A V8 at last - my BMW 645Ci
Discussion
This is my 11 year old 645. It's got 57k on the clock and drives like a far younger car!Mine had the cam cover issues, made worse by the first garage (a place I used to use regularly) cocking up the job and damaging a cam cover in the process, Scott Feaks at Premier motors in Aberdeen sorted the problem and replaced all the seals in the area at the same time.
Mine had also been leaking for a while by the looks of things.
I'm totally smitten with the thing. I've had it 14 months now and have no real plans to change or upgrade. Mine was bought as a cheaper car (man maths) due to the oil industry downturn but I don't see anything that's in vaguely the same price range that I would rather have.
Having said that I noticed it was a bit down on water the other day with no obvious leaks so it'll be getting another garage trip soon. The thing is that I like the car enough not to be bothered, and this one is paid for so compared to my previous PCP deal I'll break even in another 6 months if you include the cost of repairs.
Funk said:
Your posts are very helpful and I may well pick your brains further down the line when it's on the cards, appreciate you've accrued a lot of knowledge!
I'm glad it's of use! I found there were DIYs around for most jobs on N62 and to a certain extent E63 (though most comes from X5s, weirdly), but ownership experience doesn't seem to get published that often so I thought I should share mine. You're more than welcome to get in touch (as is anyone else reading), though much of what I know came from the very knowledgeable and equally helpful gf15.Speed addicted - your car looks lovely! Interesting to hear your experience with the cam covers, becoming more glad I didn't do that one myself. I hope your water leak turns out to be something simple, the expansion tanks can leak on the underside and I think the fan switches can too, rather that than having it in pieces to get to the supply pipe.
This is the first car I've had where I don't necessarily begrudge it generating bills.. it's already such good value that it struggles to go far wrong.
Granfondo, you're selling up?! It'll be easy enough to find in the listings, sort by mileage ascending.. rare that one comes up with so little use.
Though speaking of stuff in the classifieds, I did find this rather special thing. Yes it's cab, but it's a manual 650i, and look inside it!
http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
I would
you know, at maybe 30% of what they're askingBig old girl she may be, but there's still fun to be had down a B-road 
Nice run this afternoon, the car stood up pretty well, but seems to be throwing out a lot of brake dust on the front right corner only - it doesn't feel like the caliper's sticking but I don't like seeing an imbalance like that, will need to take a look. I also noticed that while the steering weight is much nicer in Sport, it also transmits a lot of noise from broken surfaces, to the point where pressing on over a rough road is a little unpleasant, which is a shame - felt better leaving it off on most roads.
Now that the weather's got warmer, I've noticed that the car seems to have very poor control of air vent temperature. However you fancy setting the iDrive menu or the temperature rotaries, you will always get very hot air out of the windscreen and footwell vents. You can only get cool air out of the driver's face vents if you have either windscreen or footwell open (as if there's a certain amount of hot air that must go somewhere), but the passenger's face vents seem to behave OK. This is slightly better with the air con on, but there's still a huge difference in temperature between the two centre face vents, to the point where I often run with the driver's one closed and try and turn the passenger's one far enough to reach me. Anyone else had similar issues? I presume an E60 would be the same system.
Nice run this afternoon, the car stood up pretty well, but seems to be throwing out a lot of brake dust on the front right corner only - it doesn't feel like the caliper's sticking but I don't like seeing an imbalance like that, will need to take a look. I also noticed that while the steering weight is much nicer in Sport, it also transmits a lot of noise from broken surfaces, to the point where pressing on over a rough road is a little unpleasant, which is a shame - felt better leaving it off on most roads.
Now that the weather's got warmer, I've noticed that the car seems to have very poor control of air vent temperature. However you fancy setting the iDrive menu or the temperature rotaries, you will always get very hot air out of the windscreen and footwell vents. You can only get cool air out of the driver's face vents if you have either windscreen or footwell open (as if there's a certain amount of hot air that must go somewhere), but the passenger's face vents seem to behave OK. This is slightly better with the air con on, but there's still a huge difference in temperature between the two centre face vents, to the point where I often run with the driver's one closed and try and turn the passenger's one far enough to reach me. Anyone else had similar issues? I presume an E60 would be the same system.
Yup; I just learned to put up with mine. Air ventilation system was one of the things I found poorest on my 6; the auto setting used to go mentile from time to time and blow hot air in my face on a sunny day!
After 3 years of ownership, my 645 experience is coming to an end; traded her in against a 2012 640i (petrol, not diesel!) today - I have to say goodbye on Wednesday
After 3 years of ownership, my 645 experience is coming to an end; traded her in against a 2012 640i (petrol, not diesel!) today - I have to say goodbye on Wednesday
McSam said:
However you fancy setting the iDrive menu or the temperature rotaries
If only that wasn't the first thing I tried, Helix! I've put together a reasonable understanding of what's going on, there must be an issue with either the control from the heater matrix (putting too much hot water through when it isn't needed), or with the car's interior temperature sensors (telling it that it always needs heat even to get to minimum setting). Done a little research and in a way I'm glad it's not just my car, but it seems it's a b
h to diagnose.. Nice upgrade coming for you, Parabolica! I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts after you've spent some time with the next generation
well done avoiding the ubiquitous 640d too, I'd leave the badges on that one!Glad you're still enjoying the car..
My E61 heating behaves itself, I have both set to a constant 18 with the face vents 2 clicks to cold from the middle.
In the cold, all vents will blow hot to get the car to temperature then the face vents will gradually go to cool which is how I like it. In summer these same vents will blow ice cold to drop the temperature quick before gradually cutting back.
I find the system effective but I don't really get the whole face vents having a set temperature regardless of the cabin. I'd much rather it be like every other climate system I've had where they all work together.
My E61 heating behaves itself, I have both set to a constant 18 with the face vents 2 clicks to cold from the middle.
In the cold, all vents will blow hot to get the car to temperature then the face vents will gradually go to cool which is how I like it. In summer these same vents will blow ice cold to drop the temperature quick before gradually cutting back.
I find the system effective but I don't really get the whole face vents having a set temperature regardless of the cabin. I'd much rather it be like every other climate system I've had where they all work together.
parabolica said:
Yup; I just learned to put up with mine. Air ventilation system was one of the things I found poorest on my 6; the auto setting used to go mentile from time to time and blow hot air in my face on a sunny day!
After 3 years of ownership, my 645 experience is coming to an end; traded her in against a 2012 640i (petrol, not diesel!) today - I have to say goodbye on Wednesday
Mind letting me know which garage? My interest is piqued! After 3 years of ownership, my 645 experience is coming to an end; traded her in against a 2012 640i (petrol, not diesel!) today - I have to say goodbye on Wednesday
Cooper Cobham; in truth my first choice was a 640d at Vines Guildford but some pesky bugger bought the car between me test driving then going for lunch and coming back to do the deal! I found the 3l Diesel engine very impressive, but the petrol is just a little bit more silky smooth. I'm not doing huge mileage so other than the engines the cars were 50/50. There are a few petrol variants on the BMW AUC site but most are SE (car really looks dour without the M-Sport package). I think I found 1 of 2 petrols that was a 2012 car with decent low mileage and within my budget.
Edited by parabolica on Sunday 15th May 11:11
Do you mean my 645? I doubt it'll go on AUC; 99k miles on an 04 plate - suppose they'll send it to trade. The 640 I've bought is still up there; price on the website is £27,995 but I got a good deal/reduction.
ETA the ad is now off the AUC website.
ETA the ad is now off the AUC website.
