Motorheads,

I'm currently looking at pre-owned/used F30 LCI (facelift) 318i Luxury Line with less than 2 years of age, so hoping any owners / ex-owners could share your insight if you have owned or have any immediate family owning this car on what's the running costs, fuel efficiency around town, maintenance costs, experience dealing with BMW Malaysia like and other common issues.

The reason I've shortlisted this car is I love the driving dynamics of the F30 despite 318i being the entry level 3 pot engine, it's within my purchasing budget (I was also looking at new Japanese D segment sedan) and it's also easier to maneuver around town compared to bulky D-Segments. Can't doubt I've also always adored the BMW brand.

Genuine experience / opinion is greatly appreciated here.

Edit: I'm not a boy racer and typically a light footed guy who frequently ferries my family around town & to work so 136 horsepower is sufficient for my usage.

This post has been edited by budang: Jun 11 2019, 11:06 AM

How many days of annual leave do you have?

I have a 318i as well as the current X3. No issues with both cars.
You often go on leave and what car do you drive?

just need an honest answer here... is it true that bmw is a gentle car in terms of reliability? i mean compared to merc, lexus or maybe jaguar.

I drive a myvi!

No informative replies yet, anyone with genuine experience could share?

Appreciate much.

Got my f30 last year brand new. Havent even sent it for first service tbh as I am always travelling out of the country for work.

but if ur looking for something which is 2 years old why not just buy it new? im sure they will have some promo going on with the new G30 being released.

I got mine for like 185k after discount and deduction of GST. Plenty of goodies like tinting, fuel card, crystal number plate, TnG, car wrapping thrown in.

Cant say much of my experience with BMW Malaysia. The salesperson got my car out on time. Just kinda lousy with the way they source for number plates. In the end had to go through the whole JPJ process with an external runner to get the number that I want.

This post has been edited by Aztec: Jun 12 2019, 02:00 PM

Unregistered ones got very limited color options as most were sold to make way for the G20. Even there is, it's going for about 177k which exceeds my budget (I was initially shortlisting only Japanese D segment cars). I've also seen a couple of pre-owned & premium selected vehicle by BMW Malaysia which has pretty low mileage but price does not come attractive enough in my opinion.

Managed to find a few low mileage used F30 318i with less than 2 years of age and it's a whole 40-45k cheaper than brand new. Interest rate is high for used car by that doesn't matter as my company could subsidize the interest rates as part of staff benefit.

That aside, is yours the 318i? Hows the 3 cylinder engine so far? Any particular complains with your car?

Those less than 2 years old should still be under the 5 year free CBD maintenance, as long as the mileage isn't very high and none of the 318 is more than 5 years old.
There's a review which praised the 318i for its fuel efficiency

The thing about the 318i is the missing comfort access function

As for BMW Malaysia, depending on your location, some service center may be rather swamped.
I have to wait 1 month for a slot to get some accessories fitted (the part is already in stock). But then, the same is happening to Honda/Toyota too

What mileage do you consider 'isn't very high' for a less than 2 year old BMW? I'm generally short listing cars with less than 45k KM on the clock, not sure if this should be the benchmark.

And yeah, they're covered under BMW Malaysia's 5 year Warranty + Free service program.

Which variant is yours?

less than 2 years with 45k KM on the clock = more than 20k KM per year. when i was looking for mine, i set the criteria to be between 10k KM to 15k KM max per year.

Are you buying this under BMW's premium selection lineup? If not, be extra careful if you're buying from a used car dealer. Check all of the service history and see if there's any late or even missed service (i stumbled upon one last time). Even better, find where the car was last service and get them to confirm that the car's warranty is still valid. If im not mistaken you can request to do a 360 point checkup by any BMW authorize Service center.

This post has been edited by axtray: Jun 12 2019, 05:40 PM

I did consider BMW's premium selection but the price is abit steep in my opinion although it's for a peace of mind. Still under consideration.

Let's say a car has slightly higher mileage (say 45k KM) but service was done in time & still warranted by BMW, will there be any major concern for the high mileage?

And how do you request a 360 point checkup? As far as I know we can call the service center where the vehicle was last serviced to check on the vehicle status.

Edited some typo

This post has been edited by budang: Jun 12 2019, 06:00 PM

Yea if it's serviced on time, it shouldn't be an issue. My parents own a 320i with the older engine. So far other than usual wear and tear (oil, brake pads etc) and this one occasion drivetrain warning light popup it has been very reliable so far.

For the 360 degree checkup, you should try and find out where the car was usually serviced before it was sold to the used car dealer. Usually the authorize service dealer can do the check.

You don't want a repeat of the hybrid merc issue last time to happen to you.

Your parent's car was the Pre or Post LCI? How many years old and what's the mileage?

I'm avoiding buying a used hybrid car, it's just not worth all that hassle and frustration when it comes to battery replacement for the sake of some added performance and fuel efficiency.

Anyway thanks for letting me know about the 360 degree inspection.

parent's car is 2014, current mileage about 85k km iirc.

the merc part was just a mere reference where the warranty was voided eventhough it was just 2 years old iirc? not really because it's a hybrid (and i don't recommend them either).

feel free to share more details of the car here or over pm. more than happy to help (since was in your situation last time )

This post has been edited by axtray: Jun 12 2019, 09:10 PM

Don’t buy 318 people will laugh at you. Ikut pocket bro . Your level haven’t reach there so better drive a vios nobody will laugh at you. I see entry level Bmw wannabe no up . If want Bmw go for the Highest spec . 318 is a rubbish

I'm shortlisting cars like Accord, Mazda 6, what makes you think I'm not ready to pay for this car?

And not everyone is buying a BMW for showing off & racing mind you, I just love the driving dynamics of BMW compared to conservative Japanese D-Segment.

My family used to own the pre-LCI F30 328i but to me that has too much power which I won't appreciate most of the time.

Dunno was called a boy Ricer here buy a cheapskate boi...
But ure probably better off getting a 320 or 328i.....
Sure they all look the same when kitted...

Buy what you can afford and with a beemer, you better buy it with a few years warranty... cuz if something wrong they usually replace the whole part. And sell it to the next sucker before the warranty is up, great car to drive though.

Ahhh gotcha. yeah exactly the same as the one that ur looking at. 318i LCI Luxury line.

So far so good. Nothing to complain about. Interior might be a bit dated, no keyless entry but in terms of the drive its all good.

I am not a big car guy, so Im not the best person to ask in terms of technical specs. But as a layman I have no complaints at the moment with my car. My previous Honda City gave me more problems than this car. Lol

This post has been edited by Aztec: Jun 13 2019, 12:25 AM