The current red interior from BMW is considered garish and not in the right shade. It is likely one of the least popular exterior colors, with the exception of some short-run options. The Fiona Red interior could look nice with Magellan Grey or Alpine White. The 2021 X5 has the best exterior/interior color combination, but there are less choices than 2020. The only red interior for the X5M/X6M is Mugello Red, and the interior is more special by featuring Tacora Red upholstery, albeit it’s the Sensatec synthetic leather rather than the real Vernasca leather.
Red interiors are not offered by many brands/models, making them more unique. The red interior in my X5M sealed the deal for me, and I had it in a Z4 35is too. Occasional cleaning and conditioning go a long way, and I have always fancied a car with a red interior, but it means having a fairly muted paint job. Colinv6 believes that the interior has more pop, more contrast, and more liveliness. He is searching around for a quality CPO BMW and keeps finding the exterior color I want and then come upon pictures of the interior, RED.
The 15 Best Cars With Red Interiors include Toyota Camry, Kia K5, Kia Stinger, Lexus LC 500, Lexus RC 350 F Sport, BMW 330i/M3, BMW X3, Honda Civic Type, and Tacora Red in his i4. The 1957 BMW 507 and the old 1950s Porsche Speedster had red interior options, but I like a red interior but would not pay a huge premium for it. I really enjoy BMW and Lexus red interiors but the BMW orangeish red you can find is not very popular.
📹 Buying a BMW? I WISH SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TOLD ME!
When I bought my first BMW, I didn’t know anything about the cars or the options that were available. It wasn’t until later on that I …
📹 5 Checks You MUST DO Before Buying A Used BMW
Welcome back to the channel ladies and gentleman! Today we go through the 6 most important checks you MUST DO before …
I have a 2015 535. Loaded. All options except M and Harmon. Most useful are HUD and Navigation with voice command. Park distance is very useful. ACC is nice also, but takes a while to get used to essentially letting the car drive. That said part of this feature saved my butt once on the hwy when a car pulled in front of me and then jammed it brakes when i was looking elsewhere. Alarm went off in car, it applied the brakes and prevented a potential accident. The moment i touched the brake u was back in control. Scared the hell out of me, but love the feature!😄
Adaptive cruise control. blindspot warning light, front and rear camera, HUD and self steering assist are useful features. The self steering assist minimises the risk of clipping curbs on narrow roads. While they are nice features I would prefer a car with a more powerful motor than have a car with less power and all those features.
I have my first BMW that i bought almost two years ago which is a GT and I’m loving it. I’ve been following you since you got your E90 until now. I’m like you a do it yourself kind of guy and its cheaper then going to the dealer to get it done. Justin i admire you and the work you out into your ride. Keep up the good work dude.
For the e9x model: folding mirrors. Can be identified by the extra button on the window control. Premium rearview mirror with auto dim and garage controls. Can be identified by the garage buttons on the bottom of the mirror. Cant think of anything else right now that you didnt mention already. I recently got lucky at my local junk yard and found both these upgrades for under $100 and about 2 hours of work. But if you were to buy the parts new from bmw it is over $2500 worth of parts alone.
Comfort access is great except for the fact that your car can get stolen within seconds unless you keep you key in shielded pouch. I wouldn’t fret too much about Harmon Kardon, if your car has the base system it can be fairly easily upgraded using a LOC such as the audiocontrol LC7i whilst still retaining the factory iDrive radio and screen. Probably you will end up with a much better sound system too.
One of thing I think should be mentioned is brake options. I know most M Sport models will come with M Sport Brembo Brakes, but there are some models out there that come with M Performance brakes, which is a slightly upgraded version of the M Sport brakes. You can tell if a BMW is equipped with M Performance brakes if they have yellow, deep red, or orange brake calipers. They look nice, are great for sudden stops, and they are rare.
Msport Plus Package brings widescreen, tinted windows and better brakes with the blue calipers. UK spec must have. BMW make you pay for everything here and split all the best options into different packs. I have a touring but not the extended storage – so no cubby holes or nets behind front seats to put magazines. Should be standard with all tourings!
I just bought a 2014 428i, 4cyl twin turbo with 73,000 miles on it. I love this thing! My only question is; how do I know if its an f32 or f33 and what is meant by these numbers? Its a gran coupe. I subscribed to your website because I can tell you know what you’re talking about . Thanks in advance for your help.
Comfort Seats with memory. Wildly ajustable and you can find the perfect position by saving alternatives to try out without guessing the last position. Finally you can store all settings of the infotainment, steering wheel, mirrors for two drivers. These where activated by the according key of the driver, who enters the drivers door. Ventilated seats for leather poster, thank me later.
