Running costs

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darrenorient

Member
Afternoon all... approxiately 30 days until I will hopefully be picking up an M, very excited. Unfortunately at some point I'm going to have to tell the wife as I'm pretty sure she's going to notice. Which leads on to...

For those that have owned the car for a few years, could you be so helpful as to post how much it's cost on average to maintain the car yearly - obviously every car has a different life but it would be interesting anyway and will help budget for how much this is going to cost me.

Cheers, D.
 
Costs have been minimal, 4 years running with servicing for 20k miles have been around £500 in total (not had an inspection service yet so that will go up then :) ).

Insurance is now £240 a year, so bugger all really. Tax = £430 (?) now per year.
 
Adamski said:
Might be an idea to let us know expected mileage, use etc

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That’s a very good point...

Expecting to do around 10-12k per year, about 5k of that will be motorway and the rest for fun mostly around b rounds.

I generally like to use dealerships for servicing, but having looked at some posts there seem to be some great alternatives.
 
pvr said:
Costs have been minimal, 4 years running with servicing for 20k miles have been around £500 in total (not had an inspection service yet so that will go up then :) ).

Insurance is now £240 a year, so bugger all really. Tax = £430 (?) now per year.
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Thats cheap. Here in the Netherlands insurance will set you back at least 850€ and roadtax will be about the same. And the cheapest M roadster I can find at the moment runs arround 35000€. Can't say anything about service costs but expect 75€ an hour at the dealer. I must say that it's quite cheap to run these cars in the UK compaired to our prices, I saw a perfect M roadster in the buy and sell on this forum for the same price as my 03 2.5. Such a shame you guys drive on the wrong side ;) :P
 
thefmister said:
pvr said:
Costs have been minimal, 4 years running with servicing for 20k miles have been around £500 in total (not had an inspection service yet so that will go up then :) ).

Insurance is now £240 a year, so bugger all really. Tax = £430 (?) now per year.
Click to expand...
Thats cheap. Here in the Netherlands insurance will set you back at least 850€ and roadtax will be about the same. And the cheapest M roadster I can find at the moment runs arround 35000€. Can't say anything about service costs but expect 75€ an hour at the dealer. I must say that it's quite cheap to run these cars in the UK compaired to our prices, I saw a perfect M roadster in the buy and sell on this forum for the same price as my 03 2.5. Such a shame you guys drive on the wrong side ;) :P
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No worries thfmister we are adopting left hand drive next year on April the First if after a week it is a success BMW's and lorries will be joining in too...
 
After running a Fiat Coupe for 9 Years the Z seems cheap as chips to run, thus far and it just works when I get it out of the garage, which used to be a bit of a bonus with the little Fiat. :o

MPG is around 32 on a run 75-80mph. Ave thus far is 24 over 7000miles. Includes a trip to Europe in the summer and much weekend hooning. :driving:

One thing I got caught on was the level 1 service. Just cost me £931.00 at a main dealer 9 months in. Was due on bi-annual routine rather than mileage. :!:
 
pvr said:
... which is wrong as Insp 1 is mileage based, not time.
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So what are the correct mileages for the 1st ins 1 and ins 2? I've had both mine done although the supplying dealer paid for the ins 1 and I'm on less than 40k mls.
 
daz05 said:
pvr said:
... which is wrong as Insp 1 is mileage based, not time.
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So what are the correct mileages for the 1st ins 1 and ins 2? I've had both mine done although the supplying dealer paid for the ins 1 and I'm on less than 40k mls.
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Mileage varies a bit depending on the use of the car, but should be around 23- 25k for Insp 1. Don't know Insp II as I doubt I will ever get there :)

Until you hit that mileage, you just keep doing the Oil service / Brake Fluid every two years.
 
Running costs pale into insignificance compared to the hit I've taken in depreciation. 2 years and 17k miles later and I'll have lost £9-10k. But with cars now at £15k I suspect the subsequent falls won't be so significant and if you believe some people it's a future classic so keep it long enough and it'll go up in value.

However according to my figures, in addition to the depreciation, I've also spent £4.8k on running costs. Some of that is in insurance, warranty and Tracker costs however, which if I strip those out gives a very reasonable £1128 for an Inspection 1, an oil service, a brake fluid change, two MOTs and some new wipers.

I don't take into account fuel costs, as most of what I've had before and am likely to buy in the future does more than 20mpg and less than 30mpg. The day I buy a diesel is the day I give up enjoying cars altogether.
 
They can be quite reasonable to run, however, when they start to get older the costs can mount. In the the last few months I've spent £780 replacing all 4 brake discs and pads, £730 on an Insp II, £30 for new wiper blades and £170 on a new battery. Road tax is due in January at circa £440. All the parts fitted are OEM but only the service was carried out by a BMW garage. New summer tyres are imminent too. The BMW warranty has covered other items like a faulty wiper motor and 2 faulty parking sensors.

The car has just hit 40,000 miles and 5 years old. Hopefully I'll not have to pay out anything like the above for the next few years if I keep it, which I probably will.

By the way James_G, depreciation of £4-5,000 pa on cars of this type and value is par for the course and that's not a recent development due to the economic situation. In fact it's probably better than average. Buy them with your eyes open in this respect.
 
Even Porsche 911 depreciates at 10k per year so that is indeed the norm.

dgm - think 4-5 is very conservative as I paid 43k and I don't think I will get 23k back for it now.

£170 for a battery - seems very, very excessive, I can't remember it being that steep from the dealer.
 
£170 for the battery is indeed expensive and that was with a discount! I was caught in a position where I needed it straight away so I wasn't able to shop around and it had to be the BMW one for the purposes of the warranty.

I agree that £4-5k is conservative, even in the early part of the last decade £5-6k was closer to the mark and that has worsened substantially in the last few years. It's one of the reasons I can't see me selling mine, it would be like giving it away and I'd rather keep it and continue to enjoy it. I'm jealous of the people who are currently picking up cracking cars at the bargain prices the Z4M's are going for.
 
dgm said:
By the way James_G, depreciation of £4-5,000 pa on cars of this type and value is par for the course and that's not a recent development due to the economic situation. In fact it's probably better than average. Buy them with your eyes open in this respect.
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I agree, it just sounds like a lot when you say it out aloud. Of course it's nothing compared to buying new, but Z4Ms do seem like they are a bit too much of a bargain these days. Makes you wonder who buys new sportscars these days, but lucky for us that they do.
 
When I buy a car, I financially write it off on day one and don't think about the value (or lack) after that. It is paid for, that is it - money spent.

I am actually looking at the new 911 at the moment, but with a price tag of 90k I am hesitating a bit. Even that car will go down 10k a year but I just can not buy a second hand sports car as I have seen how some drive them (including tracking).

I will keep my M longer now as it has been 100% perfect and still looks it as well and has cost me very little with regards to maintenance. It helps that I do not need to use the car, so there are no emergency repairs required.
 
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