Thoughts needed on 530d touring
Discussion
Hi Everyone,
I've been looking at a 530d touring on an 06 plate, with a lot of miles 150k, its an auto with cloth interior. No Sat Nav or parking and a broken cd player. Price is £8k.
Is this any good? Should I spend more and get a lower mileage older example on a 54 plate with 90k on the clock and more extras like leather sat nav and parking.
Is there anything I should be looking out for?
Any advice gratefully received.
Thanks
I've been looking at a 530d touring on an 06 plate, with a lot of miles 150k, its an auto with cloth interior. No Sat Nav or parking and a broken cd player. Price is £8k.
Is this any good? Should I spend more and get a lower mileage older example on a 54 plate with 90k on the clock and more extras like leather sat nav and parking.
Is there anything I should be looking out for?
Any advice gratefully received.
Thanks
It sounds a bit of a risk and will probably be worth less than a bag of walkers in a couple of years. If you intend to keep it until it dies then it might be worth a cheeky offer, but probably not.
8k will get you a mint E39, or a new condition E34 if you could find one.
I just bought a '98 540 touring without PDC and to be honest they really, really need it. Hence my post about retrofit kits.
8k will get you a mint E39, or a new condition E34 if you could find one.
I just bought a '98 540 touring without PDC and to be honest they really, really need it. Hence my post about retrofit kits.
Keep looking for a more cherished example than an ex-police car, would be my advice. Can't think of many cars having a tougher life than that, and the mileage is already high, so it will be worth nothing when you want to move it on. Plenty of choice, and maybe worth raising the budget just a grand or two to get a superb car rather than one that obviously has given its best.
rassi said:
Keep looking for a more cherished example than an ex-police car, would be my advice. Can't think of many cars having a tougher life than that, and the mileage is already high, so it will be worth nothing when you want to move it on. Plenty of choice, and maybe worth raising the budget just a grand or two to get a superb car rather than one that obviously has given its best.
Seconded. Speaking from experience there are bargains to be had but patience is your friend. From a sell on and residual perspective the fact that a car doesn't have what a prospective buyer would normally expect (eg leather, auto, PDC, etc) will surely reduce levels of interest...I recently bought an 330i sport touring and was not prepared to compromise on the spec (luckily the standard spec was pretty good) but the search took quite a while but then I got the right car at the right price.
I've had a few police cars, and they have generally been a good ownership experience. However:
They are often white, which has a large bearing on used value, espeically with up-market cars.
They have basic specifications, so you need to decide what you want. The usual issue is with auto, aircon and leather.
Re-instating the interior can be difficult and expensive.
Seats get worn out by various bits of kit worn on belts and vests.
They are often clocked (don't know about Beemers).
They often pursue villains off-road, so look out for under-floor damage.
The mileage is high, but engine wear when cruising is insignificant, and the car in general hardly gets cold or damp, and there are relatively few cold starts.
They are often white, which has a large bearing on used value, espeically with up-market cars.
They have basic specifications, so you need to decide what you want. The usual issue is with auto, aircon and leather.
Re-instating the interior can be difficult and expensive.
Seats get worn out by various bits of kit worn on belts and vests.
They are often clocked (don't know about Beemers).
They often pursue villains off-road, so look out for under-floor damage.
The mileage is high, but engine wear when cruising is insignificant, and the car in general hardly gets cold or damp, and there are relatively few cold starts.
Battenburg Bob said:
As a driver of said Police 5 series...I wouldn't buy one after they've been sold off. They get replaced for a reason, they're knackered.
Yes, they're worn out, but so is everything else at the same price. Have you driven a car that's done 150,000 miles in the hands of a plonk-er-foolish fellow? Yes, they get clocked, but only in the hands of the people they fall into (dashboards are often replaced).
I don't think ex-police cars are an particularly good or bad value. In general I would rather have something older but lower mileage, and buy on condition.
welwynnick said:
Yes, they're worn out, but so is everything else at the same price. Have you driven a car that's done 150,000 miles in the hands of a plonk-er-foolish fellow?
I bought a 4 year old 530 with 140k miles on it 3 years ago. It was absolutely not worn out. Infact, it drove as well if not better than the ones i'd test driven with half the mileage and was in better condition inside and out than our other E39, which we'd owned since 20k and had only only 50k on it when I bought the 530.I've since put another 25k on it and it doesn't feel appreciably different. So much so that I've abandoned plans to replace it simply because there just doesn't seem to be any point.
A looked after 5 Series with one careful owner is capable of covering huge mileages before being worn out.
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