I live in NJ so having x drive and the cold weather package is really nice on my f25 x3. But things I wish I had is the heads up display (HUD), the M Sport package, and the panoramic moonroof. But at the same time buying a used car with EVERYTHING you want is difficult. So to any person looking into a bimmer know what Is “needed” and what is a “want”.
For me a decent audio system is a must. My E46 came with base BMW Reverse head unit with 6 speakers and this was a joke. Without changing the speakers I have already had every single head unit in this car. BMW Business CD already offers quite adequate quality but Professional is the one that sounds simply good. But it’s still not enough for me. Currently I’m looking for a Harman Kardon set (speakers, woofers, amp and harnesses) and despite being quite easy to retrofit it it’s a real pain to find a complete HK set and harnesses that haven’t been cut 😅
I had never owned a BMW up until i got my 2016 330e like 4 days ago lol, but i kinda knew what to look for. So the car i got have gone 106 000KM, but i can get (and will get) engine, transmission and hybrid battery insurance on it. But since it has the B48 engine and the hybrid system is made in collaboration with Toyota, im not to worried. And it came with so many must have options for me, has the Adaptive LED headlights, heated seats, heated steering wheel, M sport package, shadowline trim, M sport suspension, Lights Package, sunroof, driving assistant, radar cruise control that even works in traffic, comfort access, the big infotainment screen with what i think is the ID5 software, blind zone monitoring, harman kardon sound system and head up display. Only thing it misses which i wish it had was the birdseye view camera system, it only has rear parking sensors. So thats the only thing im gonna try to get retrofitted on the car (and yes, i know its expensive lol, gotta get new mirrors with the cameras, an original rear view camera, the control unit and all that shiz.)
One of my favorite features that my E90 325i had but my F30 320i didn’t was key memory! It was helpful when my dad used to move my car when he was going to work. Whenever I got in to start my day, when I unlocked the car the seat and mirrors would automatically go back to my settings and when my dad got in it would adjust to his settings. My current F30 330i M Sport has this feature as well and I missed it!
I can relate. My first bmw was a 2006 525xi. Had the cold weather package. Then I started to research the e60 and started experiencing buyers remorse. Couple years later I found a 2008 550i lci. All the options you mentioned. Love the style 172 rims! Still have the car today. Huge upgrade from the 525. Rear wheel drive, and the 4.8l v8!! Amazing car!
I agree with every option. If you don’t have the Harman/Kardon sound system there is a retro fit kit from Alpine. I have it in my F30 and it’s good. On option I really love is the Surround View Camera. This really makes parking and moving in tight spaces so easy. It also saves my M403 wheels from scratches. Unfortunately I don’t have comfort access, but I’m thinking about retro fitting it.
I had, we’ll have a 2006 bmw 5 series sport that I crashed lmao but now I drive a 2011 x3 and all those extra ass features definitely make a difference lmao. Even something as simple as using the (Auto H) makes it a way better experience. The 2006 didn’t have anything extra fr and when I upgraded I thought it was kinda gimmicky at first until you realize how helpful it all is😂
My experience is that to pay for a lot of options for a new car is not worth it. Fun for the first week but that’s about it, ok if you get the car second hand some options are ok but not essential. The most important for a BMW is the engine, the driving experience and the design/colour/leather interior, anything else is minor details. Regards Estoril blue 2019 430i coupe. (M-sport……!)
Thanks for this article. I own a 2017 330iX. I love this car. My favorite features are the heated seats and steering wheel, and the iDrive which has the most awesome voice regocnition software on any car I have been in. Press the Voice button on the steering wheel and say things like: “Drive to 4315 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles” and the correct destination is on the nav screen 99% of the time. You can also say things like “call Eileen’s cell phone” and it looks up everyone with the name of Eileen in your phone book contacts and gives you the options on the screen. I am sooooo spoiled by this car, I cringe anytime I have to drive the wife’s car (Japanese brand) for any reason. The infotainment system in this car is so well designed it puts a smile on my face anytime I use the menu system or if I want to set up a new phone connection or something. The car is a perfect balance of sporty and luxury for me. It is so smooth and quiet at 100 mph sometimes you don’t realize how fast you are going until you look down at the speedometer. There are three modes of driving, Eco, Comfort, and Sport. Put the Sport mode on and the engine response is amazing. The tires are run-flat which sucks. They are expensive and good for less than 20K miles if you drive aggressively. Maintenance is costly after the free period is up. That’s all I can complain about.