Edited by parabolica on Monday 16th May 13:53
Not had time to look into the HVAC misbehaviours yet, but even since having all the oil leaks sorted out I'd found the car was occasionally starting from cold with a misfire and needing a second start to sort itself out. This didn't seem right, so I reset the knock control adaptions, figuring they would still be learnt for a leaky, poor-vacuum engine that was now properly sealed! It's taken a couple of hundred miles to get itself sorted out for every condition, but now it feels lovely.
It's also dramatically better on fuel.. remember that journey from Chester to Warwick, half on the A41 (mostly fast single-carriageway) and half on M6/M42/M40? Well this afternoon I needed to refuel just before coming back down, so I reset all the readouts to see what happened.
This seemed unrealistic to the point of bending physics, so I brimmed it again just before getting home to see just how far off it was. She took 13.66 litres, even at three clicks on the pump rather than stopping at the first one like I usually do. So that's 35.2mpg, on a run with several full-bore overtakes, motorway traffic, you name it, certainly no hypermiling done. Apart from being absolutely amazing for a huge automatic V8 barge, that also gives it a true 500-mile motorway range. A proper grand tourer, then. What a car..
It's also dramatically better on fuel.. remember that journey from Chester to Warwick, half on the A41 (mostly fast single-carriageway) and half on M6/M42/M40? Well this afternoon I needed to refuel just before coming back down, so I reset all the readouts to see what happened.
This seemed unrealistic to the point of bending physics, so I brimmed it again just before getting home to see just how far off it was. She took 13.66 litres, even at three clicks on the pump rather than stopping at the first one like I usually do. So that's 35.2mpg, on a run with several full-bore overtakes, motorway traffic, you name it, certainly no hypermiling done. Apart from being absolutely amazing for a huge automatic V8 barge, that also gives it a true 500-mile motorway range. A proper grand tourer, then. What a car..
Seven months in, it's about time this big GT did some grand touring..
Glamorous this journey ain't, but it is one I've done every year, so it was a good chance to compare the 6er to the E46 328i it replaced. A week up around the Cairngorms not only let me try out the proper touring ability and the performance down lovely empty B-roads, it also provided an important test.. Can we do a 400-mile run on a single tank without having to make any concessions with cruising speed?
'Course we can. Let's just say we beat Google Maps by a fair margin, had plenty of fuel left, and got out at the other end without an ache or pain to speak of! The E46 was good, but this thing is just effortless. We stopped for lunch halfway up, and what felt like about fifteen minutes after resuming I glanced down at the odo.. I was astonished to see we'd done another 70 miles
once you settle in, time and miles just disappear. Most of the time it doesn't even feel like you're travelling at all, which is awesome. Normally we split the driving, but I did the whole lot this time because it just wasn't taking anything out of me.
There are bugbears. Some form of cupholder would have been nice. No, not that travesty that takes up the passenger's knee room, a proper place to put drinks. The HVAC really is a bit daft and unless you have the air con on, at least some of the vents will always be blowing hot air. Adaptive cruise would be nice. It's slightly wide for the narrow outside lane in motorway roadworks. Um.. running out of ways to criticise it, really. Brilliant.
Once up in Scotland, it's rude not to go hunting out the best roads you can find, so the customary hooning day was had alongside PHer Bork Factor's E46. Not as amusing a pairing as when we had cars that looked almost identical, but still pretty enough..
That E46 has never had to work so hard I went for a little run in it and it's a genuinely lovely car, nicely balanced, classic soundtrack and rewarding to push along. But when you get back in the big Six, Christ is it fast! There's just so much performance, in every direction. It feels better the faster you drive it, flowing across undulations and surface imperfections, surging forward on this huge wave of torque.. I spent most of the time in third gear, it's plenty flexible, and even from down at 3000rpm the shove it delivers on corner exit raises a grin every time. The brakes are up to the task, the pedal never changed and the response was always sharp and reassuring. These Goodyears are bloody good, you have to make a conscious effort to reach the limit under braking, and I still don't quite know where it lies in high-speed cornering - well beyond the point of wisdom on the road, that's for sure!
