How I came across a well-kept BMW 328i and ended up buying it

I also decided to retain my Skoda Laura 1.8 TSI that I bought earlier after selling my VW Polo GT TSI that came with a DSG.

BHPian suhaas307 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Background & Context:

Back in 2015, I was about two years into my professional career as a lawyer and found myself in the fortunate position to finally afford a new car - a Polo GT TSI. I went ahead and bought one in May 2015. Little did I know that it would be my first and last brand-new car!

During 2019-2021, the last 3 years of my ownership experience with the Polo, I had gone about fixing the car's tired suspension and other flaws that needed addressing.

In my hopeless quest for more power, I also tried everything to extract more from that car, including various ECU tunes, downpipes, the ingenious charge-cooling solution and what have you! However, it eventually dawned on me that there is only so much power one could extract from an age-old 1.2 litre block with SOHC, ancient ignition technology and a turbo bolted onto the front of the engine.

The desire to own a fast car became rather overwhelming. It was around the same time that I received several offers to take the Polo off my hands, and one such offer was too good to pass up.

Approximately six years and 50,000 km from the date of purchase, I sold my Polo for a price I was content with and thus began my search for a suitable replacement.

Here are some of the last photographs I had taken of the Polo the night before it was sold:

Shortlisting replacements:

The budget for a replacement was around 15 lakh which included the price I received from the sale of my Polo. Not a bad place to start - or so I thought.

My crosshairs were firmly fixed on Robimahanta's beautiful blue BMW 328i (F30). However, it was out of my budget by quite a margin and unfortunately, I was forced to look elsewhere.

Having driven a friend's 2011 Laura 1.8 TSI on a few long drives, I was impressed. The Laura was therefore shortlisted.

I had also shortlisted the Polo GTI. However, it remained a contender only briefly as most of the examples I came across were either crashed, modified poorly or way over my budget. The Polo GTI was unfortunately removed from contention.

For a brief moment, I had considered buying a Fiat Abarth Punto. Since I had missed that bus when I was looking for a new car in 2015 (it was launched a few months after I bought the Polo), I figured buying a used Abarth now would help me realise that dream. However, a quick drive in a friend's Abarth helped me understand that the Abarth would be a lateral upgrade from my Polo, at best, and it wouldn't be long before I crave another upgrade. Besides, my ownership experience with the Laura, and daily driving a manual car, deterred me from pursuing another.

The Jetta 1.4 TSI and 2.0 TDI were also considered, but the 1.4 TSI was an average engine (same architecture as that of the 1.2 TSI in the Polo) and the diesel was well.. a diesel. *wears flamesuit*

Stop-gap solution:

I was back to square one, and thus began my hunt for a well-maintained Skoda Laura 1.8 TSI.

A few vRS models did come by, but the owners were expecting an exorbitant 8-9 lakh for these high-mileage cars, and they did not look particularly 'clean' either.

After looking at multiple examples, I realised that I had to temper my expectations and readjust my approach. Most Lauras seemed to have their fair share of issues. But that did not deter me from seriously considering one. The idea was to buy an example that may have been a bit un-loved and nurse it back to its former glory, while I learn the hard truths about maintaining an old and tired Euro car. Let's call it a rite of passage, shall we?

The objective thereafter, was to acquire an example that was not modified and needed a bit of TLC. This would allow me to cherry-pick the modifications I had planned for it and also learn the nuances of the car and its engine during the restoration process.

Coincidentally, a fellow member on the forum had his Laura 1.8 TSI on sale - and it was in my favourite colour - black!

The car had low miles (just around 40k or so) and seemed like the ideal example. I wasted no time in contacting him and after getting the green from my then-trusted FNG, I decided to go ahead with the purchase.

The plan was to buy the car for a fraction of my 15-16 lakh budget and slowly spend the rest of the budget on restoring the car to its former glory. A few weeks after having sold my Polo, I bought the black Laura 1.8 TSI in question and went about my business of restoring and fettling it to my tastes.

It did not take long for me to realise that my efforts expended towards restoring the car were met with challenges I had not accounted for, as I encountered one problem after another. Several mechanical parts started failing and the engine refused to keep its oil behind its seals. The car's mechanical components began to show their age, with coolant lines developing cracks and every single oil seal going on strike at some point during my ownership of the car.

The car spent more time in workshops getting fixed up than actually on the road! I decided enough was enough and went about the task of fixing everything once and for all. Those familiar with the 'sunk-cost fallacy' will understand where I was coming from.

Having said that, I do not regret my decision one bit, and I am positively glad to have bought the Laura and worked on it myself, as it gave me the education that I desperately needed. Without this experience, I would be left at the mercy of predatory workshops and service centres, and would have continued to bleed money with no guarantees of resolutions in sight.

