 years.
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> money, so you have to decide if the price is worth to have that peace of
> mind.

No you can't. CPO is only available on cars being sold by dealers.

What can be purchased is extended maintenance - which covers all the
required maintenance (NOT repairs for stuff that breaks) with the
exception of tires.

Dana - take the car to a dealer and have a Pre-Purchase-Inspection done.
This is a common thing to have done. The dealer will be able to pull up
all the service records on the car - and can tell you what needs doing
now, and what might need doing in the future.  There is a charge for
this - but it's small considering what you're paying for the car.

If the current private owner refuses to allow you to do this - walk away
from the car.

 > I bought a 4 year old e39 with 30k miles a while back, non CPO.  In the
> first year alone, I spent $5K on it.  Granted, not all of it was repairs.
> About half of it was maintenance which the warranty or CPO would not have
> covered anyway.  But still, if this car keeps breaking at this rate, getting
> an extended warranty of some sort would have been cheaper.

Or not. It isn't usual for a 30k E39 to need $2,500 in actual repairs in
a year - unless it was abused or neglected.

Dana - if you're financing the car - and it's through something like a
credit-union, check with them on what extended warranty programs they
have links with. These are usually reasonable ones. If you're financing
it with a bank - they may not offer this, but the dealer you have the
PPI done at might - worth checking there also.

Aftermarket warranties are only as good as the company offering them -
so worth checking the BBB findings on the company (easily found on line
via Google.)  Also - markup on extended warranties is typically 100%..
if they charge you $1,000 - it cost them $500 to place it with the
warranty company. That means there is some serious room for bargaining
since it's simply a big profit for the seller (dealer, credit-union, etc.)

> Pete
Pete - 08 Feb 2008 20:27 GMT
>> Since the car is still under the original warranty, you can just talk to
>> a local BMW dealer to have it certified as CPO.  Of course it's going to
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> required maintenance (NOT repairs for stuff that breaks) with the
> exception of tires.

Not exactly.  The dealer will sell you a BMW extended warranty as well, as
long as the car is currently still under the original BMW warranty.  The
advantage is that this warranty is more comprehensive than an typical
extended warranty from a 3rd party vendor.

Pete
Keith Kratochvil - 08 Feb 2008 13:07 GMT
> Thinking about purchasing a dark Grey 06 330 I with 32000 miles on it . The
> vehicle seems very clean .Assuming it's had all it maintenance what do you
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> would be greatly appreciated . Thanks in advance .
>                                                        -Dana

I have an 06 330i and I have no problems with it other than an very
intermittent (happens once every 3 to 6 months) trouble with the radio
system. I loose all audio and my cell phone will not work with the
bluetooth. Some times it lasts a few minutes and other times it lasts a
couple days. It always come back on by itself and the dealer has not
been able to find any trouble on various occasions that I brought it in.
But as far as the mechanics of the car no troubles at all.
Jeff Strickland - 08 Feb 2008 20:31 GMT
> Thinking about purchasing a dark Grey 06 330 I with 32000 miles on it .
> The vehicle seems very clean .Assuming it's had all it maintenance what do
> you think are my chances of having an enjoyable ownership experience .

I think your chances are very good. I have two '94 325s -- one was wrecked
or I'd still be driving it -- and they are very fine cars. My daughter has
an '00 323 that is even better.

You are jumping form front wheel drive to rear wheel drive, and this will
mean a change to some of the things you do -- RWD pushes the car around, FWD
pulls it, this is significant is slick conditions.

I find that doing routine service on my BMWs is very easy -- I replace brake
pads and rotors easily. I had a problem with a fuel level sending unit, easy
to fix at home. These cars are well made, and for the most part pretty easy
to work on. If you are inclined to make yacht payments for your mechanic,
you will find that the cost-of-ownership is really quite low and your
mechanic may need to get another customer to make the boat payments for him.
When you pay for BMW service, it is expensive, but you do not pay for it
often if you know anything at all about your car.

I only
> had Japanese cars for the past 10 years or so . I'm looking for a
> different type of ride . I want a radical change. Do you think I'm asking
> for trouble as there's only about 18 months left on the factory warranty .
> Any thoughs would be greatly appreciated . Thanks in advance .
>                                                       -Dana

You might be asking for trouble with a 10-year old car, but you are looking
at what is perhaps the best driving machine ever to roll off the line, and
it is practically brand new.
 
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