What's been anyone's experience of owning a BMW?

I've an oppourtunity to buy 2000 (W) 318 Ti Compact Sport Individual,

One of 200, M-sports kit, 48,000m, full leather interior, etc, etc.

1 female driver, supposedly MINT!

2 litre

not that quick

more 'fun' handeling i imagine

take it for a test drive and see what you think i say

Personally unless it's at least an M3, I wouldn't bother. That said a certain 318 Compact in Essex goes quite well ...

I want that car.

The vRS's have been so good to me tho'!

Lovely machine though.

Geese.

Go test drive then make your mind up if it's worth the extra Road tax, Insurance and fuel costs.

Hmmm....

I'll update after the test drive.

Nice one,

Geese.

Had a 5 series BMW before the Octavia, and it was a really nice motor. It was utterly reliable, nothing broke, nothing rattled, and it had a really heavy, well built feel everywhere. That said, it was very expensive to run, it was slow, servicing cost a fortune, and it drank fuel like no other car I have had.

I love my Octy RS but it does have its faults - cheapish interior complete with multiple creaks and rattles, and some 'quirky' running characteristics, none of which I had with the BMW.

I still miss the inside of the BMW, as this is where you spend most of your time afterall and its where the sense of the quality of the car is experienced.

Like the others say - drive it, think about it, sleep on it, and make your own mind up

All the best.

Had a 5 series BMW before the Octavia' date=' and it was a really nice motor. It was utterly reliable, nothing broke, nothing rattled, and it had a really heavy, well built feel everywhere. That said, it was very expensive to run, it was slow, servicing cost a fortune, and it drank fuel like no other car I have had.

I love my Octy RS but it does have its faults - cheapish interior complete with multiple creaks and rattles, and some 'quirky' running characteristics, none of which I had with the BMW.

I still miss the inside of the BMW, as this is where you spend most of your time afterall and its where the sense of the quality of the car is experienced.

Like the others say - drive it, think about it, sleep on it, and make your own mind up

All the best.[/quote']

Cheers for that mate!

Updates to follow......

Geese.

What's been anyone's experience of owning a BMW?

I've an oppourtunity to buy 2000 (W) 318 Ti Compact Sport Individual,

One of 200, M-sports kit, 48,000m, full leather interior, etc, etc.

1 female driver, supposedly MINT!

1.8 litre Ben, not 2. Even slower.

1.9 litre with 140bhp so not too shabby

http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/carreviews/review.aspx?model_id=90&page=1 is a useful site

Chris

why thank you Mr.Mondeo man

lets call that a draw mil

about he same performance as a fabia vRS then(standard)

M sport kit is normally something like the gear knnobbb (stop filtering that word!)steering wheel and some badges.Hope this one has more than that.

Ti meant to be nippy

Insurance is only

Owned a W-Reg 318 saloon, it was ok. Fairly well built, went fairly well on the motorway, handled well on country lanes etc....

It was just a car though, no character and no "wow" factor, just belnded in with the 1000's of others you see on the road - just an efficient piece of engineering designed to get you from A-B.

If you want a fairly decent and solid car and like to give the impression to friends and neighbours that your doing "alright" for yourself, and don't have a passion about cars.......... go for it

Personally unless it's at least an M3, I wouldn't bother. That said a certain 318 Compact in Essex goes quite well ...

It does indeed

Mines a 318 Ti compact with the M-sports bits too. To answer Loz, I think this means a leather steering wheel and gear stick, some sill covers, nice alloys and lowered suspension. Certainly holds the road well !

Insurance for me is less than I was paying on the Octavia (but that was remapped). The car is put together really well, everything works as it should do, it's a pleasure to drive and I couldn't find any fault with it at all. OK, it's not got that rush of acceleration that the RS had but that's no bad thing

Servicing costs so far seem to be on a par with Skoda (first service about

I've owned a total of six 3 series ranging from a 320 saloon, 318i Coupe, 325i Touring, 318is Coupe, E30 M3, 323i Coupe (2500cc).

They are built superbly, but i dont like the 4 cylinder engine (318i 8v & 318is 16v) as i found them unrefined and hard work to make good progress.

The old E30 325i (6 cylinder,12 valve) was the best, SO MUCH torque - felt like more than my 110 Elegance, i.e. at tight "painted" roundabouts you could turn right whilst still in 4th gear!

E36 323i (2500cc 24 valve) lost a load of torque compared to the 12 valve, but would return 35+ mpg.

The E30 M3 - well what can i add that hasn't been said before? a propper drivers car, truely awesome despite only being 4 cylinders (although it was 2300cc).

They have been the cheapest cars i have owned to sevice (apart from the M3 - but what do you expect from such a car) providing you go to a specialist independant BMW garage, (who will use genuine BMW parts) instead of a main dealer, and before you ask, no it made no differance to the salability or price when i sold them, BMW even admit they dont expect to see many 4+ year old cars comming back for servicing.

Not sure about the compact though, as the early one's had interiors (dash, switches etc) that are not of the same high standard or quality as the rest of the range.

Not sure if they addressed this with the newer model.

If you do high miles then it wouldn't be a good move, otherwise if you can live with the 4 cylinder's torque then go for it.

Worth a drive certainly. I like my BMs but not a Compact man - doesn't look right to me. It's not a bad engine they fitted, same as the one they fitted to the late-90s 318is coupe. My Dad had one of these from 1996 and it was brilliant fun, handled like it was on rails.

Take it out and see what you think

Steve

My wife had a 318Ti with full sports pack. It handled good in the dry but rather tail happy in the wet; no weight over the rear wheels. I hated the engine- had to hit 4000rpm before anything happened, so to keep it really moving you had to spend all your time changing gear instaed of enjoying the drive. The 318 developed a noisy clutch at 22000miles. It was out of warranty (ie >1year old) and BMW did not want to know. So I was expecting a large bill but luckily it was stolen (good riddance I thought) and the insurance paid up nicely. Have never contemplated a BMW since. I'm sure you can get good ones but I feel they are not as reliable as BMW would have you believe. My dad had a 525diesel for years and that was great apart from the extremely expensive tyres.

I have owned 2 BMW's previous to my Fabia and all I can say is that I enjoyed them both very much but the Fabia vRS is such a great package for the money!

I would check out servicing costs before you commit as the Inspection 1 & 2 services are not cheap, especially at main dealers!

You may find the 318ti a little bland in the performance end but you will gain in other areas! Horses for courses.

IMO the Compact looks minging! Plus you buy a BeEm and you'll automatically forget to indicate, pull off onto slip roads at the last minute etc etc!!!

IMO a BMW is not a step up, but a step down, more insurance, more fuel, more road tax, you can get a Service reset tool though to get rid of the inspection 1 and 2 service lights though!

I think the only one I'd ever own is an M3 E30!

Hi I Work For A Bmw Main Dealer & I Have A Fabia Vrs !!!!!!

If You Need Any Info On The Bm Pm Me The Reg & Chassis Number

I Can Check The Spec For You The Individual Bit Means Just That So Not To Sure About The 1 Of 200 Bit.

Is a BMW all it's cracked up to be?

......NO

Unless it's a 330 or an M (which make up for it by being quite good), don't touch the 3 series because everyone will assume you're an arrogant ****** and waste you off the lights every time, cut you up, not let you out of junctions etc...

It might sound absolutely ridiculous, but I genuinely couldn't live with the badge. :thumbdwn:

Unless it's a 330 or an M (which make up for it by being quite good)' date=' don't touch the 3 series because everyone will assume you're an arrogant ****** and waste you off the lights every time, cut you up, not let you out of junctions etc...

It might sound absolutely ridiculous, but I genuinely couldn't live with the badge. :thumbdwn:[/quote']

I's a shame they now have this reputation - I've had two 3-series, both the original E21. A 320i and a 323i. That was over 20 years ago, though, and they were regarded a top class cars them, without the perceived attitude of today.

They bit, though. Lift off oversteer at will :eek: :eek:

I remember when my dad bought an all white 325i (193bhp) with the M3 kit on it and wheels. It was soooo fast, I remember it like it were yesterday. So many years ago, fond memoies of that little white car...