Would you buy a 100k mile 535d?
Discussion
I have an ongoing arguement with some of the lads at work -
them being of the school of thought where they prefere the security of the company car scheme and as such have an intense phobia / paranoia of anything with more than 40k miles / over 3 years old.
me prefereing to pick up a car 3 - 5 years old at a quarter of its original value, something i'd not be able to buy new (but able to afford any ongoing running costs)
I bought a 52 plate 330d with 86k 3 years ago and although i have another thread about the rumbling / knackered transmision it has essential been a very reliable car, on track to double its milage in a year or 2. My old man has a fairly problem free 528 with over 200k.
So, dispite my assertions to them that a BM is only gettig run in at 100k, i still have a little apprehension over splashing out on a 535d with 100k on the clock....but have you seen the prices????
You can get a lot of car with one of the best engines I've driven for around the 12k mark!
So what do you think????
(And i will pre-empt it now - please no tired, repetitive, spectacularly unfunny jokes about remapping)
them being of the school of thought where they prefere the security of the company car scheme and as such have an intense phobia / paranoia of anything with more than 40k miles / over 3 years old.
me prefereing to pick up a car 3 - 5 years old at a quarter of its original value, something i'd not be able to buy new (but able to afford any ongoing running costs)
I bought a 52 plate 330d with 86k 3 years ago and although i have another thread about the rumbling / knackered transmision it has essential been a very reliable car, on track to double its milage in a year or 2. My old man has a fairly problem free 528 with over 200k.
So, dispite my assertions to them that a BM is only gettig run in at 100k, i still have a little apprehension over splashing out on a 535d with 100k on the clock....but have you seen the prices????
You can get a lot of car with one of the best engines I've driven for around the 12k mark!
So what do you think????
(And i will pre-empt it now - please no tired, repetitive, spectacularly unfunny jokes about remapping)
torqueofthedevil said:
....but have you seen the prices????
You can get a lot of car with one of the best engines I've driven for around the 12k mark!
So what do you think????
Yeah I have and they are top dollar!! You can get a lot of car with one of the best engines I've driven for around the 12k mark!
So what do you think????
Last year you could buy a 30k mile 2006 535d, and in the more expensive touring guise too, for £13k.
I nearly bought another one but bought a 3.2 A6 Quattro Avant instead, but they were out there at that price and saloons were even cheaper.
So I couldn't get that excited about a 5-6 year old car with over 100,000 miles on it for £13k unless it was the right model and had the needed spec. (media pack, xenons and hi-fi upgrade).
Also the early cars were on firt gen runflats and were a very vrashy ride, all the cars at that age I have been in don't feel particularly soild suspension wise, not a problem as it is just the bushes that are shot, but do budget for changeing the front wishbones and the rear bushes as well to make it feels good again.
Other thing to bare in mind is the MPG on the pre LCI cars (so pre 2007 with the new gearstick) is crap, I managed 26mpg in mine, 22 round town and 34 on a run, and I do 40k miles a year so an average of 26 is not because I do town work.
I would much, much rather find a nice 545i for the same money, far less to go wrong, feels more special and about 2mpg behind the dirty deisel, plus the 545i's tend to be much better spec. wise.
I haven't been following the market so cannot really comment with any authority but it amazes me that a 2006 535d with decent spec was £13k a year ago - I know someone who was looking for a 525d last summer and I suggested looking at a 535d but they were too expensive - having just texted him he reckons £18-20k was the minimum for a well specified 2006 car with less than 60k on the clock a year ago...
Mine is a pre LCI model and averages 32-33 MPG overall. This includes some town driving but plenty of A and B roads and motorway miles.
I don't accept a 545i (or 550i) would get close to that - a long departed 330i we had struggled to better 22 MPG.
I'd say if you find the right car it would be £13k well spent.
Mine is a pre LCI model and averages 32-33 MPG overall. This includes some town driving but plenty of A and B roads and motorway miles.
I don't accept a 545i (or 550i) would get close to that - a long departed 330i we had struggled to better 22 MPG.
I'd say if you find the right car it would be £13k well spent.
There was two 55 plate tourings up for sale back in Feb last year, one of which was a Jan 06 registered car, both at under £14k and both dealers said they would take just over £13k for them.
