Used BMW 730 ?

[ChaangNoi]

The new BMW 730's are well over 7M but one can find an 7 or 8 year old one for under 1M.

Seems like a decent price for a good car if it is well taken care of to me.

What do you guys think?

Are their any other "sweet spots" or good ages to buy nice cars? I have seen the Mercs hold their value way better than the BMW but it is all the same to me.

[NewInPatts]

The 7 series got usually the biggest drop in price, just like the X series. I saw a 2008 BMW X3 this morning for 799,000 baht.

Years ago I bought a 2009 M3 in black. Wrapped the car and when taking off the wrap the first layer of paint came off too and the original car colour was blue.

Put the wrap back on, sold it to the same dealer where I bought it from and it resurfaced on a 2nd hand car website as 2011 black BMW again.

Most dealers here won't even let you test drive their cars properly, so you do your research and buy from something like BMW certified cars with warranty to be sure.

Go cheap and you pay double - its always like that.

[ChaangNoi]

Good advice and you make good points however it is not always like that:)

I have bought 4 used cars in Thailand and only one new. I did have an issue with one of the used cars but it worked out good in the end.

Cars just lose their value too fast here. Even if I pay double on 1M it is better than 7.5M

[stevenl]

Good advice and you make good points however it is not always like that:)

I have bought 4 used cars in Thailand and only one new. I did have an issue with one of the used cars but it worked out good in the end.

Cars just lose their value too fast here. Even if I pay double on 1M it is better than 7.5M

Now that's a claim very rarely made here.

[lovelomsak]

Everyone in my family that drives BMW's tell me only buy new. After 8 to 10 years maintenance becomes a real problem. They say the car will be in the garage most of the time. Buy new and enjoy the BMW experience, but used get a good mechanic

[ChaangNoi]

Reliability very well might be a factor in the reduced price. I don't know too much about BMW, as I have never owned one. I was just assuming they were pretty much equal to Benz. I'm ignorant here I guess.

[Woodsie888]

Reliability very well might be a factor in the reduced price. I don't know too much about BMW, as I have never owned one. I was just assuming they were pretty much equal to Benz. I'm ignorant here I guess.

The transmission is the weak spot on E65/E66 BMW's and indeed any other model which uses the same ZF 6 speed which are most of the 6 cylinder cars.

The first indication of trouble looming is a slight thump as it drops into low gear when slowly coming to a stop.

Easy to fix though as it only costs money. (Quite a lot)

[arthurwait]

Cars lose their value fast here ? Step away from the chang and turn the computer off.

BMW's the world over lose value after 6-8 or so years because the repair bills are so high.

Over here with the parts needing to be imported the costs will be higher.

Many older Bmw's and mercs here have Toyota engines.

[robertthebruce]

Anything 'German'' in my books is the best..

Love the new Mercedes SLK.....

[eaustev]

I think the strategy is OK in terms of getting a big comfortable sedan for an OK price, but maybe getting an 8 year old car is taking a bit too much risk. When I looked some time back I thought the sweet spot was to get a 3 or 4 year old low KM 730Ld for around 3 million baht. This was still a big saving, and the car should be reliable and perhaps still have some BSI. Benz S-class of the same age are still quite expensive. Three million is still of course a decent chunk of change!!

[Alration]

Google E65/E66 buyers guide and you'll see why they're relatively inexpensive to buy.

You will get transmission problems, you will probably get electric/electronic issues which will cost you and they are so complicated you will need a BMW dealer to work on it.

But if you can find the exception to the rule you'll have a fantastic car until...

Edited October 15, 2015 by Alration

[IMHO]

I think the overarching point here is: the market has valued these cars correctly. If it wasn't going to be money pit, it would probably be worth 3x of what it is.

[chiang mai]

Good advice and you make good points however it is not always like that:)

I have bought 4 used cars in Thailand and only one new. I did have an issue with one of the used cars but it worked out good in the end.

Cars just lose their value too fast here. Even if I pay double on 1M it is better than 7.5M

Now that's a claim very rarely made here.

That's a claim I've never heard in eleven years here and runs contrary to the facts, until about one year ago.

[Paul944]

As long you expect garage bills of 100,000 baht a year for a car like this it is not an issue.

The problem is that people do expect a 8 year old car does not require maintenance.

I have 2 old cars myself, from 1988 and from 2003. Always pay a huge garage bill once a year but almost never have to visit the garage a second time in the same year. Sometimes I am lucky and the bill is lower as expected but then the next year the bill will be higher as expected.

If you have the money you can change your car for a new one every 3 or 4 years. For a BMW 730D this will cost you about 1 million baht a year or more.

Edited October 15, 2015 by Paul944

[ChaangNoi]

thanks for all the input.

I guess the loss of value being okay or too much is a personal issue. a car losing 85% of it's value in 7 or 8 years is too much for me.

Some things in Thailand do hold value really well. A larger Harley about 4 or 5 years old will hold that value very well for 4 or 5 years. Maybe a 20% cut or so. That is what I'm looking for.

[ignis]

thanks for all the input.

I guess the loss of value being okay or too much is a personal issue. a car losing 85% of it's value in 7 or 8 years is too much for me.

Some things in Thailand do hold value really well. A larger Harley about 4 or 5 years old will hold that value very well for 4 or 5 years. Maybe a 20% cut or so. That is what I'm looking for.

Just not looking at the right type...

Something like this at 20 and 21 years old and lost very little from new price back then

http://www.one2car.com/for-sale/suzuki-jimny--81-98-bangkok-metropolitan-pinklao-borommaratchachonnani-road/2169452/

http://www.one2car.com/for-sale/suzuki-caribian-sj413w-92-97-bangkok-metropolitan-kanchanaphisek/2127948/

[ChaangNoi]

@ignis yeah, nominally it is the same but not really with purchasing power. houses have gone way up in the last 20 years. gold has gone up 300%.

still only losing 2/3rd of valued in 21 years is pretty good. there clearly are exceptions and better buys. I'm just looking for the best bang for the buck and found the 730. There might be something else.

[ExpatOilWorker]

Everyone in my family that drives BMW's tell me only buy new. After 8 to 10 years maintenance becomes a real problem. They say the car will be in the garage most of the time. Buy new and enjoy the BMW experience, but used get a good mechanic

I have a 10 year old Bimmer and I disagree. Sure, I have had a few faults from time to time, but if you use Barcelona Motors service is really good and cost reasonable.

Compare to the 1-2 million baht you save by buying a 2-3 year old car, maintenance cost are peanuts.

NB: New cars also break down.

[Alration]

Everyone in my family that drives BMW's tell me only buy new. After 8 to 10 years maintenance becomes a real problem. They say the car will be in the garage most of the time. Buy new and enjoy the BMW experience, but used get a good mechanic

I have a 10 year old Bimmer and I disagree. Sure, I have had a few faults from time to time, but if you use Barcelona Motors service is really good and cost reasonable.

Compare to the 1-2 million baht you save by buying a 2-3 year old car, maintenance cost are peanuts.

NB: New cars also break down.

What model do you have, Expat?

[Cook my sock]

The only reason the X3 drops in price is when it's the older model, which to Thai hiso are worthless. The new shape X3 is a totally different car and holds its value very well. A 5 year old 7 series (f01) can be had for 1.7m if you look around. Many owners offload them before they are 5 years old (warranty) so take that into consideration when buying one... Big bills

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[ExpatOilWorker]

Everyone in my family that drives BMW's tell me only buy new. After 8 to 10 years maintenance becomes a real problem. They say the car will be in the garage most of the time. Buy new and enjoy the BMW experience, but used get a good mechanic

I have a 10 year old Bimmer and I disagree. Sure, I have had a few faults from time to time, but if you use Barcelona Motors service is really good and cost reasonable.

Compare to the 1-2 million baht you save by buying a 2-3 year old car, maintenance cost are peanuts.

NB: New cars also break down.

What model do you have, Expat?

523i E39 and it goes like the wind.

