Mrs Fb’s 650i...regret may be strong with this one!
Discussion
Thanks all for the kind comments, Mrs Fb was out last night and did about 40miles and then out and about again today. So far so good with no new issues... sounds daft getting excited about 50 miles trouble free but I’ll take what we can get 
Have a courtesy non broken photo
Court_S said:
What are your thoughts on it compared to yours?
Mine overall is in far nicer condition, to the point the guy we bought the 650 from was adamant mine has a new radiator as it was so clean. Quick point to the factory sticker dated 2006 and he couldn’t believe it. Mine drives like a new car, I know it’s a cliche but I’ve had brand new cars and mine drives every bit as good if not better. Her 650 drives nice and with 4 new MPS4’s and recent alignment it does feel planted. Fuel wise is the interesting one, I don’t think the V8 is much worse ... from initial trips so far I would says there’s all of 2 maybe 3mpg difference around town, and pretty much the same on the motorway. Have a courtesy non broken photo
Hi,
Wonderful choice of cars. So many people are negative about the 650, it gets an unfair press.
I had a 2005 650 from 2011 on 48k miles to Dec 2019 when I sold it with 201k miles. It was properly looked after by a really good specialist. It never let me down. Oil stem seals and head gaskets done at ~150k miles.
From memory a wheel bearing, gearbox sump gasket, electric dipstick sender, rear brake pipe and a rear spring were the only non consumables it needed.
It never used a drop of oil between services, drove beautifully even at 200k miles, no squeaks or rattles and felt like it had every one of it's 360 bhp. It still accelerated into the speed limiter and displayed a vmax of 161 on the HUD, it was rock solid at this speed. MPSS4S's were the best tyres, closely followed by GOODYEAR AS 2's.
Do check the drains under the cabin pollen filters, as these clog up with leaves and the water ends up in the rear footwells.
Enjoy!
Wonderful choice of cars. So many people are negative about the 650, it gets an unfair press.
I had a 2005 650 from 2011 on 48k miles to Dec 2019 when I sold it with 201k miles. It was properly looked after by a really good specialist. It never let me down. Oil stem seals and head gaskets done at ~150k miles.
From memory a wheel bearing, gearbox sump gasket, electric dipstick sender, rear brake pipe and a rear spring were the only non consumables it needed.
It never used a drop of oil between services, drove beautifully even at 200k miles, no squeaks or rattles and felt like it had every one of it's 360 bhp. It still accelerated into the speed limiter and displayed a vmax of 161 on the HUD, it was rock solid at this speed. MPSS4S's were the best tyres, closely followed by GOODYEAR AS 2's.
Do check the drains under the cabin pollen filters, as these clog up with leaves and the water ends up in the rear footwells.
Enjoy!
fastbikes76 said:
Mine overall is in far nicer condition, to the point the guy we bought the 650 from was adamant mine has a new radiator as it was so clean. Quick point to the factory sticker dated 2006 and he couldn’t believe it. Mine drives like a new car, I know it’s a cliche but I’ve had brand new cars and mine drives every bit as good if not better. Her 650 drives nice and with 4 new MPS4’s and recent alignment it does feel planted. Fuel wise is the interesting one, I don’t think the V8 is much worse ... from initial trips so far I would says there’s all of 2 maybe 3mpg difference around town, and pretty much the same on the motorway.
Have a courtesy non broken photo
I did wonder about the MPG. My old 330 wasn’t the best on fuel so a bit more heft probably wouldn’t help. Does yours feel loads slower?Have a courtesy non broken photo
How does your good lady feel about the car after it’s issues?
Court_S said:
fastbikes76 said:
Mine overall is in far nicer condition, to the point the guy we bought the 650 from was adamant mine has a new radiator as it was so clean. Quick point to the factory sticker dated 2006 and he couldn’t believe it. Mine drives like a new car, I know it’s a cliche but I’ve had brand new cars and mine drives every bit as good if not better. Her 650 drives nice and with 4 new MPS4’s and recent alignment it does feel planted. Fuel wise is the interesting one, I don’t think the V8 is much worse ... from initial trips so far I would says there’s all of 2 maybe 3mpg difference around town, and pretty much the same on the motorway.
Have a courtesy non broken photo
I did wonder about the MPG. My old 330 wasn’t the best on fuel so a bit more heft probably wouldn’t help. Does yours feel loads slower?Have a courtesy non broken photo
How does your good lady feel about the car after it’s issues?
Court_S said:
I did wonder about the MPG. My old 330 wasn’t the best on fuel so a bit more heft probably wouldn’t help. Does yours feel loads slower?
How does your good lady feel about the car after it’s issues?
In the grand scheme of things fuel difference is pretty much insignificant, power wise is tricky one as Mrs Fb and I share a different opinion. Hers is quicker for sure, but is it really a 100hp quicker, I genuinely don’t think it is. There is much more on the top end and it pulls harder the faster you go but does it warrant the potential Bork factor over the 630 ... not convinced myself. How does your good lady feel about the car after it’s issues?
The noise and the fact you drive a nice big NA V8 is probably the only real upside to the 645/650 over the 630. For me if you buy a 6 series for the looks, buy a 630, if you are buying one for the V8 then obviously you will buy the 645/650 and have massive potential bork factor added.
I don’t regret buying her the 650, yet. She got quite despondent after breaking down on the motorway, now it’s fixed and currently behaving itself she is loving every mile
Well so far so good, Mrs Fb has been using the car and not had anymore issues to report. I think the alternator gasket is going to need to be done sooner rather than later as there are tell tale rainbows under the car in the rain... a standard V8 trait.
Her car wasn’t all that clean when we bought it and was absolutely filthy now after plenty country lanes etc. Thought I would treat it to a good wash and see how it came up. Also found an inch thick layer of rubber in the rear arches
One and only ‘before’ pic
And an interior you would struggle to believe has covered a 110k over the last 15 years.
Once she’s done a few more miles and all is well, I will start sorting bits for her. I’ve got a Bluetooth adapter to wire in, some nice brand new Eibach Pro springs to go on, alternator gasket to do and then some general tidying up for her.
Her car wasn’t all that clean when we bought it and was absolutely filthy now after plenty country lanes etc. Thought I would treat it to a good wash and see how it came up. Also found an inch thick layer of rubber in the rear arches
One and only ‘before’ pic
And an interior you would struggle to believe has covered a 110k over the last 15 years.
Once she’s done a few more miles and all is well, I will start sorting bits for her. I’ve got a Bluetooth adapter to wire in, some nice brand new Eibach Pro springs to go on, alternator gasket to do and then some general tidying up for her.
I ran a 650i for just over 7 years and loved every second of it. Got rid of it in June of this year to force myself to buy something else otherwise I’d have had the thing forever. Still haven’t actually worked out what to replace it with though so we’re still just running 1 car.
Mine had a few things that needed sorting over the years, and the stem seals needed sorting when I got rid of it, but on the whole it was a lovely thing to own.
Mine had a few things that needed sorting over the years, and the stem seals needed sorting when I got rid of it, but on the whole it was a lovely thing to own.
Grrrrr.... getting bored now !
Been having little rainbows appear under the car and knew something was leaking. A previous look under the car seems to indicate alternator soaking wet and I presumed usual alternator bracket gasket was leaking. This is a ball ache job and up to 10 hours on axle stands roughly.
Today I thought I would decrease and jetwash the entire engine bay and have a good poke around . Drenched it head to toe in degreaser and then blasted the life out of it with the jet wash. First interesting thing I noted was coolant in the airbox
That initially explained the MASSIVE plume of white smoke out the back when rad hose let loose. Then I spotted the air intake is about 2 inches forwards of the hose that blew off, I’m guessing it just injested a large breath of coolant as the hose blew off.
And some before photos of various dirty engine bay bits
Note the tell tale clean spot
After a good blast, didn’t take proper pics as I had discovered leak by this point and was pissed off
And this is what we had after about 3 minutes in tick over.
Leak is coming from upper timing cover gasket on passenger side.
I thought I had snapped up a car with all the main issues done, it appears not. Luckily all the common issues on these are purely labour intensive and the parts are pennies. I just had hoped not to be spending forever upside down under cars again.
Anyways Mrs Fb has been told not to drive it until I’ve fitted new gaskets. That’s pleased her no end !
Been having little rainbows appear under the car and knew something was leaking. A previous look under the car seems to indicate alternator soaking wet and I presumed usual alternator bracket gasket was leaking. This is a ball ache job and up to 10 hours on axle stands roughly.
Today I thought I would decrease and jetwash the entire engine bay and have a good poke around . Drenched it head to toe in degreaser and then blasted the life out of it with the jet wash. First interesting thing I noted was coolant in the airbox
That initially explained the MASSIVE plume of white smoke out the back when rad hose let loose. Then I spotted the air intake is about 2 inches forwards of the hose that blew off, I’m guessing it just injested a large breath of coolant as the hose blew off. And some before photos of various dirty engine bay bits
Note the tell tale clean spot
After a good blast, didn’t take proper pics as I had discovered leak by this point and was pissed off
And this is what we had after about 3 minutes in tick over.
Leak is coming from upper timing cover gasket on passenger side.
