E60 545 or 550 seem good value

[torqueofthedevil]

Just looking on eBay these can be had pretty cheap now. Especially the 545 which I believe I once read is a slightly nicer engine?

Had an e46 330d for 8 years now and need an upgrade soon. Will just be churning out mway miles and mpg not too much of an issue?

Good buy?

[texasjohn]

Yes a great car IMHO

Bank on 22-25 mpg unless you do runs over 25 miles in which case high 20s.

It seems to do the same/similar miles per fuel tank as a 335i but the tank is (must be, I presume) bigger.

On an F10 550i I am getting about 300 miles for 60-65 quid. The E61 550i was about the same

[trickywoo]

I've got a 545. 80 mph on the motorway seems to give about 25 mpg. My commute is a choice of flowing a and B roads or mainly motorway. The a / B road route gives me about 26 / 27 mpg, the Motorway is less unless I keep the speed down. It's a great car for that kind of work. Quiet and refined and plenty fast enough.

It's obviously not a cheap car to run but having a big v8 needs to be done at least once. The single biggest issue is oil leaks. People will say the 550 is less affected than the 545 but given that it's essentially the same engine I'd take that with a pinch of salt.

[philmots]

Great cars, there is a few subtle changes with the 4.8 engine..

Doesn't suffer the major coolant leak in the V that the 4.4 does, the alternator bracket is different as this caused leaks on the 4.4, the right rocker cover changed etc. Will be a lot more, that's just off the top of my head.

More power too which is the main bit.