My friend wants a nice sedan, but refuses to buy a car that isn't front-wheel or all-wheel drive. For her price range and other preferences, I think the search has narrowed down to a 2010-11 BMW 328ix.

Any comments on the reliability and/or desirability of this car will be greatly appreciated.

But that wouldn't be very Peach Partsy.

'91 Ford Country Squire.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Is there a reason for that odd (IMO) preference?

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Doesn't seem odd to me for a non-enthusiast. My brother has an X-drive BMW and its been fine, compliant in snow and reliable. The N52 engine is pretty well proven at this point too, so its not a bad choice. Desirability-wise well, that depends on who you're talking to. They're generic german sedans YMMV.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Ability to drive in snow and ice. It's a poor choice, IMHO.

Don’t have direct experience but a friend owns a 5 series BMW awd wagon and uses it for skiing trips pretty frequently. My only suggestion would be to get an extended warranty, not because of known problems but because it’s a smart thing to do with any used car.

The local BMW dealer has a few certified pre-owned 2011 328xi's that come with a 6-year/100,000 mile warranty (with the 6-year clock running from the date the car was delivered new, I think). They are priced around $28,000, about $18,000 to $20,000 less than a comparable 2014 329ix. That makes some sense, I think.

The last time I bought a used MB car from a dealer, it had what was called a Starmark warranty. MBUSA offered a mostly bumper to bumper warranty for Starmark cars and that was good for up to 1 year or until there were 100K miles on the odometer from the time I bought the car. The one i bought was 6 years old at the time i bought it. MB offered additional years of warranty coverage, but would not go over the 100K mile cap. I bought the car with about 70K miles on the odo and paid for 2 additional years of warranty. It was an excellent value because the dealership went out of their way to fix *anything* at issue. The things they didn’t cover were brakes, tires, some fluids, and some bulbs.

There are some good 3rd party warranties available as well. Tyler or someone else that deals with this may know something about current offerings.

I dunno anything about what BMW offers but predict it is about the same as what MB offers.

I've had my BMW for 4 months and it's been in the shop 3 times...! But two of those were due to previous sloppy work and not the car itself (covered) third time was just me hedging my bets that it was more sloppy work (and I lost, the battery just died and I was on the hook). I'm torn on getting an extended warranty since I will be modding it almost immediately once it's out. Most folks I know who have these have been totally trouble free. It's an absolute blast to drive and I love it, so long as I will be able to keep affording it.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Also, anecdotal but those who I've talked to who own e60 5-series of the era have been a nightmare with various electrical and mechanical issues, but the e90s seem fine for the most part. Easily got me out of buying an M5 or M6 recently in lieu of a 1 series. FWIW.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth