[BMW-330i]

How long would you recommend keeping a car before depreciation hits and maintenance cost become uneconomical. I have an 06, purchased it two years ago and lost about 3k on original value so fare. It's at 83k miles.

[pmmcbl]

Being an 06 you have long passed the depreciation curve. 83k is still "young" for these but the engine maintenance will be low. All other work will be the same as per any other car.

[JJ0063]

I always buy high mileage cars so the depreciation is done, keep a car for around a year/20k

[pmmcbl]

Originally Posted by JJ0063

I always buy high mileage cars so the depreciation is done, keep a car for around a year/20k

I agree with you but the risk will be down to parts needing replacing. Even with good history you may end up having to spend some money on them.
if you know the cat well enough it may be cheaper to keep it for longer even if you lose £ on the car you could be saving £££ on maintenance.

The biggest challenge is when to stop spending money on a car and cut your losses.

[Nickos]

5 years generally for moi.

[mjn77]

2-4 years.

[Dann]

Depends on the car.
My first I kept for 4 years and since then all my others have been 1.5/2 years lol.

Going to keep the 335i for at least 5 this time

[k9david]

Shamed to say, shortest 4 weeks, longest 18 months.

[AndyT330i]

3 years seems to be my average. As long as we bond and they don't destroy me financially that is

[evohicks]

First BMW E46 I kept for over 5 years, next I had a Nissan qashqai, 3 months, BMW E90 15 months and my present E91 will be 5+ years hopefully.

[Needbmwpartzz]

As long as me and the car like each other....which usually isn't long.
I have owned my BMW longer than any other car period.

[Jase 320d]

Im around 6-12 months

[TrAcK TRaP]

Around 4 years..

[shrimpvende]

kept my first car (fiesta) for 3 years, then the 1 series and the 325D only lasted a year each before I got bored. My current 330i has it's 1 year anniversary in August and I'm seriously considering keeping it as I can't really think of anything better to swap it for within the price bracket.

[Aragorn30d]

my early cars were all old bangers and died for various reasons.

First decent car we got (a B5 A4) we kept for 3 years, that was replaced in 2010 with another, better, B5 A4, which we still have and i've no intention of selling just yet. We needed a second car about 4 years ago so i bought another A4, kept that for 3 years before getting bored of having two near identical cars, and that one had a few niggles that i couldnt be arsed fixing, so bought the E90.

Cant see anything that i'd want to swap the E90 for, probably have that for a while too.

[mrbubba]

Recently about a year, maybe a little more

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by BMW-330i

How long would you recommend keeping a car before depreciation hits and maintenance cost become uneconomical. I have an 06, purchased it two years ago and lost about 3k on original value so fare. It's at 83k miles.

Everyone is different, keep the car for as long as your happy with it and clearly how much £££ you have for a new car etc.

I was on track to keep my 335i for 5 years+ but sadly the temptation to try something completely different was too much. Personally if your happy with your E90/92 I suspect 83K is hardly any miles for it in the longterm.....

Just try not to test drive anything new, the amount of toys/tech in new cars these days is what make the E90/E92 feel very dated, even a £13K Corsa these days come with DAB/USB/Internet (Apple Car play)/Bluetooth streaming standard, and for just £500 extra you can add in auto-park option, theres even options for auto brake/traffic signal reading,hi-beam assist, heated seats/steering wheel etc .

[Martyn76]

Originally Posted by BMW-330i

How long would you recommend keeping a car before depreciation hits and maintenance cost become uneconomical. I have an 06, purchased it two years ago and lost about 3k on original value so fare. It's at 83k miles.

I'm similar to you, had my 06 e91 for coming up to 2 years, it's only on 72K and I feel bad when I thumb\scroll through Auto Trader, there's no need to swap it for anything but somehow you always what something else\newer? F series 30d would blow my mind I suspect.

[DriverLDN]

My previous car was a Citroen C4 VTS, I had for 2 years before I sold it and that was due to all the DPF issues I was having. I've currently had my BMW for just over 2 years now, bought it with 38k on the clock and now its got 74k on it. It runs sweet, can't see myself getting rid of it anytime soon, unless it becomes a problem. I previously owned a 206GTi for 6 years, loved it and never had a problem with it

[BMW-330i]

Originally Posted by Martyn76

I'm similar to you, had my 06 e91 for coming up to 2 years, it's only on 72K and I feel bad when I thumb\scroll through Auto Trader, there's no need to swap it for anything but somehow you always what something else\newer? F series 30d would blow my mind I suspect.

When I look at the depreciation the car has experienced and will continue over the coming years it is so tempting to sell and get an e46 m3. The m3 values have only gone up since I've purchased my car. I know that my 330i will be much cheaper to run, plus is full loaded, it's difficult to justify to sell especially as we're trying for our first child. The e90 is a great car but will only drop in value.

[Aragorn30d]

Originally Posted by gangzoom

Just try not to test drive anything new, the amount of toys/tech in new cars these days is what make the E90/E92 feel very dated, even a £13K Corsa these days come with DAB/USB/Internet (Apple Car play)/Bluetooth streaming standard, and for just £500 extra you can add in auto-park option, theres even options for auto brake/traffic signal reading,hi-beam assist, heated seats/steering wheel etc .

For me, all that crap just puts me off buying any newer cars.

The E90 has enough pointless tech to go wrong (like electric steering lock, and ECU's for everything) and theres just no advantage to it all, all the extra stuff is just gimicky crap, that makes you go "ooh shiney" but makes you a poorer driver because you end up relying on the car for everything.

Newer stuff just adds more and more, like electronic handbrake and electric steering, auto-closing bootlids and whatnot, all complete shit.

[gangzoom]

^^ Absloutly, that's why I said eveyone is different.

For my self I'm now use to having adaptive curise control, auto head beam headlights, rear blind spot sensors when driving on the M-ways. I cannot see my self buying another car without those features, actually my next car will 100% have to have at least semi-autonomous driving. As sad as it sounds me these are the things that excit me about cars these days, I'm done with chasing headline BHP figures etc, glad I did all the mods on my old 335i but wouldn't be going down that route ever again .