E60 550i Touring - Bork factor?

E60 550i Touring - Bork factor?

Author
Discussion

gazchap

1,523 posts

183 months

Thursday 30th April 2015
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hornetrider said:
Yeah, watch out for 'massive uncurable grin' syndrome.
Heheh. Well, coming from two M5s and an M3 it's going to be an interesting comparison, for sure.

Sargeant Orange

Original Poster:

2,713 posts

147 months

Thursday 30th April 2015
quotequote all
philmots said:
Sargeant Orange said:
Cheers for the help so far guys. The 55 plate linked above by jshond is probably the only viable one at the moment so may go and view it. £290 tax & £350 insurance looks decent.

Having run an rx8 for 3 years (albeit a while ago) mpg doesn't really bother me, anything over 20 would be fine.
Let us know how you get on.. Be aware it's got no xenons, which IMO is poor and would be a deal breaker for me on a 550i. Although it may not bother you!

Fortunate that it's in the kind tax group, it does hurt paying £505 a year!
Nice spot on the lack of xenons, thanks. A bargaining tool if nothing else I guess as I'm sure an upgrade is not cheap.

cerb4.5lee

30,562 posts

180 months

Thursday 30th April 2015
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gazchap said:
Anything to watch out for?
I had the 4.8 engine in my X5 4.8is and just check under the engine thoroughly because mine used to drop a fair bit of oil and it had only covered 35k miles when I got it but other than that its a stunning engine and sounds lush and is super smooth.

jboy72

375 posts

181 months

Thursday 30th April 2015
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philmots said:
Be aware it's got no xenons, which IMO is poor and would be a deal breaker for me on a 550i.
Also, does the I-drive not say "restraint system faulty"?

philmots

4,631 posts

260 months

Thursday 30th April 2015
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I noticed the airbag light was on, but completely forgot to mention it.. I'd walk away unless they manage to get it sorted.

Have a look at the 07 black one, more miles but cheaper and a better colour.

gazchap

1,523 posts

183 months

Thursday 30th April 2015
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Thinking about it, I'm not sure why I've not looked at 550 tourings before. Apart from the ludicrous running costs and fuel consumption, the E61 M5 I had was probably the best car I've owned in terms of practicality and fun, and I guess the 550 Tourings are going to be similar but cheaper to run.

Jedilai

96 posts

121 months

Friday 1st May 2015
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restraint system faulty/airbag codes etc. nearly always down to the airbag control module that is located under the centre console. Its a £350 part easy to fit IIRC if its the usual E90/E60 part. If you can diagnose it properly its not the end of the world. I would agree, in first instance get seller to fix it first...

ian_cab28

207 posts

217 months

Friday 1st May 2015
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That 55 plate silver 550 looks very expensive from what I've seen in the market recently. A trader struggled to sell an SE model for thousands less than this one.

philmots

4,631 posts

260 months

Friday 1st May 2015
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It does look expensive..

But, in fairness.. That other was an SE that most people don't want, and it was grey (no problem) with grey leather.. Which is awful.

Sargeant Orange

Original Poster:

2,713 posts

147 months

Friday 1st May 2015
quotequote all
I spoke to the seller of the black one today & unfortunately the history doesn't seem complete between 70k & 113k, although has plenty of invoices. The sat nav disc drive is also knackered which in isolation isn't a big deal to me but isn't ideal for any resale prospects, as i'm sure he's finding out.

The silver one seems strong money considering it's not overly loaded with options and has the restraint issue.

So i'll wait it out for now and see if anything more comes up soon.

gazchap

1,523 posts

183 months

Friday 1st May 2015
quotequote all
Sargeant Orange said:
I spoke to the seller of the black one today...
The one at Lutterworth?

Sargeant Orange

Original Poster:

2,713 posts

147 months

Friday 1st May 2015
quotequote all
gazchap said:
The one at Lutterworth?
Yep that's the one

gazchap

1,523 posts

183 months

Friday 1st May 2015
quotequote all
Sargeant Orange said:
Yep that's the one
That answers the question about whether I should go and look at it tomorrow, then!

smile

gazchap

1,523 posts

183 months

Friday 1st May 2015
quotequote all
Sargeant Orange said:
Yep that's the one
Was it the dealer that told you the sat nav drive was screwed? Just asked him if there's any faults with it and he said "not to our knowledge."

Bit shady.

Sargeant Orange

Original Poster:

2,713 posts

147 months

Friday 1st May 2015
quotequote all
Yes definitely the main guy there, had the whole discussion about how it wasn't really worth him getting BMW to fix it as he's selling on behalf of a friend.

philmots

4,631 posts

260 months

Friday 1st May 2015
quotequote all
New DVD drives for the nav are about £100, and a doddle to fit so it could be a decent aid in bargaining..

Chances are it could just need a clean, mine sometimes had a disc read error but I ran a cleaner through it about 3 months ago and I've had no issues since. It may also have a copied nav disc in which are harder to read.

Has the service between 70 and 113 been done or is there a complete gap? If it's been done at BMW but no record with the car then it'll be on record.

Otherwise it may be worth a look, the wheels looks to be in very good condition with Bridgestone tyres, not the sort of thing someone would fit if they scrimped.

Sargeant Orange

Original Poster:

2,713 posts

147 months

Friday 1st May 2015
quotequote all
It could be worth a look for someone a bit closer than me then if that's the only sat nav issue. However the impression I got from the seller was that those invoices were for work carried out rather than a lazy dealer not stamping the book. The only way to really know would be to look through yourself, you very rarely get a full story from a dealer on the phone I guess,although he seemed a very genuine guy.


gazchap

1,523 posts

183 months

Friday 1st May 2015
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The dealer not mentioning it when I explicitly asked if there were any faults puts me right off, though.

A shame, I'm cross-shopping 650i and 550i Tourings, slim pickings of both really!

philmots

4,631 posts

260 months

Friday 1st May 2015
quotequote all
If you get the car cheap enough you kind of insure yourself against issues. I got mine at a very keen price, and when I went to see the car it was perfect apart from tatty wheels etc..

Over the next month a few minor issues came to light, that in fairness most people would live with.. Me being anal got them all sorted, I put about a grand in (I expect this with any used car - wheel refurb, new mats/wipers etc included) and now it's perfect in every way, and still probably paid under the going rate..

Good luck with the hunt guys, they're worth it!

Sargeant Orange

Original Poster:

2,713 posts

147 months

Sunday 17th May 2015
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Well an interim update of sorts...

I missed out on the manual 550i on eBay last week (another lucky ph'er got there first) but in hindsight the beige interior wouldn't have been the most suitable for my muddy dogs. So the search is still going on.

However in the meantime I've picked up a 2005 Subaru legacy 3.0r spec b Estate (what a mouthful!) to tide me over. My search doesn't seem so urgent all of a sudden biggrin