|
I bookmarked this on Fatwallet: http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/1016133/ A lot of information there, but there's also a lot of information which is supressed (probably because the guy is not a dealer but has Manheim access, and doesn't want to share how he got it). Read that and you should be golden. Basically the inspection reports are good and very thorough, but you can still run into issues with the car, albeit a slim chance. If you are picky on cars, it will take forever to find a good deal, but if you don't mind color and aren't picky on condition, you may find some gems. Just beware that not everything is a good deal just because it's at an auction; learn to read inspection reports and know what the going rate is for things by looking at past sales. Just FYI (but you probably already know this) the used market is tough right now because less new cars are getting sold and the used inventory is getting low. Dealers are snapping up cars at higher than usual prices now.
|
#
?
May 4, 2011 23:25
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 12:10 |
|
|
Bank posted:Awesome stuff. Beautiful, thank you.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2011 23:30
|
|
|
wolrah posted:As for the low-speed jerkiness, that's all in the clutch control. Unless the clutch actuator on the SMG-II is somehow badly designed there's no reason a DCT should be any smoother, but if the SMG-II has a bad control program which BMW has never bothered to update it could certainly be a point of difference. The programming is terrible, and hasn't been updated well. People who are in the know put the transmission back into learning mode every couple thousand miles, and this keeps it bearable.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 01:26
|
|
|
The great thing about Ireland at the minute is that because of the recession and the fact that the economy is in the shitter, a lot of people are down sizing their cars for more economical motors. Due to the fact that we went from a massive boom straight in to a brick wall the used BMW market is absolutely huge. There are probably more new diesel cars being bought new than there are petrol cars at the minute. It's extremely common to see on used car ads that people are willing to do a part exchange for the same car with a smaller engine and a lot of the bigger engined bmw adverts state the reason for sale being emigration or a downsize due to recession, which is great for me because I'm looking for a bigger engined e46 like the 323ci or the 325ci. Every cloud has it's silver lining. The only downside is that insurance, tax and fuel is so expensive over here for bigger engined cars.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 02:18
|
|
|
Aindriu posted:which is great for me because I'm looking for a bigger engined e46 like the 323ci D'awww, that's cute.  I kid, I kid, I've experienced European (Irish, even) gas prices first hand. Though from what I've read, don't all the 6 cylinder E46s get fairly close fuel economy if you aren't caning the hell out of them? Even the US EPA says that the 323, 325, 328, and 330 all get about 18/27 mpg (13L/100km / 8.7L/100km) city/highway, give or take 1 mpg depending on the specific model. I know that's far from gospel, but most message boards seem to indicate that a 6-cyl E46 will get low-mid 20s combined which seems to agree. Guinness fucked around with this message at 17:43 on May 5, 2011 |
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 17:40
|
|
|
Guinness posted:D'awww, that's cute. I have a spreadsheet I keep on google docs that shows my milage is 23.3 MPG on a 2.5L E46. Mostly city driving.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 17:51
|
|
|
My mom put-puts around suburbia in her 03 325i wagon while I speed around in my 05 330ci ZHP and we get identical mileage at ~20mpg. This is mostly surface streets/city driving for us both. On the highway I can get a solid 30mpg if theres no oncoming wind or the like.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 17:55
|
|
|
After completing my VANOS seals this weekend, my MPG went from 24.9 to 27.1. This is on my ZHP. This is city+highway (about 25 miles city, 80 miles highway)
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 18:01
|
|
|
My non-vanos 325i got 17mpg, did a full tuneup, new 02 sensors, new coils and plugs, etc. Now it gets 18mpg.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 18:11
|
|
|
revmoo posted:My non-vanos 325i got 17mpg, did a full tuneup, new 02 sensors, new coils and plugs, etc. Now it gets 18mpg.  Did you replace the air filter & fuel filter as well?I get in the low 20's for city mpg, and nearly 40mpg cruising on the highway, 2004 320i.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 18:54
|
|
|
tesko.pk posted:I get in the low 20's for city mpg, and nearly 40mpg cruising on the highway, 2004 320i. US or Imperial gallons? (I only ask since the US never got the E46 320i, so I'm assuming you're in Europe.)
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 19:09
|
|
|
tesko.pk posted:
Non-vanos M50s are ODB1 and pretty thirsty. Nothing like your 320i. However the M50 with Vanos in my 525i does pretty well. I get about 30-35mpg on the highway and 18-20mpg in the city.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 19:11
|
|
|
tesko.pk posted:
Yeah. The EPA rating is actually 16mpg 
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 19:47
|
|
|
Roughly 60:40 in favor of highway over city and with a heavy foot I average 25 (US) MPG in my '02 325i. On a highway-only trip I can usually almost reach 30. The worst I've seen is 22 over a full tank. I've been tracking it on Google Docs for over three years and the only time I've seen this vary significantly was when one of my camshaft position sensors failed, which hurt my average by about 1.5 MPG for a few months until I got around to fixing it.
wolrah fucked around with this message at 20:49 on May 5, 2011 |
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 20:46
|
|
|
Taco Box posted:I have a spreadsheet I keep on google docs that shows my milage is 23.3 MPG on a 2.5L E46. Mostly city driving. I just reset the MPG meter on the dash every fill up, and hit about the same MPG as you every tank with my 2001 330i. I do a lot of Interstate driving, but I also do a lot of angry-man driving too.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 21:10
|
|
|
I have been lucky my E39 540i has been averaging 23 if I keep my foot out of it. But its just to drat enjoyable to hear that engine.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 21:44
|
|
|
I feel good when the readout averages over 20 mpg or so in mixed driving, though I have gotten an indicated 28 mpg on longer trips--if I stay below 80 mph. I do know that the display is optimistic by around 2 mpg. The S54 is a thirsty beast.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2011 23:23
|
|
|
I'm so far impressed with the gas mileage that I've gotten with my new 335 with the N54, around 16-18mpg in city driving only, with 30-32mpg on the highway, a lot better than my last car that had a smaller engine with only 1 turbo.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 00:11
|
|
|
wallaka posted:I feel good when the readout averages over 20 mpg or so in mixed driving, though I have gotten an indicated 28 mpg on longer trips--if I stay below 80 mph. I do know that the display is optimistic by around 2 mpg. My god mine reads 16.5mpg if I'm lucky. at 55K maybe it's spark plug and fuel filter time. Who knows if the PO replaced any of that stuff. I should just reset it. I know figuring out the clock was a magic trick. (Who would think manually knobs do all the digital stuff, even the radio?) VibrioCholera fucked around with this message at 02:03 on May 6, 2011 |
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 01:58
|
|
|
BrokenKnucklez posted:I have been lucky my E39 540i has been averaging 23 if I keep my foot out of it. drat, my M5 gets 22ish on the highway, 17-18 around town. I thought the 540s did way better than that.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 02:40
|
|
|
There's something wrong with my 02 325xi touring. It gets under 15 MPG on all the short trips in town, but will hit 30 MPG on the highway. I think it might need a new MAF sensor, but those are expensive. Cleaning it doesn't seem to help.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 03:24
|
|
|
VibrioCholera posted:My god mine reads 16.5mpg if I'm lucky. at 55K maybe it's spark plug and fuel filter time. Who knows if the PO replaced any of that stuff. To be fair, my trip is mostly highway. I hit like 8 traffic lights on my 25 mile commute. I've never seen it read below 20, though. Mine was a CPO car, so all the maintenance was kept up-to-date.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 05:26
|
|
|
wallaka posted:To be fair, my trip is mostly highway. I hit like 8 traffic lights on my 25 mile commute. I've never seen it read below 20, though. Mine was a CPO car, so all the maintenance was kept up-to-date. Well, that would explain it. I hit like 8 traffic lights in 5 miles. I guess given an average speed of 23 MPH and suburbia driving 17MPG isn't too far off?
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 05:40
|
|
|
wallaka posted:I've never seen it read below 20, though. I hope that you don't actually believe your car's computer, and actually check it with 'math' when you fill up, at least a few times to check the accuracy. My M3's computer is hilariously optimistic, telling me that I'm getting 35+ on the highway. Once I reset the computer before heading out for an event, and even with a fair amount of track time, it was still claiming over 28mph for the tank. When I filled up I had gotten about 13. Even without heading to the track, it's hopelessly inaccurate and the best mileage I've ever managed was about 25mpg on a road trip, where the computer was saying 37-38.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 05:45
|
|
|
At least on e34's, you can calibrate that mpg readout using a test mode on the OBC.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 05:51
|
|
|
Lowclock posted:At least on e34's, you can calibrate that mpg readout using a test mode on the OBC. http://www.unofficialbmw.com/repair_faqs/obc.html
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 06:06
|
|
|
My E39 540i 6spd is averaging 19.5mpg.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 06:20
|
|
|
uncrfe posted:There's a similar mode on the e36's (see test 20): Very interesting. Thanks for that. If I ever start driving the car for non-track purposes I'll get a good read on the economy and fix the computer.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 06:22
|
|
|
I get 23mpg with 93 octane in my E46 330i. That's good enough for me, considering part of my daily routine is a 10-minute drive that never lets the engine get properly warm. The typically Teutonic super-tall overdrive gear really helps these cars on the highway.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 18:11
|
|
|
an oddly awful oud posted:I get 23mpg with 93 octane in my E46 330i. That's good enough for me, considering part of my daily routine is a 10-minute drive that never lets the engine get properly warm. The typically Teutonic super-tall overdrive gear really helps these cars on the highway. At least you have an overdrive, unlike the 5 speed cars.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 18:44
|
|
|
Do the 5-speeds really not have an overdrive 5th gear? So is the 6-speed's gear ratios pretty similar to the 5-speed's + a super tall final 6th? Edit: Man, this is what I love about BMWs. You can find information about every little detail of the car so freakin' easily. Ratios are the same between sedan and coupe, and both have the same 2.93 final drive. 330i E46 Sedan manual 4.21 2.49 1.66 1.24 1.00 -- 330i 6spd E46 Sedan manual 4.35 2.5 1.66 1.23 1.00 0.85 Guinness fucked around with this message at 19:15 on May 6, 2011 |
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 19:09
|
|
|
Guinness posted:Do the 5-speeds really not have an overdrive 5th gear? So is the 6-speed's gear ratios pretty similar to the 5-speed's + a super tall final 6th? http://www.bokchoys.com/differential/GearRatios.htm for more generations of 3s and the 1s. But yeah, looks like all manual 5ths are 1.0, regardless of whether there's a 6th.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 19:25
|
|
|
The Locator posted:I hope that you don't actually believe your car's computer, and actually check it with 'math' when you fill up, at least a few times to check the accuracy. Yeah, I've tested it several times because I knew they are notoriously inaccurate. It's about 2 mpg off every time I've done it. I have no trouble believing that I get 18-19 mpg in mixed driving, especially when the math checks out. I guess yours is really screwed up, never heard of one off that far.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2011 20:32
|
|
|
wallaka posted:I guess yours is really screwed up, never heard of one off that far. Mine is old (95' M3), and is used purely as a track/autocross car. Maybe after a few too many times of seeing nice mileage on the way to the track, followed by the horrible mileage on track, followed by nice mileage on the way home, it just said 'gently caress it', and gave up trying to figure it out.
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2011 03:57
|
|
|
wolrah posted:At least you have an overdrive, unlike the 5 speed cars. Well, the 5-speed auto does have a .74 overdrive...
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2011 06:51
|
|
|
an oddly awful oud posted:Well, the 5-speed auto does have a .74 overdrive... Ultimate
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2011 18:07
|
|
|
Just picked up a 2012 135i coupe on Thursday. It's got the premium package, M-sport, nav, and DCT. I thought about special ordering because I wanted a color other than black and didn't really need all the packages, but a $20/month difference on the lease didn't seem worth a two-month wait. I had an '03 Audi before (and just moved up from a Civic Si) and this car is by far the nicest/most powerful I've driven. I also took a girl up the PCH with it, and it passed that test, too. I haven't taken pictures yet. Anything in particular you guys want to see?
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2011 00:42
|
|
|
Monkey Wrangler posted:I haven't taken pictures yet. Anything in particular you guys want to see? The girl.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2011 02:17
|
|
|
Monkey Wrangler posted:Just picked up a 2012 135i coupe on Thursday. It's got the premium package, M-sport, nav, and DCT. I thought about special ordering because I wanted a color other than black and didn't really need all the packages, but a $20/month difference on the lease didn't seem worth a two-month wait. I had an '03 Audi before (and just moved up from a Civic Si) and this car is by far the nicest/most powerful I've driven. I also took a girl up the PCH with it, and it passed that test, too. Congrats on the drive up the PCH. I did the trip down from Carmel to LA and it was a long long long trip in a Volvo. Did you get Sapphire black (metallic black) or the regular black? I have the regular black, and even though it can look fantasticly clean, keeping it clean is the biggest bitch in the world.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2011 02:53
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 12:10 |
|
|
I've got regular black. And yeah, it looks amazing, but it's picking up pollen already. I foresee a lot of car washes in its future. I'm still getting used to life without a clutch, but it's a great ride. I also nearly rear-ended someone on the freeway when they stopped short and I was futzing with the navigation system. At least I can attest to its maneuverability at highway speeds.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2011 03:03
|
|