Now these were SE cars and one without nav but bluetooth and the other with business nav and no bluetooth.
The one without nav was monaco blue with biege leather and had 38k miles on it, the one with nav was dark green and again biege leather and had 41k miles on it.
You have to remember, back last Jan, Feb and March dealers were panic dumping stock. I managed to get 35% off the sticker price of my A6 avant from an Audi Main dealer at the same time, I was offered £4k more for it from Fontain 6 months later.
Also considered a 2005 E500 avantgarde estate with 30k miles on it that was up for £12k, if you search the old auction threads you will see that car and see it wennt through at £9500!!
There was also a couple of 545i tourings for under £12k, these were 2005 cars with all the toys and under 50k miles on them. Thinking back this is the one I regret not going for.
Everyone with a 535d when I had mine back in 2005 used to get around the same MPG, between 24-30mpg average, there were polls done on www.e60.net forums as many were a bit surprised.
Friend of mine went from the 535d to the 545i and he said round town and overall average is around 2-3mpg worse in the V8, on a run that changes from 34/35ish in the diesel and around 28/29mpg in teh V8, so I guess it depends on your driving.
I jsut don't think you can compare one car either, I had a 2001 530i saloon and that returned 23mpg all day every day, then got a 2002 touring, which is a heavier car and it did 26mpg all day everyday.
I averaged 26mpg in the 335i sport touring auto and I am currently averaging 26mpg in the 3.2 A6 avant, which is tiptronic and 4WD, borrowed a 3.0tdi for a week and that was actually worse round town and on sub 10 mile journeys. However, get it on a run and it was doing 38mpg where as mine is only doing 32mpg.
All I am saying is don't write off any model until you have tried it.
Now these were SE cars and one without nav but bluetooth and the other with business nav and no bluetooth.
The one without nav was monaco blue with biege leather and had 38k miles on it, the one with nav was dark green and again biege leather and had 41k miles on it.
You have to remember, back last Jan, Feb and March dealers were panic dumping stock. I managed to get 35% off the sticker price of my A6 avant from an Audi Main dealer at the same time, I was offered £4k more for it from Fontain 6 months later.
Also considered a 2005 E500 avantgarde estate with 30k miles on it that was up for £12k, if you search the old auction threads you will see that car and see it wennt through at £9500!!
There was also a couple of 545i tourings for under £12k, these were 2005 cars with all the toys and under 50k miles on them. Thinking back this is the one I regret not going for.
Everyone with a 535d when I had mine back in 2005 used to get around the same MPG, between 24-30mpg average, there were polls done on www.e60.net forums as many were a bit surprised.
Friend of mine went from the 535d to the 545i and he said round town and overall average is around 2-3mpg worse in the V8, on a run that changes from 34/35ish in the diesel and around 28/29mpg in teh V8, so I guess it depends on your driving.
I jsut don't think you can compare one car either, I had a 2001 530i saloon and that returned 23mpg all day every day, then got a 2002 touring, which is a heavier car and it did 26mpg all day everyday.
I averaged 26mpg in the 335i sport touring auto and I am currently averaging 26mpg in the 3.2 A6 avant, which is tiptronic and 4WD, borrowed a 3.0tdi for a week and that was actually worse round town and on sub 10 mile journeys. However, get it on a run and it was doing 38mpg where as mine is only doing 32mpg.
All I am saying is don't write off any model until you have tried it.
I have a 100k mile 335d. The suspension is getting tired, the gearbox is getting tired, but the engine is strong.
Parts are becoming available for this drivetrain combo on E/Bay and the like now, so if you budget for repairs over and above the norm, they are easy to work on. Bear in mind that most electrical items need coding by the thieves, i had the small turbo on and off in just over an hour the other week (turned out to be exhaust manifold loose ) silly little things breaking but apart from that, its carrying its mileage well, taking into account its been thrashed to within an inch of its life on numerous track days.
Parts are becoming available for this drivetrain combo on E/Bay and the like now, so if you budget for repairs over and above the norm, they are easy to work on. Bear in mind that most electrical items need coding by the thieves, i had the small turbo on and off in just over an hour the other week (turned out to be exhaust manifold loose ) silly little things breaking but apart from that, its carrying its mileage well, taking into account its been thrashed to within an inch of its life on numerous track days.
100k miles is nothing on a well looked after car. a thread i started a while ago about mileage on cars, after i saw an E39 530d with over 600k on the clock, i had a lift in it and it still pulled well and was very healthy as it had been serviced by a brilliant BMW indy from new (so no dealer stamps, all from fritzs bits i believe).
condition over mileage. my car is basically 28 years old and it's reliable, even during all the snow and -10 degrees C, it started first time every time.
if it's been maintained well i wouldn't worry too much. just check the car thoroughly.
condition over mileage. my car is basically 28 years old and it's reliable, even during all the snow and -10 degrees C, it started first time every time.
if it's been maintained well i wouldn't worry too much. just check the car thoroughly.
roofer said:
I have a 100k mile 335d. The suspension is getting tired, the gearbox is getting tired,
Wow, really? This worries me - I've always been hugely impressed at the ability a decent BMW has to complete hide its mileage but you are saying an E90 is feeling tired at 100k?Whats wrong with it? Has it been well looked after?
I am considering an E92/E93 next and whilst I intend on a lower mileage example this time around I wish to keep it for such a length of time that it'll tick over 100k miles in my ownership.
Not if its going to feel tired, though.
Fox- said:
roofer said:
I have a 100k mile 335d. The suspension is getting tired, the gearbox is getting tired,
Wow, really? This worries me - I've always been hugely impressed at the ability a decent BMW has to complete hide its mileage but you are saying an E90 is feeling tired at 100k?Whats wrong with it? Has it been well looked after?
I am considering an E92/E93 next and whilst I intend on a lower mileage example this time around I wish to keep it for such a length of time that it'll tick over 100k miles in my ownership.
Not if its going to feel tired, though.
My 170k mile 530i doesn't feel tired (Mind you the gearbox is only 40k miles old), infact it still feels fantastic, which whilst being the reason I've kept it longer than I planned (And dont intend changing until late this year early next) it is also much of the reason why the question for me is not 'Which car next?' but 'Which BMW next?'.
I want whatever I buy next - probably at 2-3 years old - to feel as good as the day I buy it throughout its life with me as with my E39.
Surely the newer stuff can manage this?
I want whatever I buy next - probably at 2-3 years old - to feel as good as the day I buy it throughout its life with me as with my E39.
Surely the newer stuff can manage this?
E21_Ross said:
Fox- said:
roofer said:
I have a 100k mile 335d. The suspension is getting tired, the gearbox is getting tired,
Wow, really? This worries me - I've always been hugely impressed at the ability a decent BMW has to complete hide its mileage but you are saying an E90 is feeling tired at 100k?Whats wrong with it? Has it been well looked after?
I am considering an E92/E93 next and whilst I intend on a lower mileage example this time around I wish to keep it for such a length of time that it'll tick over 100k miles in my ownership.
Not if its going to feel tired, though.
My E39 528 has 125k, but then most of it is new. Gearbox went at 100k and the poor previous owner paid £3000 for a reconditioned one, suspension needed replacing last year, it has new cam sensors too, but then its 10 years old so I don't think any of that is unusual, and I don't think its unusual for a gearbox/suspension to be tired after 100k miles on any car if they haven't been mostly motorway miles.
roofer said:
E21_Ross said:
Fox- said:
roofer said:
I have a 100k mile 335d. The suspension is getting tired, the gearbox is getting tired,
Wow, really? This worries me - I've always been hugely impressed at the ability a decent BMW has to complete hide its mileage but you are saying an E90 is feeling tired at 100k?Whats wrong with it? Has it been well looked after?
I am considering an E92/E93 next and whilst I intend on a lower mileage example this time around I wish to keep it for such a length of time that it'll tick over 100k miles in my ownership.
Not if its going to feel tired, though.
)suspension should, IMO, last more than 100k. as should a gearbox. but i have no interest in auto's anyway so it's the manuals i worry about which seem to be fine. but it's still not very good a gearbox not lasting the life of the car.
bazking69 said:
From experience, BMWs are very hit and miss, regardless of mileage. You either get a good one or you get a bad one. Plenty of bad ones in circulation, especially at the bottom end of any given model scale.
