E92 Coupe Fragen/Questions (English)

    Hi guys, I saw this forum and registered here to ask some questions, I am not from Germany and I don't speak German, sorry.


    But I thought maybe I could ask you guys a couple of questions :)


    I am looking to buy a used BMW E92 coupe. I am interested in the 6 cylinder engines, like the 325, 330 and 335 (Diesel/Benzin doesn't matter :))


    However, I am not really good with cars, nor do I know someone who owns a BMW. So I wanted to ask you guys at the E90 Forum some questions and some tips :)
    I am looking to purchase this E92 somewhere in the Dortmund/Hamburg area, so if you can recommend me any trusted dealer that would be great :). I will be exporting the vehicle so having the VAT returned will be great.
    My budget is 15,000 to 17,000 EUR (19,000 max with VAT return)


    What is the best engine that I can get for the E92, which engines are the most reliable?
    Are the automatics reliable? I drive a manual but I am always in traffic jams and it's annoying.
    What are the common problems on the E92s?


    Where is the best place to search used vehicles in Germany, so far I only know of mobile.de


    Regards and thanks :)

    Good Morning,


    your questions are pretty wide, but I´ll try to help you out a bit.


    if you can recommend me any trusted dealer that would be great :)


    As there are thousands of dealers, I can`t recommend you specific ones. But there are really big ones like for example


    - http://www.autohus.de (they have several hundred cars, located somewhere between Hamburg and Bremen.


    What is the best engine that I can get for the E92, which engines are the most reliable?


    That is a dangerous question in a E90 Forum ;D because we have an epic warfare going on between 4Cyl and 6Cyl Drivers. As I am a 4Cyl Driver I can strongly recommend the 320i, the fuel consumption is really really good for this kind of car. But of course a 6Cyl is a wonderful piece of machinery and it goes like hell. The 4Cyl sometimes do have an issue with the camshaft chain, but not as many, as you might think from looking at forums. You mentioned that you are stuck in traffic jams on a regular basis. That sounds like you are using your car in city traffic and maybe for short hauls? If that´s the case, be advised that you have to properly warm your engine up, by driving long enough. Additionaly, fuel consumption might be a more important thing than pure performance, when it comes to driving in cities.


    Of course the automatics are reliable, as far as I know.


    autoscout24.de is another source for used cars, it is very similar to mobile.de
    Also, theres ebay but I am definitely NOT a fan of buying cars on ebay, just wanted to mention it.


    Good luck! And let us know, when you got your Bimmer!


    best regards,
    Boltar

    Your reasoning is quite understandable to save money, but there are several problems and glitches involved.


    Used cars are usually not eligible for full VAT return, even if they are sold by a dealer.


    1) The dealer has a lot of paperwork and needs to know how to fill in the forms. Therefore, many smaller dealers will not be able to provide the neccessary form called "Ausfuhrbescheinigung"
    2) If there is a problem with VAT as f.i. the buyer is not paying importing VAT in his home country, the dealer is fully responsible and has to pay the VAT himself. Result is the same as above, most dealers will not provide the neccessary called "Ausfuhrbescheinigung" to prevent problems later on with fiscal authorities.
    3) Most cars in your pricing region are older than 2 to 3 years, therefore the original seller is in most cases a private person. Due to this, no VAT is paid by the buyer and you cannot get a VAT return.


    If you want a VAT return, buy from a bigger, but maybe more expensive dealer to get the neccessary form. Moreover, look for former leasing cars, as they are usually the only used cars with full VAT. However, in your pricing region, this may be difficult.


    All the best and good luck for your search!

    Thanks guys for the comments :)


    I live in a busy city, but I drive 3-4 km until I get to the traffic jam where I am stuck for half an hour. This is only in the mornings, after that the city is clear and free to drive :).


    I was thinking of maybe looking for a diesel, but here diesel fuel is really bad, contains a lot of sulfur, almost everyone I know had problems with injectors and Bosch pump. Plus Diesel cars are more expensive.


