Should I or shouldn't I?

[TW]Fox;16636668 said:
It's hardly throwing good money after bad, is it? It needs routine work at this sort of age - a suspension refresh in the main. It'll then be good with this suspension for many thousands more miles.

It's nothing like Moeks situation at all, he bought a shabby example from a driveway trader and then threw a heavy dose of paranoia into the mix. He hasn't actually shelled out that much on repairs himself, either.
Click to expand...

Again, I agree, especially with a manual 540i touring anyway, quite a rare car and the fact that it has a manual gearbox should mean that it's both less likely to fail and will also be quite desirable to some when the time comes to sell it, provided it's not a heap that needs a fortune spending on it anyway.

As long as you engine and gearbox are solid, I think it's worth spending the money.


The issues I had with mine seem to have left some people thinking it cost me a fortune, well as Fox pointed out, it didn't really. A lot has been spent on it, but the vast majority of that wasn't repairs at all, it was tyres, brakes and an Inspection II. Repair costs were actually less than £650 and that includes £94 to BMW to run a full diagnosis on it and clear the computer adaption values.

Right now, I actually don't really have much wrong with it. I wont say that it's perfect, it isn't and I doubt it ever will be, but everything works and works more or less as it should ...and thankfully of late the climate control has been fantastic since I regassed it, ice, ice cold.

End of the day, I just bought the wrong car really.
 
I would sell it as is, add whatever you get to the £1k or whatever you have sat there to repair the 540i and buy a diesel ex rep mobile that won't cost a fortune to run.

Run that into the ground then rinse and repeat until the finances allow you to buy what you want.

Just my opinion and what I would do in that situation.
 
lordrobs said:
I would sell it as is, add whatever you get to the £1k or whatever you have sat there to repair the 540i and buy a diesel ex rep mobile that won't cost a fortune to run.

Run that into the ground then rinse and repeat until the finances allow you to buy what you want.

Just my opinion and what I would do in that situation.
Click to expand...

Unless it starts pooping injectors, fuel pumps and flywheels then thats a good plan ;)
 
[TW]Fox;16639324 said:
Given his car history I doubt he would be happy doing that.
Click to expand...

With him being in such a financial mess it's not what he's happy driving, it should be what will get him from A to B and cost the least.

I couldn't run a 13 year old V8 BMW knowing I hardly had enough money for food, or due to interest I wasn't actually paying off any money I owed.

Sell up and get a cheap Mondeo or something till your finances are sorted.
 
I have plenty of money coming in to service my finances now. They were only a mess while I was on the dole. My current salary is about 75% of what I was earning before I stopped working, and those that know me, know roughly what I was earning.
It's not really a case of not being able to afford things, it's a case of should I bother spending the money. I can afford it just fine, but that doesn't mean that I want to waste money.
 
Berger said:
Unless it starts pooping injectors, fuel pumps and flywheels then thats a good plan ;)
Click to expand...

With the budget I was assuming then it would probably have been one of the older breed of diesels. I do take on board your point though.

Given his car history I doubt he would be happy doing that.
Click to expand...

I'm sure he wouldn't but needs must and all that. Whilst Rilot is hinting at the fact that there is now a decent wage coming in it might not be such a bad idea to run something cheap just until a nice buffer of finances is set up.

I must admit though I am slightly paranoid about money and despite being in a very secure job (maybe not so secure now) I wasn't happy until I built up enough money that I could be off work for a year, admittedly with a lot of money saving, without having to worry about paying the bills. Therefore I guess my comments should be taken in that context.
 
Rilot said:
I have plenty of money coming in to service my finances now. They were only a mess while I was on the dole. My current salary is about 75% of what I was earning before I stopped working, and those that know me, know roughly what I was earning.
It's not really a case of not being able to afford things, it's a case of should I bother spending the money. I can afford it just fine, but that doesn't mean that I want to waste money.
Click to expand...

Just run it, things like suspension are only an issue if they fail an MOT. Put the money into a pot rather than spending it now, and spend it slowly and begrudgingly on it. Its not as if this car needs to handle perfectly, its a cruiser to be used for mile munching.

I wouldn't change it, 150k is not an issue at all for it. Its a very nice car, you wont do better than just keeping it and avoiding spending out on anything unless legally or mechanically forced to do so.
 
So why did you sort the bodywork on your S Jez?

An e39 with worn control arm bushes drives like crap, you get awful vibrations in the car. Why would you want to put up with that?
 
Last edited:
Because i am not the one who has been out of a job for 18 months :p I'd do the work personally, but i wouldnt in Rilots situation until i had got myself right back where i should be financially.
 
If you can afford it, I'd just do it. It could run for miles and miles to come.

Sounds like routine work so I'd just get it done.

You've ruled out getting a new more expensive car too so unless you want to downgrade I don't see any other worthwhile option.

Congrats on the new job too.
 
Last edited:
Rilot said:
Shimmy under braking yeah and it's not discs.
Click to expand...

No brainer then - fix it or get rid of the car. No point driving around in a car like that if the smooth refinement is not there because of a fault with it.

That said, I had shimmy under braking and it turned out to be the wheel balance though it is a classic sign of lower control arm bushes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom