Can I buy a cheap and reliable BMW?

[Herbmiester 922]

My Niece will be getting her licence in July and she has her heart set on a BMW. She will have a bout 3.5k to spend which I think wont be enough to get something reliable. I was thinking about a an E46 sedan. I see some 1 series are cheap but they are all 116i's which dont have a stellar reputation. Is this possible or do I steer here towards a Japanese car or maybe a Golf? What to do think? 

[E28E30 335]

Corolla, if reliability and cost are top considerations.   Golfs can be “ish” but $1k/door central locking failures on Mark 5s, aircon compressors on 4s and earlier 5s, 1.6 manual Mark 5 transmissions fail.  

And maybe finding something that runs on 91?  Nothing European in this price bracket will be “set and forget”, maybe find out what the post-purchase repairs budget will be and if you/someone else can do maintenance and tweaks?

Might be being the voice of doom lol

 

 

 

 

Edited March 12, 2022 by E28E30

[Sammo 2542]

$3,500 I would be looking at a mid 2000's Mazda Axela / 3.

Good reliable practical cars, if a little boring.

[aja540i 1906]

"Can I buy a cheap and reliable BMW"

NO.

that is all.

[gjm 3258]

E46 M43 318i.

[BreakMyWindow 1874]

There’s nothing more expensive than a cheap bimmer

[KwS 2421]

$1000 E36 318Ti is where its at.

But realistically, a cheap Honda Fit/Jazz. Reliable, cheap, hard wearing, cheap to run and spacious.

[qube 3570]

4 hours ago, KwS said:

$1000 E36 318Ti is where its at.

But realistically, a cheap Honda Fit/Jazz. Reliable, cheap, hard wearing, cheap to run and spacious.

I agree with the E36 Ti but hard to find a "good" one for $1000, you will end up spending another 1-2k to properly fix it up.

still well worth it for a sub 3.5k car 

the older fit/jazz have/had transmission issues and also very poor accident safety.

wouldnt recommend for a first time driver to be honest. but definitely cheap and otherwise reliable

[KwS 2421]

4 minutes ago, qube said:

the older fit/jazz have/had transmission issues and also very poor accident safety.

wouldnt recommend for a first time driver to be honest. but definitely cheap and otherwise reliable

The first gens suffer from CVT shudder, but its not terminal, just annoying. Can be masked with various additives. Manual ones are available too.

Accident safety is no worse than any other car of the era. My sister was T boned at an intersection in hers, went through a fence, and walked away without a scratch. Probably safer than an E36, with better visibility.

[qube 3570]

Interesting! I thought the shuddering gearbox would have been a sign of impending doom. Its good that its not a terminal issue! 

i guess any small car is not exactly very safe anyway.

[Eagle 1661]

+1 Japanese - Mazda Axela, Tidia, Jazz etc are far better choices. Balling on a budget never ends well for the average person.

[balancerider 752]

@Eagle Nissan Tiida (Versa in the US) is a strong contender for least safe car on sale. They are absolutely the shittiest car I have ever had the misfortune of driving. Even an E110 / E120 Corolla would be far preferable. Jazz / Fit is a good shout.

[jon dee 500]

CHEAP... RELIABLE... BMW    You can have any two

Cheers...

 

Edited March 13, 2022 by jon dee
Fkn capslock...

[Eagle 1661]

49 minutes ago, balancerider said:

@Eagle Nissan Tiida (Versa in the US) is a strong contender for least safe car on sale. They are absolutely the shittiest car I have ever had the misfortune of driving. Even an E110 / E120 Corolla would be far preferable. Jazz / Fit is a good shout.

There are a few generations so not sure which one that applies to. Yeah i dont like them either but i wouldn't buy any Japanese fwd myself. Problem is 3.5k doesn't buy you much and most the older 90's stuff is pretty old and worn out at that price.

[dirtydoogle 383]

1 hour ago, balancerider said:

@Eagle Nissan Tiida (Versa in the US) is a strong contender for least safe car on sale. They are absolutely the shittiest car I have ever had the misfortune of driving. Even an E110 / E120 Corolla would be far preferable. Jazz / Fit is a good shout.

The spare tyre cover also falls through when you put a toolbox in the boot to do remote servicing on a rally. Quite poor. 

[E28E30 335]

1 hour ago, dirtydoogle said:

The spare tyre cover also falls through when you put a toolbox in the boot to do remote servicing on a rally. Quite poor. 

