2004 BMW e60?

Trifid said:
The reason for this thread is, £5k for a nearly 10 year old average BMW seems like quite a bit?
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I wouldn't touch it, Fox can confirm but I don't think you'll be able to get a warranty on that due to the mileage (or one worth having), and it's at that age now where big bills are around the corner
 
Well, it's got far less than average mileage on it, so I guess that helps the value a bit, but I don't think I could bring myself to buy that.
 
I wouldn't have that particular car as tbh not even washing it before taking photos doesn't really scream out "proud owner"

As for a £5k e60 in general....I could be sort of tempted. They aren't BMW's finest moment in terms of quality and seem to suffer from quite a lot of electrical faults, but they're an interesting enough car and you're down at the kind of cash where it could be worth taking a risk if you particularly like them.

Find one at less than 60k (and inevitably pay more for a decent car) and you could stick the warranty on it, but again you'd have to weigh up whether you were happy to spend 10% of it's current value per year on de-risking the (likely abhorrent) cost of faults.
 
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The 61 plate X5 on the drive doesn't scream no money either. I don't mind the prefacelift cars too much and only having 1 previous owner to them is a selling point too, the interior styling wasn't their finest moment but it appears to be in good nick from the pictures and I do rather like the outside styling on the e60.

The making of this thread is probably good reason not to go for it, but it is still quite tempting, especially being round the corner.

I do know of a good BMW specialist that is local so should anything need repairing they would be a good shout. The engine should be quite reliable being the older one? And I understand the auto boxes are also quite good? I don't think I would pay £1000 a year for a BMW warranty and understand 3rd party ones are rubbish?

Problems I know of with these cars, the suspension springs are made of cheese and the idrive can be problematic?

Also I only plan to keep the car for a year or so.
 
Trifid said:
The 61 plate X5 on the drive doesn't scream no money either. I don't mind the prefacelift cars too much and only having 1 previous owner to them is a selling point too, the interior styling wasn't their finest moment but it appears to be in good nick from the pictures and I do rather like the outside styling on the e60.
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There's a big difference between having some cash and using that cash to look after your car. You can't tell just from some photos and an ad but someone who can't even be bothered to wash a car when selling it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence that they care much about it.

There would be no harm in going to look at it, but if any seemingly simple electrical items aren't working inside it stay well away as you're only asking for trouble.
 
I had a 55 plate e61 and it had a 3k wobbly with its gearbox (BMW covered half on account of me having a moan). I liked it as a car, drove well and other than the steering wheel being flakey I didn't have to many pre-facelift complaints
 
That looks a bit ropey IMHO. That would have been one of the first off the line and probably has quite a few niggles. No thanks.
 
Trifid said:
Problems I know of with these cars, the suspension springs are made of cheese and the idrive can be problematic?
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Fuel pumps
Injectors
Suspension
My I drive / nav is starting to be funny

Howewer mine is LCI 3ltr petrol manual

Trifid said:
Also I only plan to keep the car for a year or so.
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That's your problem, you may pile a load of money into it in a year then be stuck between 'I've spent a load' and 'I now want to get rid of it'

But saying all of that I can't think of a better car for the money to travel to say France in or the west country, it's so effortless, powerful and a pleasure to drive, I'll cry when it goes but it's got to go in the next month or so.
 
No thanks, it's about the worst E60 around - a prefacelift one. A late E39 is a better car IMHO, certainly better built, and cheaper too. That age of E60 even has the same engines as the E39, carried over.
 
[TW]Fox;25268941 said:
That age of E60 even has the same engines as the E39, carried over.
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I think that is a good thing, especially at this age.


So very close to saying screw it and getting a M135i on PCP/lease.
 
Trifid said:
The 61 plate X5 on the drive doesn't scream no money either. I don't mind the prefacelift cars too much and only having 1 previous owner to them is a selling point too, the interior styling wasn't their finest moment but it appears to be in good nick from the pictures and I do rather like the outside styling on the e60.

The making of this thread is probably good reason not to go for it, but it is still quite tempting, especially being round the corner.

I do know of a good BMW specialist that is local so should anything need repairing they would be a good shout. The engine should be quite reliable being the older one? And I understand the auto boxes are also quite good? I don't think I would pay £1000 a year for a BMW warranty and understand 3rd party ones are rubbish?

Problems I know of with these cars, the suspension springs are made of cheese and the idrive can be problematic?

Also I only plan to keep the car for a year or so.
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Actually, they are terribly poor build quality. They are very cheap plastic inside and the whole E60 suffers with the stupendously unreliable ZF gearbox. The electrics came from a Renault and the engine likes to drink oil as fast as petrol. They aren't as comfortable on long journeys as the older E39 and the MPG sucks.

As for suspension, mine is on 146k now and the only thing still working properly is the suspension and the i-drive.
 
mejinks said:
Actually, they are terribly poor build quality. They are very cheap plastic inside and the whole E60 suffers with the stupendously unreliable ZF gearbox. The electrics came from a Renault and the engine likes to drink oil as fast as petrol. They aren't as comfortable on long journeys as the older E39 and the MPG sucks.

As for suspension, mine is on 146k now and the only thing still working properly is the suspension and the i-drive.
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I think you have a duff one.
 
Trifid said:
So very close to saying screw it and getting a M135i on PCP/lease.
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Mega pricey though. Paying £6k or so to have access to a car for a year isn't exactly value for money.

Cheaper to get something like this:

http://www.tilsungroup.com/bmw-3+se...auto-[business-media]-diesel-saloon-car-31153

£300pcm for 330d is pretty good if you're after a contract hire.

Personally, I'd take punt on an E60. Cheap as chips for what you're getting. Find a well maintained one and you're laughing.
 
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That lease is a particularly excellent deal.

I wouldnt bother with a cheap E60. Arguably I wouldnt bother with any E60 but if you must have one, the LCI is an improvement.
 
Dandle said:
I think you have a duff one.
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Sadly not. Ask any Jag owner who has the gearbox issue :(

With regards to the ride comfort, thats purely subjective of course, but I would trade my E60 for my old E39 (with sorted engine) any day of the week. I really regret trading my old E39, I should have had the head gasket done.
 
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