Maintanence Cost Expectations for 2009 328xi ?

[Andygreen]

I am considering buying a 2009 328xi with 15,000 miles on it. Once it goes out of warranty, which is any day now, about how much should I allocate for maintanence costs on an annual basis? I really want this car, but I am concerned that I won't be able to afford the upkeep.

[goatboy]

The free ride for maintenance is about over for that car. Plan on $0.20 - $0.25/mile from here on out. That's assuming an honest dealer service department.

If you track your annual depreciation costs (generally cheaper every year), the maintenance costs (generally more expensive every year) will be easier to stomach. The sum of annual maintenance and depreciation (M&D) costs will be fairly constant, though. BMW's, old or new, are expensive to own. Don't expect to save a whole lot driving an older one.

My eleven year old, 103k mile E46 M3's M&D was $0.585 last year, and averaged $0.555 since new. The lowest year (year ten) M&D was $0.20/mile. The highest M&D was year eight, $0.98/mile. (E46 M's have higher maintenance costs than other 3 series BMW's, mainly due to solid lifters,)

My maintenance cost per mile has been $0.11/miles since new, but that's incuding the cheap years when the car was still under warranty and had free maintenance. My wife's Accord's maintenance, also 103k miles, has been $0.03/mile, even after the 100k mile service (timing belt being the big ticket item). Your suspicions of BMW maintnance cost are well founded.

You have to really love these cars to tolerate the maintenance costs or the cost to replace them often.

If you don't need X-drive (all wheel drive), you're signing up for a lot of potential grief down the road. If you need X-drive, you need X-drive.