2013-2015 F31 320d what to look for?

[Alfahorn]

Considering an F31 320d. My budget is around £11k. I'm looking at cars 2013-2015 it seems with this budget, and I'm looking at cars up to 100k.

The only thing I know is I want auto, I like the luxury spec. What I want to know is what the real world mpg is? I do 18,000-20,000 miles a year and what the common bits and bobs I need to look out for on this model be it extras or faults?

Edited by Alfahorn on Thursday 29th June 17:29

[sortedcossie]

My brother had an xdrive one (stolen late last year), that was a good spec (msport, adaptive lights, storage pack, larger nav and HD). It used to do 40 plus locally around town, mid 50's on a motorway run.

Interestingly they paid him out 11k, but earlier this year he couldn't find one with any spec on for that price. I don't recall any horrors on his TBH.

[d_a_n1979]

Alfahorn said:

Considering an F31 320d. My budget is around £11k.

The only thing I know is I want auto, I like the luxury spec. What I want to know is what the real world mpg is? I do 18,000-20,000 miles a year and what the common bits and bobs I need to look out for on this model be it extras or faults?

I'm looking at cars 2013-2015 it seems with this budget, and I'm looking at cars up to 100k.

We bought an F31 325D M Sport in Jan this year

Overall its a superb car; the youngest BMW I've ever owned and the most I've put into a car (just under £15k); it'd done 96.5k miles when I bought it and I took out BMW warranty, to cover me for the first 12 months and for that peace of mind... It's just ticked over 98k miles (we don't do high miles at all)

It's been up to The Highlands and back (fully loaded for a week away) and just down to Anglesey and back... It'll sit on the motorway and do 50+ to the gallon easy enough

My project is here; it'll show you what I've done to the car and also what warranty work I've had done, all down to wear & tear at the age and mileage of the car; so it'll give you some food for thought and may 'advise' you on saving a bit more £££ and upping your budget, if you can:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I love the car though; it's a superb drive; bags of room inside (I'm not small at 6ft 4 and just over 20stone currently); I fit in it with ease, front & rear

The engine needs to have been looked after & you need paperwork / receipts / invoices to show this; do not just rely on the iDrive! If there's no paperwork to back it up; walk away and keep looking

The N47 is well versed in chain & guide issues; but generally its the engines that haven't been looked after & maintained properly and the oil changes have been far & few between 'BMWs recommended intervals'...

You need, at a minimum, IMO; Pro Nav, xenons, heated seats and power tailgate. The Luxury spec cars are nice, but can be poverty spec too (I looked at a few); the standard RWD M Sport cars drive brilliantly; however I've dropped ours to OEM Style 405M 18" alloys with non RFTs and it drives and handles much, much better than it did on 19s and I'll stick with 18s as they're the best choice for my preference and they fit fine over the blue M Performance brakes

[Alfahorn]

sortedcossie said:

My brother had an xdrive one (stolen late last year), that was a good spec (msport, adaptive lights, storage pack, larger nav and HD). It used to do 40 plus locally around town, mid 50's on a motorway run.

Interestingly they paid him out 11k, but earlier this year he couldn't find one with any spec on for that price. I don't recall any horrors on his TBH.

There's a 2014 car local to me with 97,000 miles, X-drive, Full History for £11,400. However, I agree there aren't loads.

I need something that's going to be comfortable, well kitted out, I drive to Scotland, London & Italy (not all at the same time lol) hence why I want the practicality of the Touring. These seem to really tick the box and I've got a cracking BMW specialist locally for servicing, which I already use for our 2016 Mini Cooper S.

[Alfahorn]

d_a_n1979 said:

We bought an F31 325D M Sport in Jan this year

Overall its a superb car; the youngest BMW I've ever owned and the most I've put into a car (just under £15k); it'd done 96.5k miles when I bought it and I took out BMW warranty, to cover me for the first 12 months and for that peace of mind... It's just ticked over 98k miles (we don't do high miles at all)

It's been up to The Highlands and back (fully loaded for a week away) and just down to Anglesey and back... It'll sit on the motorway and do 50+ to the gallon easy enough

My project is here; it'll show you what I've done to the car and also what warranty work I've had done, all down to wear & tear at the age and mileage of the car; so it'll give you some food for thought and may 'advise' you on saving a bit more £££ and upping your budget, if you can:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I love the car though; it's a superb drive; bags of room inside (I'm not small at 6ft 4 and just over 20stone currently); I fit in it with ease, front & rear

The engine needs to have been looked after & you need paperwork / receipts / invoices to show this; do not just rely on the iDrive! If there's no paperwork to back it up; walk away and keep looking

The N47 is well versed in chain & guide issues; but generally its the engines that haven't been looked after & maintained properly and the oil changes have been far & few between 'BMWs recommended intervals'...

