New member to the BMW crowd!

Nitrojan · 30 Dec 2010 at 13:33

Ok, to clear a few things up, it is a 1997 E39 that my parents bought from new in 1998, it has done 60k miles from new and is black. As my mum passed away 7 years ago my dad has no need for it and uses his work truck to commute instead of the BMW and also due the cost of running both vehicles and being a single parent. He said to me a while ago that if I was to be able to afford the insurance on it he would give it to me.

I figured it would be cheaper for me to insure the BMW for a few months at least until I can save up to purchase a newer car and then I can swap the insurance over (I got an amazing insurance deal - £1660 fully comp, 9000 miles). This saves me the hassle of getting into any form of debt as I have paid the insurance off in full.

As far as inexperienced goes, yes I have only been driving for 9-10 months however I have also been driving BMW/Audi/Mazda company cars at work with far more powerful engines for about 3 months so I feel I am sensible enough to be able to handle it. The only downside however is the MPG! These things are like tanks!

I think I have done the sensible thing

Joshy · 30 Dec 2010 at 13:34

Janesy B said:
I don't think people are insinuating that, it's just a different skillset.

A skill set that people need to start learning from somewhere. I don't see how the 523i is a bad place to start. It's not like the classifieds are littered with the likes of MK2 Escorts and Chevettes for a couple hundred quid that allow you to learn the wonders of RWD with just a few BHP under the bonnet anymore.

You're limited to either really crap low powered cars that just happen to be RWD (Volvo 340 anyone?) or a moderately slow RWD saloon which shouldn't kill you unless you're being a complete and utter idiot.

DM · 30 Dec 2010 at 13:35

Nitrojan said:
Ok, to clear a few things up, it is a 1997 E39 that my parents bought from new in 1998, it has done 60k miles from new and is black. As my mum passed away 7 years ago my dad has no need for it and uses his work truck to commute instead of the BMW and also the cost of running both vehicles and said to me that if I was to be able to afford the insurance on it he would give it to me.

I figured it would be cheaper for me to insure the BMW for a few months at least until I can save up to purchase a newer car and then I can swap the insurance over (I got an amazing insurance deal - £1660 fully comp, 9000 miles). This saves me the hassle of getting into any form of debt as I have paid the insurance off in full.

I think I have done the sensible thing

Well in that case good job, salute!

Janesy B · 30 Dec 2010 at 13:36

Joshy said:
A skill set that people need to start learning from somewhere. I don't see how the 523i is a bad place to start. It's not like the classifieds are littered with the likes of MK2 Escorts and Chevettes for a couple hundred quid that allow you to learn the wonders of RWD with just a few BHP under the bonnet anymore.

You're limited to either really crap low powered cars that just happen to be RWD (Volvo 340 anyone?) or a moderately slow RWD saloon which shouldn't kill you unless you're being a complete and utter idiot.

If only you could get a MK2 Escort for £200, you'd be lucky to get a crappy brown 1.3L for £3000 these days

I think you're reading into this a bit too much.

[TW]Fox · 30 Dec 2010 at 13:37

It's not monumentally slow at all, what a strange thing to say.

I managed to stuff mine though lack of experience yet excessive confidence in my ability although mine is some 65bhp more powerful I was 4 years older.

If the car is free its a bit different cost wise though its still not cheap and the line between acceptable running costs and a waste of money gets blurred at that age.

Kenai · 30 Dec 2010 at 13:40

Anything that takes longer than his Soarer to 60 seems to be monumentally slow in Joshy's world

[TW]Fox · 30 Dec 2010 at 13:42

This thing is about as quick to 60 as a Fiesta ST for a bit of context off the top of my head.

Janesy B · 30 Dec 2010 at 13:43

[TW]Fox;18106165 said:
This thing is about as quick to 60 as a Fiesta ST for a bit of context off the top of my head.

Most places have it listed at 8 seconds which indeed is the same time as a Fiesta ST.

Nitrojan said:
snip

Looks like you've done okay then, just be wary of the odd bill

Joshy · 30 Dec 2010 at 13:43

[TW]Fox;18106108 said:
It's not monumentally slow at all, what a strange thing to say.

If it couldn't have shown a clean pair of heels to my 1360cc Peugeot below 100MPH then it is slow!

.

[TW]Fox;18106108 said:
I managed to stuff mine though lack of experience yet excessive confidence in my ability Joe although mine is some 65bhp more powerful I was 4 years older.

Did you stack yours "Just because it was RWD" though?

I'll put my hands up to swapping ends in both FWD and RWD cars. The only common denominator was crap driving/showing off.

Disco Boy · 30 Dec 2010 at 13:50

Nitrojan said:
Ok, to clear a few things up, it is a 1997 E39 that my parents bought from new in 1998, it has done 60k miles from new and is black. As my mum passed away 7 years ago my dad has no need for it and uses his work truck to commute instead of the BMW and also due the cost of running both vehicles and being a single parent. He said to me a while ago that if I was to be able to afford the insurance on it he would give it to me.

I figured it would be cheaper for me to insure the BMW for a few months at least until I can save up to purchase a newer car and then I can swap the insurance over (I got an amazing insurance deal - £1660 fully comp, 9000 miles). This saves me the hassle of getting into any form of debt as I have paid the insurance off in full.

As far as inexperienced goes, yes I have only been driving for 9-10 months however I have also been driving BMW/Audi/Mazda company cars at work with far more powerful engines for about 3 months so I feel I am sensible enough to be able to handle it. The only downside however is the MPG! These things are like tanks!

I think I have done the sensible thing

Not too bad then, you've known it for a few years so you should be aware that it can (and probably will) throw up big bills so you're not going into it blind at least.

Overall it's not a bad car to have and I hope that you enjoy it.

[TW]Fox · 30 Dec 2010 at 14:27

I am going to ignore the worthless on road encounter as a judge of performance.

And yes my issue was rwd. I lost the back as I was driving like it was fwd and I did not have the experience or maturity to avoid the situation I ended up in

peterattheboro · 30 Dec 2010 at 14:29

Janesy B said:
Looks like you've done okay then, just be wary of the odd bill

And dying

DM · 30 Dec 2010 at 14:29

[TW]Fox;18106516 said:
I am going to ignore the worthless on road encounter as a judge of performance.

And yes my issue was rwd. I lost the back as I was driving like it was fwd and I did not have the experience or maturity to avoid the situation I ended up in

I didnt know you gave that a smack, was it bad?

[TW]Fox · 30 Dec 2010 at 14:38

DiamondMark said:
I didnt know you gave that a smack, was it bad?

Not hugely no but it required an insurance claim to get it right. Purely luck it wasn't worse mind. It was less than 2 months after I got it so it was yet to be worthless enough to be written off

Big dent in the rear wing.

Lopéz · 30 Dec 2010 at 14:44

Joshy said:
But it is still monumentality slow. If he does get into a situation where he is going to stick it into a hedge he would have got there because he was driving like a clown, not because he was driving a RWD barge.

The Manta has a mighty 80bhp and would happily throw you backwards through a hedge if you took liberties with it. RWD is a totally different ball game if all you've ever been used to is FWD.

DM · 30 Dec 2010 at 14:45

[TW]Fox;18106591 said:
Not hugely no but it required an insurance claim to get it right. Purely luck it wasn't worse mind. It was less than 2 months after I got it so it was yet to be worthless enough to be written off

Big dent in the rear wing.

It happens, iv smashed a few, still least you wasnt injured.

Scania · 30 Dec 2010 at 15:09

Ahh! All will be well with the OP, if you want an old e39, buy it from Dad...........

mejinks · 30 Dec 2010 at 17:17

One thing I will say to the op.

LEAVE IT STANDARD! DO NOT ADD HALFORDS STICK ON TAT!

thanks a million.

Von Smallhausen · 30 Dec 2010 at 17:21

brendy said:
Good luck in the snow and ice if it returns, I lost track of the amount of ultimate driving machines I gave a push to get them moving out of my way.

Indeed. They become the ultimate skiing machines during the winter it seems.

InvaderGIR · 30 Dec 2010 at 17:32

Nitrojan said:
As far as inexperienced goes, yes I have only been driving for 9-10 months however I have also been driving BMW/Audi/Mazda company cars at work with far more powerful engines for about 3 months so I feel I am sensible enough to be able to handle it.

Lul whut? That means squat! :/