E60 Buying Guide

[junglie]

Morning all,

I am interested in buying an E60 saloon and in particular a 545i M Sport manual.

I have had numerous BMWs in the past, mostly from the E36 / E39 era and am aware of the usual pre purchase checks on those but i am less familiar with the E60.

Standfast the usual checks on any car, are there any specifics known to the E60? I have read the E60 M5 buying guide (now one of those would be fun and an immense wallet raper ) but there is nothing in there in particular.

The general rule seems to be that the E39 is better put together but I want to get something that is slightly newer. Mileage is around 8,000 a year, I amnot overly concerned with fuel (as long as there is some at the pumps) and i have a large estate for the routine family outings so covered there.

I do not want an auto so I am quite keen to pounce on this spanish varient as they do not come by that often.

Thanks all.

[eastsider]

I haven't found a good all round E60 buyers guide yet - too many variations of engines etc and there don't seem to be any fundamental problems that can affect all cars. Lots of potential niggles depending on year and model. Best to search on here and more specialist BMW forums for the exact spec you want.

545i manual? Could be waiting a while for one of them surely!

[scz4]

eastsider said:

545i manual? Could be waiting a while for one of them surely!

Yeap! According to howmanyleft.co.uk there are only 8 manual E60 545i Sports registered on the road just now, compared to 434 Auto SE's and 74 Auto Sports.

I have a manual 550i M Sport Touring and it's 1 of 7 in the UK!

[junglie]

Thanks for that.

I have found a manual E60 545i M Sport that I am keen on as there are not many around - lost out on the last one as I could not get to the dealer quick enough.

Did you write a report on your 550i Touring on PH? I remember reading one and thought lucky chap - what a fantastic machine with real 'Q' status.