You need, at a minimum, IMO; Pro Nav, xenons, heated seats and power tailgate. The Luxury spec cars are nice, but can be poverty spec too (I looked at a few); the standard RWD M Sport cars drive brilliantly; however I've dropped ours to OEM Style 405M 18" alloys with non RFTs and it drives and handles much, much better than it did on 19s and I'll stick with 18s as they're the best choice for my preference and they fit fine over the blue M Performance brakes

Thanks, really useful post.

Agree about ride on 18s, I've driven a 320i on 18s and a 330e on 19s, the later wasn't very comfortable for me.

I also agree about not relying on idrive for service history. Again our Mini has the bills to support the history recorded on the car and I'd be looking for the same on the Touring.

I'm not sure about whether to go RWD or Xdrive, there are pluses and minuses for both.

PS: I'm 6"1 and well over 20 stone lol!

I'll have a read of your thread.

[Mirinjawbro]

not to be rude but why would a 320d be stolen? debadged?

[d_a_n1979]

Alfahorn said:

d_a_n1979 said:

We bought an F31 325D M Sport in Jan this year

Overall its a superb car; the youngest BMW I've ever owned and the most I've put into a car (just under £15k); it'd done 96.5k miles when I bought it and I took out BMW warranty, to cover me for the first 12 months and for that peace of mind... It's just ticked over 98k miles (we don't do high miles at all)

It's been up to The Highlands and back (fully loaded for a week away) and just down to Anglesey and back... It'll sit on the motorway and do 50+ to the gallon easy enough

My project is here; it'll show you what I've done to the car and also what warranty work I've had done, all down to wear & tear at the age and mileage of the car; so it'll give you some food for thought and may 'advise' you on saving a bit more £££ and upping your budget, if you can:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I love the car though; it's a superb drive; bags of room inside (I'm not small at 6ft 4 and just over 20stone currently); I fit in it with ease, front & rear

The engine needs to have been looked after & you need paperwork / receipts / invoices to show this; do not just rely on the iDrive! If there's no paperwork to back it up; walk away and keep looking

The N47 is well versed in chain & guide issues; but generally its the engines that haven't been looked after & maintained properly and the oil changes have been far & few between 'BMWs recommended intervals'...

You need, at a minimum, IMO; Pro Nav, xenons, heated seats and power tailgate. The Luxury spec cars are nice, but can be poverty spec too (I looked at a few); the standard RWD M Sport cars drive brilliantly; however I've dropped ours to OEM Style 405M 18" alloys with non RFTs and it drives and handles much, much better than it did on 19s and I'll stick with 18s as they're the best choice for my preference and they fit fine over the blue M Performance brakes

Thanks, really useful post.

Agree about ride on 18s, I've driven a 320i on 18s and a 330e on 19s, the later wasn't very comfortable for me.

I also agree about not relying on idrive for service history. Again our Mini has the bills to support the history recorded on the car and I'd be looking for the same on the Touring.

I'm not sure about whether to go RWD or Xdrive, there are pluses and minuses for both.

PS: I'm 6"1 and well over 20 stone lol!

I'll have a read of your thread.

I went RWD as didn't like the 'wallowyness' of xDrive; but then again if you're doing a lot of road trips it could work very well...

The ACS springs are well regarded on the F3x Bimmerpost forums FYI; some good info in there too

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/forumdisplay.php...

Re my build; I'm a powerlifter (now retired from comps); so my width is my main issue; but the F31s been superb. Much roomier than the previous E9x cars, which I don't fit in. The room inside (bar the load space) is very reminiscent of my previous E39 530i Sport touring, which is superb for me!

Non RFTs will transform the ride anyways; but dropping to 18s gives you that more sidewall and takes the rough roads better; our local roads/country roads are shocking at best, so that was another factor for me, dropping to 18s

I've got another set of 18s (Style 397s) in the garage ready to be refurbed and shod with non RFT winter tyres later in the year

[sortedcossie]

Theft is rife by us, someone tried breaking into our our house for the keys to my 335d this April (keys in faraday wallet and robust steering lock on). They didn't get in, just made a mess of the front door and legged it when my mrs turned a light on. They were well versed, mini on false plates, 3 guys hoodies and balaclavas, one stays in car, one stays on drive, other tries to break in. Got em on cctv and police were with us in 5 mins. We found out the next week 5 other cars taken that night locally, all key theft break ins. I've now as a last resort added decent security posts as an extra visual deterrent.

Then last night, mate of mine just round the corner - exact same thing, he's got a 330d xdrive saloon on his drive - again keys in faraday wallet and robust steering lock on.

[sortedcossie]

To answer the original question, due to 2nd hand parts prices they don't care which F model it is.