I have an E90 335i that is not M-sport but has the sport seats and the sport suspension from the factory. I love how sleeper it is without the bumpers. That said, the most important thing in a BMW is the sport seats (or comfort seats in the bigger models), the base seats are just pure garbage especially combined with some of the more powerful engine options. It’s incredible how a company that makes something as awesome as the sport seats is also making the worst seats there is in existence and I always wonder why would someone order that when I see a 335 or a 340 with the base seats. Otherwise my spec is pretty basic, it has the adaptive xenons, cruise control, automatic climate control. No pdc or comfort access but that’s fine for me. One thing I’m missing tho, is the foldable rear seats. It was an option in at least models older than 2010 and I simply forgot to check if the car has them when I was buying it because I was so exited about the car otherwise. Noticed the lack of foldability only when I would’ve needed it for the first time of course. You can retrofit the foldable seats pretty easily – if you can find foldable seats with your upholstery, I haven’t.
Definitely looking to buy a F30 340i maybe even a new 2020 M340i ! That being said The M Sport package is a must for me. I would love to find a ZHP but I know that’s going to pretty difficult. Also there is one in my area with a different gauge cluster I’m not quite sure what it is but it looks digital kinda? Maybe you can let me know what this interesting cluster is?
Good vid man! I have to agree with you on the features you reviewed. I would say comfort access, drivers assistance package, factory alarm system and angel eyes lights are a must. These are the ones missing from my 2013 F30. What’s weird is this car had stand-alone leather seats and moonroof options but not the Premium Package which includes comfort access. I didn’t look at very carefully and naturally thought it had CA. No factory alarm cuz it’s a 2013 pre LCI. No lighting package thus no angel eyes. No camera or PDC as it didn’t have driver’s assistance package. But it is equipped with Tech package, Cold Weather package and Sport Line. Funny combination. Bottom line, the car was gently used with low miles and price was reasonable! If i had to choose one, I wish i had comfort access as i have that in my Japanese cars. Hassle to have to pull out key to hit the button lol
I wish my 2019 had front and side cameras, but I appreciate your liking of the front sensors – I’ll be trying to pay more attention to them to avoid scraping the bottom front of the car. One thing I like about my 430i Gran Coupe is the fact that it’s a hatchback and I can fold the back seats down and have lots and lots of storage space.
I’ve never owned a BMW but I have mine in deposit while I’m transit therefore I’m buying a 530i, it has all the stuff with the premium package, heads up display and the mocha Napa leather interior. I am a little worried because I’m going firm a Jeep Grand Cherokee summit addition. Any suggestions on getting acclimated or did I make a bad decision?? Thanks!!!!
Even though I don’t live in an area where it will normally drop below freezing, heated steering wheel is a must for me now. Head Up Display(HUD) has also become one of my most favorite features on BMW. It will literally allow you to drive safer by not having to take your eyes off the road to change a song…etc. Apparently CarPlay iDrive systems will now allow you to send directions from Google Maps to the HUD…that is the ultimate setup in my opinion. As you said, if someone is even remotely considering wanting Xenon or LED headlights…you should find a vehicle that was equipped with it at the factory. Retrofitting headlights on a BMW is just not worth it in my opinion. You will either pay more for the OEM headlights than it would of cost at the time of build, or you’re going to have to deal with cheap after market headlights. When I was in search for my X3 F25, I made sure to find one that was built with Xenon and they’re absolutely incredible!
About retrofitting the Xenons – price of the headlights is not everything. It would be the most expensive item on your shopping list, but you’d have to factor in a different FRM unit (module that controls lighting; halogens and xenons use different units), front and rear ride height sensors (BMW Xenons are self-levelling, halogens, depending on your model and spec, might have a manual adjustment wheel), rewiring and programming the whole thing. Source: when I bought mine, the headlights were halogen and also both were busted. I thought if I had to buy new/different ones, I’d might as well upgrade to Xenons. After researching all the info and putting all prices together, I settled for a straight replacement of a new pair of aftermarket lights with lenses, which are designed for halogen bulbs. They look like Xenons, but don’t have the bulb/repair costs of Xenons. They’ve also got angel eyes. Only thing I miss that would be cool is the cornering functionality (BMW Xenon lights swivel around the bends so you can see better).
I just come across your website, WoW it’s awesome. I did purchase a 2019 BMW 330i M Sport but because there were some add-ons I was not aware of I decided to upgraded to the 2020 model I added the laser lights, lumbar support and most important the driver recorder. It’s an awesome car and it makes my day whenever I drive it.
I will tell you a way to get a better driving experience in any bmw! follow these steps and you will feel like your bmw is driving like new! : 1-Make sure car is completely off. 2- WITHOUT pressing the brake, press the engine start button and your dash light will light up. 3- wait 5 seconds 4-Press gas pedal all the way until it clicks and HOLD for 30-40 seconds. 5-WITHOUT RELEASING THE GAS PEDAL, push the START Button to turn car off. 6-Release gas pedal. 7-Wait full 2 minutes. 8- Start car and drive off This resets BMWs adaptive transmission( An awesome technology from BMW that adapts to your driving habits which is good but becomes laggy after a few hundred KMs)
Thank you so much for this amazing information about BMW. As usual your articles have a lot of good feedback and great resources to BMW owners. My question to you, what would you recommend to someone who owns 2016 BMW X6 M? What is your advice to him/her? I really wish you can give us tutorial on that please.
