Picking up my 530i tomorrow!

[jchallis]

Tomorrow I pick up our BMW 530i automatic from a gentleman in Knutsford. The car is a '51 plate with 86k. He owned it from new and it has a full history, half BMW and half independent.

Has anyone had experience of these cars? Apart from the obvious fact that I will need a fuel tanker to follow me around, any other observations about the car? I gave it a good test drive and it went like a rocket!

Will post pictures tomorrow after a good clean and valet.

Cheers,

Jonathan

[Vroomer]

Driven sensibly you should get about 30mpg, so unless you are a wildman, fuel shouldn't be a problem.

[Vee]

Lovely cars.
Get the cooling system checked over.

[ATM]

Try here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=109...

[gizlaroc]

Make sure the history is correct. These clock very easily.

It should feel like new at 86k miles, if it feels in the slightest bit tired look deeper.

I would call BMW UK and ask when they last saw it and what the mileage was. If they saw it 5 years ago with 60k miles on it time to start looking into it more.

Could be a very genuine 86k mile car that will be a dream, so enjoy.

[Luke.]

gizlaroc said:

Make sure the history is correct. These clock very easily.

It should feel like new at 86k miles, if it feels in the slightest bit tired look deeper.

I would call BMW UK and ask when they last saw it and what the mileage was. If they saw it 5 years ago with 60k miles on it time to start looking into it more.

Could be a very genuine 86k mile car that will be a dream, so enjoy.

If it's one owner the chances are it hasn't been clocked.

[jchallis]

Well, picked it up and drove the 10 or so miles home. Drives like a new car! Off to the valeters and will post some pictures later. Thanks for the advice so far.

[hornetrider]

jchallis said:

Well, picked it up and drove the 10 or so miles home. Drives like a new car! Off to the valeters and will post some pictures later. Thanks for the advice so far.

Congrats! You should post on the Barge thread linked above

[kodos]

If you just drive sensibly on the motorway you will get 30 mpg(and i mean sensibly) please take everyone with a bit of salt when you get people telling you these cars will do 28+ mpg everywhere!

Things ive had go wrong on my e39 530i (manual) parking sensors, the business radio unit, rear bushes, clutch (wont be a problem on yours but they say by 100k you should change the fluid on the auto box)

Great cars enjoy

[Fox-]

kodos said:

If you just drive sensibly on the motorway you will get 30 mpg(and i mean sensibly) please take everyone with a bit of salt when you get people telling you these cars will do 28+ mpg everywhere!

They dont do 28mpg everywhere but it isnt difficult to get decent economy on long trips with a bit of restraint. I did 500 miles this weekend and averaged (pump to pump not OBC) 35.3mpg.

Now its back in town for the short trip to and from work it's settled back down to its usual 20mpg

To me, this is ideal. I don't give a stuff about fuel economy when I'm popping about town, you just dont drive far enough for it to matter, but decent economy is useful on longer trips, if only for the tank range. I did 500 miles on a single tank and it was showing an estimated range of 60 miles when I filled up.

[kodos]

Yes and this is my point exactly

Just get tired of people getting egged on and falsely led to believe these cars will do 28mpg around town.

On a long trip like i said yes you can see 30mpg plus.

Around town or on a spirited drive on some back roads you will see less than 23mpg!

[jchallis]

Just posted some pictures in a new thread in this forum. Thanks for all the feedback and comments. Car is off for a service tomorrow and a general check over. Hoping for no nasty surprises!