Now I knew resale stunk on high mileage BMWs due to repair costs, but didn't realize it stunk this bad!

I have a 2014 X3 with 130K. It's super clean and runs well. I'm getting 3k offers from carmax and competitors.

I'm leaning towards driving it into the ground, using duct tape and bailing wire as required to get every last mile out of it before the inevitable "big" repair essentially makes it worthless.

Are there creative ways to get maximum scrap value out of it once it stops running? I would think it has at least a grand or so in value for parts alone……

Any insights appreciated.

Jewish lightning?

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Jewish lightning?

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I like where you are going with that.......would be a great ride to do some storm chasing in

4 cyl. 2.0 turbo.

I agree there is likely a good market for the car….prefer to avoid the private sale drama if I can.

Gotta go with the diesel. They are harder to price out because there aren't as many of them. My wife totaled my 328d. It had 150k miles on it, but they couldn't comp it other ones in the area because there were none. They ended up using a comparison to one out in California. Got just under $20k for it.

Good feedback there - thanks for sharing that info.

drumboy said:

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My daughter totaled her Infiniti SUV yesterday and thank God she's OK but needs another cheap car quickly to get to class & work.

Where are you located? She'd likely be interested.

mrerik@gmail.com

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Glad she's okay!

I have the small task of buying the wife something else to drive which is likely going to be more drama-filled than disposing of the beemer. It will be a couple weeks before I can consider selling unfortunately.

It's in the Clear Lake area.

Sounds good, she's in Alvin and works in Dickinson so it would be easy to meet up.

Let me know & good luck in shopping for the replacement!

130K doesn't sound like high mileage to me. I guess it is all perception. Are you having problems with it now, and what is this "big repair" that you are referencing? I have a 2014 328d with ~140K, and it still runs like a top. No issues whatsoever.

Just about any time you sell a car to a dealer, you'll get taken to the cleaners. Selling it yourself is easy these days. As others have noted, Facebook marketplace is easy. You can also pay a little for an Autotrader.com or Cars.com ad.

Bottom line is that if you aren't having issues with it, why get rid of it? (unless you just have a bug for something new)

tree91 said:

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130K doesn't sound like high mileage to me. I guess it is all perception. Are you having problems with it now, and what is this "big repair" that you are referencing? I have a 2014 328d with ~140K, and it still runs like a top. No issues whatsoever.

Just about any time you sell a car to a dealer, you'll get taken to the cleaners. Selling it yourself is easy these days. As others have noted, Facebook marketplace is easy. You can also pay a little for an Autotrader.com or Cars.com ad.

Bottom line is that if you aren't having issues with it, why get rid of it? (unless you just have a bug for something new)

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This is the wife's ride -- First time in my life my wife's car has higher mileage than mine (I usually took the hand me down vehicles). I'm sick of hearing "I'm going to break down any day now". I know…man up and all.

It's actually been a decent car. Some issues I don't fully remember because warranty covered them. Oil pump issue and mystery coolant leak repaired at independent shop for 2K around 100K. A control box blew when battery died I replaced battery myself (500 if I recall) and another 750 to diagnose the mystery error and fix it and "calibrate" the battery (I'd like to meet the German who came up with that idea). Don't get me started on how to get an AWD "i-drive" BMW in neutral with dead electronics…… I think for a Toyota the above issues would likely be fixed at half the cost. I don't expect a major repair soon because it runs great but the cost associated with even median-level repairs on this thing do make you question the cost benefit of keeping it running. And then there's the premium fuel deal with the Turbo anyone else notice the cost differential for higher octane these days??

I'm leaning toward running it into the ground with my 300 miles/week commute, and keeping the miles off my Tundra which is just getting broke in now around 100K. Not thrilled about having a family fleet in the driveway though.

aggiepaintrain said:

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just ignore all check engine lights

except, check engine temp, low coolant, or
low oil or low oil pressure

should run 5 more years easy

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Right on......can you convince my wife of that? The world is ending with a low wiper fluid warning with her.

Won't be an issue if I'm driving it.

And this brings up an interesting question -- with discontinuation of inspections in TX I guess "check engine" warnings won't disqualify you any more? I don't feel so bad about still paying an "inspection fee" now.

Depends on if you live in an emissions county or not.

nortex97 said:

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Thx to OP for posting this. I wish more folks understood that BMW's are engineered to be disposable short-term vehicles.

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You're correct I think. But I have to defend BMW a bit in that they are really, really fun to drive.

akaggie05 said:

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Depends on if you live in an emissions county or not.

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I thought emissions was they put diagnostics on the tail pipe output. Who cares if a random "check engine" flag is on the dash.

I could be wrong on this.

Negative. They plug into the OBD2 port and read codes from the vehicle sensors. The tailpipe thing was for pre-OBD2 (before 1996) vehicles only.

Absolute BS that Texas still has the emissions testing in 10 percent of the state. Total scam.
Lucky to be in a county with no more inspections and to have never had to do the emissions testing.

Greendale 87 said:

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drumboy said:

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My daughter totaled her Infiniti SUV yesterday and thank God she's OK but needs another cheap car quickly to get to class & work.

Where are you located? She'd likely be interested.

mrerik@gmail.com

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Glad she's okay!

I have the small task of buying the wife something else to drive which is likely going to be more drama-filled than disposing of the beemer. It will be a couple weeks before I can consider selling unfortunately.

It's in the Clear Lake area.

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It seems like you have a buyer. One in the hand is better than two in the bush or something like that.

drumboy said:

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My daughter totaled her Infiniti SUV yesterday and thank God she's OK but needs another cheap car quickly to get to class & work.

Where are you located? She'd likely be interested.

mrerik@gmail.com

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I don't want to hijack the thread, but drumboy, email me at classicdoug@verizon.net. I will have a Camry for sale in a few weeks.

To add to the thread, BMW and Mercedes have horrible depreciation. Good luck with the sale!

Anything over 8 years old/120k miles is going to get a wholesale designation from any of the online valuation engines (carmax, Carvana, driveway, KBB), so the only thing they are looking at is how much your car brings at auction minus fees, transport, etc. Regardless of how nice or well kept it is, that's the reality of their algorithm. You may get more trading in at a dealer in person but not a ton more.

For a BMW that age, the gap between wholesale and retail/private party is huge. I am in the business and I just bought a 15 X1 with 95k for my daily because there is a ton of value in that part of the market for it. You should be able to pretty easily get a much better return by just selling on FB marketplace. I know it's a hassle but to maximize your money that's going to be the only way and it is definitely doable and worth it given your car and history.

You have quite a few takers here to go with as well. If you want my opinion on pricing to the general public I am happy to offer it, email in profile.