Age or specification?

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
160,163
Hey guys.

If you were buying a car, what would YOU chose? Something reasonably new, or something very high specification?

No point being general becuase you all know what I'm on about, but my options as they stand are to either just get a 530i Sport for about 8-9k or buy an older pre-facelift E39 and fit the facelift lights, Sport pack, etc. That would cost approx £1500 on top of the purchase price of whatever I get, using genuine BMW parts.

The end result would be two identical looking cars, only one would be about X, Y, 51 or 02 plate, the other would be R, S, T or V reg.

So why would I want to faff around with older stuff and fitting bits of tat when I could just go and get a 530i? Well...

About £4-6k seems to get some really rather nice ultra high specification 528/535/540's. We are talking *everything* - Xenon lights, double glazing, electric memory seats, heated seats, onboard navigation, onboard television, electric blinds all round, blah blah blah. Whereas the 530i Sport just has the dual climate, cruise, most have leather, etc.

It would work out cheaper overall to go for an older one and 'sort' it, and the end result would be an identical looking car.

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That particular car used to be a prefacelift 540..

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So what would you buy? High spec but 6-8 years old? Or newer? I can't seem to get over the mental thing about 'buying a car older than what I have now' :(

I guess as always it's Rilots opinion that matters quite a lot here as he owned a 98 540i.

So many different options, half the fun I guess. And man, if you guys are getting bored with 5's now, just wait till I actually get one, oh dear :p
 
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In this context, definitely newer. The 530i Sport has more than enough kit for me.
 
Specification! Age isnt an issue with me, ill always buy the car i want regardless of its age. You should go for a fully loaded one if thats what you really want tbh. no point in comprimising just to have a newer car imo.
 
well fox considering I am doing your exact second optionm and fitting all bits to it i would say go for older and higher spec.

I just had the face lift original xenons fitted and the rear lights changed to the new ones aswell.

Got my sport kit ready to be fitted and painted when i got the cash then I will get some alloys for it.

Trust me go for older and retrofit.

man we love our E39s dont we ;)
 
The older one with the extra kit.

If you do a good job at fitting genuine face lift parts nobody would know, you'd get a higher spec and it'd cost you less in the process.
 
DAvE18 said:
I just had the face lift original xenons fitted and the rear lights changed to the new ones aswell.

Got my sport kit ready to be fitted and painted when i got the cash then I will get some alloys for it.
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Your car is going to look absolutely awesome :D

How much did you pay for the Xenons etc? I've found them for £600 and the full genuine BMW Sport pack for £900...
 
For me it would be older and higher spec as opposed to a newer but lesser equipped BMW. With cars like that as long as they have been serviced properly they will be absolutely fine.

Edit: No idea how much genuine BMW parts would cost but I imagine you could save yourself some money as has been said and have a well kitted out car.
 
I have never been one to worry about age.

So the answer seems simple to me, buy the car that YOU want and not worry about the plate. :)


If it bothers you that much buy th eolder model,chuck the facelift bits on and buy a cheapo private plate, problem solved! :cool:
 
Are u visiting the same E39 specialist that i am on the bay hes fantastic.

exact prices i paid and the rear lights where 190 :)

cheers fox
 
DAvE18 said:
Are u visiting the same E39 specialist that i am on the bay hes fantastic.
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Yes that particular guys Ebay shop has prompted this line of thought :p

You've actually got the stuff, so he's genuine etc? Top quality.

Of course there is also the option of buying an SE, seems 530i SE's start at £6k then adding the Sport pack... hmmmmm :/
 
[TW]Fox said:
Your car is going to look absolutely awesome :D

How much did you pay for the Xenons etc? I've found them for £600 and the full genuine BMW Sport pack for £900...
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thats a LOT of money for shiny headlights tbh...i would go for a compromise, top spec isnt essential if its a good newer car with a good few bits and bobs, which most bmw will have anyway
 
Age would only bother me if it's likely to bring costly repairs in the near future. It's always nice to drive a newish motor, but ultimately, by dropping back a few years you're going to be able to bag something much more satisfactory whether it in terms of the engine, spec, whatever.

I've not looked in great detail at the V8 E39's on the market, but at those prices, you're laughing.
 
Neither, I couldn't give a damn about a cars age or specification (apart from performance specs).

That first beemer looks very tasty even if it is the same one as the pic below it. :)
 
yeh hes great, any problems fitting things give him a phone and he talks you through it.

also forgot to mention I orderd some of the black tape to cover the chrome, and once its been painted gona get some of those bump strips he has to make it a tad cleaner.

ps. You realy do need the xenons as standard E39 lights even the newer revision are pants tbh lol
 
You can get the regular facelift front lights for about £300.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2000-BMW-540I...4618059463QQcategoryZ9837QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thats the sort of thing I keep finding - cheaper becuase its prefacelift yet remarkably easy to make identical to a facelift model - if that was a 2003 model it could cost anything up to £15k..

I think it's worth remembering though that by opting for a newer 530i it's hardly poverty spec - you get dual climate, electric front/rear windows, cruise, leather, CD changer, computer, auto wipers/lights etc.

But generally not ultra cool stuff like TV's and double glazing :p
 
Personally, I'd go for newer.

IMO the mods are dead money - you'll never recoup what you paid for them. There is also the issue of insurance - a modified car will be more expensive to insure, and your £1500 of modifications are effectively uninsured. If you crash, the car will be put back to standard or written off at market value which won't include your £1500 spent on the mods.
 
Insurance and residual value are not an issue. I have insurance quotes, an SE with the modifications I would make is £150 over the cost of the standard SE and, interestingly, about the same as a Sport anyway.
 
great advice said:
Specification! Age isnt an issue with me, ill always buy the car i want regardless of its age.
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Yep, same here. Age doesn't really come into it for me.
 
Personally unless I was really racking up the miles and absolutely had to depend on a car for work I would go for the best spec possible. Its all very well having a really reliable, new car but if the spec is not quite as nice as you want then you will always hanker for it. Surely you don't do more than 14k a year at the moment? I'm also guessing you mainly use the car for short commutes and social use rather than long distance work? (Correct me if I'm wrong). That being the case it seems mad not to go with the heart rather than the head because there are going to be plenty of times later in life when you cant have that amazing car that you want because of work or family constraints.
 
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