I thought I had snapped up a car with all the main issues done, it appears not. Luckily all the common issues on these are purely labour intensive and the parts are pennies. I just had hoped not to be spending forever upside down under cars again.
Anyways Mrs Fb has been told not to drive it until I’ve fitted new gaskets. That’s pleased her no end !
g3org3y said:
Sorry to hear of your new issues. I bet it's even more frustrating given this car is supposed to be for your wife.Are you going to do all the work yourself?
All the common leaks are such cheap repairs but labour is the kicker. Car runs spot on and it’s doesn’t really detract from it so in that sense it’s a decent car. Wife’s not too fussed yet, don’t know how many more issues she will put up with though. So far it’s just niggles so I don’t mind persevering with it. If it throws a mega wobbly though I will launch it and I’ve her my 630i instead.
robsa said:
Still, look on the bright side - you were right about getting a 630i instead of the troublesome V8...
What the saying about gut feeling... should have stuck with it and avoided the N62 like the clap. Court_S said:
That’s a ball ache.
At least it was her who wanted a V8, rather than you pushing it! I’m pushing to upgrade my other half’s 116 to a 125/130 in the spring...she’ll go nuts if it turns out to be a pain given how reliable her car actually is.
Yes that’s rather fortunate it was her idea rather than mine ! At least it was her who wanted a V8, rather than you pushing it! I’m pushing to upgrade my other half’s 116 to a 125/130 in the spring...she’ll go nuts if it turns out to be a pain given how reliable her car actually is.
So after nearly 2 days of degreasing and drowning in brake cleaner I had the engine clean enough so it wasn’t baked in 15 years worth of usual seeps and weeps. After a few minutes of running on axles stands I have two blatant leaks that require immediate attention.
1 is the Ns upper timing cover gasket which is £20 in parts and probably 2-3 hours labour
2 is the dreaded alternator gasket which I though I had got away with. This one is even cheaper at £15 for gasket and 2x O’rings, however anywhere up to 10 hours labour on stands.
And that’s the crux of these engines , if you can fix the leaks your self it’s always pennies in parts but painful amounts of labour . This is where it gets a bit of a quandary, because do I strip the car partially and do the know leaks, or do I get stuck in balls deep and rip it all apart spending 20+ hours on it but replace ALL the usual suspects? It drives lovely, runs sweet and looks great, just my OCD won’t allow me/her to own a car that leaves oil drips everywhere you park.
fastbikes76 said:
Yes that’s rather fortunate it was her idea rather than mine !
So after nearly 2 days of degreasing and drowning in brake cleaner I had the engine clean enough so it wasn’t baked in 15 years worth of usual seeps and weeps. After a few minutes of running on axles stands I have two blatant leaks that require immediate attention.
1 is the Ns upper timing cover gasket which is £20 in parts and probably 2-3 hours labour
2 is the dreaded alternator gasket which I though I had got away with. This one is even cheaper at £15 for gasket and 2x O’rings, however anywhere up to 10 hours labour on stands.
And that’s the crux of these engines , if you can fix the leaks your self it’s always pennies in parts but painful amounts of labour . This is where it gets a bit of a quandary, because do I strip the car partially and do the know leaks, or do I get stuck in balls deep and rip it all apart spending 20+ hours on it but replace ALL the usual suspects? It drives lovely, runs sweet and looks great, just my OCD won’t allow me/her to own a car that leaves oil drips everywhere you park.
If she likes the car and you have the ability, I’d be tempted to go conkers deep and get it sorted. Beats eating loads and getting fat over Christmas! So after nearly 2 days of degreasing and drowning in brake cleaner I had the engine clean enough so it wasn’t baked in 15 years worth of usual seeps and weeps. After a few minutes of running on axles stands I have two blatant leaks that require immediate attention.
1 is the Ns upper timing cover gasket which is £20 in parts and probably 2-3 hours labour
2 is the dreaded alternator gasket which I though I had got away with. This one is even cheaper at £15 for gasket and 2x O’rings, however anywhere up to 10 hours labour on stands.
And that’s the crux of these engines , if you can fix the leaks your self it’s always pennies in parts but painful amounts of labour . This is where it gets a bit of a quandary, because do I strip the car partially and do the know leaks, or do I get stuck in balls deep and rip it all apart spending 20+ hours on it but replace ALL the usual suspects? It drives lovely, runs sweet and looks great, just my OCD won’t allow me/her to own a car that leaves oil drips everywhere you park.
fastbikes76 said:
robsa said:
Do it right first time around
Peace of mind then and if/when you do come to sell it on, you know you've always got that in its favour as most folk who do their research on these will want to know what the oil leak situation is like
Good luck
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff