What a masterpiece from BMW. Understated, timeless design and a genuinely wonderful car. Zero issues throughout my ownership - just pure engineering done right.
The analogue orange speedo was a great touch, the last of an era.
For me, the F30 strikes the perfect balance: modern comfort without losing what made BMW special.
Frustrating experience while looking for an iX3 M Sport Pro.
Found one in the colour and interior combination I wanted ( grey with oyster) The videos looked good, I was told it had a "good service history", and everything seemed consistent with the age and mileage. Reserved it through Auto Trader and received another walkaround video beforehand. No obvious issues.
It's a two-hour drive for me, so I wanted to make sure everything was in order before setting off. Agreed to collect it a week later after they'd MOT'd it and prepared it. MOT came back clean.
The salesman I dealt with was genuinely good throughout. Just before we set off, he called to say there was a fault with the charging flap actuator, so I wouldn't be able to drive it home that day. He offered either free delivery once repaired or for me to come the following week. Fair enough.
Made the trip anyway to inspect the car.
Overall, the condition was good. Three quality tyres, one brand-new ditch finder. Turns out they'd fitted it themselves, then suggested I'd be welcome to contribute towards replacing it with a matching premium tyre, only this was too late.
Checked the service history through iDrive and found it was overdue by a month. I was told they'd serviced it, but from what I could see it had only had a cabin filter. Looking through their workshop invoice, the brake fluid service hadn't been done either. To be fair, they agreed to do it.
Then came the dealbreaker.
There was a crack in the windscreen, in the B-zone. It hadn't been mentioned in either walkaround video, by the sales team, or on the supposedly clean MOT. It had clearly been repaired, but I wouldn't spend £25k on a car with a cracked windscreen, especially when it hadn't been disclosed. It's not exactly something that's easy to miss.
I also ran BMW diagnostics. There were a few stored fault codes that didn't look particularly concerning and would probably clear, but they were happy to investigate them, which I appreciated.
Overall, it was just disappointing that the car hadn't been properly prepared. For whoever eventually buys it, I've already paid for the HPI check for EJ22LWW , BMW service and repair history, and the factory spec sheet. I'll attach them below in case they're useful. It’s a good honest car, just not one for me.
Anyway the search continues, I’ve seen a few at bmw for a similar price.
Buying a used ix3 today from main dealer. I did a vcheck and it’s comming up as this. Is it safe to buy?
Car 1 is from a car supermarket Carsa saying 100% battery at 5 years old almost.
Car 2 is from a family run dealership saying 94.8% using aviloo.
Is the first report gamed? Or genuinely better battery?