Finally, after a whole year of throwing money and parts at the car, it reached a point where I could drive it longer distances without worrying that it would croak on me mid-way. Also, I managed to realise the perfect specification of my dream Skoda Laura 1.8 TSI and was finally happy!

It was around that time when fellow moderator Vid6639 and I met up for a few late night drives.

Incidentally, Vid6639 made an uncharacteristically impulsive decision in 2021 to purchase Robimahanta's blue 328i (after a little prodding from moi, of course) - the very same car that I had to pass up due to budget constraints earlier in 2021.

Covid threw a spanner in the works for everyone, and whimsical drives out of the city had all but dried up. Looking to rekindle my love for driving after recovering from Covid and dealing with a health scare, we decided to meet up on a late February night in 2022. During this late night drive, we swapped cars for a brief period and needless to say, I was blown away by the way the 328i drove. I knew at that point that I had to have it.

Biting the bullet:

By 2023, I was in a better position financially. Any extra money from the sale of my Laura would further enhance that budget, so it was in my best interest to ensure that the Laura was in tip-top shape if and when I decided to let it go. As such, I was primed and ready to take his 328i off his hands.

Knowing that it is a rare car, and well-maintained examples like this one don't come by often, I began chewing Vidyut's brains to sell his car to me ASAP. My persuasion did not work though, and I was left wondering what I should do next. I began looking at the classifieds and could not find a single clean 328i on sale.

I did come across one from Delhi after a few months of lurking in various classifieds sites on the internet - a beautiful blue example with B6 dampers and a Milltek catback exhaust system. The car belonged to a fellow enthusiast, with whom I managed to get in touch with for more details on the car in question. However, the car was registered in HR and the cost I would need to incur in order to transfer it to KA made it prohibitively expensive. With a heavy heart, I had to reject that car.

Several months passed by, and there was no sign of a clean 328i on sale. Some looked haggard, while a few 330i (F30 LCI) models on sale were listed with extremely high prices exceeding 35 lakh in some cases. Some even had sketchy exhaust modifications and sub-par aftermarket exterior lighting.

Just when all hope was lost, I received a call from Vidyut on a Thursday morning asking me to check a link that he had just sent to me. It was a Team-BHP Classifieds link to a KA-registered black 328i listed for sale. According to the listing, the car had covered approximately 41,000 km and was a 2013 registered car. It looked super clean from the pictures and it appeared to have been listed by an individual seller and not a dealer. JACKPOT!

I wasn't sure about the red leather interiors, to be honest. It seemed a bit much for me. But I figured it was worth a look at the very least!

I phoned the seller and introduced myself, requested him to hold the car for me while I organize my work for the day, and immediately scheduled a meeting with him the next day. I insisted that Vidyut accompany me for the viewing / test drive and he obliged (probably in his best interest since he would no longer need to deal with my relentless persuasion to sell his car to me if this works out ).

Upon reaching the seller's location, we introduced ourselves to him and quickly began combing the car thoroughly.

In person, the car looked clean the red leather interior did not seem like such an eye-sore and I made my peace with it. In fact, it seemed to us that the back seat wasn't used even once! The leather was devoid of any signs of ageing - no cracks or signs of wear. The car looked absolutely pristine on the inside - confirmed by the presence of the protective blue film on the door sill's kick-plates!

On the outside, the bodyline looked straight and the paint was in good nick. Except for a few long scratches across all four doors and the boot-lid that were deliberate acts of vandalism, done by some kids in the common basement parking area where the car was parked when not in use, the body and paint looked top-notch!

The door seals and exterior rubber beadings were also looked at closely, as these tend to wear quickly on older cars, particularly on cars that did not enjoy the privilege of a covered car parking arrangement. But this car has been preserved beautifully and has always been parked in basements, away from the punishing sunlight and rain. Even the tyres (Michelin Pilot Sport 3 from 2017) seemed pretty soft and had plenty of tread left on them as the seller had only done about 10,000 km since changing the tyres back in 2017.

The car also had a few aftermarket items of the cosmetic kind installed on it, including faux carbon fibre (M-Style) mirror covers (which I was not particularly a fan of, and a black front grille which I liked. The owner, unfortunately, did not have the stock mirror covers as the clips were broken during the removal and installation of the faux carbon covers.

However, there were a few things that required to be addressed after examining the car closely and driving it for about 4-5 km, notably:

• Failed gas struts that prop-up the bonnet.
• A weird jerking sensation upon acceleration - an issue we chalked up to a potential ignition issue and thereafter confirmed by the seller, who offered to hand over a set of spark plugs that he had purchased with the intention of servicing the car shortly.
• Bobbing and bouncy suspension - an issue we diagnosed to be potentially failed struts all around - and thereafter confirmed by the seller.
• Melting grab handles on the driver and passenger side.
• A distinct rattle from the turbo that appears to go away after about 20 minutes of driving and the oil is warmed up.
• Mild play in the steering, accompanied by a slight tick when operated.

