LTK

4 minutes ago, qube said:

looks like a nice example, cheapest Msport on the market atm it seems.

Ive bought a car from them before. The battery died within a couple months and they organised a new one to be installed and coded when I called and told them about it.

The car I got was a very low mileage 325i wagon, like 4x,xxx kms but the suspension was really bad so ended up spending about 2000 to replace it all. Makes me wonder if they know what they are importing.. (I assume most dealers dont really care, its a pure numbers game anyway)

 

Regarding your one, since its at almost 100,000kms I suspect it will need some work but pretty much it will be the same story whichever one you buy thats for sale currently unless its privately owned with service history (unlikely, as most of the ones I see for sale are fresh imports).

You are taking a risk which ever one you buy so either have deep pockets with enough spare change to cover the bills or prepare to get it sorted after you buy it for peace of mind. I would budget $2-3000 for "everything". Otherwise you could get mechanical warranty and wait for things to die and claim it.

Either way, its suddenly going from a 20k car to a 23k car pretty much.

 

 

Thanks Qube. I appreciate you taking the time to have a look and giving me that feedback. The joys of buying a second hand car I guess - difficult to know if any problems will arise.

4 minutes ago, qube said:

got a link to the car you're looking at?

https://www.eurocars.co.nz/vehicle/2013-BMW-320D/3331?s=1

1 hour ago, MilesP said:

I have been doing a fair bit of research specifically around the timing chain issues. It seems to me that any of the cars fitted with the N47 can have it go at any time but its clear as mud as to when they improved the issues aside from the cars that are fitted with the B47. So if you buy a 320d make sure it has a service history and make sure it hasn't been serviced in line with the factory recommended intervals. 

So, I'm looking at 2013 320D M-Sport. Imported from Japan with N47 with about 95k on the clock. I haven't seen the service history yet and I'm not sure the dealer will have it. Do you think I'm risking expensive repairs with that car? I'm planning on getting a pre-purchase inspection done at Auckland City BMW. Are they likely to be able to give an indications whether the timing chain is likely to cause issues or is there no real way of knowing?

Thanks for all the replies to my question. It has been very helpful. I'm now leaning towards the auto and have driven 2013 models of both an Edition 30 and an M-Sport. Quite liked the M-Sport but not sure whether I'm committing myself to high ongoing service costs based on some of the comments above.

Thanks again for your advice.

Hi, I'm new on this site and just looking to buy my first BMW and would appreciate feedback. I'm looking at 2012 - 2013 320d.

One option is a 2012 6 speed manual imported when new from the UK. It is very tidy but only basic specs. The other option is a 2013 auto NZ new 30th Edition. This has 30k less on the clock, about $4k more expensive and higher specs.

I'm really keen to buy a manual (I like to drive rather than be driven) but wonder if flappy paddles and the higher specs would be a better buy.

Any thoughts?

Thanks