Used Car of the Day: 2003 BMW 325ci

by Tim Healey

Published: April 7th, 2023

Today's used car of the day is a 2003 BMW 325ci coupe.

The mileage is just shy of 130K (a bit above 128K to be precise) and has features like headlight cleaning and heated seats. The seller is the second owner.

There's a new battery and other replacement parts like spark plugs. The seller claims this automatic-transmission BMW has been well-maintained though there is some exterior damage and the CEL has popped on a few times. Oh, and the seller was recently locked out/had some sort of minor window issue.

The biggest red flag here is that our seller seems to be an anti-government extremist, at the expense of keeping the proper paperwork properly maintained. This may be an understatement but that could be a headache for any potential buyer. I am biting my tongue regarding the writing quality of this post, as well, but one of my eyes has developed a sudden, unexplained twitch.

If you're willing to take a minor gamble, you can get this car for $9,888 0r $10,488. The seller wasn't clear on that.

Seriously, just click here if the car interests you and the "sovereign citizen" tone of the seller's attitude toward state inspections and license plate stickers doesn't scare you. Oh, and if you can stand "clean" spelled with a "k." BRB, gotta figure out why I'm now on the verge of madness.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 18 comments

Mike Beranek on Apr 10, 2023

Dude needs therapy. Bad.

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Msquare on Sep 14, 2023

Way, way too much money.

I wouldn't give you $4k for it. I owned a 2001 version of this car and currently drive an '04 330Ci convertible. I got the convertible for $3500 five years ago but still encounter things previous owners screwed up. Good thing it's a six-speed manual.

Even one of the responses on the page says something similar.

The upside is that the engine is good for 300k miles or more if the electronics don't give up. The tranny will fail at some point and it's a $3000 job for a rebuild. Find a manual if you can.

All that said, it's one of the prettiest BMW's ever created. Just the right balance of traditional sharpness and more modern aerodynamics. The convertible is so good I can drive at 80 with the top down and experience very little buffeting, even without the air deflector. Try that in a Miata.

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