[Stu667]

All, I've spotted an X3 for sale with a dealer, that's within my price bracket. It's a 2012 XDRIVE20D with approx. 125K on the clock and FSH. The clutch and flywheel were done at approx. 105K. Looks to be in very nice condition cosmetically.

I'm just looking for a daily driver with the occasional motorway blast. Very much admire the looks of the X3 and the massive boot space is selling it to me. Also I believe I have the same engine in my 320D, which has been bulletproof in the 4 years I've owned it.

Thoughts? Should I be running a mile or could it be a worthwhile acquisition given the clutch/flywheel are virtually brand new?

[Wgosma]

I've been driving BMW's for 16 years- every car I've owned I've purchased from a private party/original owner. Two of these cars I dove to over 200K miles before I sold them. Most of the car's had from 60K to near 100K miles at time of purchase and overall I've had good experiences, in general the engines and drivelines in these cars are rock solid.

Do ONE thing if you're considering this X3: find a local to you Independent Euro/German car shop and have the car thoroughly inspected, scanned for fault codes AND put on a lift for physical inspection- I did this with each of my purchases and it paid dividends- it will cost you money but believe me it's money in the bank, peace of mind when one is looking at a pre-owned BMW; avoid potentially costly repairs - be a smart shopper, if you're serious about the car get it inspected by reputable shop before you do the deal with seller.

[ClutchFC]

Clutch and flywheel? I didn't know F25's had a manual transmission option?

[Stu667]

Originally Posted by Wgosma

I've been driving BMW's for 16 years- every car I've owned I've purchased from a private party/original owner. Two of these cars I dove to over 200K miles before I sold them. Most of the car's had from 60K to near 100K miles at time of purchase and overall I've had good experiences, in general the engines and drivelines in these cars are rock solid.

Do ONE thing if you're considering this X3: find a local to you Independent Euro/German car shop and have the car thoroughly inspected, scanned for fault codes AND put on a lift for physical inspection- I did this with each of my purchases and it paid dividends- it will cost you money but believe me it's money in the bank, peace of mind when one is looking at a pre-owned BMW; avoid potentially costly repairs - be a smart shopper, if you're serious about the car get it inspected by reputable shop before you do the deal with seller.

Sage advice indeed.

On of the problems I have is that in this instance the dealer is located 50 miles away. I'm not sure how they would react to me wanting to take it to a nearby indie for checks (assuming there was a specialist nearby). I have a code scanner linked to my phone, that's the easy part, it's just getting it physically up on a lift and inspected. I guess if the seller had any problem with that, it could be taken as a signal to walk away.

[Stu667]

Originally Posted by ClutchFC

Clutch and flywheel? I didn't know F25's had a manual transmission option?

I'm in the UK, manual transmissions probably still just about outnumber automatics.

[Wgosma]

Inspection is really best way to go; you can always ask the question and see how the Dealer responds- agreed it’s a yellow/red flag if they won’t allow inspection.

Is this a BMW Dealer or ???

Are they able/willing to disclose the cars full service/repair history?

[ClutchFC]

Originally Posted by Stu667

I'm in the UK, manual transmissions probably still just about outnumber automatics.

Interesting.. A manual swap would be great

[E36M3]

Suggest you read up on timing chain issues with the 4 cylinder. You need budget set aside to do this.