E46 330ci ZHP vs E92 328i

[BMWCurves]

I'll add that I'd trust my car in a heart beat to make a trip across the country and back. I drove my '03 330Ci with the standard Sport Package from Philly to the Grand Canyon without a hitch (until I totaled it running into an antelope, but that's another story). They're reliable if you're up to date on preventative maintenance, but that of course does require some money.

[BCS_ZHP]

If a bullfrog had wheelie bars, he wouldn't bump his arse when he jumped.

Think about the dilemma here, not yourself -- an admitted not very mechanically incined person contemplating buying a 12 year old, 150K mile ZHP with some maintenance items done but presumably not all. He's asking what will it cost him to maintain it for 3 yrs/10K miles. Or alternatively, a 6 year old e9x car with 50K-ish miles, maintenance history unknown, same 3 years/10K miles of ownership, what will his maintenance costs be.

A lot of unknowns there but the lower risk option is buy the newer car with less miles and less age. We're not talking a year or two of age difference, we're looking at double the age and 100K more miles.

Many of us have our own cars that we'd trust to drive cross country but could you say that if you didn't know the car's maintenance history and you didn't have the time/knowledge to address anything?

Personally, I prefer an e46 to an e9x, but I know how to work on either one, I am a preventative maintenance OCD person, and in very short order I'd have confidence in the either car's reliability. If I had to pay a shop for every repair, my opinion might change.

This case, he said he doesn't have the place or experience to work on the car. He's asking how much to expect to pay on maintenance, the lowest risk option for him is to go with newer and lower miles car option.

[Typhoon707]

It is nice to hear that all these ZHPs are still going strong!

And to Bruce, the ZHP in question is owned by a member of the forum and he has posted a full maintenance history and it seems more likely than not that he has done most of the maintenance things. Would that change your verdict? I understand that you think the E92 would be the safer option so I will definitely keep that in mind

I'll be heading to a rural area of central America with no internet or cell service for a week. Thanks for everyone's input. I still hope that people would be able to continue the discussion though!

Thanks for everyone's input!

[BCS_ZHP]

My preference is different than yours because I'm an old fart with prior ownership of the brand experience, plus I have the space/place/experience to work on them myself. So making some presumptions here, but follow this thought process:

- believe you're a first time prospective BMW buyer, or at least you haven't owned one for an extended or 3 year period
- think you're trying to figure out what's a 3 year experiment/trial of ownership likely to cost me
- if the risk (financially), isn't too bad, which is the more fun car to drive.

If I got that correct, in your shoes I'd go lowest risk so as not to potentially sour you on the brand if something were to go wrong. Again, I'm older and more conservative, you might not have dependents and can take a little more risk.

My story, our first BMW was a 1997 540iA, bought it in 1999 for my wife, it had 25K miles. Owned it for 2+ years, about 30K miles per year, did normal maintenance (oil changes, brakes, tires) but not preventative maintenance (cooling system), and got bit by a gotcha. I was guilty, was out running it pretty hard on some back roads. On that car, the radiator neck where the upper radiator hose connects is plastic, I was revving the car hard enough that the engine torqued in its mounts and moved, moved enough that the upper radiator hose snapped that radiator neck, coolant lost, engine overheated, head warped. My little play session set me back $5K, a shop fixed the car and immediately sold it. And then stayed away from the brand for 7 years, once bitten twice shy. I wasn't soured on the brand, love their engineering and the drive it produces. But realized I had 3 young kids, the car was my wife's primary vehicle, I'd need to stay on top of it preventative maintenance-wise for it to be reliable for her, and I didn't have the time or money to do that at that specific time. Move forward to 2008, my wife asks for a fun car, financially we're in a much better place that the BMW would be an extra car, I have the time to be OCD about preventative maintenance, and the rest is history with the number of BMWs we've had over the last 9 years.

I've heard too many tales of folks that bought a BMW, weren't expecting, ready, and/or prepared for maintenance, something broke and was expensive to repair, and now they dog cuss the brand even though they were likely part of inducing the problem by neglecting to perform normal and preventative maintenance.

[BMWM3186]

Have you considered something other than a bmw if you don't want to do bmw maintenance? Like a G37?

[Reasoned1]

The ZHP is an AMAZING drive, and I wouldn't expect any 328 to rival it. If you can get a high-mileage ZHP on the cheap (especially if it has a solid maintenance record), do so. Then, start saving up for a low-mileage ZHP.

And all you ZHPMafia members that recommended getting a non-ZHP... shame on you! ; )

[RedAtom]

I haven't had mine long, but I have to agree. The ZHP is definitely an amazing drive! The car has a special something.

Why don't you just wait a bit longer for a low mileage one to pop up?

[BCS_ZHP]

Typhoon, good luck in your decision. Have spoke my piece, others have done similarly, I'm out of further discussion/debate.