bmw 3 series prices through the years

Originally Posted by socal323ci

funny... yahoo auto puts the depreciation of a 328i 2011 at 36% in 5 years...

so 36200 after 5 years and given its driven 12000/year 23168 @ 60000 miles

what are your thoughts on this...

A quick check on BMWUSA.com for a model search on CPO 328i shows several 2007s in the 23K to 28K range. I saw a 2007 335i recently for $26K. 2009's are already approching 30 - 32K, so a 2011 maintaining a value of 36K after 5 years seems farcical.

Wonder what they have been smoking over at Yahoo?

If you assume a car is good for 200K and 10 years a good value would be a car that is cheaper than the true depreciation of the actual asset regardless of price.

So If you assume the metric above and then assume the vehicle has a nominal salvage value of say, 2500 and the new cost is 45K then you depreciate the vehicle at 43K/10 or $4300 per year. This does not assuume the fickle consumer's estimation of value but the actual consumption of the car. Therefore a car that is three years old with no more than 60K off the odometer with an original cost of $45K would not be worth more than $32K. So if you can find a 3 year old CPO for less than 32K and fewer than 60K on the odometer is a fair price but not a bargain.

Now members of this forum will immediately see the flaw in this reasoning in that after about 125K miles maintenance goes up! Therefore for the straight consumption method to work, after 3 years you would also like to see a further reduction of 15% of the estimated non-routine maintenance repairs.

If you assume that these cars will experience $9000 (this assumes parts and labor at an indy shop. if you DIY you can spend more but why would you want to?) in non-routine maintenance repairs in it's later years (125K to 200K) then you would like to see a further 1350 off the price of the car. So now you are looking at roughly 30,650 after three years and fewer than 60K.

So the cars I see on the CPO site that are 26 - 29K are a relative bargain.

Of Course the esteemed dmax may have a different calculation as he has extracted over 300K from his '99 but that appears to be the exception so far. 200K seems to be where most of the highest mileage E46s land on this forum and it seems very few are original owners.

Originally Posted by bheidelburg

Of Course the esteemed dmax may have a different calculation as he has extracted over 300K from his '99 but that appears to be the exception so far. 200K seems to be where most of the highest mileage E46s land on this forum and it seems very few are original owners.

Not esteemed by everyone, but in any case, no, I'm at 208K only...think you're thinking of the more esteemed Zach with 300K+ miles. I'll get there, but give me a few more years of agony!

Interesting points you make about value, though. I've said before that I couldn't afford a new bmw, but I could afford to maintain one. Had a lot of work to do on mine, and I've not added up my bills...don't want to know...but I just have been building myself a new bmw...and it's far cost, just far more work than just buying one.

Anyway, had to correct the record...Zach is the awesome one...I'm just planning on being that someday!

Originally Posted by aniolPL

Not so many problems. The major was transmission(automatic thats why). The oil burned out I could prevent this, but I was young and stupid. Transmission failed at 165K. What I remember I changed air intake tube. The rest; normal maintance stuff, oil changes, tires etc. I didnt do anything since my tranny was changed. Last week I changed the valve cover gasket(was leaking) which I paid $38 with tax at the dealarship. Did that myself, and now I am preparing to do the oil filter housing gasket (probably next week) $5 at ecstuning.com. I will do this by myself also.
I have bought the transmission at Bavarian Auto Recykling ( http://www.bmrparts.com/ )
I paid $1000 for the transmisson ( looked like new) and $350 for the "Lifetime warranty and 2 years labor"
Transmission change did cost me $2000 with everything (oil, labor, shipping, warranty and transmission)
I think I'm gonna keep my car till the wheels fell off. Its in better condition than many E46s with (lets say) 80k miles. In punctuation from 0-10 I would give it 8 (my opinion). I wont never buy another car than BMW

I've changed everything you mentioned here myself too. Planning to hit 200k if I can. My next car will prolly be the X5, I'm getting too old for the coupe.

I have the original sticker on my 2000 323, started at 26k but optioned out to 35k

This is old, but I just got my build sheet from the dealer when I took it in for service on Saturday:

MSRP: $51,645.00

Options & Packages
OEM Code Description MSRP
TRANSMISSION
2055-SPEED AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION W/OD $1,275.00
adaptive transmission control
tap-up/tap-down Steptronic shift control

SEAT TRIM
N6NG- Natural Brown Montana Leather (STD)$0.00
(STD)

PAINT TYPE
475 - Black Sapphire Metallic $475.00
TOP COLOR
388Black Soft Convertible Top (STD)$0.00
(STD)

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
ZPPPREMIUM PKG $1,200.00
4-way lumbar support for front seats
auto-dimming rearview mirror
interior Myrtle wood trim
BMW Assist with Bluetooth

ZSPSPORT PKG $800.00
10-way pwr front sport seats w/thigh supports/2-way headrests
white indicator lenses
front 17" x 7.5"/rear 17" x 8.5" M double spoke alloy wheels w/front P225/45ZR17 /rear P245/40ZR17 performance tires
sport suspension calibration

ZCWCOLD WEATHER PKG $750.00
3-stage heated front seats
ski bag

522XENON ADAPTIVE HEADLIGHTS $800.00
low & high beam
auto-leveling feature

609INTEGRATED ON-BOARD GPS NAVIGATION SYSTEM $1,800.00
8-function on-board computer
route finding visual/audio turn-by-turn directions & destination information