E38 730i

Theophany said:
And you're in an E60 these days - 535d iirc? What do you make of that gen?

Will be interesting to compare the 330 and 530, I'd agree £5k is a bit on the steep side for a 10 year-old car but obviously there's some haggling to be done after looking for potential problems.
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That's right, E60 535d. A facelift E60 M Sport is a better looking, better driving, better spec'd and generally more modern car (as you'd expect) than an E39 Sport, but ultimately suffers from being a step down from the E39 in terms of build quality. If they had nailed the build quality the E60 would have probably been a 'great' car and superior to the E39, but instead it's just 'good'. I had to replace the indicator stalk this week because it rattled like mad, I have a rattling rear armest and another random rattle coming from somewhere - it's not impressive. It's better than any Ford, Vauxhall etc, but a let down compared to the E39.

FYI I wouldn't go near a pre-facelift E60 - they are built even worse :eek:
sigma said:
Loving the Champagne II <3

With the requirement for cost cutting etc, will we ever see a BMW as perfect at the E39?
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In terms of pure build quality, maybe not for a long time, but it will eventually happen. Even the most 'cost-cut' cars are better than their 25 year old predecessors - things move on so much that even a great car will eventually feel outmoded.
 
Took a 330ci out today. Really nice drive, but totally unenamoured with it. Seeing the Champagne 530i before the GD meet tomorrow - really looking forward to seeing what it's like! :)
 
Put £500 down on the 530i. Starting to think it wasn't a good idea... The car's had two owners, one owns a local BMW indie the other was a BMW Master Technician. The seller had a 10 page print put of 9 years worth of BMW main dealer warranty work that has been carried out. None of the MOT certificates had advisories or failures. The nappa leather needs reconditioning on the driver's seat and the alloys could do with a refurb, but other than that its tip top. In fact, I think you'd struggle to find a better example, at least mechanically speaking.

Got offered £7,000 p/x for the Honda which seem about right. Means there's £1,500 to come back to me and I still need to settle the Honda's finance agreement.
 
semi-pro waster said:
So it sounds like it's in very good condition and there's a lot of history to back it up but it's not a good idea? Maybe I'm missing something?
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Pre buyer's remorse I think. There's nothing sour with the deal, the car is perhaps a touch expensive, but it really is a magnificent example and the price he's quoted me for mine is a very fair p/x value. I just can't help but worry about what might happen in 5000 miles or 6 months time.

I need some drinks at the GD meet to take my mind off it now and think about it properly tomorrow. :)
 
Which one did you go for - the Champagne II posted above?

If it's the car you wanted, you've just picked up probably one of the best and newest examples available.

You should be feeling excited :p
 
I Cant understand why a BMW Indy would maintain the not exactly cheap BMW warranty on his personal car neither can I see why the first owner from new would have been a dealer tech but to be honest if the car stacks up otherwise it looks totally great. Sure something might go wrong like you say in a few months but the same is true of the other cars you have considered.
 
Perhaps it's not difficult for a master technician to do the work himself, at work, and then get the history stamped accordingly.

I know this used to happen (albeit years back) at my local Merc dealers, the chap concerned now incidentally owns & runs a local merc indy.....
 
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