Early E63 6 series
Discussion
Company car goes in summer so planning on buying something “nice” to run for year or two before going back to the usual 2.0D.
Always liked the 6 and wondering if would just be world of pain?
Trying to keep below £7k
Mpg and regular maintenance no issue but possibly of huge bills ?
Real world experience much appreciated
Always liked the 6 and wondering if would just be world of pain?
Trying to keep below £7k
Mpg and regular maintenance no issue but possibly of huge bills ?
Real world experience much appreciated
My 645:
Mpg - 7 mpg around town, 30 on a run.
Tyres £250 a corner (run flat £300)
Maintenance etc no more expensive than anything else really, easy to self service for filters oil etc. Pads are also easy to replace and pads/discs cheap from ECP.
The petrol v8 tends to spring an oil leak at the back which is a pain to fix (seal on a mounting point goes).
I loved my 6 but the average mpg meant it wasn’t cost effective when doing 20k a year!
Mpg - 7 mpg around town, 30 on a run.
Tyres £250 a corner (run flat £300)
Maintenance etc no more expensive than anything else really, easy to self service for filters oil etc. Pads are also easy to replace and pads/discs cheap from ECP.
The petrol v8 tends to spring an oil leak at the back which is a pain to fix (seal on a mounting point goes).
I loved my 6 but the average mpg meant it wasn’t cost effective when doing 20k a year!
If 7mpg is correct your car is broken or you really need to look at your driving style.
Even the 275 tyres on the back are ‘only’ £150 a corner for Asy 3 or PS Michelin’s.
The rocker covers on the V8 leak (10 hour job in the bmw book) other leaks not uncommon. Scare stories about the coolant pipe in the V but I’ve not actually heard much about it.
Biggest issue with the V8 is valve guide seals which are expensive.
The V8 is a really nice engine but if you want to keep costs down go for a petrol 6.
Even the 275 tyres on the back are ‘only’ £150 a corner for Asy 3 or PS Michelin’s.
The rocker covers on the V8 leak (10 hour job in the bmw book) other leaks not uncommon. Scare stories about the coolant pipe in the V but I’ve not actually heard much about it.
Biggest issue with the V8 is valve guide seals which are expensive.
The V8 is a really nice engine but if you want to keep costs down go for a petrol 6.
trickywoo said:
Even the 275 tyres on the back are ‘only’ £150 a corner for Asy 3 or PS Michelin’s.
The rocker covers on the V8 leak (10 hour job in the bmw book) other leaks not uncommon. Scare stories about the coolant pipe in the V but I’ve not actually heard much about it.
Biggest issue with the V8 is valve guide seals which are expensive.
The V8 is a really nice engine but if you want to keep costs down go for a petrol 6.
£150 a corner, where please?. I do shop around and last pair for the rear were:The rocker covers on the V8 leak (10 hour job in the bmw book) other leaks not uncommon. Scare stories about the coolant pipe in the V but I’ve not actually heard much about it.
Biggest issue with the V8 is valve guide seals which are expensive.
The V8 is a really nice engine but if you want to keep costs down go for a petrol 6.
Item: Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S 275/35 ZR19 (100Y) XL
Amount: 2
Price: £ 229.00
Total VAT included: 458.00 £
As for which one to get, yes on the v8's, the oil stem seals are an issue, mine went at 138k miles.
For the 3.0 petrol Vs the 645/650, we have a 2003 330i convertible and a 2005 650 and the MPG difference over a weeks driving of 600 miles is about 2 MPG (mainly motorway over 3 days and it is 27 Vs 29 MPG in favour of the 3 series). Road tax is the same, as are tyres.
Reliability has been superb over the last 7 years and 130k miles. Now on 170k.
I bought a V8 manual new in 2004 and sold it to a mate on 2006. He still has it and I drove it recently. Overall has been quite reliable. I hated the runflats and got rid of them for the huge improvement of proper Michelins.
I recall MPG was vastly better. Maybe 20 MPG.
Car still feels nice and the V8 has a lovely sound to it
I recall MPG was vastly better. Maybe 20 MPG.
Car still feels nice and the V8 has a lovely sound to it
At 7k look for as low a mileage example as you can. I loved my 645 and ran it from 65k to 99k where aside from a dodgy alternator it was relatively pain free. However the dreaded valve stem oil seals started to go around 95k and by the time I traded it in, it was blowing thick blue smoke under heavy acceleration. You're going to want to avoid that unless you have a spare £3-5k for an engine overhaul.
650 is generally considered more reliable than the 645; some of the 4.4 V8 weak points (coolant pipe, oil seals) were addressed in the later engine. Still not 100% robust though; there are a few threads on here with some horror stories about a x50 borking. On the plus side it was a larger engine with more performance but economy was pretty much the same as the lesser 4.4.
I had 2 645's last year after the need of well, wanting one 
I had some great advice from the guys and girls from here.
The first was an E63 Coupe black and black, great car, great spec and having only done 70k miles with a full BMW history and recently just serviced. Sadly, after about a week my driveway had patches of oil all over the place it looked like a map of the world. I had 3 different specialists look at it so I could get it fixed. Lots of different suggestions on what to replace with nothing concrete to back it up, including one suggestion that there was no oil leak.
The E64 Convertible was a stunning car to look at. Black with cream interior and every extra apart from heads up display and only done about 71k miles or so from memory. It ran lumpy when cold then puffed out smoke when it was warm, the roof was like a lottery if it would close or not, the dash lit up with some interesting warning signs which when read with my software just made me take the car back to the dealer I bought from after 2 days.
Would I have another one? Probably, but I'd make sure I buy it at the right price to cover any oil or water leaks and electrical faults. Lovely cars to drive. Pretty good on fuel and they sound lovely when the middle boxes are cut out.
I had some great advice from the guys and girls from here. The first was an E63 Coupe black and black, great car, great spec and having only done 70k miles with a full BMW history and recently just serviced. Sadly, after about a week my driveway had patches of oil all over the place it looked like a map of the world. I had 3 different specialists look at it so I could get it fixed. Lots of different suggestions on what to replace with nothing concrete to back it up, including one suggestion that there was no oil leak.
The E64 Convertible was a stunning car to look at. Black with cream interior and every extra apart from heads up display and only done about 71k miles or so from memory. It ran lumpy when cold then puffed out smoke when it was warm, the roof was like a lottery if it would close or not, the dash lit up with some interesting warning signs which when read with my software just made me take the car back to the dealer I bought from after 2 days.
Would I have another one? Probably, but I'd make sure I buy it at the right price to cover any oil or water leaks and electrical faults. Lovely cars to drive. Pretty good on fuel and they sound lovely when the middle boxes are cut out.
As with most cars over time, cheaper solutions are available to keep,these on the road.
The two main concerns are the valve stem seals and coolant pipe. Both are only likely only to go one over a say 70-100k so not a deal breaker if it was to happen during your stewardship and the coolant pipe has several different repair options depending on your budget but can be done for about £700 so again not the end of the world and you would be unlucky to fall foul of both issues in a short time frame if ever.
Leaky rocker covers, alternator seals and vacuum pump are also possible failure but again you are unlikely to be victim to all of the the above.
The two main concerns are the valve stem seals and coolant pipe. Both are only likely only to go one over a say 70-100k so not a deal breaker if it was to happen during your stewardship and the coolant pipe has several different repair options depending on your budget but can be done for about £700 so again not the end of the world and you would be unlucky to fall foul of both issues in a short time frame if ever.
Leaky rocker covers, alternator seals and vacuum pump are also possible failure but again you are unlikely to be victim to all of the the above.
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