Should I really be spending money on a used 2009 BMW Series 3 328i

Asked by alexmomo00 May 05, 2019 at 03:52 PM about the 2009 BMW 3 Series 328i xDrive Sedan AWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Hey,

I am currently a freshman in college and have
recently been wanting to buy a new car. I
don’t have too much money at the moment
and work an average of about 20-30 hours
per week. I plan to work 50+ hours this
summer and will possibly take a semester off
from school to build up more money. I’ve had
my eyes on a 2009 BMW Series 3 328i. My
question is, do I really go for a car like that
right now? The dealership’s listed price is at
$8500 and it has 105K miles. The car is in
beautiful condition inside and outside. My
plan was to finance it month to month
through the dealership to build up my credit.
My father would help me out with the
insurance, which would relieve some costs to
me, but I’m not sure if I should buy the car
being unaware of other maintenance and
repair costs. Could someone please try to
break it down for me or give me some sort of
advice on whether I should attempt to go
through with this. Thanks!

2 Answers

Bad choice as the repair costs may mean it sits broken down or you have to quit school to support your car.. Save this until you have a good paying job.

So I have a bit of a lengthy answer for you. Had a 1998 318i for 10+ years and throughout my college career. Had 222k miles on it when it was recently totaled by a careless driver. My sister was driving and she was able to walk away with a few scratches, a bruise and minor whiplash. This is one of the reasons I now have a 2002 325xi. I honestly couldn't settle for anything else after having and working on a BMW for so long. I felt safe to boot. That being said, the 318i was not cheap to maintain and if my parents hadn't been gracious enough to help out, I would've had to sell it. It was a combination of parts being expensive and the car was over 20 years old. Everything that broke was usually expected at its age or was due to rust issues. My dad and myself often work on the cars ourselves to cut costs. If this is something you can do and already have most of the tools needed, it will save you a boatload of money. Youtube and books provide lots of great walkthroughs. Finding a good mechanic is important too. I've found a lot of them will either panic slightly or gouge you on cost once they find out its a BMW. If you're close to the Ohio tristate area, I can send some recommendations. That being said, if you want to do your own maintenance but dont have the right tools already, then that can rack up quite a bill right there. If you really love this car here's some more things to research/consider. 1. Cost of brakes, oil filters, etc. the basics. Give yourself a ballpark price on regular maintenance. Rockauto and Pelican Parts are good places to start. We often found that one offs are still BMW manufactured parts. High cost doesn't always mean better 2. Its VIN and its year. Carcomplaints.com lists peoples specific problems and also gives you an overview on what seems to go wrong with certain models, or what years are garbage. Also look up the VIN and see how many times its changed hands. Can tell you if its a potential problem child or a keeper. 3. Does it come with runflat tires? Personally I don't care for them. I cant fix a hole in a runflat myself, there's not really a spare and they're usually more expensive to replace. 4. Make sure there's no rust. That was the biggest issue mine had by the end of its life and can cause problems. This is a car you'll keep for a while so if its already got rust, it'll only get worse. If after doing some research and calculating income/expenses, you think you'll struggle with maintaining the car or will miss out on paying off school because of costs, find something else. Sometimes something short term that goes from A to B is a wiser move. There will likely be another one you love on the market in the future. However if its financially doable, you want something that lasts, rides nicely, and you'll love for a long time, go for it. Its not terribly priced, but might as well haggle, and even though the mileage is over 100k the engine will be the last thing to go. All in all, don't be too impulsive on this one. School is more important

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