Its funny that that BMW guy came on here because Im actually trading in my BMW for the Gen Coupe lol As I always say
"BMWs are nice, until you have to fix 'em"
Ive already put 4 grand into getting my car fixed in the last 2 months and I will never buy a used bimmer again....ever lol
I feel ya!
I spent $3,000 in parts alone in the 1st year, that's with doing the work myself. Tried to sale the damn thing after owning it 6mos with no luck. Had it listed in BMW trader, in BMW trader on line, & Yahoo for payoff for over a year, but couldn't sell it. I even kept dropping the price as I paid it down & I got it at a decent price to begin with.
During the 2nd year didn't spend near as much in repairs & had already replaced most stuff that could break. But, still was working on it at least every couple of months. Stopped trying to sell it seeing that it wasn't going anywhere & now I knew how to work on it.
This last year it has given me a break & I haven't had to do many repairs, maybe just once every few months. :bow: Since it's been kind to me, I've decided to keep it. Thus, I dropped about $3 grand in mods, of which only an aFe air filter, MagnaFlow exaust, & Cosmo front/rear strut tower braces are performance oriented, the rest is cosmetic. I'm in the process of installing these parts & will share pics once I'm done & I figure out how to down load them.
So, this next year I'm going to repair the stuff I've been over looking & putting off. Driver's seat belt doesn't recoil well, driver's window run drags, drivers door body weatherstrip worn, A/C blower motor noisey, fix all rattles, install rear window regulator kits, struts worn out, thrush rod bushings worn out, lower control arm bushings worn out, replace under hood insulation, check for oil leaks & fix, replace lower oil pan & gasket, replace P/S hose clamps, replace O2 sensors & mass air flow meter as preventative maint, replace fuel filter, svc rear axle, flush all fluids again (coolant, brake, & P/S), as well as, A/T lifetime synthetic fluid (done by BMW svc)
Now, when I replace the struts, I will be going back with Koni yellow adjustables & adding Eibach sway bars to further improve handling. The factory Msport springs are about as good as you can get. Then I will hopefully be done with this project, except for maybe a 2nd set of rims for show (staggered hyper black w/machined lip 19"s).
This car has definately been a love/hate relationship. Love it when it's running & hate it when it's not. I'll admit that I've never owned a car that overall performs as well as this one, whether 2 or 4 door. I've owned straight line faster cars, but this car is the whole pkg. And I've owned alot of cars.
Would I recommend someone buying one? Only if you can afford it new, before they start to tear up, are under warranty, & get free maint. My car cost about $60 grand new, so I couldn't afford what I wanted new & didn't want a small 3 series that I couldn't be comfortable in. Would I do it again knowing what I know now?
HELL NO!. The money that I spent buying this car, interest, insurance, tags, repairs, mods, & gas over 5yrs, would have paid for my GenCoupe R-Spec in cash & the $20,000 in mods I plan on doing.
