1998 BMW 523i SE 100k miles

DrDee · 7 Jul 2009 at 16:28

After looking at this - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18027631

My friend and I have now seen a 1998 BMW 523i SE 100k miles Auto

Its a 1 owner car with 6 months warrenty from the dealer, Full Service History with 13 Stamps

Cost is within the budget of £2k

Obviously the sensible options here are Primera or Mondeo, but its worth comparing and at least seeing what can be had in the budget.

What should my friend be prepared for reliability/maintenance wise if he goes with the BMW?

mattyprice4004 · 7 Jul 2009 at 16:34

Recent threads suggest lots of coolant.

Moeks · 7 Jul 2009 at 17:53

If the car is in good condition, to match that history then it sounds like it's worth a good look to me. If the seller has a folder full of receipts, especially for the cooling system and such then that's great.

If you get an independant to service it, then it shouldn't be too bad at all, petrol and tyres will be the main costs really.

Just make sure it's tight and runs smoothly, the autobox (assuming it's an auto) changes smoothly and all the fuctions work etc.

Sounds like a better bet than the Lexus to me, much nicer car too imo

InvaderGIR · 7 Jul 2009 at 19:47

rover416i said:
Recent threads suggest lots of coolant.

The x23 is a pointless car, you either want the x20, x25 or x30.

EDIT: And even then, the 520 is a small engine in a big car and the x25 has similar running costs to the x30 so may as well just got for the 530i.

Howard · 7 Jul 2009 at 20:00

Or, in the case of a car this age, 528i.

BigglesPiP · 7 Jul 2009 at 20:03

Just skip the pain and pour antifreeze all over the driveway under his current car.

Moeks · 7 Jul 2009 at 20:28

Yea but you'll never get a 530i in budget

...you 'might' get a 525i but I bet it'd be a bit of a shed for £2k or less, 523i is the best you can do with that kind of a budget, assuming you want a decent example, at least I think so.

InvaderGIR · 7 Jul 2009 at 20:30

At which point I'd then say sod the BMW, if you can only just afford to buy the 523i then can you afford the running of it?

Moeks · 7 Jul 2009 at 20:33

Yea, well I'd probably be inclined to agree on the 5, you could do better with an E38 7 series I should think, or an old Jag, both will cost you even more to run of course. However I wouldn't dismiss the 523 out of hand, if it's a good clean example at the right price it's worth looking into I think. To be fair, it's not going to cost you significantly more to run than a V6 Mondeo, and it'll probably be a bit more economical.

psalliss · 7 Jul 2009 at 21:12

drdee, ive got a 99 523i myself with 97000 on the clock with full history and paid £2200 a year ago. really pleased with the car its never let me down and looks virtually new. just need a private plate and you really couldnt tell the age. if its clean go for it mate.

MarkDavis · 7 Jul 2009 at 23:03

DrDee said:
My friend and I have now seen a 1998 BMW 523i SE 100k miles Auto

Both of you are being dumb.

He / you are clearly have a very limited budget, in which case you don't buy a 10 year old Beemer with loads to go wrong and £££s to fix.

Moeks · 7 Jul 2009 at 23:09

Well that's the thing isn't it, if you buy carefully you can buy one that has had everything that needs doing for a while, done by the previous owner. Then you can get a real bargain and run a nice car on a tighter budget that many might think possible, for a while anyway. Soon or later it will cost you some money though, but it's always sensible to have that in mind when making such a purchase and have access to some extra money to put it right if it should go wrong.

By choosing the right car you can mitigate a lot of the risk, well you can significantly reduce it anyway.

[TW]Fox · 7 Jul 2009 at 23:21

Is your friend on a desperate quest to empty his bank account or something? These are not really the sort of cars you buy for £2k unless you are either very lucky or have deep pockets..

An 11 year old E39 is due a suspension refresh which I doubt the previous owner did so is suddenly a £3-3.5k car.

Cheap BMW's are false economy.

Moeks · 7 Jul 2009 at 23:23

...and if you have deep pockets you don't buy a £2k car generally speaking, you spend more and buy a better one. I think he could do ok out of this if he's careful and a bit lucky, it's certainly a risk though if his budget is as limited as we have been lead to believe. If he really can't get anymore money to put anything that might go wrong, right, then I would say it's probably wise to stay away though.

DrDee · 7 Jul 2009 at 23:27

[TW]Fox;14436529 said:
Is your friend on a desperate quest to empty his bank account or something? These are not really the sort of cars you buy for £2k unless you are either very lucky or have deep pockets..

An 11 year old E39 is due a suspension refresh which I doubt the previous owner did so is suddenly a £3-3.5k car.

Cheap BMW's are false economy.

The problem is, we go and look at a Nissan Primera, and a BMW 5 series will be parked next to it for £300 or so more. The difference in quality is substantial.

Moeks said:
...and if you have deep pockets you don't buy a £2k car generally speaking, you spend more and buy a better one. I think he could do ok out of this if he's careful and a bit lucky, it's certainly a risk though if his budget is as limited as we have been lead to believe. If he really can't get anymore money to put anything that might go wrong, right, then I would say it's probably wise to stay away though.

He can budget another £1k as an "if it goes wrong" war chest per year, which he has deemed necesary no matter what he purchases

Moeks · 7 Jul 2009 at 23:29

It comes down to this really, if you see a good BMW, can he afford to fix it, if it should break ?

DrDee · 7 Jul 2009 at 23:32

Moeks said:
It comes down to this really, if you see a good BMW, can he afford to fix it, if it should break ?

It depends on how much a broken BMW costs to fix worst case scenario

As I said, would budgeting £1k a year and being fully prepared to spend the £1k be enough?

Moeks · 7 Jul 2009 at 23:37

Assuming that £1k doesn't include petrol then yes it'll be enough, aslong as something major like the transmission doesn't let go, but that's should happen with the box has been serviced properly and not abused.

InvaderGIR · 7 Jul 2009 at 23:42

As Fox said though, suspension on the 5 series is expensive. I recall a mention in one thread where he had his rear suspension done and it cost a lot due to it being a ballache to get to so loads of money on labour.

[TW]Fox;14436529 said:
Cheap BMW's are false economy.

Yes..yes they are.

[TW]Fox · 8 Jul 2009 at 00:08

DrDee said:
The problem is, we go and look at a Nissan Primera, and a BMW 5 series will be parked next to it for £300 or so more. The difference in quality is substantial.

And so is the difference in running costs. BMW's cost more to own than Nissans, its that simple. Yes they are great cars but they are great cars which can come at unfortunate prices. The Nissan is dull and flimsey but will cost less to run and break less.

He can budget another £1k as an "if it goes wrong" war chest per year, which he has deemed necesary no matter what he purchases

I have never seen a cheap BMW without a plethora of 'niggles' which will cost probably that much to get sorted before he even starts using it properly. Then the random stuff breaks.

Seriously, they are great cars but only ones in good condition and that costs cash that people who are looking at the bottom of the market normally dont have, so the cheap ones spiral into an abyss of crapness...