Newbie

[bimmerfiend]

Newbie..Please Help

Hey Everyone I'm new to the forum and new to the world of bimmers. I have absolutely fell in love with the 330I Coupe. I am looking to purchase a new car in the next couple of weeks and I hope its the 330.

I have a few questions I hope some of you can answer in hopes it will help with my decision.
1. What is the MSRP on the cars in your area (2004 330I Performance Package/Copue).
2. Are their any known problems that will make me regret purchasing one?
3. I visited a dealership that has a 2002 330I Coupe w/perfomance package, 48K miles, and they are asking 28,000 for the car. The car is in mint condition. Will I have problems with this car and is it a good deal?

I hope I haven't asked to many questions the first time on the board, just trying to do my homework.

Thanks,
Keith

 

[Kirby]

Welcome! here's a few answers, others will chime in I'm sure.

#1. As far as I know MSRP is the same through the US. Dealers do appear to discount to varying degrees, though.
#2. Addiction and speeding tickets. Seriously, no real major problems that I know of. It seems to me that BMW has typical problems like any other manufacturer. Some people here seem to have more problems than others. I guess if I had to name any specific problems, it seems that software glitches, windows and side mirror controls are most common....

 

[bimmerfiend]

Kirby - Thanks for the input. What do you think about the price and mileage of the 2002 330 I mentioned?

 

[codex57]

Hey, another Cerritos person!

Go to carsdirect.com to get market price in our area. Haven't paid attention to prices for a while. I can tell you which dealers to avoid.

McKenna is either the worst or 2nd worst dealer in this state. Shelly is close, but is just so-so. Prices are usually about $500-1000 more than others (cept McKenna maybe). But, their service department is incompetent. McKenna is a scammer AND incompetent tho.

Much better dealers are Long Beach or Crevier. Haven't had a chance to try out Crevier yet, but it gets tons of good reviews. I went to Long Beach and I love it there. Only kicker is that Crevier gives loaners to people who buy from them while Long Beach only has a shuttle service up to a 7 mile radius.

Edit: Re-read your post. There's no such thing as a 2001 330 with Performance Package. Do you mean Premium Package? Sport Package?

 

[bimmerfiend]

Codex547 - Thanks for your reply. I kind of figured McKenna were crooks, they were the first dealer I went to. I went to Crevier yesterday and they seem to be ok. I will try Long Beach sometime this week. As far as my post is concerned it says 2002 330 with performance package at least that's what the dealer told me. Do you know if their is a 2002 330I or is the dealer trying to scam me?

 

[codex57]

Opps, thought it read 2001. Anyways, I'm almost 100% positive the Performance Package was introduced on 2003 models. That's for the 330i (the sedan). The 330ci (coupe) didn't get the Performance Package until 2004. If the dealer said a 2002 had the Performance Package, I'd say he's scamming you.

Or, it's just as likely that he's clueless. That seems to be my opinion of Shelly salespeople. Not scammers like McKenna, just clueless and a bit snobby. People often mix up the Performance Package and the Premium Package since both have the initials PP. However, the Performance Package's real internal code is ZHP and that's what most enthusiasts refer to it as to differentiate it from the Premium Package (bunch of luxury items). However, a clueless dealer could refer to both the Premium and Performance Packages as PP and use the terms interchangeably even though they are dramatically different.

 

[mach330]

Opps, thought it read 2001. Anyways, I'm almost 100% positive the Performance Package was introduced on 2003 models. That's for the 330i (the sedan). The 330ci (coupe) didn't get the Performance Package until 2004. If the dealer said a 2002 had the Performance Package, I'd say he's scamming you.

Or, it's just as likely that he's clueless. That seems to be my opinion of Shelly salespeople. Not scammers like McKenna, just clueless and a bit snobby. People often mix up the Performance Package and the Premium Package since both have the initials PP. However, the Performance Package's real internal code is ZHP and that's what most enthusiasts refer to it as to differentiate it from the Premium Package (bunch of luxury items). However, a clueless dealer could refer to both the Premium and Performance Packages as PP and use the terms interchangeably even though they are dramatically different.

yep..wut he said. there's no ZHP (perfomance package) built in 01 or 02.

 

[Bryan330i]

That seems to be my opinion of Shelly salespeople. Not scammers like McKenna, just clueless and a bit snobby.

I agree 100%, better off at another dealer for sure.

 

[theBMWenthusiast]

welcome to the boards!!!!