BMW Owners - Advice needed

None of these cars are likely to be super reliable. You have to make some compromises if you wish to buy a once £40,000 executive saloon for next to nothing and one of these compromises is that it wont be the turn key drive away day in day out experience it was when it rolled off the production line. Things will break.

Perhaps if reliability is a key concern you might be better off looking at a lesser brand which would allow you to get a newer car. What about a Mk4 Ford Mondeo - they are infact slightly larger than a 5 Series!
 
Daveyboy said:
I'll have a look at those, i'm open minded.

I want something safe, reliable and 5 series size (ish) as there's a second baby on the way.

And i'm used to big bills on the Impala, it just depends what I can do myself on these cars...
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I doubt you will be doing a lot DIY on an E class, but the age of vehicle you will be buying a specialist will be reasonably priced.
 
It's an awkward budget in Mondeo territory too for similar reasons - it's not enough for a nice Mk4 but too much for a Mk3
 
They're good cars...

How about a Volvo S80/V70? If you can get away from the image they tick the boxes you mentioned very well
 
The pre-facelift W211s had a lot of problems apparently. Certainly the electrics on Mercs at the early part of this decade caused all sorts of issues, so I'm not sure it'd be such a good purchase.

That E39 which was posted looks rather good, and the comfort seats are great. It certainly does have a massive spec.
I'd probably take an E39 over an E60. The early E60s aren't really anything special imo, although that 520d for under £9k is pretty good value for money.
However, it has absolutely no options at all :(
 
Nice car.

Not sure about the warranty. Yes, its nice to have a warranty, but how much is that going to cost? £500 p/a? Unless he's doing an intergalactic mileage, that's going to wipe out any fuel savings.

And what exactly is going to go wrong with 3/4 year old, 1 owner, FBMWSH E60?
 
I thought they sorted those issues by 2006 E60 time?

This seems to suggest they used different flaps from 2006:
http://www.pmwltd.co.uk/swirl_flaps.pdf

So presumably, he just needs to check when the car was built using his VIN and finding out if he has the new revision of the engine?
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do

Otherwise, PMW + £50 + fitting = sorted!

Here's some early e46 diesel info if its any use:
http://www.bimmerforums.co.uk/forum/f3/bmw-e46-diesel-info-including-swirl-flaps-t5537/
 
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'Fitting' isnt quite that simple though as you have to take half the engine bay to bits! And you've still got the dual mass flywheel, EGR system, DPF, injectors and turbo to worry about.

2.0 diesels are for company car owners to lease, IMHO.
 
True.....but I don't really know enough about these diesel engines to comment properly and I can't be bothered to read up on it since I like diesels about as much as you like Japanese interiors :D

However, I would have thought that being a premium manufacturer with their engineering focus, sourcing premium parts, the DPF, injectors etc surely aren't going to have the same 'made of cheese' quality that you get with something like the TDCi?

These engines have also been around for a while and have gone through what, 2 or 3 revisions? I'm sure they'll fail at some point, but that could be some way into the future. I'd still take six over a diesel four ANY day of the week, but I guess it depends on what his approach is to potential repairs/replacement parts and how long he's planning to keep the car for.

If it were me, I'd go for an older straight six over a newer 520d. £9,000 on a smart car but with a clackety low powered diesel doesnt sound right, unless he's planning to do an intergalactic mileage but needs the comfort of an E60.
 
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MarkDavis said:
However, I would have thought that being a premium manufacturer with their engineering focus, sourcing premium parts, the DPF, injectors etc surely aren't going to have the same 'made of cheese' quality that you get with something like the TDCi?
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Ho ho ho!

Many of the components are the same - BMW dont make injectors, for example.
 
Nope, but they could...and I'm guessing/assuming here...be a better, more expensive, more reliable quality of injector that they source from Bosch, Lucas etc, than what Ford do, given the higher cost of the application in which its used in. Don't forget that Bosch, Lucas etc, don't just make one type of diesel injector at only one price point.
 
Having recently bought a 2005 5 series with a bottom of the range engine, I'm delighted with it. But it's bottom of the range petrol 523i. I did test drive the 520d and didn't like the sound of it or thought of it very much!

Still a lot of car for the money. I would rather have a few more niceties, particulary leather.

Mines an SE with leather, advanced climate and a couple of other bits and bobs and very happy with it. Only 40k miles though.
 
MarkDavis said:
Nope, but they could...and I'm guessing/assuming here...be a better, more expensive, more reliable quality of injector that they source from Bosch, Lucas etc, than what Ford do, given the higher cost of the application in which its used in. Don't forget that Bosch, Lucas etc, don't just make one type of diesel injector at only one price point.
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I doubt there's as much difference as you think. I honestly think a lot of the perception of the TDCI issues are because of the amount of them out there. That, plus the average Ford owner is more likely to complain to the internet than the average BMW owner. If you think a BMW engine (at this level) is anything but a mass produced lump designed to make a profit, then you're wrong...
 
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