All in all, a far better showing than I expected. I thought it'd feel too big, too heavy, too uninvolving.. yes, it is a little effortless and I do miss getting to do two heel-and-toe downshifts into a tight corner, but it makes up for it with the breadth of its ability. It's so much quicker, sounds great and is just really satisfying to drive hard - I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Over the week, 1427 miles covered and 226 litres of fuel burnt. And damn near every flying insect in Scotland plastered to the front end. Success.. this thing is growing on me.
Glamorous this journey ain't, but it is one I've done every year, so it was a good chance to compare the 6er to the E46 328i it replaced. A week up around the Cairngorms not only let me try out the proper touring ability and the performance down lovely empty B-roads, it also provided an important test.. Can we do a 400-mile run on a single tank without having to make any concessions with cruising speed?
'Course we can. Let's just say we beat Google Maps by a fair margin, had plenty of fuel left, and got out at the other end without an ache or pain to speak of! The E46 was good, but this thing is just effortless. We stopped for lunch halfway up, and what felt like about fifteen minutes after resuming I glanced down at the odo.. I was astonished to see we'd done another 70 miles
once you settle in, time and miles just disappear. Most of the time it doesn't even feel like you're travelling at all, which is awesome. Normally we split the driving, but I did the whole lot this time because it just wasn't taking anything out of me.There are bugbears. Some form of cupholder would have been nice. No, not that travesty that takes up the passenger's knee room, a proper place to put drinks. The HVAC really is a bit daft and unless you have the air con on, at least some of the vents will always be blowing hot air. Adaptive cruise would be nice. It's slightly wide for the narrow outside lane in motorway roadworks. Um.. running out of ways to criticise it, really. Brilliant.
Once up in Scotland, it's rude not to go hunting out the best roads you can find, so the customary hooning day was had alongside PHer Bork Factor's E46. Not as amusing a pairing as when we had cars that looked almost identical, but still pretty enough..
That E46 has never had to work so hard
I went for a little run in it and it's a genuinely lovely car, nicely balanced, classic soundtrack and rewarding to push along. But when you get back in the big Six, Christ is it fast! There's just so much performance, in every direction. It feels better the faster you drive it, flowing across undulations and surface imperfections, surging forward on this huge wave of torque.. I spent most of the time in third gear, it's plenty flexible, and even from down at 3000rpm the shove it delivers on corner exit raises a grin every time. The brakes are up to the task, the pedal never changed and the response was always sharp and reassuring. These Goodyears are bloody good, you have to make a conscious effort to reach the limit under braking, and I still don't quite know where it lies in high-speed cornering - well beyond the point of wisdom on the road, that's for sure!All in all, a far better showing than I expected. I thought it'd feel too big, too heavy, too uninvolving.. yes, it is a little effortless and I do miss getting to do two heel-and-toe downshifts into a tight corner, but it makes up for it with the breadth of its ability. It's so much quicker, sounds great and is just really satisfying to drive hard - I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Over the week, 1427 miles covered and 226 litres of fuel burnt. And damn near every flying insect in Scotland plastered to the front end. Success.. this thing is growing on me.
Interesting to hear about the misfire, mine has been doing similar occasionally. I'm looking forward to getting it out of the garage when I get back from offshore.
It'll be nearly three months since I've driven it due to a leak that looks like power steering oil and having motorbike holidays between my offshore trips.
I've never noticed the HVAC doing odd things, but I've never switched off the air con either.
looking forward to driving the BMW again, not looking forward to another large bill. It'll make a nice change from the Berlingo dog van or my motorbike!
It'll be nearly three months since I've driven it due to a leak that looks like power steering oil and having motorbike holidays between my offshore trips.
I've never noticed the HVAC doing odd things, but I've never switched off the air con either.
looking forward to driving the BMW again, not looking forward to another large bill. It'll make a nice change from the Berlingo dog van or my motorbike!
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