Other issues that we noted:

• Squeaks and rattles in the cabin (typical BMW)
• Age-old PPF that was starting to peel off at various places.
• Long scratches on the doors and boot-lid, and two-three dings in hard-to-notice areas.
• Pitted headlight covers that reveal the age of the car - most noticeable in dim-lighting conditions and when the headlights are operational.

We quickly went through the service history and apart from missing 2020 records (Covid), everything seemed to be in place. The car was taken care of periodically at Navnit (now KUN) and also at DM BMW.

The owner himself, Prateek, seemed like a stand-up guy. A mild-mannered and jovial gentleman who also happens to be a member on the forum, well-known in the OHC VTEC circles. He was completely transparent and answered all our questions honestly. He did not try to cover up the blemishes and drawbacks of the car, and let the car do most of the talking for him.

The green flags were flying high at this point. I got a good feeling about this car and the owner. It was a now-or-never moment and I decided to bite the bullet.

After negotiating a little and settling on a price that was acceptable to both of us, I transferred an advance to Prateek and requested him to take the listing off the classifieds for now, while I arrange the balance amount in a week's time.

A week later, I visited Prateek as promised, transferred the balance amount, signed some paperwork, phoned my agent with requests to process the paperwork at the earliest, and drove off into the distance! Deal done!

For personal reasons that are important to both of us, I will not be disclosing the price that we eventually settled on. All I will say is that the price was well within my budget, with some additional wiggle-room for maintenance and modifications that I had planned.

I did pay a slight premium for the car and considering the fact that it had low miles and the pristine condition that it was kept in, not to mention the weird BLR used car market where the concept of depreciation is seemingly lost on most folks, I do not regret the slight premium that I had to shell out for it.

Oh, and I had also decided to retain the Laura in the garage and use both cars for the time being, coz why not? **grins**

Customary rituals carried out to prevent future headaches **fingers crossed**

So, why the F30 328i?

Well, it’s a special car in the context of the Indian market. Globally, the car was quite popular and sold in large numbers, especially in the USA. It was a huge departure from the ham-fisted E90 3 Series that was sold up until 2012.

On our side of the shores, the F30 328i was special because it was launched at a time when diesel cars ruled the roost. Roughly 9/10 luxury-executive cars were sold with diesel engines. While Mercedes did have a few petrol models, and Audi too had introduced several interesting petrol cars such as the A4 3.2 V6 FSI with Quattro, BMW had just discontinued the E90 330i powered by those creamy straight-six petrol engines and decided to focus on diesel cars.

In order to cater to the small petrol-car buying market, BMW brought about 120 units (thereabouts) of the 328i as CBUs to be sold along with the 320d which was never short on supply. The 328i was on sale for a short run - between 2012-13 to 2014-15 - before BMW stopped importing them, and eventually replaced the variant with the 330i in LCI form, and sold these in equally small numbers.

Chances are, you will rarely come across a 328i (F30) on Indian roads. And the chances of catching a black one with red interiors is even rarer.

The 328i was offered in four exterior colours - Alpine White, Imperial Blue, Melbourne Red and Sapphire Black.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe there are fewer than 30 units of the 328i in this Sapphire Black Metallic exterior and Coral-Red Dakota-Leather interior specification. It’s a specification that I have grown to adore. Truth be told, I wasn’t entirely sure about the red leather, especially in photographs, but in the flesh, it really does stand out in a good way. There is something inherently exotic about a black car with red interiors, the combination is lust-worthy if executed correctly. And BMW has managed to get it right!

It’s certainly better than the beige interiors that adorn the innards of many a 3.

Being a CBU, the 328i also came equipped with several goodies that were absent on later models, such as the heads-up-display - a feature in 2012-13 that was way ahead of its time!

The fact that it is a rare specification with an uncommon engine in the Indian market makes it a special car to own, in my books! As good a reason as any, to consider / shortlist a car, in my opinion.

Why not a new or newer car?

When I am in the market for a car, my approach typically would be to set aside about 60% of the budget, or more, on maintenance and upgrades. This is how I went about my business with the Polo and the Laura as well.

With the budget I had at the time, I could have financed a new G20 330i. It would have been difficult, but I could have made it work. But I would not have been left much to work in the aftermarket department. So, where's the fun in that?

