BMW 650i Sport convertible
Discussion
Kind of done my usual trick of deciding to sell a car and things happening rather quickly.
As the Westfield was hopelessly impractical (no surprises there) as having recently getting back with my wife after an 8 month separation there are three of us rather than just me and our son it was time to sell and buy a 2+2 convertible that was still ideally a V8 so that no one would be left at home when 2nd car days were in the diary.
Numerous cars were considered, not all of them convertibles (C5 RS6, M6 coupe, Cayenne GTS, CL500, CLK55, 147GTa etc), only real criteria was to be cost neutral including all incidentals after selling the Westfield.
After doing some research the car that seemed to tick most boxes was a BMW 650 convertible.
Wanted to buy on condition and history rather than colour, mileage, spec or age and after much searching came up with a shortlist of cars, some LCI, others not but to be honest I was not really hung up on it needing to be an LCI.
Top of the list to view was a 2005 car 80 miles away from me (unusually close by my standards), so after the Westfield was collected on Saturday (a whole 6 days after being put up for sale and realising my full asking price) up the M6 I set.
All I can say is that if Carlsberg did buying experiences it would be this one - what an epic BMW specialist, knowledgeable, friendly, incredible prep (who ensures all hubs and calipers are cleaned and repainted prior to sale!!!) and reasonably priced.
The whole afternoon had been set aside for us but I knew within a couple of minutes I was buying the car - exactly as described. After a lengthy test drive a deal was done at the full asking price - I figured it simply was not worth losing any goodwill for the sake of maybe a couple of hundred pounds price reduction - it was also fairly priced to start with.
Spec is decent - nappa leather, HUD, heated steering wheel, Pro nav, shadowline trim, upgraded hi-fi, comfort seats on top of a pretty lengthy standard spec
Only a 2 owner car, full BMW history, brand new Goodyears and the valve stem seals only just done (with paperwork to support)
Was not sure about Mineral Silver in the pictures - I feared it might be a very pale Jewish Racing Gold but in the metal its a lovely warm silver, neither did I think I'd like the wheels but again, in the metal they really suit the car
So I went from deciding to sell the Westfield through to its sale, collection and purchase of a replacement in 6 days - quietly impressed with myself.
Will be collected on Saturday and a leisurely drive home will ensue, have some plans for it but these will unfold and be shared in due course
Couple of the advert pics below
As the Westfield was hopelessly impractical (no surprises there) as having recently getting back with my wife after an 8 month separation there are three of us rather than just me and our son it was time to sell and buy a 2+2 convertible that was still ideally a V8 so that no one would be left at home when 2nd car days were in the diary.
Numerous cars were considered, not all of them convertibles (C5 RS6, M6 coupe, Cayenne GTS, CL500, CLK55, 147GTa etc), only real criteria was to be cost neutral including all incidentals after selling the Westfield.
After doing some research the car that seemed to tick most boxes was a BMW 650 convertible.
Wanted to buy on condition and history rather than colour, mileage, spec or age and after much searching came up with a shortlist of cars, some LCI, others not but to be honest I was not really hung up on it needing to be an LCI.
Top of the list to view was a 2005 car 80 miles away from me (unusually close by my standards), so after the Westfield was collected on Saturday (a whole 6 days after being put up for sale and realising my full asking price) up the M6 I set.
All I can say is that if Carlsberg did buying experiences it would be this one - what an epic BMW specialist, knowledgeable, friendly, incredible prep (who ensures all hubs and calipers are cleaned and repainted prior to sale!!!) and reasonably priced.
The whole afternoon had been set aside for us but I knew within a couple of minutes I was buying the car - exactly as described. After a lengthy test drive a deal was done at the full asking price - I figured it simply was not worth losing any goodwill for the sake of maybe a couple of hundred pounds price reduction - it was also fairly priced to start with.
Spec is decent - nappa leather, HUD, heated steering wheel, Pro nav, shadowline trim, upgraded hi-fi, comfort seats on top of a pretty lengthy standard spec
Only a 2 owner car, full BMW history, brand new Goodyears and the valve stem seals only just done (with paperwork to support)
Was not sure about Mineral Silver in the pictures - I feared it might be a very pale Jewish Racing Gold but in the metal its a lovely warm silver, neither did I think I'd like the wheels but again, in the metal they really suit the car
So I went from deciding to sell the Westfield through to its sale, collection and purchase of a replacement in 6 days - quietly impressed with myself.
Will be collected on Saturday and a leisurely drive home will ensue, have some plans for it but these will unfold and be shared in due course
Couple of the advert pics below
Edited by Andy665 on Monday 1st October 17:02
Edited by Andy665 on Tuesday 2nd October 12:45
alec.e said:
Nice!
Interior pictures please, so jealous of your extended leather
Sadly not extended leather - just nappa instead of the Dakota leather - does have the comfort seats which are indeed very comfortableInterior pictures please, so jealous of your extended leather
I have managed to acquire a full centre console in leather though so just missing the dashboard which I'm sure in time will be found, made more difficult by needing a HUD unit - missed out on one by minutes yesterday
Edited by Andy665 on Tuesday 2nd October 08:36
Rich135 said:
That does look really nice. A few more pics would be great.
What a different to a Westfield though! I hope you enjoy it.
Will get some more pics once I have collected it.What a different to a Westfield though! I hope you enjoy it.
Westfield was superb and it genuinely felt like an honour to own the car, been sold to a 75 year old gentleman who has promised to give me first refusal on buying it back when he gives up driving in 5 years time.
Only reason for selling the Westfield was my wife and I getting back together. It had just been my son and I for quite some time so a 2 seater was no issue, now there are 3 of us and we are investing heavily in quality family time a 2 seater is an active disruption - as I said to my wife - as much as I loved the Westfield I love my family a whole lot more
Whilst I wanted to retain a V8 I deliberately did not want to go to the sporty side as nothing could realistically compare favourably with the Westfield so a GT made more sense
Danm1les said:
Lovely looking beast!
Who was the dealer out of interest?
Banks Motor Company of Ormskirk. Keith, the owner is superb to deal with, I have bought a lot of cars in my 34 years of driving, both new and used and no one has come close to delivering such an honest and enjoyable purchase experience - I don't recommend people / businesses lightly but this is a rare exceptionWho was the dealer out of interest?
Andy665 said:
So I went from deciding to sell the Westfield through to its sale, collection and purchase of a replacement in 6 days - quietly impressed with myself.
That's serious focus! Good stuff.Watching this one with interest. I used to run a Jag XK8 as a weekend car, really enjoyed the GT car experience, and would definitely consider a 6-series in the future.
Looks like a fab example. Being honest, not keen on the colour but it does suit the car.
Had mine for sale only a few weeks ago – black on black 2006 E64 (cheap tax bracket), really high spec (Exclusive leather with leather dash, HUD, dynamic drive, Logic 7, Pro-Nav, etc) 60k miles, valve stem seals done by a main dealer this year, FBMWSH with 13 stamps, new battery, spark plugs, tyres, etc. Under £10k. What did I get? 1 timewaster…
Will get it back on the usual sites again at some point but surprised they are such a hard sell – even when the common issues have been sorted. So much car for the money.
Had mine for sale only a few weeks ago – black on black 2006 E64 (cheap tax bracket), really high spec (Exclusive leather with leather dash, HUD, dynamic drive, Logic 7, Pro-Nav, etc) 60k miles, valve stem seals done by a main dealer this year, FBMWSH with 13 stamps, new battery, spark plugs, tyres, etc. Under £10k. What did I get? 1 timewaster…
Will get it back on the usual sites again at some point but surprised they are such a hard sell – even when the common issues have been sorted. So much car for the money.
OnTheSauce said:
Looks like a fab example. Being honest, not keen on the colour but it does suit the car.
Had mine for sale only a few weeks ago – black on black 2006 E64 (cheap tax bracket), really high spec (Exclusive leather with leather dash, HUD, dynamic drive, Logic 7, Pro-Nav, etc) 60k miles, valve stem seals done by a main dealer this year, FBMWSH with 13 stamps, new battery, spark plugs, tyres, etc. Under £10k. What did I get? 1 timewaster…
Will get it back on the usual sites again at some point but surprised they are such a hard sell – even when the common issues have been sorted. So much car for the money.
I'm hoping this one will be a long term keeper - second car that will probably only do 3k per year and want to get it as mint as I can Had mine for sale only a few weeks ago – black on black 2006 E64 (cheap tax bracket), really high spec (Exclusive leather with leather dash, HUD, dynamic drive, Logic 7, Pro-Nav, etc) 60k miles, valve stem seals done by a main dealer this year, FBMWSH with 13 stamps, new battery, spark plugs, tyres, etc. Under £10k. What did I get? 1 timewaster…
Will get it back on the usual sites again at some point but surprised they are such a hard sell – even when the common issues have been sorted. So much car for the money.
Andy665 said:
Danm1les said:
Lovely looking beast!
Who was the dealer out of interest?
Banks Motor Company of Ormskirk. Keith, the owner is superb to deal with, I have bought a lot of cars in my 34 years of driving, both new and used and no one has come close to delivering such an honest and enjoyable purchase experience - I don't recommend people / businesses lightly but this is a rare exceptionWho was the dealer out of interest?
OnTheSauce said:
Looks like a fab example. Being honest, not keen on the colour but it does suit the car.
Had mine for sale only a few weeks ago – black on black 2006 E64 (cheap tax bracket), really high spec (Exclusive leather with leather dash, HUD, dynamic drive, Logic 7, Pro-Nav, etc) 60k miles, valve stem seals done by a main dealer this year, FBMWSH with 13 stamps, new battery, spark plugs, tyres, etc. Under £10k. What did I get? 1 timewaster…
Will get it back on the usual sites again at some point but surprised they are such a hard sell – even when the common issues have been sorted. So much car for the money.
Only ever had one car that took longer than a week to sell and that was my CL500 - that attracted its share of timewasters and people who felt it was over-priced without bothering to view -- the second person to actually come and see the car paid my asking price.Had mine for sale only a few weeks ago – black on black 2006 E64 (cheap tax bracket), really high spec (Exclusive leather with leather dash, HUD, dynamic drive, Logic 7, Pro-Nav, etc) 60k miles, valve stem seals done by a main dealer this year, FBMWSH with 13 stamps, new battery, spark plugs, tyres, etc. Under £10k. What did I get? 1 timewaster…
Will get it back on the usual sites again at some point but surprised they are such a hard sell – even when the common issues have been sorted. So much car for the money.
Think its all about researching the market, advertising it in the right places with time taken to create the right advert and then hoping that the right person sees it.
I was the first person to view the 650 I have bought despite it being for sale for 3 weeks, was not the cheapest around and sadly that's what many people want to buy, forgetting that the cheapest does not necessarily equate to the best value
Yesterday was collection day and everything went as smoothly as I had expected / hoped for.
Pleasant journey home and managed to stop off at a place and get a photo of the car parked outside the pub where I took my dad for his last pint and had his last ever photo taken before succumbing to a brain tumour.
Must admit it brought a lump to my throat as it was the first time I'd been back
Car is completely as expected- comfortable, quick enough and loaded with equipment
Looking through the address list on the sat nav its clear that the car has spent much of the last 5 years in Switzerland and the South of France - quite befitting of the car - few pics of the car
Really liking the Mineral Silver, so much warmer than the more common Titanium, looking round the car I can only find two little stone chips on the front bumper and a very small shallow scratch behind the passenger door about 2cm long
Spent a couple of hours on the car today - thought I would start with the basic cleaning so completely cleaned the hood storage cover and cleaned the nappa leather which has been left feeling even softer than it was before, few before and after shots of the hood well
Before
After
Having a two day machine polish and ceramic coating applied next week along with a few tweaks to the exhaust
Pleasant journey home and managed to stop off at a place and get a photo of the car parked outside the pub where I took my dad for his last pint and had his last ever photo taken before succumbing to a brain tumour.
Must admit it brought a lump to my throat as it was the first time I'd been back
Car is completely as expected- comfortable, quick enough and loaded with equipment
Looking through the address list on the sat nav its clear that the car has spent much of the last 5 years in Switzerland and the South of France - quite befitting of the car - few pics of the car
Really liking the Mineral Silver, so much warmer than the more common Titanium, looking round the car I can only find two little stone chips on the front bumper and a very small shallow scratch behind the passenger door about 2cm long
Spent a couple of hours on the car today - thought I would start with the basic cleaning so completely cleaned the hood storage cover and cleaned the nappa leather which has been left feeling even softer than it was before, few before and after shots of the hood well
Before
After
Having a two day machine polish and ceramic coating applied next week along with a few tweaks to the exhaust
Bit more work done at lunchtime today - the engine bay was pretty clean to begin with but a liberal dosing of Surfex followed by Auto Allure trim dressing has smartened it up
Noticed the scuttle panel has missing clips so a set of 8 ordered from BMW for £18
And a couple of roof down pics - disguises its 15 years and 2 tons of weight pretty well
Noticed the scuttle panel has missing clips so a set of 8 ordered from BMW for £18
And a couple of roof down pics - disguises its 15 years and 2 tons of weight pretty well
Slowly get through some of the jobs I have identified.
Wanted to get iPod connection but car had no aux cable and as its fibre optic cabling it limits the choices. I had taken a punt on a used Dension Gateway 500S but on checking the connections it was not going to be compatible. Whilst searching the internet to see if there were any adaptors I stumbled across a genuine BMW iPod connection box that replaces the CD changer and is a simple plug and play.
