BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 08:03
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - John Mellet
Hi there this is my first post so apologies if this has been answered already!

I am looking to buy a bmw 1 series and I have a budget of £8000. I would ideally like to pick one up in the £7000 range leaving me with £1000 just in case anything goes wrong. I have made terrible choices in the past due to a lack of knowledge on cars bearing in mind they were both in the £2000 range. So I would just like to know what I should be looking for when buying a high mileage one series. I see a lot up at the 58000 mile mark and I was wondering if there was a reason for this? What repairs should I be expecting after the 40000 mile mark or looking for in the service records that should be fixed at that mileage.
I would also like to ask which model variant 8 should go for. I don’t do a lot of motorway driving and mainly do short 15 min or 30 min trips with a lot of stop and starting so would a petrol or diesel be better?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated and I apologise in advance for any grammatical errors ??
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Sun 9 Feb 2020 10:03
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - badbusdriver

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated and I apologise in advance for any grammatical errors ??

No need to apologise over grammar!

Well, i think the best help we can give you would be to prevent you from making another terrible mistake. So don't buy a BMW 1 Series, they are not great cars, and they are not particularly reliable!.

For your driving, a petrol would be your best bet. Given you want a BMW, i'm assuming you are looking for something a bit sporty?. Assuming you are also looking for a manual gearbox, i'd suggest a Seat Leon 1.4TSI.

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20200208711...1

Edited by badbusdriver on 09/02/2020 at 10:03

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 10:07
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - gordonbennet

As BBD, don't do it to yourself, look elsewhere.

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 13:36
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - daveyjp

Agree about BMW 1 series, but tonthe suggest a 1.4 TSi? Thats like walking into a minefield blindfolded.

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 21:36
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - John Mellet
Thank you very much I will take that on board when making my decision!
And thank you very much to everyone else for their info as well!
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Sun 9 Feb 2020 10:06
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - craig-pd130

Petrol is best for the type of driving you described.

At that sort of money for that sort of car, make sure the car is clean with no dents / scuffs / scrapes on the bodywork and no tears / burns / holes in the interior.

Then look for a folder of receipts that proves the car has been serviced regularly. BMWs have a 'long-life' service schedule in which the car can go up to 2 years or 18,000 miles between services. It is critical that this servicing is done. No receipts or service history? Walk away and look for another car. Don't listen to any bulls*** about "we've lost the paperwork / it's coming from the previous owner." There is ALWAYS another car.

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 13:25
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - SLO76
“ What to look for when buying a used car”


Something else.



BMW’s are not very reliable things and you’d be buying at the age and mileage when things typically start to go wrong. I’d go for a nice Mazda 3 2.0 Skyactiv instead. It’s just as nice to drive and it’ll give longterm reliability. But you’ll need to spend at least £8k.

Edited by SLO76 on 12/02/2020 at 12:52

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Sun 9 Feb 2020 14:06
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - Avant

"Agree about BMW 1 series, but to then suggest a 1.4 TSi? That's like walking into a minefield blindfolded."

It is if you go for one with DSG, but VW Group manuals are OK. Average reliabilty, but the TSI engines (1.0, 1.4 and 2.0) are both lively and economical. SEATs and Skodas are cheaper to buy than the mechanically identical VWs and Audis.

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Wed 12 Feb 2020 04:03
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - Warning

I rented a BMW 1 Series and it was good to drive. It would certainly be on my shortlist. It had a very poised ride. I did n't feel tired at the end of a long journey.

The BMW 1 Series, was better then the VW Golf, which I also rented. I don't understand the fuss about the VW Golf.

The Honda Civic (2012 model) was good on a test drive and it had a better music system. Along with the BMW 1 Series it would be on my shortlist for a car I might like to own.

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Wed 12 Feb 2020 12:41
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - Avant

Most would agree that the 1-series is good to drive. But the point here is that John needs to buy a used car, and others are cheaper to buy and to run, as well as likely to be more reliable.

It depends what people's priorities are.

Edited by Avant on 12/02/2020 at 12:43

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Wed 12 Feb 2020 12:53
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - SLO76

Most would agree that the 1-series is good to drive. But the point here is that John needs to buy a used car, and others are cheaper to buy and to run, as well as likely to be more reliable.

It depends what people's priorities are.

Yup, and at the £7k 60,000 miles range he’s looking at the BMW isn’t a good option. In a used purchase and on a tight budget reliability is the priority.

Edited by SLO76 on 12/02/2020 at 15:51

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Sat 15 Feb 2020 06:27
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - edlithgow

Most would agree that the 1-series is good to drive.

IIRC old ("real") Top Gear were VERY scathing about it, 4WIW.

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Sat 15 Feb 2020 01:12
BMW 1 Series - What to look for when buying a used car - edlithgow

I'd look for a dipstick.

When I couldn't find one, I wouldnt bother looking for anything else.

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