BMW 6 Series convertible?

[Patrick1964]

I’m thinking of a petrol engined 6 series convertible as a second car. I’d like to buy something under about £7500. Any tips or info please ?

[J.R.B.]

I ran an E64 650i for about 7 years. Fantastic thing. Not without issues but would highly recommend. That engine makes a lovely noise, and I think they have aged really well too.

[SFTWend]

I owned one as my daily for a few years and really liked it. Massively underrated for what it offers and the ladies loved the look of it.

Read the used buyers reviews. Appears it can spew oil from every orifice so some potentially expensive repairs.

[R6tty]

Are you talking V8?

[Scootersp]

They are all roughly the same price but they will vary a lot in quality and as importantly imminent spend.

They have common issues, oil leak and valve stem seals etc etc, but you can largely avoid this if you are careful. I think 50% of them if you MOT history search will have "Oil leak but not serious" or worse.

You could get one with an oil leak, intermittent idrive display, smokes when warm and sat at traffic lights and needs tyres and disks and that could be £5K. But like I say you can avoid most of this by being cautious and selective/ruthless.

I like them and think they are a bargain despite the potential issues, just be prepared/research the issues so you aren't shocked by them and then look at a number of them.

Also the 630's as well as the 645/50's are in the high £600 tax range post the 2005 cutoff so that can be worth considering.

Hopefully this link works.....this one has potential on paper https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/27180200...

This also looks nice and clean https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/68398220...

Edited by Scootersp on Thursday 28th September 20:48

[SFTWend]

Scootersp said:

They are all roughly the same price but they will vary a lot in quality and as importantly imminent spend.

They have common issues, oil leak and valve stem seals etc etc, but you can largely avoid this if you are careful. I think 50% of them if you MOT history search will have "Oil leak but not serious" or worse.

You could get one with an oil leak, intermittent idrive display, smokes when warm and sat at traffic lights and needs tyres and disks and that could be £5K. But like I say you can avoid most of this by being cautious and selective/ruthless.

I like them and think they are a bargain despite the potential issues, just be prepared/research the issues so you aren't shocked by them and then look at a number of them.

Also the 630's as well as the 645/50's are in the high £600 tax range post the 2005 cutoff so that can be worth considering.

Hopefully this link works.....this one has potential on paper https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/27180200...

This also looks nice and clean https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/68398220...

Edited by Scootersp on Thursday 28th September 20:48

Mine was a March 2006 650, which was the last month for the cheaper tax.

[Patrick1964]

R6tty said:

Are you talking V8?

Possibly, but not necessarily

[ZX10R NIN]

The 645/650's have well documented issue, you'll need to do your homework.

The 630i is the pick of the models reliability wise:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303225...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202308090...

The E350cgi is a good option & they're also cheaper road tax:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202309282...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202309202...

As is the 3.7 SL350, that's if you don't need the rear seats:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202309202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305227...

[Patrick1964]

Scootersp said:

Also the 630's as well as the 645/50's are in the high £600 tax range post the 2005 cutoff so that can be worth considering.

Edited by Scootersp on Thursday 28th September 20:48

The 630's don't show as high tax bracket on AT ?

Edit - many of them are, it seems. I'd filtered to "under £400" and there are plenty there though

Edited by Patrick1964 on Friday 29th September 10:24

[R6tty]

Patrick1964 said:

R6tty said:

Are you talking V8?

Possibly, but not necessarily

I've been running one for 5 years and can answer most of the questions if you need.
Mine is an '04 645

Good bits;
I love it
24mpg
Should you want, it's ULEZ compliant (early ones, anyway).
Low(ish) VED band (as above)
On a dateless plate and still looks good in my eyes and gets quite a few compliments.
Comffortable and quick enough.
Relatively uncommon.
Sounds good

Bad bits:
They're getting old now.
My sound system doesn't work and is a nightmare to diagnose.
Tyres

Maintenance In 5 years:
Water pump (£? DIY)
Alternator (new rectifier, £250 all -in)
Coil pack (£25 DIY)
Drop links (about £60 can't remember)
Battery

As above- I'm sure they've all had the valve stem seals done, Mine doesn't leak oil. As I said, the early ones are 20 years old so you get 20 year old niggles. Incredible value for money!

[Patrick Bateman]

Jesus that's good going (I have experienced a decent amount of N62 pain), how many miles are you talking annually?

[R6tty]

Somewhere less than 10k. I'm quite hard on it. A previous owner spent £6k on the engine before I bought it.

[macron]

You want

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Fastbikes and G3org3y's threads are excellent sources of info

[Patrick Bateman]

R6tty said:

Somewhere less than 10k. I'm quite hard on it. A previous owner spent £6k on the engine before I bought it.

That explains it.

[biggbn]

I have an (irrational?) urge to find a 3 litre petrol six with a manual box. Think it would be a great drive.

[nw28840]

I owned an 05 plate E64 3 litre for 4 years, did 30+ thousand miles in that time taking the car to 112,000 miles.
I averaged 29 miles per gallon in taht time.,
During my ownership, the only issues i had out of regular servicing and tyres were a new battery and water pump.
I originally was looking for a 650i convertible but couldn't find one a good one. No regrets owning the smaller engine version instead.

Great car, only sold when i bought a newer 640i convertible.

[R6tty]

Patrick Bateman said:

R6tty said:

Somewhere less than 10k. I'm quite hard on it. A previous owner spent £6k on the engine before I bought it.

That explains it.

I think what I mean is that any V8 will have had all the bad stuff done already. There can't be any that haven't had the valve stem seals done.

[Patrick Bateman]

Hmm sounds optimistic.

[Jamescrs]

R6tty said:

I think what I mean is that any V8 will have had all the bad stuff done already. There can't be any that haven't had the valve stem seals done.

There definitely are, a mate of mine has one which has been leaking oil for the last 18 months now and he just keeps topping it up. His is a coupe but he tells me in owners groups on FB it's still a common thing