SE, from memory, gets leather, cruise and lots more toys.

To be fair, BMW's approved used warranty is rock solid, every bit as good as the new car one, possibly extendable?

What does concern me about BMW's, and many other makers now, is this fad for extended service intervals, proof to my mind that this doesn't work is the short life enjoyed by the turbos fitted to the Diesels and the fairly rapid wear to Vanos system and or timing chains as mileage mounts.

If buying one, i'd want as low mileage as possible, and if possible to find one that the previous owner (probably private) has been similarly minded and the car has seen annual oil changes with say 10k miles max between...chances of finding such a car remote i suppose, but if bought with low enough mileage nothing to stop you servcing for a long life from that point on.

Lots of people don't but i like X3 and X5, X3 with the 6 pot auto Diesel especially is a very good car IMO, X5 tyre costs alone would give me the willies.

Edited by gordonbennet on 19/02/2014 at 16:32

IMO = in my opinion.

Have heard of Big Motoring World, but not in glowing terms so i can't comment.

The problem with the cheaper sources of used cars is that most will be ex fleet, and not only probably high mileage but on normal mileage servicing, if you're happy with that try Car Giant or Motorpoint...some car supermarkets best avoided as their sales techiques are at best unpleasant.

Private sale not to your liking, fair enough, in that case i would only buy a lower mileage car from a very reputable dealer, but by the time you've bought a worthless aftermarket warranty or its included in the price, you'll be getting close to a well negotiated BMW approved figure.

I suggest you learn as much as possible before going to look at any cars, the forum i mentioned before is a gold mine of expertise and good info, you cannot ever spend too much time in research.

You're welcome Harry, sorry can't be more helpul.

The forum i refer to is this one. www.bmwland.co.uk/forums/

The private purchase can be a worry, just as the private sale can...pity there's no magic handshake or some other way where decent people can recognise each other, the only advice i can give about private sellers is to use your gut instinct, if you don't like the seller its probably a bad sign...in other words if it waddles and quacks its probably a duck.