All wheel drive for winter driving is absolutely not as important as people make it out to be. A set of good winter tires make the most difference. All wheel drive adds weight, complexity, and higher repair rates and does nothing to help you stop better on loose surfaces, only when your accelerating. I personally look for RWD vehicles even though I live in Canada and we get a lot of snow.
The only thing two things you really need to know about buying BMW’s are 1) that standard seats are really awful. Sports or comfort seats are absolutely must haves and 2) BMW’s are supposed to be rear wheel drive ONLY! Other than that – If you care about flashy screens or safety-autonomy drive stuff – then go buy an Audi.
After owning BMW’s over the years you should know the last of the good BMW’ as far as I’m concerned were the E36’s. From then they have gone down hill. Another thing is that not all shops will work on BMW’s. Some that do don’t really know what they are doing. Before buying talk to owners,,,, not 1 or 2 but several to know what shops to use for repairs. Just get to know what you are buying. Presently BMW’ (newer) have no real resale value. A friend tired of a troublesome 2016 went to trade on Lexus IS Model and they wouldn’t even take it on trade. They took him behind dealership and showed him 6-7 they recently took on trade and said they can’t get rid of them because of glut on market because of so many lease endings as well as reputation for problems and the ones he was looking at were going to auction to dispose of them //////. После владеть BMW над летами вы должны знать последнее из хорошего BMW насколько я обеспокоенный был E36.С тех пор они спустились с холма. Другое дело, что не все магазины будут работать на BMW.Некоторые, которые действительно не знают, что они делают.Перед покупкой поговорите с владельцами,,,, 1 или 2, а несколько знать, какие магазины использовать для ремонта.Просто узнать, что вы покупаете. В настоящее время BMW ‘(новые) не имеют реальной стоимости перепродажи.Друг устал от хлопотно 2016 пошел торговать на Lexus IS Model, и они даже не будут принимать его на торговлю.Они взяли его за дилерской и показал ему 6-7 они недавно взяли на торговлю и сказал, что они не могут избавиться от них из-за избытка на рынке из-за так много окончаний аренды, а также репутацию проблем и те, которые он смотрел на собирались на аукционе распоряжаться ими
Subscribed, and looking forward for more contents. I just bought an F30 335i Sport line last year, and there was a whole lot that I want to retrofit. The ones that I managed to get done was the M-sport bumpers and bodykits, LCI rear lights, the LCI M-Sport steering wheel and LCI M-Sport 18″ wheels. In the near future, I’m looking to retrofit to LCI headlights and NBT-Evo i-drive system. I’m preparing my wallet for it.
I have a 2013 F10 535ix MSport. (Sad to say one year pre-LCI for this model… but no worries!) It has a lot of the stuff Justin mentions including Parking Control. I do recommend turning that off when driving in the snow because it goes haywire, making tons of noise in due to white-out and snow splash. Love the heated steering wheel and seats, especially on my way to play golf!!
I have an E36. Bought it with smoked taillights and I wanted to change to the stock ones with the full clear/white top row. People were asking for 50€ each…used! I went with a pair of DEPO ones instead for 60€ brand new and they look like the real deal, so yes, you mentioned DEPO in the article and I can recommend them. Going on their 3rd year now, still brand new. Although it doesn’t snow here, it does rain a lot, and I’m not one to be washing my car often, so they do suffer a bit 😅
I feel you on this. I got a CPO 2012 328i with only the Technology Package. I had nothing on my car aside from Bluetooth and navigation. I had no Xenons, auto-dimming mirrors, power seats, lumbar support, parking sensors, backup camera (although they weren’t required by law at the time), and my rear seats weren’t even foldable. Anyone buying German needs to deep-dive in on options and also the LCI of the car. And don’t even buy because down the road you will be paying a lot for maintenance, esp on the F30 generation up till 2015.
My M135i’ exterior is Estoril Blue with Dakota Red interior and black roof. I also think that for a sport M Performance car, the red interior is awsome. Beige or black are simply to common. My car is also a full options modell and have everything except the panoramic roof which I didn’t want because of few inconveniences like the added weight, noise on rain or additional maintenance operations. Best regards!