    I am a little bit afraid of the 4 cyl engines, I currently own a 316i (2004) N42 4Cyl and I have terrible problems with the valvetronic, chain and burning oil and plus I want a more powerful engine :D. Fuel costs aren't too expensive where I live (Benzin: 0.91 Eur/L | Diesel 0.701Eur/L) and the taxes and insurance plus registration only difference is +20 EUR for a bigger engine so the maintaining cost isn't a big difference. But then again, the bigger the engine the bigger the cost to buy the vehicle :)


    I will look into the links you provided and see if I can find a good deal :)


    Thanks for the comments, It might take me time to buy the car (maybe 2-3 months plus I have to sell the 316i the one I still have) but I will post pictures once I get the car :)


    Regards

    Welcome to the forum !! :welcoem:


    I agree on most of what Boltar and Hydrou have mentioned. A couple of additional comments:


    For daily driving in the city I'd stay away from Diesel. If fuel quality is an issue, it probably is
    with gasoline as well though. The older 325i/330i with their N52 engines (not N53 w/ direct
    injection) should be less sensitive to fuel quality variations (sulfur content in particular). The
    ZF 6-speed auto is proven to be reliable. Do bear in mind that the N52 325i has been a 2.5 liter,
    suffering from low torque. You'll want the 3.0 liter 330i if you find a good one (later N53 325i
    came with a 3.0 liter as well).
    Regarding VAT, as already mentioned above, look for the term "Mehrwertsteuer ausweisbar".
    That does mean it was previously owned by a company and you'd have the chance to get the
    VAT (MwSt.) back. Unfortunately at the price you're looking for there's VERY few cars on the
    market which meet this requirement.
    Mobile.de and autoscout24.de are the best places to look for your car. Another one is BMW.de
    where there's a link to all the used BMWs ("Gebrauchtwagen") offered by the entire BMW dealer-
    ship.

    Grüße




    "Ich mag keine Probleme, ich stehe auf Lösungen."


    ein Chemiker


    sent from NSA monitored device

    Thanks for the reply Bruce :)



    I did looked on ads and more than half of them have VAT return options calculating the Net price. So I am guessing they provide VAT return. Quick question: How much is the VAT in Germany for cars? Here where I live it's 17%.


    The Petrol fuel isn't that bad here it's imported so it has "some" standard, of course it's lower quality than in EU but I don't know anyone who suffers here from bad Petrol, but the diesel is very bad as it's made and mixed here and it's very terrible, people get different performance from different gas stations it's really unsafe.


    Ok so I should look for the 325i 3.0l(N53) and the 330i 3.0l(N53) as well. I don't think I can find a 335i for that price range so I'll remove it from the list.


    Good thing about BMW.de is that you can select to display those that give VAT return. Here is so far what I found


    http://gebrauchtwagen.bmw.de/CarSearch/Details/1195666/3


    and
    http://gebrauchtwagen.bmw.de/CarSearch/Details/1215422/5



    Both with a Net price under 20,000 :)

    19 % MwSt in Germany on most goods (except food and books).


    Both cars seem to be solid offers. :thumbup:

    Grüße




    "Ich mag keine Probleme, ich stehe auf Lösungen."


    ein Chemiker


    sent from NSA monitored device

    Quick question. What mileage on this vehicle is too much. I am seeing diesels 330d and 335d for a nice price but 160,000 to 190,000 km (First owner - Full Service). I was looking to max 120,000km. I drive around 13,000 km a year and won't keep the car for more than 2-3 years.

    Hello, a Mileage of 190.000 is a lot, but should be okay for the diesels. 120.000 is just fine.

    Zitat von CO9099

    http://gebrauchtwagen.bmw.de/CarSearch/Details/1195666/3


    Zitat von CO9099

    and
    http://gebrauchtwagen.bmw.de/CarSearch/Details/1215422/5


    First of all welcome to the forum. :qwl:
    Without going to begin a discussion about the equipment: Both have no sport seats (I don't want to miss), the black one [my favorite color: Schwarz II (no metallic, simply black)] has at least a navigation system. I just wanted to point out.


    Regards
    Stephan