Afternoon all. i been thinking of changing my car for some time now and really think i want a convertible which leaves me with 2 options.

BMW e46 M3 or a VW Eos

i know what your thinking they couldnt be further about on the scale :). long story short im 27 in july and i think im just day dreaming about an m3 and the fact it would be 8 years old is just mad. SOOOO :D

i have found a 57 plate tdi Eos at my local. been down and looked at it everything looks good and tidy. not the alloys of choice really want the chicago but can buy them after if needed. its done 22,000 miles and full service history. comes with 12 months warrenty. so im struggling to find wrong with it at present.

I joined the forum as im looking for advise and as with most forums the info they portray is of negative situation of leaks ect ect

so here is the first of many questions :)

1) on a 57 plate am i likely to have bad seals that are going to need replacing soon?

2) how much are seals?

3) What is this Krynox krytonite something oil and where do i get it?

4) any one local to Norwich who might be able to offer assistance if i choose to buy?

5) seen issues with boots leaks and the roof error due to the roof not hitting the stop buttons properly. do all cars suffer with these issues are are they a small minority?

thanks for all your help

lee

I have a 57 plate TDi eos and can say, touch wood, I have not suffered from any major problems. It sounds like luck of the draw.

Enjoy

Regardless of the manufacturer of the car, you must expect a used car to have problems in the first year of ownership. The main determining factors are how the car was used, maintained and driven by the previous owner. You are taking a gamble whenever you purchase a new car where you do not know the previous owner.

For this reason, you need to budget 10%/15% of the purchase price of the used vehicle for possible repairs in the first year of ownership. You should also have the car inspected and appraised by an professional assessor to find the obvious and hopefully the less-obvious problems with the vehicle so you can make an informed choice and pay a realistic price.

My wife and I own both an Eos and a BMW E46 325iT. Have to say the Eos is mechanically much reliable, although ours being a 2009 is a year or two older than a "57 plate" (as well as being gas and not diesel). Any E46 M3 will be at least a couple years older; 2006 was the last year of manufacture.

A non-M E46 can easily run $1-1.5K/yr in maintenance, and an M will be even higher due to the S54 engine and its peculiar parts, valve adjustments, etc. In the year I've owned our 325iT I've replaced the entire cooling system, the oil separator system, the oil filter housing gasket, and miscellaneous switches. Getting ready to do the suspension - you can't just swap in new dampers, there's a bunch of other stuff that wears out. If I didn't do all this work myself it would cost thousands.

I knew what I was getting into when I bought the BMW, and also have a truck to drive when the BMW is temporarily out of commission (the Eos is my wife's car). There's no way I'd recommend anyone buy a used E46 unless they were sure they could do the inevitable repairs themselves, or had the funds to pay a mechanic. A 22K mile Eos should have a while to go before it starts needing expensive work, compared to an E46 M3.

Afternoon all. i been thinking of changing my car for some time now and really think i want a convertible which leaves me with 2 options.

BMW e46 M3 or a VW Eos

i know what your thinking they couldnt be further about on the scale :). long story short im 27 in july and i think im just day dreaming about an m3 and the fact it would be 8 years old is just mad. SOOOO :D

i have found a 57 plate tdi Eos at my local. been down and looked at it everything looks good and tidy. not the alloys of choice really want the chicago but can buy them after if needed. its done 22,000 miles and full service history. comes with 12 months warrenty. so im struggling to find wrong with it at present.

I joined the forum as im looking for advise and as with most forums the info they portray is of negative situation of leaks ect ect

so here is the first of many questions :)

1) on a 57 plate am i likely to have bad seals that are going to need replacing soon?

2) how much are seals?

3) What is this Krynox krytonite something oil and where do i get it?

4) any one local to Norwich who might be able to offer assistance if i choose to buy?

5) seen issues with boots leaks and the roof error due to the roof not hitting the stop buttons properly. do all cars suffer with these issues are are they a small minority?

thanks for all your help

lee

Hi Lee,

Happy to help and offer advise on viewing car, I live in Norwich and bought from Robinsons.

First off, join Dub Generation. You get serious discounts.

Roof seals were an issue on 2006 models, thereafter updates on design have erradicated this I understand.

Dunno how much seals are, but in Norwich as a Dub Gen member, you will get serious discounts on spares. We bust a fogger, and was gob smacked how cheap the part was after the discount.

That said and done, the Dub Gen gang are great and there's regular meets in Norwich and Martlesham.

http://www.dubgenerationclub.co.uk


All the best!!

Chunks.