Also, this may sound like sour grapes, but I am not particularly a fan of the G20's interior especially that all-digital cluster. The LCI model even more so! The G20 is also a much larger car than the F30. While the F30's proportions are tight - almost shrink-wrapped around its arches - akin to that of a toned athlete wearing a perfectly tailored double-breasted suit, the G20 looks like a jacked body-builder wearing ill-fitting clothes and struggling to lay off the whey and creatine.

The only reason I would even consider a G20 in the first place is if I had the opportunity to buy one with the B58 lurking up front - only that would have convinced me to take the plunge, and those cars were well beyond my budget.

However, the budget did allow me to consider an F30 330i (LCI). But as I had mentioned earlier, some of them looked like they had a sketchy past and were priced a bit too high. I was not prepared to spend big money on a used 330i with Taiwanese tail lights and muffler deletes executed by fly-by-night exhaust shops.

This did not leave me with too many options.

Is it really "good", though?

Now, for those who are familiar with the F30 328i, you'd be aware that it is powered by the notorious N20B20 4-cylinder petrol engine.

This engine was developed by BMW as a replacement for the N52/N53 naturally aspirated straight-six engines that power the E90 325i/330i. The idea was that two cylinders would be lobbed off and a turbocharger would be slapped on, with the goal to achieve improved fuel efficiency while also ensuring that performance is not compromised.

While the idea was good, the execution was sub-par to some degree.

Early models that rolled off the factory between 2012-2013 were plagued by a plethora of mechanical issues, the most notable one being a faulty timing-chain system. The plastic guides / rails on which the chain runs tend to crack and break overtime and especially on higher mileage cars and some as early as 70,000 km, causing two issues that could result in a terminal problem for the engine: (1) broken plastic bits from the guides would get lodged in the oil pickup at the crankcase thereby starving the engine of oil causing permanent damage to the block and head, and (2) the chain develops slack as a result of missing (broken) plastic guides causing the chain to slip throwing the timing completely out of whack and in some cases - the valves get cozy with the top of the pistons rendering the engine totalled!

Class action lawsuits were initiated against BMW in North America and they were forced to initiate recalls of some of the affected cars for this particular issue. BMW was also ordered to compensate some of the owners of these cars and promise extended warranties to others.

Timing chain issue aside, the car is also known to leak oil from the valve cover seals, and this can be detrimental if not caught early, as the hot oil tends to drip onto the alternator belt causing it to shear off and cause further damage to ancillary engine components.

BMW was aware of how unreliable the N20 motor was, and it did not take them long to discontinue it and subsequently replace it altogether with the more reliable B48 4-cylinder petrol engine. The stats are the same - longitudinally mounted 2.0 litre, 4 cylinder, single turbo, producing around 240-250 horsepower. But the architecture between the two engines is entirely different. Gone are the large charge + boost pipes and intercooler. The charged air is now cooled using water-to-air heat exchangers. The block and head have been completely redesigned with stronger con-rods amongst other revisions, and there was further emphasis on overall efficiency - something that the N20 struggled with a touch. More importantly, BMW resolved the timing chain issues permanently in the B48, while they also made improvements to the timing chain system on later models (2014-15) powered by the N20 motor.

So, should I be worried?

Now, at this juncture, any reasonable person would assume that I am a glutton for punishment!

First, a VW Polo 1.2 TSI with the infamous DQ200 7-speed dry-clutch DSG gearbox that is prepared to go on strike at any given moment. Later, a Skoda Laura with the notoriously unreliable EA888.2 1.8 TSI engine that also has a faulty timing chain system and never stops leaking oil or coolant (or both). And now, arguably the most unreliable modern BMW engine in an early version of this generation?

Well, you'd be right!

Add to the fact that I am incorrigible and need to finger any car I get my hands on, against the good advice of friend and foe! It is clear from the pattern that has emerged, that I am a glutton for punishment!

Thankfully, my car, at approximately 41,000 km, still has plenty of time before the timing chain becomes a serious problem. Also, there are certain tell-tale signs such as a loud mechanical whine during acceleration or while revving the car when stationary that would alert me into taking immediate corrective action. These symptoms are yet to surface, and as such, I am good to go for the time being.

There is, however, a slight rattle emanating from the turbo, and I suspect that it could be the infamous wastegate flapper rattle that plagues most turbocharged BMWs of this generation. For the moment, it’s not a huge concern as the rattle settles down after about 20 minutes of driving / once the oil is sufficiently warmed up. It will become an issue if and when the MID starts throwing up drivetrain malfunction errors and boost gets compromised. We will have to cross that bridge when we get to it, but it’s not alarming as things stand today.

I intend on shortening the service intervals from the programmed 11,000 km to around 7,000 km in the interest of longevity and in-keeping with the established practices and procedures when it comes to maintaining older European cars that one may intend to fettle.

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