Used 2008 BMW 3 Series Sedan Consumer Reviews
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The Ultimate Repair Machine
S. Sutton, 10/26/2015
2008 BMW 3 Series 335xi 4dr Sedan AWD (3.0L 6cyl Turbo 6M)
32 of 36 people found this review helpful
Don't believe the advertising hype and signage at the dealerships about how "cheap" the cost of ownership is and "inexpensive" the repairs are. (My favorite is a placard outside the dealership that says "this landscaping costs more to maintain than your BMW!"). The stereotypes are true, these things are a money pit. My 2008 335xi is a pleasure to drive, super fun, super comfortable, the perfect balance of power and luxury: The Ultimate Driving Machine (TM). Unfortunately, that comes at a severe cost in maintenance and repairs. Many of the parts used on these have very short life spans, and cost thousands to replace. My vehicle has less than 60,000 miles and currently needs a $1200 waterpump. The warranty for 2008's was a 4y/48k, so this one is out of pocket for me. I've had vehicles that go three times as long without needing a water pump, let alone such an expensive one. If you assume the waterpump will only last another 55,000 miles that's $2400 in waterpumps just to make it to 100k miles! *whistle noise* I'm 6 months away from having this paid off... I think I'm going to put her up for sale as soon as I have the title in hand and look for something more reliable.
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Fun to drive when not in shop
soccerprnt, 12/29/2010
2008 BMW 3 Series 335i 4dr Sedan (3.0L 6cyl Turbo 6M)
29 of 33 people found this review helpful
Loved it when new. After 45000 miles I wish I had never heard of BMW. This car is continually having issues. It started with the antilock brake light coming on intermittently, about once a month. It was at the dealers at least 4 times for this before the problem was finally fixed. Similar problem with engine light coming 3 visits to fix this. Recently my clock has been clearing the time. Engine now stalling out occasionally while I am driving the car. Happens after driving from a few hundred feet to about a mile after I have begun driving it. Extremely dangerous. Diagnosed bad battery . Not covered under warrenty. They also did a programming update on the engine.
2008 BMW 3 Series for sale near you
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Fun to drive, but expensive to own
Dave, 06/05/2019
updated 06/07/2021
2008 BMW 3 Series 328i 4dr Sedan (3.0L 6cyl 6M)
22 of 25 people found this review helpful
The car is truly the Ultimate Driving Machine. Fast, handles like it’s on rails, great steering feedback, just fun to drive. However, it is expensive to maintain. The car was very reliable up to 90,000 miles. After that it started to fall apart. The repairs and maintenance are extremely expensive. Last year I spent an average of $310 a month in repairs and maintence.
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Picking right options is key
JThom, 03/29/2010
2008 BMW 3 Series 328i 4dr Sedan (3.0L 6cyl 6M)
7 of 7 people found this review helpful
I recently bought used 328i, auto, prem package. I drove a 335i w prem and almost bought a 328i w sport package, manual trans (drove it for several days). My thoughts: forget the sport package unless you have lots of open road for high speed cornering etc. The standard suspension is very good & sporty enough for most of us - and the ride is noticeably better. 335i is overkill (and unreliable it seems) - the 328 is actually very fast. Also, 6-sp manual is a bit clunky and auto is very good (esp when shifted manually). Finally I do not have run- flats; got the M Mobility pump and sealer instead. Thought I had to have sport and manual, but am much happier with standard suspension and auto.
There R more reliable cars out there
Mike, 04/01/2018
2008 BMW 3 Series 328xi 4dr Sedan AWD (3.0L 6cyl 6M)
15 of 17 people found this review helpful
I always admired BMW'S, kids gone I was finally able to buy one. I found a very nice one owner 328XI with 60k on the clock. I had the car one week before the troubles started. The car decided to Randomly start, Hot ,Cold it didn't matter. Took the car to a certified BMW repair facility and was told it was a fuel pump, and or possibly fuel relay. Cost $1500 to replace both components. I declined bought both parts offline and put them in ($300). Problem was it didn't fix the car so back on the wrecker it went. (Did I mention Car spends lots of time on a wrecker). New shop new diagnosis, bad DMI Board. The DMI board fixed the problem. Nothing on these cars are cheap to fix, this repair with reprogramming was $1300.00. All was good for about 2 weeks and the car literally quit running at 50 MPH (no power steering -no brakes to speak of) Again on the wrecker it went. Diagnosis bad battery and programming issues. Ok, a Battery no big deal $240 for the battery $100.00 to program it (No, you can't just swap batteries in newer BMWs ) and of course $100 to put battery in (Labor) so roughly $450.00 for a new battery. All was good for about 3 months. The car was excellent in the snow a pleasure to drive. performance unequaled to anything else I've owned. Gas mileage is excellent fora performance car. I'm thinking finally got the bugs out of it,really enjoying it AND BAM total shutdown AGAIN at 45 MPH. On the wrecker again 3rd time in less than 7months. Diagnosis the computer decided it didn't want to talk to the car. To fix the car needs to be completely reprogrammed another $500 with towing. The repair shop did tell me though BMW is aware of cars losing communication with the ECU. (service Bulletin) They seem to be aware of a lot of the problems their cars have. They like the word "service bulletin" basically we have a problem(s) with such and such, but you will have to pay to have it fixed. Recalls? this car has 3-- one major that could result in a fire (Heater Motor) I guess it will burn as BMW in my area has no parts to fix recall, unknown when they will receive them. These stories are all over the web like mine. Remember this is a 60k one owner car that is about as reliable as a watch with a dead battery. Sad that in my opinion they have "trashed their reputation with sub standard un reliable cars . My first and definitely last BMW
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