[SunKing968]

Hi Gents!

I'm seriously considering the purchase of my first F20; a 125i M-sport! I've found some F20 Buyer's Guides but they tend to be more general, thus:

1) Do you have any recommendations for problems to look out for with the 125i (or for all N20s), or perhaps a link to a particularly good F20 Buyer's Guide?

2) Generally I avoid buying the first model production year of any car, but I'm going to look at a car whose "first registration" date is Dec. 2012. Aside from the issue with the rusting seat frames, are there any reasons to avoid purchasing a 2012? I think there were a few other issues but if corrected by recall action then perhaps no problem. Bottom line is if the 2012 is significantly less reliable then I'll wait for a 2013.

Thanks!

[Topdogs]

You mean it's a 10 year old car?

[Topdogs]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qewXbAa8On0

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=40fKEBwXQ7k


:lol

[colpeas]

I mean, what's there to laugh at?

@OP apart from the usual, it's always a good idea to check the electronic service book in iDRIVE to see if the car was maintained regularly or even better, take it to the dealer for a checkup before buying it. Did so with mine, €30 well spent.

Rusting seat frames should be the least of your worries when buying a 10yo used BMW. N20's in particular are prone to timing chain failures and it's generally recommended to replace it every 100k km's or so, make sure this was addressed on yours and if not, take it into account. There was a recall issued for faulty steering racks, on my old 2012 116i I could hear squeaking when turning the steering wheel. Fortunately though, this was fixed by BMW free of charge as a part of the said recall. Very pricey fix otherwise.

But for several reasons I would probably advise you to look at newer cars (6/2013+ aka MY2014) if you have the budget and can find one you'll like. Apart from the cars having the newer NBT system instead of CIC, there is a number of small technical improvements.

[No one]

Originally Posted by colpeas

There was a recall issued for faulty steering racks, on my old 2012 116i I could hear squeaking when turning the steering wheel. Fortunately though, this was fixed by BMW free of charge as a part of the said recall. Very pricey fix otherwise.

Those could be different issues on a 2012 car. Reportedly, squeaking was a steering column bushing issue in early cars. Easily fixable. The steering rack issue was about the motor falling apart, the squeal when turning the steering wheel was unbearable. Yes, a hell of a luck to have had that fixed (the rack replaced) for free, at least.