E65/E66 Buying advice.

[lambo_xx]

A friend is after one so I said I’d ask on here. Budget would be between £6-9K for the car. I said go for the V8 but apparently has to be the diesel.
Questions are what to look for? Anything specific on these?
Spec wise, any must haves?
What is real life economy like?
BMW offer a warranty, is it worth having? Or will it be such minimal cover on a car of this age it isn’t worth having?
He currently has a 2007 318D. Will running costs be much more?
Lastly, is there any way of getting an ipod connection in the car?

Thanks for any help! Really appreciate it!

[Patrick Bateman]

When bills come round, they'll likely be in a different league from a 3 series, but that's a given I suppose.

[Theophany]

lambo_xx said:

A friend is after one so I said I’d ask on here. Budget would be between £6-9K for the car. I said go for the V8 but apparently has to be the diesel.
Questions are what to look for? Anything specific on these?
Spec wise, any must haves?
What is real life economy like?
BMW offer a warranty, is it worth having? Or will it be such minimal cover on a car of this age it isn’t worth having?
He currently has a 2007 318D. Will running costs be much more?
Lastly, is there any way of getting an ipod connection in the car?

Thanks for any help! Really appreciate it!

Avoid the V8. I own one and as much as I love it, it's an abusive relationship.

[notsofast]

When it's running it will be the best car he ever bought.
When it's not running it will be the worst car he ever bought.

I have a 2002 745 which is magnificent, or rather it will be again when I fix the oil leaks.
To compare running costs with a 3 series, well they won't be that much more in terms of oil services etc but when you get in to tyres, brakes, electrical failures etc it racks up. Maybe the 3.0 diesel is smaller than the 4.4 and doesn't suffer from the packing issues that big engines have.

If you friend has always fancied one then he should get one because they are awesome cars, as long as he is prepared for the odd big bill.

I took the opposite approach and bought the cheapest one I could get my hands on with the reason that if a mega bill came in I would just scrap it so I
Part of the problem is that there are not many scrap parts around, no Haynes manual, and you really need to take it to a specialist for anything significant. I let a non-specialist but otherwise trusted garage do some suspension work which was a mistake.

Enjoy.