If you are willing to try something different, you may want to consider a late model 3 series (E36). They can be bought for under 30k for a good condition unit or much lower for a fixer upper. Maintenance is not as expensive as most ppl think and the driving experience is much better than any sub 50k new car you can find now. The key is to find one that is well maintained by an enthusiast owner.

And also, its pretty much at the bottom of the depreciation value already. Even if you lose half of 30k and sell it at 15k say 5 years down the road, you'll probably lose less in value than any other sub 50k new car that you can buy now.

I've done is as a first car many years back. Used an old BMW (1990 model) and sold it after using it for about 5 years. I lost only 5k. Even if I factor in maintenance over the 5 years, I lost less than 15k (and that included replacement of wear and tear parts, regular maintenance). My next 'old' BMW (1997 model) also after selling, I lost only 10k in value after 5 years of use. In comparison, the 'new' recond car I bought, already lost 90k in depreciation over 5 years....


Only issue is to find financing for such an old car, but something to ponder on perhaps?

I know what you mean. Not many will wanna venture into older cars, especially conti cars. But, just saying, on a total cost basis, it may be even cheaper than a new car. Initial cost is also lower.. not asking you to buy a RM90k car. like i said, you can pick one up for less than RM30k, and if you pick right, it will be relatively hassle free.

BTW, for RM90k, you can get a 7 series already and RM30k in change for fuel and maintenance... This is the power of depreciation.... hahahah!


But most ppl will just take the easier route and buy a new econbox...

Financing wise, if you take a 9 year loan, it would be very difficult to be in the money until the 6th or 7th year, depending on how bad the depreciation is.

I totally agree its a cashflow thing.

As for "luck", a lot of issues can be eliminated if you send the car to a specialist for a complete diagnostics before buying. These late model BMWs do not have the complicated electronics of their newer siblings. A lot of it is mechanical. The engine and gearbox are usually very hardy and any 'lemon' cars with bad engines/gearbox would have long ago died already. Buy one from an enthusiast with a full service record in a reputable BMW specialist. Chances are, you won't have much trouble for a while.

Yes i totally agree on all your points. I'm just using it as an illustration on how depreciation can really affect value. Also, the E65 7 series is a bit*h to maintain....

I've always bought my BMWs 2nd hand. Never had any issues with all of them. Only regular maintenance and replacement of wear and tear parts. The key is to do your research, get the full service record, send for complete diagnostics before buying and if possible, buy from an enthusiast owner who maintains his/her car properly. Parts you can buy yourself and save $$.

Why buy 2nd hand? Because for the same price, I get a better car and lose less money when I sell it later on. When I sold my first car, I lost only RM5k on selling price after 5 years of usage. If I include maintenance for the entire duration of my usage, I lost less than RM15k. My next car only lost RM10k on selling price. Including maintenance, probably around RM20k. Also about 5 years of useage. If I bought a new car for the same amount of initial money, I'd lose a whole lot more. Easily twice the amount.

So yes, I SAVED MONEY and drove a better car.

hahah! But you really gotta go in with your eyes WIDE open and do your homework extensively. Have to also understand the nature of the car market for that particular model.

One way of making an assessment is to first decide 1. if you buy new, what car can you afford? 2. how long do you plan to use the car before changing? Then you can roughly work out what 2nd hand cars budget you should look at.

E.g. Say you can afford a Civic and want to use it for 5 years. A new civic is about RM125k. A 5 year old civic is on average around 90k (estimate la from Mudah). Your depreciation is approx RM35k over the 5 years. So, without taking maintenance and financing into consideration for now, techincally you can buy a 35k 2nd hand car, use it for 5 years and throw it in a lake after than and will be no worst of financially. But we all know that the car will most likely have some residual value after that. So, conservatively, say the 2nd hand car has a residual value of RM15k after 5 years. That means, your 2nd hand car budget is now RM35k + RM15k = RM45k before you can be financially worst off than buying a new car. Go to mudah and see what cars you can get for RM45k. You'll be surprised.

You may say financing 2nd hand car more expensive. Agreed. But you are financing over a lower amount too.. i.e. 125k vs 45k.

What about maintenance? Won't it be higher for old cars? Agreed. It will be. But thats where you need to do your homework and research. It can be minimised. And OEM parts are way much cheaper than parts from authorised dealers. Also, check the warranty on new cars. Not all include free service, only warranty. So you still have to pay for your regular service... at authorised workshop.... and we all know the prices there are... ahem .

Take it a step further, you can actually buy cars that depreciates less than 35k in 5 years, and won't be worst off. So, if you think a car will half its value in 5 years, you 2nd hand car budget is now RM70k... getting interesting ya?

Anyway, just food for thought. Its not 100% foolproof and I'd suggest you have a healthy cashflow before you embark on this journey to be on the safe side. But the reward is sweet!



Spot on!

Which model are you looking at? RM12k per annum from my experience is abit high. My experience using a E38 7 series was as follows:-

- Regular oil and filter change = about RM450 - 500 using fully synth castrol edge (BMW oil mah). I change every 10 - 15k.
- Change wear and tear front suspension arms - About RM3,000. I changed towards the end of my ownership. The previous owner also change before I bought it. So it should last around 4 to 5 years. Rear arms still in good condition when I sold the car. Also changed by prev owner before.
- Rear brake disc - About RM350 per pc.
- Battery is i think about RM300+
- Tires are about RM2k per set of 4 for 18'.
- Change headliner - RM800
- Also changed some misc. hoses and seals, roughly about RM1000+ all together.

All parts used were German OEM (i avoided the Taiwan OEMs) or ori BMW, and I used a reputable BMW specialist workshop.

I think that's about all I had to spend on maintenance over the roughly 5 years. Don't count the facelift, rims and bodykit upgrades la.

FC was a little on the high side at 6.4kms per ltr.

The low maintenance cost I believe was partly due to the car having a full service record from previous owners and most of the major wear and tear parts have been changed by either the autorised dealer or a reputable BMW workshop by the previous owners.

You are right to a certain extent. Since the car will always have a residual value, the depreciation rate is not a constant. Also, as we all know, different cars have different depreciation patterns.

So, I find it easier to look at absolute amount rather than using rates. But that's just me

I used to use a E38 728i as my daily drive, but sold it a few months back as my current job gives me a company car to use. Nothing fancy

I don't have lots of experience on the E46, but I read that some E46 tend to have some electrical gremlins, so it pays to do a diagnostic before buying. You can also consider E39 5 series. I was considering that too before buying the E38. One of the best 5 series ever made and won car of the year many times. Prices have also dropped recently so you should be able to get them at pretty good prices. Maintenance cost wise, I don't think its any much more than the E46. Budget permitting, try to get the 2001 525i M-sport spec. That is the most sought after model in that series and that should help retain some resale value when you have to sell it later.

E90 parts tend to be higher as it is a newer car, but prices have also dropped. You'll have to ask yourself for the price difference between E90 and E46, it is worth the experience.

Good tip is to go to BMWCM website and read the model specific forums. You should get a pretty good idea about what generally goes wrong and their maintenance cost.