My fiend has a towing business that does police recoveries etc: apparently one of the most stolen cars too for joy rides.

[Jun 233]

Yes you can.

Buy a cheap BMW, any condition will do

AND

Buy another newer BMW as the reliable car

I think most of ownership experience here is expensive AND reliable enough.

[gjm 3258]

Really not sure where all the negativity around cheap BMWs is coming from. Maybe it's an impact of Covid?  

I bought the 320d with fairly high mileage, and ran it for a few years, piling (by most standards) huge kms on. Without issue. Look after it, and all is typically good. (It has been sold, and a non-starting issue is puzzling the new owner.) 560000km.

We bought a genuinely cheap E46 318i. It runs, and runs... And runs... Look after it, and.. well, you get the idea. Bodywork is pretty rough, but it's solid. Well over 250000km.

The Merc 500SE cost me $2500 nearly 7 years ago. Paintwork was poor when we got it and is not really better now, but it's cost very little in the meantime, despite having extended periods of daily use (which probably did it a lot of good, actually). Only real expense has been replacing the shock absorbers. Heading to 500000km

Japanese cars? My experience is entirely contrary to what appears normal. Nothing but trouble. Buy cheap, run for 12 moths, throw it away, rinse, and repeat. I see people doing this A LOT but still saying how great their cheap Japanese hatch is (and how expensive European cars are to maintain), but something goes wrong and they buy another one every 12 months or so.

YMMV. And obviously does.

[KwS 2421]

The same can be said for anything really. Just google E46 318i issues, or search on here and you'll find more posts than you can handle for people having issues with them.

You'd also never buy any old merc worth owning for $2500, especially a V8. They're going up in value as people realise how much better than the newer ones they are.

Our 2007 Honda Fit has 213,000km on the clock, 113,000 of which is in our ownership, cost us $10k almost 10 years ago, and has never let us down. Its never needed more than fuel, oil changes, a set of plugs, a set of brakes and a couple of sets of tires. 

In contrast my 318ti did cost me $1050, with 156k on the clock. It has some oil leaks, and the DME got wet once when it rained (resulting in failure to start), but otherwise has a recent WOF and current reg. Goes hard for what i paid.

Edited March 16, 2022 by KwS

[Kees 594]

For a BMW what about a 1.9 Z3? Although thats something that would need to be garage parked. 

My money is with something Japanese. I think an Accord Euro would be nice and is also quite safe. Higher k 4 cylinder (because fuel economy) ones can be had for 3.5K. Some are nicely spec'd with leather seats, sunroof, alloys etc. Probably the most "Euro" Japanese car you will find in that price range. 

Otherwise I second the standard; Axela, Fit, Corolla/Balde, Vitz, Demio, Swift etc. Very boring especially if automatic but they won't let you down. I actually saw a 2012 Swift with 60,000km on Facebook Marketplace today, pretty cheap at $3.8K, seller is apparently going overseas. Could be a good buy as its modern and low ks? Although it is borderline too cheap.  

[Blackie 510]

E36 or E46 compact is where I'd be looking given the paltry 3.5k budget. A member here in Palmerston has a manual for sale for 2.7k that might be worth a look. I doubt you'll find much cheaper that's not a basket case.

[dirtydoogle 383]

Most e36 and e46 will be due for a second,  or 3rd cooling system now. I would put zero confidence in the plastics at that age. 

They're also a bit harsher on brakes and suspension than a generic Japanese car. And window regulators, and...everything else. 

Unless you don't mind DIY, avoid it  

[Blackie 510]

The one I was thinking of.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/3514118263

Edit: or perhaps something like this

https://www.trademe.co.nz/3480289134

Edited March 17, 2022 by Blackie

[GorGasm 563]

There was a blue 2004 E46 318i sedan on facebook the other day.  It looks really nice in person but needs a battery or something.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/653750595852917/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Ae6f7c907-36cb-41b8-80f7-536b4fe0b654

[qube 3570]

16 minutes ago, GorGasm said:

There was a blue 2004 E46 318i sedan on facebook the other day.  It looks really nice in person but needs a battery or something.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/653750595852917/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3Ae6f7c907-36cb-41b8-80f7-536b4fe0b654

looks very nice but the N42 2L isnt exactly known for its reliability.. older M43 1.9L is much better no?