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      05-08-2012, 04:06 PM   #1
alep85
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Drives: 2011 335i, 2023 M340i xDrive
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: United States

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Question Buying F30 328i vs. CPO 328i?

Hey all,
Looking at upgrading my old car in the next year or two, and I'm hoping to get some insight from you guys on what you think is the right decision here.....

I'm making a decent living in IT, and I'm saving up to replace it. Probably wanting to finance the car since I want to keep it for a while (6-8 years). My budget for a new car will probably be around $36,000 (could do $40k, but I want to leave a little extra for the repairs that I know will hit me down the road). Due to the N54/55 HPFP issues, a CPO 335i seems out of the question for me since I value not being afraid to take it on long trips. I know they have the "fixed" part, but the performance different between the F30 328i and the 335i isn't enough for me to go with the 335i.

Now, here comes the tough decision:

-I've found CPO 2009 E90 328i's on Autotrader for pretty good prices (around $23,500 with 32-36k miles on them). I assume by 2013-14, a 2010 could be as cheap as $23k. I could easily swing this. The only problem I see with this is missing the MPG/performance benefits of the F30 328i. It's slower, even if I do like the sound of the 6 better than the F30's turbo four. It'd cost around $1500-3000 more in fuel costs over time. Also, at this point it would be getting older, and even with the CPO warranty, a lot of stuff isn't covered.

-I could go CPO on a future used F30. I'm estimating this would be around $28,000 in 2014 on a 2012 CPO. Seems like this could be a great compromise (not starting to get too old like an E90, getting the features of the F30 I like, but not at the top of my budget ).

-BUT, I also have a TON of airline miles, and could easily book a cheap award flight to do European Delivery on a new Sport Line F30. Using bmwconfig's tool, I've priced that at about $34,505 ($33,505 invoice + $1000). $36,000 is pretty much the top of my budget for a new car. We were planning another trip to Europe around 2014, so this could work out well.

So, what would you guys do in this situation?
-Buy a CPO E90?
-Buy a CPO F30?
-Buy a new F30 via ED?

I would LOVE the experience of doing ED, but it's easy to see this through rose-colored glasses.....it'd cost me $5-8k more to buy new compared to a future CPO F30 or E90. However, there are advantages to buying new (being the only owner, more mileage/hopefully more longevity, financing rate advantages, the awesome experience of driving the car in Germany). So I guess I'm a bit torn, if you can't tell!

For those of you who've done it, would you recommend CPO to others? Or should I just bite the bullet and have an amazing experience with a new car and European Delivery?

Sorry for the essay! Any advice you guys have would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
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