Im buying a BMW 323 CI the 99-07 model and its a V reg is 120,000 miles to high?

Question

the car has a full service history ect and seems to run great?

Answer 1

This is actually okay mileage for this model year. But be aware that if this car has automatic transmission, it may be potentially be one of the "problem cars". This is true in the US anyway.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/bmw_trans.html

Other bugs to look out for if you are looking for an MT car:

1. Weather strip felt lining can separate from the rubber in hot temperatures (parked under the sun). I replaced mine TWICE.

2. Ball joints should be gone by now if the previous owner did not replace them. And replacing the ball joints on this car means replacing the whole control arm. You can go cheap by replacing just one, but recommended to do both - since the other joint is probably on its way out. Bavauto.com sells the arm and mount for about $400 (pair). I recommend to use the Meyle parts instead of the stock parts. Not much more expensive.

3. Rear shock mounts are known to fail on many 3 series cars, they cause it to click whenever you go on uneven roads. No bad effects otherwse, just annoying. Go for a Meyle part if you want to switch them out.

4. Look out for the door spring/stop at the hinges. Abuse can cause these to crack and pull out, repairs on this area are expensive due to the welding/spraying needed.

5. Cooling system thermostat & waterpump have been reported to be unreliable. Bavauto.com has replacements for them as well as very good articles in their newsletters about these parts.

6. Final stage resistor for the climate control system has been redisigned by BMW since production of these cars - also due to reliability problems. It's only a $75 part but replacing it can be a pain - need to crawl under the passenger footwell area... symptoms are the climate control fan speed goes "wild"... up and down without apparent reason.

7. That little (useless) cell phone antenna on the roof can break easily especially if you live in the cold climates and you try to brush off snow from the roof with a snowbrush. Get a more durable screw-on replacement from eBay.

8. There were complaints on the built-in subwoofer (if so equipped) in the trunk causing excessive vibrations on the rear speaker board. Some have tried stuffing the speaker board cavity with tissue paper, but simply unplugging/removing the unit wouldn't cause too much degradation in sound quality in my opinion - since the low-powered subwoofer really didn't do much to begin with.

9. If the car has been driven hard/run on track events, there have been reports on rear subframe separation/cracking under the trunk area. Welding would be required.

Other than these bugs, you shouldn't need to dump much more money into the car other than simply doing oil changes and regular maintenance.

Answer 2

Recent my brother bought a used BMW. He had it serviced and the dealer recommended oil change with synthetic every 15K mile. BAD!!!

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That is the worst recommendation I've ever heard. Look all over the web about engine sludge build up and long drain period is one of the worst things (even with synthetic oil). But no matter what, have the valve covers removed and check for sludge build up. Cars with sludge build up is going to have some engine damage already (and guaranteed to die on you soon).

On most cars it is a 10 minute work. On my Audi it is impossible without major surgery. Depending on the car, you might just be able to peep into the oil fill hole and see if you can spot any sludge. But often the area around the hole is clean (from having the clean oil poured right there). If you could actually see sludge there, forgetaboutit.

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Answer 3

Depends how rough it was driven in those 120,000 miles.

Answer 4

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