HUD Display. Can’t at all go back after you’ve had it. I took my car into the dealership to take advantage of a warranty, and I was given the 2021 330i Xdrive as a loaner. It didn’t have all of the features/packages of my 2015. It didn’t even have comfort access as standard 😑😑🙃. Which was a huge problem, but I definitely did not like to have to keep looking down at my speed, because you can never tell how fast you’re going. Also having the GPS show up on the HUD is too useful, it’s saved me from going all the way down and back on a highway just because I was in the middle lane and not the middle right😑😑.
Each key fob has it’s own unique settings for: music favorite pre-sets, seat & mirror positions. So, if you have two key fobs, each driver can have their own settings. Mine had the base stereo and if you lightly touch the preset buttons, you can see what is programed on that particular button without actually switching to that website. I don’t know if the HK stereo does this and have no idea how it could be useful, but there it is. The cruise control not only holds the speed on flat road but also limits speed when going downhill. I found this really useful when coming down mountain slopes on longer trips. I assume it uses engine braking to save on brake pads and limit disc heat, but i find it very handy to hold a desired speed. On a related note, engine braking also works when you lift the gas pedal. Most cars go into coast mode but the bimmer just has to be different.
Like you, we made a road trip out of buying our “new” F30. Flew from Florida to California and drove it home the week after Christmas. 2017 340i M-sport, 8-sp auto, Mineral Gray, Oyster leather, lighting package, driver assistance package, technology package and heated front seats. It checked all the boxes as to what we were looking for. Wireless charging option would have been the only thing that would have been preferred only for the enhanced BT. HUD is awesome but wouldn’t have been a deal breaker. As much as I like the car, mainly for the power, I still love my E46 330ci a little bit more. The E46 is just a more handsome car, not so angry. Closing a coupe E46 doors feels like you are closing a bank vault! The F30 doors feel quite flimsy in comparison. They are both excellent road cars, hours of driving don’t tire me out, unlike my work ’20 Equinox, which has some of the worst seats of any vehicle I’ve driven.
Like you my father always ordered his Porsches with red leather interior and a white exterior. I have a GT6 primarily because I take care of my 91yo mother, and the huge cargo area and powered hatch make moving her wheel chair in and out much easier. I love that your articles are full of useful facts and opinions but not a big audio visual show. No loud music to look past to get your message. I appreciate your approach to your articles.
I have the newer 3 series (2020 G21 Touring 330i RWD) agree on all you said. Such as; the interiour color;; I have a kind of dark orange tot brown (dunno the offical color name) it makes it ‘different’ then standard black.. I had the same car before (2019 model G21) without Harman Kardon, the audio was terrible and to upgrade it costed 2-3K so I did not do that at the end. Now with Harman Kardon original from factory it sounds great, it’s a must. I even can say that my ‘cheaper’ Mini with Harman Kardon sounds better, so for that the BMW MUST have HK for me! Keep up posting nice articles: great job!
This is exactly what happened to me. You CAN fit a lot of parts on but it’s expensive and a pain in the ass. I installed Harmon kardon sound system for example and the retrofit took me 10 hours as an experienced mechanic to get everything installed and right. I wish I bought a better engine and LCI Msport to start with
Going on 3 months having my 2011 E90 M3 S65 V8. This has been a dream car of mine since the early 90s. Bought the car around 80k miles in California. Only thing I wish it had, was Bluetooth capabilities to play music instead of using the AUX cord. Easy fix, I know. But for a 10 year old car priced around $70k+. It should of had it lol. And yes, I had to go with the DCT in case the wife needed to drive it. lol….
Aargh! If only I’d seen this two years ago!!! Seriously, I’m really happy that I have every package you mentioned EXCEPT the Harmon Kardon sound system. And for that, I’m bummed. My ears (like the rest of me) are old and it probably wouldn’t help if I had the HK system. But it would complete the car…. Bummer.
I got a fully loaded 2017 330i 28000 miles msport pack for 20k last year . Its funny when I was looking for a bmw i didn’t know anything about BMW . I got ultra lucky with the features I got . only thing I messed up on was getting a 4 cyl . Atleast it was the new b46 4cyl . Also I already tried trading it in for a 2020 m340i unfortunately my credit took a plunge with the 330i purchase lmao . so if you get a bmw go with the 6 cyl b58
In Scotland, however your information is useful and well presented – thank you. I have a 2012 123d MSport Plus coupe and it’s not simple to find a 2 series coupe with a similar specification. At any rate, I love driving my 1 series and am in no rush to move on, however we have LEZs (low emissions zone) appearing in our major cities now and the Euro 5 diesel engine in my car will not comply. So, that’s an incentive to think about the 2 series with its Euro 6 Diesel engine. I believe the 220d diesel engine is almost identical to the 123d, although the acceleration in mine is marginally quicker compared to the newer 2 series diesel, but the economy of the Euro 6 diesel is slightly improved.
