2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this?

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Tue 15 Jul 2014 13:55
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - AudiCat

I am in need of a 5 door car due to a new baby; I have an 2007 Audio A3 TDI 2.0 Sport in good general condition, 1 year MOT and just been serviced which I will trade in. It has done 70k miles

I am looking at a 2007 BMW 3 Series 318D 2.0 Estate which is up for £7000 from a main dealer. Seems it was serviced in April at the same milage it is now so one assumes it's been on the books for a while. This has done 83k miles

Given the somewhat close value of the 2 cars what should I be looking at paying? I have used the online guides and they value my car a fraction above (at dealership retail) but obviously I'll be taking a lot less to trade it in.

Any advice? I'm not so good with this and just want to make sure I get a fair deal.

Edited by AudiCat on 15/07/2014 at 13:56

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Tue 15 Jul 2014 14:22
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - thunderbird

Sell the Audi privately and buy the BMW cash. You could well break even or possibly have some cash left over.

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Tue 15 Jul 2014 14:42
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - RobJP

First step : go into the garage and ask them.

Second step : go to one of the car buying sites, and see what they'll give you for your Audi. You'd then become a cash buyer for the BMW, and able to negotiate discount.

As to selling a car privately, the problem is that you're up against every other private seller in the market, you're likely to get messed about by all the timewasters who don't turn up, timewasters who do turn up (and then complain that it's in the wrong colour, even though the colour was pretty obvious in the advert and pictures), scammers from Nigeria, etc, it's going to cost you money to advertise the car for sale, any serious buyer is going to want to knock you down on price (all the other private sellers, remember) ... and it ends up barely being worth your while to actually sell a car that way. I've done it, and it's more grief than it's worth most of the time.

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Tue 15 Jul 2014 14:43
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - AudiCat

Thanks, I am 100% against selling private for those reasons.

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Tue 15 Jul 2014 14:54
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - thunderbird

Sold plenty of cars priavtely, more than I have PX'd.

The last one was advertised on Auto Trader at about 7 pm on Wednesday. Good photo's, good clear description and a price that was competitive with other similar cars, not cheap, simply competitive.

Phone rang all Thursday morning, first chap turned up (as arranged) Thursday lunch, drove car, negotiated price, paid cash and drove it away.

How much trouble was that.

The biggest problem was having people ring up for the next 2 weeks about the car. It was removed form the web site but was still in the magazine.

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Tue 15 Jul 2014 21:29
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - 72 dudes

Sorry to disappoint you but Glass's guide gives a trade-in value for your car of between £3930 to £5480.

Dealer profit margins have grown on used cars in recent years, and because the car is probably too old for the BMW dealer to retail, it will go to an auction or Trader, so unless they have a big margin on the 318d Touring, expect to be shocked at what they first offer you..

I'm surprised they have had it since April, maybe this would be a good bargaining tool?

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Tue 15 Jul 2014 22:44
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - oldtoffee

Do you really want a 7 year old 2 litre diesel bmw with well publicised known turbo problems (on 2 litre diesel turbos) that are quite expensive to fix?

Edited by oldtoffee on 15/07/2014 at 22:45

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Tue 15 Jul 2014 22:55
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - gordonbennet

Do you really want a 7 year old 2 litre diesel bmw with well publicised known turbo problems (on 2 litre diesel turbos) that are quite expensive to fix?

Indeed, though that might have failed at about 45k, so hopefully not due again for a while, but possibly heading towards timing chain problems.

A shufty at the service history would make interesting reading, it might have had as few as 4 engine oil services in its life amd no transmission oil change, in which case i'd be walking away breathing a huge sigh of relief that it wasn't mine.

hmm, still be in the frame for swirl flap fun and jollity too if i'm not mistaken.

Edited by gordonbennet on 15/07/2014 at 23:01

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Wed 16 Jul 2014 11:00
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - AudiCat

I want a bigger car, that's my only requirement. I don't know much about cars which is why I have turned to this forum for any advice.

I know it's had a new clutch and flywheel so assume the chain was replaced at the same time (it was when I had a RAV 4 which had a flywheel change)

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Wed 16 Jul 2014 15:48
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - Pezzer

"hmm, still be in the frame for swirl flap fun and jollity too if i'm not mistaken."