I guess what this demonstrates is that its not how many miles its covered, its who it covered those miles with and how they drove it/maintained it.Hi there,
I think the definition of 'getting tired' varies from one driver to the next!
I have a 2003 200,000 mile E39 Touring, and it truly belies it's miles with just how fantastic performing it is. I could cover the mileage display, and I think anyone driving in it would guess it had done far less miles when evaluating the driving experience - the "feels like a 70K miler" cliche has never been so true with this car!
Gearbox failed at 172K miles for me, and it seems from talking to many people inthe trade - the 150K mile mark for these gearboxes to let go seems about right. Some have failed at 70K and there are others running 250K+ on their original units.
100K miles on a 535d, provided it's been looked after should be no reason for concern. The 'myth' of '100,000' miles still exists within the UK mindset for cars (for some weird reason) but we all know, its the condition, service history that shows up potentaial issues. My car, being Ex Police throws even more of a confusing aspect into the mix, we all know the Police cars are occasionally driven very hard and continuously etc (I'm talking traffic cars, not beat cars which are always ragged about town more often) so you'd think lots of things were on it's way out. In reality anything that could've broke has, and it's been replaced regardless of cost (but it's our Tax payers money !!). It's why the only two things I've had to fix on the car (aside normal routine servicing) is the gearbox (A full rebuild) and a snapped Power steering belt.
Look to condition and history, get the car inspected and you should find a 100K miler 535d will be good, and yes, I'd definitley buy one on these criteria!
Cheers, Dennis! West London & Slough UK!
I think the definition of 'getting tired' varies from one driver to the next!
I have a 2003 200,000 mile E39 Touring, and it truly belies it's miles with just how fantastic performing it is. I could cover the mileage display, and I think anyone driving in it would guess it had done far less miles when evaluating the driving experience - the "feels like a 70K miler" cliche has never been so true with this car!
Gearbox failed at 172K miles for me, and it seems from talking to many people inthe trade - the 150K mile mark for these gearboxes to let go seems about right. Some have failed at 70K and there are others running 250K+ on their original units.
100K miles on a 535d, provided it's been looked after should be no reason for concern. The 'myth' of '100,000' miles still exists within the UK mindset for cars (for some weird reason) but we all know, its the condition, service history that shows up potentaial issues. My car, being Ex Police throws even more of a confusing aspect into the mix, we all know the Police cars are occasionally driven very hard and continuously etc (I'm talking traffic cars, not beat cars which are always ragged about town more often) so you'd think lots of things were on it's way out. In reality anything that could've broke has, and it's been replaced regardless of cost (but it's our Tax payers money !!). It's why the only two things I've had to fix on the car (aside normal routine servicing) is the gearbox (A full rebuild) and a snapped Power steering belt.
Look to condition and history, get the car inspected and you should find a 100K miler 535d will be good, and yes, I'd definitley buy one on these criteria!
Cheers, Dennis! West London & Slough UK!
I owned a 535d for three years from new and it's definitely a great car. The thing that concerns me about the E60 and E90 generation of 3 and 5 series (and probably all subsequent cars) is how much more complicated they are than the previous E46 and E39 cars. The electrics are just so much more complicated so I think if you are buying a car without any warranty cover and reasonably high mileage you need to bear in mind that you could cop a huge bill from nowhere. I have no idea whether non franchised BMW servicing garages can deal with things like reprogramming the iDrive system but it seems that whenever something goes wrong that needs to be done too. My 535d was mechanically perfect but a couple of times it had to go in when the iDrive went AWOL or froze up completely. I traded in the 535d for an E70 X5 which I have had for over two years and has been a great car and totally reliable...last week I went to start it, battery completely flat. To cut a long story short the local dealer has had it for two days and reckon I will get it back some time in the middle of next week....imagine how much that would cost even at a non franchise garage!
I suppose what I am saying is that once these cars have done a decent mileage and most of them are out of warranty they need to be cheap just in case you cop a big bill!
I suppose what I am saying is that once these cars have done a decent mileage and most of them are out of warranty they need to be cheap just in case you cop a big bill!
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