Also important to point out that the older BMW have a 2.4 l 6 cylinder engine, while the newer F10 (2011-) series have a 2.0 l 4 cylinder engine with turbo charger. Same HP though.

NB: The older M5 had a 10 cylinder engine. Lovely little car.

[Cook my sock]

Thailand is the last place I want to break down. At least BMW have a 5 yr warranty

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[IMHO]

Thailand is the last place I want to break down. At least BMW have a 5 yr warranty

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Warranties don't stop cars breaking down

But if warranty duration is a key criteria, Porsche offer 9 years warranty, and all Fords and Mitsubishi's can be upgraded to 5 year warranties for under 20K Baht.

[mike324]

Reliability very well might be a factor in the reduced price. I don't know too much about BMW, as I have never owned one. I was just assuming they were pretty much equal to Benz. I'm ignorant here I guess.

The transmission is the weak spot on E65/E66 BMW's and indeed any other model which uses the same ZF 6 speed which are most of the 6 cylinder cars.

The first indication of trouble looming is a slight thump as it drops into low gear when slowly coming to a stop.

Easy to fix though as it only costs money. (Quite a lot)

Right on, I have a 2004 7 series.

Transmission failure - Europa dealer wanted something along the lines of 200,000 baht to replace it. A friends friend owns German Auto, the owner was able to look at it for me and replaced something like a spring in the transmission that was causing the problem. Total costed ended up to be something around 30,000 baht. Normally BMW dealer requires you to replace the whole part, they don't allow dealers to fix it like German Auto did.

Other pricey fixes included cracked fuel tank, fuel pump failure (which was not the case, tech didn't assembled it properly during new fuel tank installation and claim it was fuel pump, trusted the tech got it replaced and car still kept on stalling, had to get BMW Thailand tech to come look at it for them to solve the problem. Dealer didn't reimburse the cost for fuel pump or towing fee, my car stalled twice on the road - this was not at German Auto but the other dealer). I would avoid Europa, their techs are not up to standard.

Air Suspension replaced once, lots of sensor glitches on old BMW will draws up warnings on the screen, but typically goes away after a restart.

I would not recommend buying older BMWs from 10 years ago.

Buy a used Porsche for reliability and cost of service, I find it cheaper than servicing a BMW. Diesel version of BMW are pretty reliable though, I have a 520D for the past 6-7 years now, never had a single problem. BMW tech says they are more reliable because engine runs cooler, they have fewer problems with diesel cars of the same line.

[ChaangNoi]

If the car has a low number of KMs will that help make up for it's age?

[giddyup]

If the car has a low number of KMs will that help make up for it's age?

Not necessarily. I bought a 15 year old Saab that had less than 100,000 klms that gave me nothing but trouble with perished seals etc.

[ChaangNoi]

I was thinking 7ish years old with 30K KM.

I bought a 5 year old SLK 350 with 25K KM and have never had an issue with it (yet).

[Alration]

Everyone in my family that drives BMW's tell me only buy new. After 8 to 10 years maintenance becomes a real problem. They say the car will be in the garage most of the time. Buy new and enjoy the BMW experience, but used get a good mechanic

I have a 10 year old Bimmer and I disagree. Sure, I have had a few faults from time to time, but if you use Barcelona Motors service is really good and cost reasonable.

Compare to the 1-2 million baht you save by buying a 2-3 year old car, maintenance cost are peanuts.

NB: New cars also break down.

What model do you have, Expat?

523i E39 and it goes like the wind.

Also important to point out that the older BMW have a 2.4 l 6 cylinder engine, while the newer F10 (2011-) series have a 2.0 l 4 cylinder engine with turbo charger. Same HP though.

NB: The older M5 had a 10 cylinder engine. Lovely little car.

That explains why you disagree! The E39 is not a model known for serious, expensive faults, the E65 that the OP is on about is a notorious money pit.

[Alration]

Thailand is the last place I want to break down. At least BMW have a 5 yr warranty

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Where would be your favourite place to break down and why would that be better than Thailand?

[Alration]

If the car has a low number of KMs will that help make up for it's age?

Only if you can ignore the fact that E65s have inherent problems.