HI all. I am new to the forum and have been reading posts to obtain tips on buying an E46 318i SE. Couldn't find any useful info so I am posting this. I have seen a 2002 318i SE in the UK. Its within my budget but the only down side is that its got 80k on the clock. It comes with a full BMW history and is RAC approved (for the benefit of forummers in the USA, RAC is similar to AAA in the USA). My question is should I steer clear of high mileage cars period? Only trouble is I am only interested in the E46 2002 model onwards (the front headlights face lift model from the original E46) and the only ones I can afford are high milers.
BMs are usually bulletproof.... usually. The smaller engines don't take the mileage as well as the larger 6s but are still pretty good.
As long as there is a FULL (preferably dealer) history with the car then 80k won't matter. If you think that the average annual UK mileage is about 12k and you'd probably want to ditch it after 3 year max, you are looking to put 40k on the clock.
120,000 is fine for a looked after bm.... but your resale value will be crap.
You might find that buying a more expensive one with less miles will get you your money back at the end of ownership.
example:
Buy: 2yr old - £14k - 318 - 80,000 miles
Sell: 5yr old - £6k - 318 - 120,000 miles
Buy: 2yr old - £18k - 318 - 40,000 miles
Sell: 5yr old - £14k - 318 - 80,000 miles
Obviously this is a rough example but essentially it will have cost you less after 3 years because of the residual value.
Original question - I'd buy a BM wityh 80k on the clock with history and all the gadgets I wanted.... otherwise I'd wait for a minter.
Some good points highlighted which I am sure I'll take into consideration when making my final decision.
:yup
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