5 series M-Sport.
Discussion
It depends what you mean by reliable. It's not a Honda, it wont work day in day by simply turning the key. Stuff will go wrong, stuff will cost you money - its a 9-11 year old 100,000 mile+ car. Unless you get an automatic and the box fails nothing will go wrong that cant be put right for less a grand, mind you, but the bills soon add up.
If you are happy with this, you will have a fantastic car. If you buy it expecting troublefree ownership, you'll be a bit upset.
If you are happy with this, you will have a fantastic car. If you buy it expecting troublefree ownership, you'll be a bit upset.
As said - just keep a bit of money aside for "just in case" repairs.
I seem to be constantly spending on my 2001 530i Sport of late, getting a little fragile in her old age.
However, saying that - I love the car and dont mind spending out, it is almost 10 years old. I just did a 600 mile road trip ooop North over the weekend and again, it was an effotless and comfortable trip.
I wouldnt bother with the Sat Nav, I have it and even with the most up to date spftware maps its still terrible. Up to 2002 it had CD Rom based system - after this it was DVD which apparently is far better, but CD Rom system like mine is not worth paying a premium for IMHO (although does look nice)
Check for wheel vibration from NSF at 50-70mph, ABS issues etc etc
I seem to be constantly spending on my 2001 530i Sport of late, getting a little fragile in her old age.
However, saying that - I love the car and dont mind spending out, it is almost 10 years old. I just did a 600 mile road trip ooop North over the weekend and again, it was an effotless and comfortable trip.
I wouldnt bother with the Sat Nav, I have it and even with the most up to date spftware maps its still terrible. Up to 2002 it had CD Rom based system - after this it was DVD which apparently is far better, but CD Rom system like mine is not worth paying a premium for IMHO (although does look nice)
Check for wheel vibration from NSF at 50-70mph, ABS issues etc etc
my 1999 523 had 150K on it when i changed it great engine and no buring oil issues
My 528 sport has 135K and runns like a dream again no buring oil. The cooling systems are a pain at times but the parts are cheap(ish)
get a car regestered before the tax increase (march 2001 I think) otherwise you will be paying £400/year road tax
My 528 sport has 135K and runns like a dream again no buring oil. The cooling systems are a pain at times but the parts are cheap(ish)
get a car regestered before the tax increase (march 2001 I think) otherwise you will be paying £400/year road tax
528Sport said:
my 1999 523 had 150K on it when i changed it great engine and no buring oil issues
My 528 sport has 135K and runns like a dream again no buring oil. The cooling systems are a pain at times but the parts are cheap(ish)
get a car regestered before the tax increase (march 2001 I think) otherwise you will be paying £400/year road tax
Road tax only goes up to daft levels after March 1st 2006 registrations, the outgoing anti-motorist govt reneged on a blanket change, but it'll still cost £245 a year for that car. Pre March 2001's are taxed 'normally', not on emissions.My 528 sport has 135K and runns like a dream again no buring oil. The cooling systems are a pain at times but the parts are cheap(ish)
get a car regestered before the tax increase (march 2001 I think) otherwise you will be paying £400/year road tax
Have a look on Parker's website, all the costs are on there.
Nice car to get though!
mbrain said:
528Sport said:
my 1999 523 had 150K on it when i changed it great engine and no buring oil issues
My 528 sport has 135K and runns like a dream again no buring oil. The cooling systems are a pain at times but the parts are cheap(ish)
get a car regestered before the tax increase (march 2001 I think) otherwise you will be paying £400/year road tax
Road tax only goes up to daft levels after March 1st 2006 registrations, the outgoing anti-motorist govt reneged on a blanket change, but it'll still cost £245 a year for that car. Pre March 2001's are taxed 'normally', not on emissions.My 528 sport has 135K and runns like a dream again no buring oil. The cooling systems are a pain at times but the parts are cheap(ish)
get a car regestered before the tax increase (march 2001 I think) otherwise you will be paying £400/year road tax
Have a look on Parker's website, all the costs are on there.
Nice car to get though!
I've never met one of these cars which never need anything doing to them (owned several Hondas. but they all had two wheels... they all needed things doing to them), and my 530 Sport is no expecption.
It is not what I'd call unreliable - it has never let me down, or had any big failures - but needs the usual care. So far, biggest expense has been tyres - shortened the life of a pair of rears by swiping a curb recently, which is hardly the cars fault, but it can/will/does step sideways at the back, which is hardly conducive to lowest tyre wear. Second biggest expense has been discs - it does like to warp them, leading to vibration under braking. I am told that the discs and pads just being replaced don't look like proper BMW parts, so maybe that was a contributory factor. They are famous for going through suspension bushes, leading to front-wheel wobbles, and I have been suspicious of mine, but it turns out they are fine, and it was tyre wear causing my 50-mph wobble.
I have also needed the A/C sorting - the A/C condensor has its own blower, which is known to sieze, as mine has, and the whole front bumper has to come off to change it. An exhaust cam position sensor failed - not a big thing, but it adversely affects the performance. PDC failed too.... but that is fairly trivial. Finally, a couple of rust spots on the back, below the lip of the boot - didn't expect rust, but it is, apparently, not unkown. Not too terrible on a 9+ year old car.
It does use oil, and many of them do - one needs to keep an eye, and I carry a spare litre around becuase the level always gets to the point where I feel I should do something about it when I am in the middle of nowhere.
Apparently, cooling systems are suspect, although I've had no trouble, and auto boxes do seem to have a life of 140,000-odd (lots of info on here about their various failures). I have a manual, so don't worry about any of that stuff.
Overall, I keep toying with the idea of getting something newer and probably a bit smaller, but little appeals given the cost to change. Good E39s seem to be hanging on to their value - the only other low-ish mileage manual I could find on Autotrader recently was up for more than I paid for mine two years and 20,000+ miles ago. For the price, they are good cars.
It is not what I'd call unreliable - it has never let me down, or had any big failures - but needs the usual care. So far, biggest expense has been tyres - shortened the life of a pair of rears by swiping a curb recently, which is hardly the cars fault, but it can/will/does step sideways at the back, which is hardly conducive to lowest tyre wear. Second biggest expense has been discs - it does like to warp them, leading to vibration under braking. I am told that the discs and pads just being replaced don't look like proper BMW parts, so maybe that was a contributory factor. They are famous for going through suspension bushes, leading to front-wheel wobbles, and I have been suspicious of mine, but it turns out they are fine, and it was tyre wear causing my 50-mph wobble.
I have also needed the A/C sorting - the A/C condensor has its own blower, which is known to sieze, as mine has, and the whole front bumper has to come off to change it. An exhaust cam position sensor failed - not a big thing, but it adversely affects the performance. PDC failed too.... but that is fairly trivial. Finally, a couple of rust spots on the back, below the lip of the boot - didn't expect rust, but it is, apparently, not unkown. Not too terrible on a 9+ year old car.
It does use oil, and many of them do - one needs to keep an eye, and I carry a spare litre around becuase the level always gets to the point where I feel I should do something about it when I am in the middle of nowhere.
Apparently, cooling systems are suspect, although I've had no trouble, and auto boxes do seem to have a life of 140,000-odd (lots of info on here about their various failures). I have a manual, so don't worry about any of that stuff.
Overall, I keep toying with the idea of getting something newer and probably a bit smaller, but little appeals given the cost to change. Good E39s seem to be hanging on to their value - the only other low-ish mileage manual I could find on Autotrader recently was up for more than I paid for mine two years and 20,000+ miles ago. For the price, they are good cars.
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