I’m being asked for advice on a potential purchase by a family member, and I know next to nothing about Bimmers so I’m asking for Arfvice:

2008 328i manual
122k miles
No idea as to service history but it would be inspected by an independent vehicle appraisal service prior to moving forward. Looks pristine, FWIW.

Any particular gotchas to be aware of? I see warnings on here about BMWs and Audis, I guess I’m curious how real that is, or just bias.

Check anything and everything made of plastic or rubber that isn't a tire.
Cooling System
Seat Trim
Radio Antennas
Window Seals
etc...

I bought a 2008 BMW 328i hardtop convertible new.  It was a great car, but I soon got tired of how low it was to the ground and it was a pain getting in and out of it.  After 10 years of owning it and with only roughly 24,000 miles on it, I gave it to my son and bought a much larger SUV.  My son sold it about a year later and bought a Tundra.

I never really felt safe in the 328i because it was so low to the ground as compared to the many SUVs on the road.  While I never experienced any major mechanical issues, routine maintenance costs were higher compared to other vehicles that I own.

If I had to do it over again, I would never have bought the 328i or any BMW model.  For the money, regular routine maintenance costs, and repair costs, there are much better other vehicles to choose from.

With the high mileage on the vehicle, your family member is looking at, I would imagine the future repair costs could be/will be extreme....

I owned a few bimmers over the years. That car...no way. They were made for expensive services, but at a price where the poors bought them, and thus didn't do the service. And on the higher end models 5, 7 were made to break in 5 years and I consider them disposable...strait to the crusher.

The only ones worth buying are any M model, M3, M5...because they will keep some value so the maintenance won't be in a total bottomless pit, will have some equity.

oh and at 100-125k miles is when shit gets real. You will have 5k in bills the first week of buying it.

Looks like we're squarely in "run away" territory. I think I'll advise her to stick with Japanese cars for higher mileage.

Thanks all.

Owning a used BMW is something people have to do themselves to figure it out.  

Yes, you save money over buying new.  But you'll more than make up for that with Maintenance costs.  

Parts costs are not really much more than what I pay in Acura and Nissan parts. Maybe a 7 series or M car comes with inflated cost but my 335i is on par with a TL or a G35 or G37.

If you can't afford a new car from a German luxury brand, you can't afford a used one.

12 year old BMW with 120k+ miles?  LOL, no.

This. OE parts on BMW's aren't too outlandish as compared to other import OE stuff, but the labor/knowledge/time to do the maintenance is what will eat you up.


If they're asking for opinions on if it's a good idea, that means "NO".

An E90 328 in a manual no less, (Rare bird) really wouldn't be terrible all things considering.

A few things that will need to be done if they haven't already:
Valve cover gasket.
Water pump (Electronic)
Oil pan leaking like a civ
Oil filter adapter leaking like civ
The rest of the cooling system, specifically the Rad hoses and expansion tank.
Front thrust arm bushings.

Cheap if you DIY (Except for the water pump..that bitch is pricy)

Shop price, getting toward 4g's ball bark for all that work (Subframe has to come down to do the oil pan)

If this scares you, then just get a 2002 Camry and enjoy being bored to death.

Run.  I had a 2006 325 and a 2009 328.  Started having issues around 60k and got rid of them.


Now on the other hand, newer ones are nicer.
My '18 430i hardtop convertible did very well with regular maintenance by me.
Regular oil changes, I did rear brakes at 48k, front brakes at 60k, spark plugs at 62k. coolant hose at 65k.  i was running a mild tune for about 20k before I sold the car at 73k.  No issues.  I'm in a '19 X2 M35i now with about 9200 miles and no issues so far.

I do my own maintenance when possible.

The water pump was the one part I found more expensive than Japanese brands and they do go bad. And BMW do leak a lot more than Japanese brands.They leak from everywhere.