Does the swirl flap issue still apply on this engine ? I thought it was the previous generation fitted to the earlier E46s rather that E90s ?

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Wed 16 Jul 2014 10:55
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - AudiCat

They offered a trade of my car + £1k so that seems quite a discount.

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Wed 16 Jul 2014 11:10
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - skidpan

The timing chain and flywheel are at opposite ends of the engine so there is no good reason to assume both have been replaced if one has.

BMW's are good cars despite what people on this forum say. Just look around you as you drive, there are thousands of 7 year old 3 series on the road doing their job as intended wioth no problems. But as with any 7 year old car history and condition are the most important things to look for. Any 7 year old car that has been neglected can become a money pit.

I am of the opinion there is nothing wrong with the extended service intervals used by manufacturers today. Oil has moved on a long way over the past 20 years and is in no way comparable to the the 20w50 stuff we used back in the 60's and 70's. The problem lies with garages and particularly independants who stock one bulk oil and use it in all the cars they service. Most manufacturers have their own oil specs these days and its around these specs that the intervals are set. Use some cheap one size fits all brand and problems are likely to occur, probably not immediately but certainly at some time in the future. The emmision systems will block, timing chains will fail all items that are expensive to sort compared to the £20 saving made on each service using the wrong oil.

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Wed 16 Jul 2014 18:44
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - Avant

Trade-in + £1k doesn't sound too bad, but do make sure that the BMW has a full service history. Walk away if it doesn't: thre are lots more out there.

Also bear in mind that if you just want a bigger car, you can get a newer car of a less 'prestige' make for the same price, e.g. Ford Focus / Mondeo, Skoda Octavia, Volvo V50.

Do you need a diesel? If you do less than about 15,000 miles a year better to go petrol - cheaper to buy and - although there's always a risk - a bit less likely to need expensive repairs at higher mileage. Japanese petrol cars - Mazda, Toyota, Honda estates are also worth a look.

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Wed 16 Jul 2014 22:54
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - jgrahampo

Is a 3 series really going to give you much more space than an A3. You do know it is rear wheel drive don.t you? You may find this troublesome in winter weather, not as safe or driver friendly than your Front WD Audi .

Not sure the BMW will offer you much more.

I would suggest looking at an Octavia or SEAT Exeo estate. V50 not a huge boot for prams and stuff.

Or sensible, reliable, safe but boring and Avensis Estate

Or perhaps you have issues with badges stuck to cars and have already decided BMW.

Edited by jgrahampo on 16/07/2014 at 22:57

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Thu 17 Jul 2014 12:58
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - AudiCat

I don't know much about cars but I know it's twice the size of my A3 hatchback and also has 5 doors which we need.

Issues with badges stuck to cars? Bit insulting isn't it?

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Thu 17 Jul 2014 13:46
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - alan1302

I don't know much about cars but I know it's twice the size of my A3 hatchback and also has 5 doors which we need.

Issues with badges stuck to cars? Bit insulting isn't it?

It's definietly not twice the size!

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Thu 17 Jul 2014 14:25
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - RobJP

I'll not try to persuade the OP either way regarding badges, quality or perceived quality, or the inverse holy pious attitude of the usual Toyota/Honda sycophants.

But I will say this. The 3 series estate isn't the biggest of cars - especially in the back. If you're getting child seats, buckling a baby into the back, then it can be quite cramped, with not a lot of room to work. In addition, if you want to carry adults in the back, then the transmission tunnel can be quite in the way.

Further to that, the boot on the 3 series, while it may look huge, isn't quite as big as it appears at first glance.

Regarding RWD and winter, a load of nonsense. Put winter tyres on, and you won't have any problems at all.

My qualifications for saying this : used to have one. In fact, here's my owner's review on the HJ website :

www.honestjohn.co.uk/owner-reviews/bmw/3-series-to...d

Wonder if those panning it have owned one or not ...

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Thu 17 Jul 2014 15:44
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - AudiCat

I've not had a BMW but I have had a Toyota RAV4 - worst reliability I have ever had. It can't be any worse than that.

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Thu 17 Jul 2014 16:10
2007 BMW 3 Series - What should I be paying for this? - AudiCat

(Duplicate post)

Edited by Avant on 17/07/2014 at 22:43

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