I got lucky with my 328i features, M sport suspension and blacked out features. LCI. didnt know what i was getting. when i got my first M i also didnt really know when i was getting. 2015 M4, got lucky with executive package so had a heads up display. loved that. when i just bought my most recent m3 i made sure it was fully loaded. (=
Im a fan of cooled seats and when I learned that Mercedes offers it on all their cars (even the A class) but you cant have them on a BMW 3 seires I was mad. If I want hem I have to buy a 540i, but I know 5 series are less reliable than 3 series so I guess I’ll have to go for a 340i and forget about the cooled seats 🙁
Great set of articles.. I’ve been driving 3 and 5-series since 2004. Currently on a car very similar to yours, a white/red 340i. Luckily I have m-sport, track handling and cold weather, so very happy about those. Unfortunately, my 340i has the “base” LED’s. They look good from the outside but for actual illumination function they are a significant step down from 04 330Ci ZHP, 06 330i, 11 335i and 11 535i. My initial research indicates that upgrading may be difficult. Open to your thoughts… Perhaps you have those and are fine with them; or are lucky and have the adaptive LED (supposed to be better, not sure if it’s as good as the pre-16 HID).
I will say i have owned an f30 with the regular HIFI audio system and i currently have an f32 with the harman kardon sound system. Besides the sound being a bit louder and an EQ, the sound system is very poor. Doesn’t sound anywhere as good as the base level g20 audio system. The sound system overall in the f3x gen is just trash. So you guys might want to save some money and go with the stock one.
For me it would be idrive pro over business as you get a larger screen, also BMWs after 2017 can be upgraded to Apple car play, think you need to separate comfort access from keyless start, I have keyless start but non comfort access…this means I have to press the key to unlock the car but don’t need to plug it in the start the ignition
Just bought 2018 430 xdrive with the “Hi-Fi” speaker upgrade (tier 2, HK is tier 3) First thing I did days after buying the car was drive it to a premium audio installer because WOW it sounded so much worse than my Ford. There are some great companies that make speakers just for BMWs, but it’s very expensive for the best.
bought a 2012 320i last month. Did the same, saw it on AutoTrader, fell in love and went and bought it. I got semi lucky, I did check the spec list before I bought it, but just assumed it would have some features. Blutooth, it doesn’t have for music, infact music connectivity is kinda dodgy in mine, I have to get a specific cable, and Satnav. I assumed it would have satnav and it doesnt haha. Still love my car but I totally jumped the gun on it
I bought a used BMW 128i with 97,000 miles with an extended warranty. Within the first month a rod bearing failed and destroyed the engine, so it needed to be replaced. Two months later the valve body became severely worn causing a shutter at speeds of 45-65mph. Thus, my transmission had to be replaced. My local mechanics could have started charging me seasonal storage fees, as my car spent more time in the shop than it did in my garage. However, all is now at bay and my car drives like the dream it was meant to be from the start. While my case is quite extreme, my advice to anyone buying a used BMW is this: understand the previous owner(s) might have seriously abused the car you’re about the buy. Best of luck.
First thing you do is NEVER, EVER buy a BMW unless it is some sort of collector’s item. Some sort of special ///M car. Btw, not every M car is special. You don’t buy BMWs. You LEASE them. Simple. Between my wife, mother and myself, we have owned over 6 of them and leased another 6. LEASE! Horrible but fun investments. They are like buying stocks high and selling them on the low.
U didn’t mention how u forgot to turn on blinkers (turn signals) when u bought the car… And how u stopped caring for far high beaming people on the road. And how u start driving 150 km(95 miles per hour) on the highway where speed limit is 130km(80miles per hour)… If you didn’t get this, this was a rant about average BMW drivers 😃
ACC for longer commutes with traffic jam assist for those countries with bahns n stuff. Plus it comes with frontal collision warning. It may save your car and cars in front. Can be spotted by looking for a black box in the front bumper bottom part, it is the radar for the system. Also 360 cameras may come in handy for some.
Convertible shoppers beware! I bought my E93 convertible without too much knowledge on mechanical drop tops. Just some things I’ve learned in my journey. I know a lot of this is obvious but.. 1. BMW drop tops in particular should always be hand washed. The roof is solid metal yes, but the tiny clips on the roof are crazy expensive and prone to snapping off in automatic washes. 2. Before buying, when lowering the top, stop halfway and inspect all the joints and seals! I bought my car without thoroughly checking and a tiny crack by the c pillar was allowing water and humidity in! Don’t be me! Check those seals! 😅
I got really lucky with my F22. I just bought it because I thought it looked cool and had super low mileage. Found out after the fact that it came very well loaded. It doesnt have the M sport package, but it does have the sportline package with the sport seats and sport plus mode (with launch control hehehe). It also doesnt have the Harmon Kardon speakers, but honestly I think the standard speakers at least in my car sound pretty good. It also doesnt have the cold weather package, but it does have the heated seats as a separate added option. So even if your BMW doesnt have a particular complete package, it may still have some of the options, just as a side note. Overall very happy with my little 228i. Just wish it was manual now! Haha and the older iDrive operating system is a little frustrating. You dont get to use all the newer digital assistant features. But with ConnectedDrive I can still honk the horn from my phone, so theres that.