Unit arrived from Lithuania yesterday and was indeed a plug and play solution, iPod functions accessed from iDrive and CD icon and works perfectly and is nicely OE, not sure whether to route the cable up in to the centre armrest or leave it as it is in the glovebox - as the centre console is being swapped for my leather trimmed one I will probably route it to the armrest
Exterior wise the car was treated to a 2 day machine polish and IGL Quartz Plus coating by Autowerx which has left an incredibly slick and smooth finish, now just a matter of keeping on top of it.
Weekend saw the front bumper removed so I could do a number of jobs:
Clean all the panelwork down - easily done with the trusty Surfex HD
Fit the new LED angel eye bulbs to replace the yellow tinge with a much crisper white
Remove the crumbling black rubber coating from the base of the indicators - the glue residue left behind after the rubber had crumbled away was really unsightly - removing it all has really tidied up the appearance of the light units - also took the opportunity of wetsanding the headlights which now look much better
Usual accumulated dirt
Looking a lot fresher
Lots of new clips and fasteners ordered for around the front bumper area - pet hate of mine is having missing and / or corroded fixings
Wanted to get iPod connection but car had no aux cable and as its fibre optic cabling it limits the choices. I had taken a punt on a used Dension Gateway 500S but on checking the connections it was not going to be compatible. Whilst searching the internet to see if there were any adaptors I stumbled across a genuine BMW iPod connection box that replaces the CD changer and is a simple plug and play.
Unit arrived from Lithuania yesterday and was indeed a plug and play solution, iPod functions accessed from iDrive and CD icon and works perfectly and is nicely OE, not sure whether to route the cable up in to the centre armrest or leave it as it is in the glovebox - as the centre console is being swapped for my leather trimmed one I will probably route it to the armrest
Exterior wise the car was treated to a 2 day machine polish and IGL Quartz Plus coating by Autowerx which has left an incredibly slick and smooth finish, now just a matter of keeping on top of it.
Weekend saw the front bumper removed so I could do a number of jobs:
Clean all the panelwork down - easily done with the trusty Surfex HD
Fit the new LED angel eye bulbs to replace the yellow tinge with a much crisper white
Remove the crumbling black rubber coating from the base of the indicators - the glue residue left behind after the rubber had crumbled away was really unsightly - removing it all has really tidied up the appearance of the light units - also took the opportunity of wetsanding the headlights which now look much better
Usual accumulated dirt
Looking a lot fresher
Lots of new clips and fasteners ordered for around the front bumper area - pet hate of mine is having missing and / or corroded fixings
Nice car, but that drivers door has seen some paint, or be swapped with another one. (Not sure why you would just pain the door and not blow it into the wing / rear quarter. But it's quite noticeable in the pics that the drivers door is off colour to the other two panels.....
Hope you enjoy it regardless.....
Hope you enjoy it regardless.....
Andy665 said:
Remove the crumbling black rubber coating from the base of the indicators - the glue residue left behind after the rubber had crumbled away was really unsightly - removing it all has really tidied up the appearance of the light units - also took the opportunity of wetsanding the headlights which now look much better
Apologies if this is teaching you to suck eggs. The trouble is that black rubber coating is a weather seal against water getting in between the headlight and the indicator. I don't seem to be able to put my 2004 645Ci through an auto carwash level of rain without losing at least one xennon control module, and they're a wing & bumper off job to replace.Andy_5 said:
Nice car, but that drivers door has seen some paint, or be swapped with another one. (Not sure why you would just pain the door and not blow it into the wing / rear quarter. But it's quite noticeable in the pics that the drivers door is off colour to the other two panels.....
Hope you enjoy it regardless.....
It hasn't seen paint or if it has its a perfect match, on looking at the picture it most definitely appears to be mismatched but its a weird reflection, just actually been out to check :-) . The PTG readings were absolutely consistent across the whole car and as a keen amateur detailer I hope I'd be able to spot such a mismatchHope you enjoy it regardless.....
Collectingbrass said:
Apologies if this is teaching you to suck eggs. The trouble is that black rubber coating is a weather seal against water getting in between the headlight and the indicator. I don't seem to be able to put my 2004 645Ci through an auto carwash level of rain without losing at least one xennon control module, and they're a wing & bumper off job to replace.
The problem was that it had pretty much all crumbled away anyway so was not really doing anything worthwhile - will be investing in a new pair of indicators at some pointEdited by Andy665 on Tuesday 23 October 12:48
Edited by Andy665 on Tuesday 23 October 12:57
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