Im currently in the market to get another bmw my most import things are for me comfort access, parking distance control (same for me, helpful parking in garage), blind spot monitor and apple play … glad i watched the article bc i realize the car im insteaded doesn’t seem to have blind spot but sems to have the sensors weird .. good article ( thanks for not having me have buyer remorse lol)
It’ll be the HUD (Head-Up Display) for me…full color, navigation turns right in front of you, day or night very clear and visible, digital speedometer, phone call information, music (scrolling through music on your phone). Have had many friends get into a song that comes on but I’m not feeling it and change and they have no clue what happened or how I changed it and not believe me about the HUD until they sit in the driver sear. Pretty slick and increases the value of the car. Just don’t tell your insurance company if they don’t ask so your premium isn’t higher 😜.
You said “buyer’s remorse” no one would have “buyer’s remorse” if people do the home work before going out and just buying what a sales guy says.. I get a lot of people saying BMW, Benz and other European cars are overpriced and are junk, they obviously have no clue what goes into developing and manufacturing a performance vehicle, and that goes for any make actually
The executive package, comes with screens on the head rest for the back seat driver and blindspot monitoring and lane keep assist. Rear climate control, extra charging points in the center console and trunk. Adaptive suspension and steering control. Tons of options on a f10 5 series that I found out about later, after I bought my second one.
If you love terrible customer service, and love £60k EVs that have charging faults, if you love that you can’t speak to a technical person about the fault and love that you’ll need to wait more than a month to get it seen at a dealership ..if you love all this, you’ll love a BMW. If you dont love this.. Buy an Kia EVO 6
options nice,cool article i want to know about expences and repairs over 1 years time and all other shit 😀 like i own a 2004 opel and changed tires 1 time,full set summer tires once had them during winter time also because here it’s not rly snow or ice roads,and i don’t drive that much during winter so i saved there 😀 but like,is it worth buying bmw e60 520d or similar or golf 7
I have a 2004 e46 with M packet both inside and outside even though its a 2.0 diesel engine. Nevertheless I love it and driving it is Something else. I just cant sell it, we will die together. Saying that having to put the key into ignition to start the engine makes You feel neanderthalian makes You look like You know nothing about bmws
coming up on 3 yrs of ownership had since new. i’d say the led headlights, m sport, and hk (people sleep on this option so much you are getting 625w of power, the newer g20 only has 464w) are a must. also helps to have a fun interior color, i have coral red as well and the shade of red is just so nice, never received any bad comments about it.
I jus bought my 2017 430i xdrive m sport package and love it. I did not know about how you could open the trunk with putting ur foot underneath, that’s pretty cool. Only thing I don’t really like are the automatic seat belt extenders when u first get in the car kinda annoying but other than I really like all the features in the car and the layout, it’s quite simple.
I got red flags when I bought my first BMW, it’s a 328i F30 and it had 110K miles on it, I needed a new crankshaft right off the bat and my brake caliper was seized, I took to a BMW shop and they fixed pretty much my whole top end for a solid price. Was my first time getting a car on my own so I learned a lot. The car is holding up extremely well I’m at 115K miles so far and no issues, and I have the N20 so I’ve been keeping an eye on the oil and timing chain, I had it checked so it’s still good. (For now ahahaha)
You can learn more looking under a car than on top. Also look under the hood the alignment of the body parts, oil leaks from and to the belly pan. Look down the side of the panels, paint scratches. Door alignment Etc. Check the transmission for shifting problems, or have a professional mechanic check it out..!! OBD is not always the answer, there are tricks around these things.
I had a lot of red flags when buying my first BMW my e39 540I M sport. The car was in a accident I found from the car fax, it also had the mileage flipped, the car claimed 141k when it actually had 230k miles. It had a bad oil leak from the 2nd oil pan gasket, and the power steering pump was going out but luckily I fixed the leak, and the pump and the car has been great ever since… maybe I just got luck 😁
Great article. I’ve owened 2 differnt CPO BMW a 2012 750LI, and an X5. good ecperience with both, having the extended warenty and amazing finiancing……1.9 for up to 60 months. Both on a term of 36 months. with nothing down. The only complaint was with the 750. A couple of the servos on the seat went busto, I was told by my non-bmw service center but expert level and honesty we were loooking a 5K for a replacment seat. I than took it to the dealership and they were super kind free loaner why they evluated the vehicle. Then I recieved a 8K quote for a full seat change comming diretly from Detuchland. Well gues what, the seat stil operates 70% back and foward are the two major issues. So if you not 6’2ish you cant drive me car. I’m goood with that. I live in Tejas so gotta love the simple pleaseure of climate controled seats. Try to buy 1 owner, take it to Autohaus if your in houston. Or no matter where your at you will find a German auto specailist and pay between 100-200 for a through inspection. And, this will your repair shop depending if you buy a CPO or not. CPO is the way to go. Blow the engine before 100k or whatever terms number is.
People seem to think that more maintenance = unreliable. This is not true. BMWs need more maintenance because of the way they are engineered but if they are maintaned well and looked after with pride as they should be then they are excellent. The problem is when people buy them and dont look after them. You shouldnt buy a bmw and expect to just run it into the ground like say, a mazda or a toyota. Those japanese cars are extremely reliable with not alot of maintence because lets be honest, MOST of them are simply engineered and theres not alot that needs looking after. Bottom line is dont buy a BMW, audi, merc if youre not willing to maintain it the way it should be.
They are called warning tracks on the tires – you want to look for uneven wear What about compression test for engine rings and gaskets? Get the car on a rack and check underneath and look at frame, swing arms, drive shaft etc. Pull the engine cover off to look at everything! Bottom line take to a dealership and they can for a few hundred or less tell you everything about this car!
Check those solenoid’s! Your getting a 7 series or something with Air suspensions? Make sure you have comprehendible warranty or at least get all of the shock and air supension components checked by a verified mechanic. Very expensive and sometimes it will be deemed as a total loss or lemon car if not properly examined.
just put a 2jz GTE vvti in the BMW and forget all the BMW problems and expenses with Bimmer engines. Especially the ones after the 90s. They are nothing but trouble and a money pit . Dont listen to the ones that say they are ok because obviously they know nothing about Bimmers. E46 are the biggest problem car they made. Just one example is $1000 labour to replace a $3 gasket. I could go on and on vanos cooling sensors but I wont . Just saying. They are an excellent hadling car to drive.
yep!! learned alot… like this kid hasn’t a clue ok! now we have electric steering!?! before hand we had power steering WTF, no prior to electric power steering we had hydraulic power steering…. both have failure points ok, then brake disks, you check for brake wear via feeling for a “lip” not a divot & yes all brake have this…. even older carbon disks, as they wear (only not as evident as per steel) all used oil will turn black, no matter what grade oil it is, or what car/engine its within.. so having “BLACK OIL” in the block/sump makes no difference…. the period of oil changes can effect the engine via wear.. & no it makes no difference if its a bmw of any model or a ford!! & bmw aren’t the pinnacle of car brands now we move to external & internal carbon lacquer fade! this occurs with everything with lacquer, as its the thin layer of clear paint, we also have those bare carbon whereby the resin is the only coating on teh carbon… yes this ages with the exposure of UV light “sunlight” any good body shop should be able to rectify such with a light sand & applying a top clear coat.. scanning any engine doesn’t identify the whole condition of the engine, ppl should know the basics with any type of car as its all applicable… not just car specific body lines overspray service history visual condition driving condition/experience checking for any leaks, faults.. squeaks & rattles etc uneven tyre wear, odd maintenance ie (one disk is new the other not…. WHY!?!) even braking bias ie the car doesn’t pull either side under braking suspension.
I want to buy a BMW 3 series 328i xdrive, but the only problem is the maintenance costs, This car I’ve been searching has a minor damage in the front left. But I’m not sure if it has oil leaks, needs new oil, coolant, water pump, spark plugs, etc. I love BMW. I understand that it’s not worth to buy that BMW even if its a fast and sporty vehicle.
my dad actually bought a used BMW 320i, after 2 months of using it, it broke town. He took it to a nearby garage, and they charged him 5,000 pounds and had it for almost 1 month before telling him that the engine had seized because of a broken oil filter and some metal fragments in the engine oil. They gave him back the full 5,000 pounds and this time he bought a brand new BMW 320d
Always check them CarFax yall. Always. I’m searching for my first major purchase and am aiming for a BMW 4 series, 2019-2021 model year. I wont even entertain any vehicle that has an accident or damage reported. Also the ‘Curb Rash’, I found a BEAUTIFUL 2021 BMW 330 with the Msport Package, had the V6 and almost every sport option added. The only issue was that it had some TERRIBLE Curb Rash on the rims, not to mention the Brake Rotors had a ton of surface rust layer over them. Turned me off.