BMW 530i Sport - 3 years on

[iaind]

Obviously mileage has a direct affect on a car's value, whether you agree with it's relevance or not.... Most cars seem to have a point in mileage when the value plummets or they just wont sell at all. For a mondeo like mine that point seems to be about 150k miles - I wonder what it would be for something like this

 

[[TW]Fox]

Yeah age is the big factor, but you cannot dispute high mileage cars tend to be more problematic with mechanical items failing etc.

I'm not going to dispute that - I'd not have had to replace a wheel bearing if it had 40k miles on it. But you can pay to fix a great car you can't pay to redesign a poor one

 

[Janesy B]

I still maintain that its age and not not mileage which kills cars. Most high mileage cars are also pretty old - people assume because a 12 year old Vectra fell to bits it was because it had 150k on it. No, its because it was driven for 12 years! My car clocked up its first 140k or so in just 4.5 years. You don't trash a car doing this sort of mileage in this sort of fashion. You simply trash its residual value whilst retaining its condition, which I found very handy

My Mondeo was perfect in the time I had it (Took it to 150k miles), yet its now over 10 years old and is a shabby mess despite having covered only 10k since I sold it.

I know this, most people of the forum knows this. Unfortunately because your car is 'high mileage', it's worth peanuts to the average joe. So to reiterate, what is the mileage? Considering it doesn't matter that much

 

[Nige01010]

I'm not going to dispute that - I'd not have had to replace a wheel bearing if it had 40k miles on it. But you can pay to fix a great car you can't pay to redesign a poor one

This is true, take my newly acquired 306! its only 46k and on a 2001 plate now if this had 160k on the clock I wouldn’t have touched it with a bargepole however I would give your 5 series a big consideration as it wouldn’t be falling to bits like a shall we say a ‘cheap’ car?

 

[[TW]Fox]

Unfortunately because your car is 'high mileage', it's worth peanuts to the average joe

Thanks for lecturing me on the relative values of BMW 5 Series, and the reasons behind those values. It is not something I was aware of in the past, I remain eternally grateful to you*

*Alternative reply: Why are you continually pointing out something I've said myself throughout this thread?

 

[Janesy B]

I haven't been following the whole thread. *goes off to read thread*.

Not an awful lot value wise - the mileage is the wrong side of 160k and at this end of the market it can be as mint as a brand new one and people still won't be interested.

Oh, anything from 160k onwards. That answers that then.

 

[[TW]Fox]

This is true, take my newly acquired 306! its only 46k and on a 2001 plate now if this had 160k on the clock I wouldn’t have touched it with a bargepole however I would give your 5 series a big consideration as it wouldn’t be falling to bits like a shall we say a ‘cheap’ car?

Well put it this way - I would not buy a 160k mile 7+ year old BMW.

I would however quite happily buy a 100-150k mile 3-5 year old BMW from its original owner and run it way past 7 years or 150k miles. It is my opinion that the only disadvantage of buying this way is the lack of residual value when you've finished with it. But in many cases - such as mine - the saving you make far outweighs this.

At the time, a 40k mile 530i Sport would have cost me in excess of £13k. In this sort of condition, probably over £14k. Now, a 70k miler is worth about £5k. Even if I push mine off beachy head when I've finished with it I'd have lost less money value wise on the one I chose. And I'd still have had to spend £500 on replacing the cooling system and £300 on a heater blower motor and £300 on suspension after BMW broke it etc etc which makes up the bulk of my repairs anyway

The older it gets the more variable the way its been treated, the less likely the miles are to have been pure Motorway (How many reps drive 6 year old cars? None?) etc etc. It's too much of a risk.

To buy a GOOD high miler where the mileage has little bearing on its condition you need one where you are sure of its history beyond reasonable doubt.

Its rare you can be that sure with older ones.

 

[v0n]

I'm of the mileage > age opinion. To the point of course - I wouldn't fob off good deal on a high mileage 3 year old car, but when it comes to 5-7 year old examples - low mileage ones are just safer bet in general. Even your previously well maintained, motorway driven, one owner , warrantied (thus no effort spared to maintain) BMW suffered mostly from mileage, not age related issues. The gearbox, dumpers, the hard working, pumping for prolonged times on long journeys cooling system, fans, bearings etc etc.

You can find 13-15 year old Japanese imports with low mileage that look, feel and drive almost literally like they left factory week before...

 

[[TW]Fox]

Even your previously well maintained, motorway driven, one owner , warrantied (thus no effort spared to maintain) BMW suffered mostly from mileage, not age related issues. The gearbox, dumpers, the hard working, pumping for prolonged times on long journeys cooling system, fans, bearings etc etc.

I'm sorry but this is not true as I have pointed out to you on numerous occasions. I'll detail it again one last time for your benefit.

The gearbox: Had a broken return spring on 5th. Thats it. A common fault, 30 minutes labour and a new spring at an indy and its good as new. BMW elected to replace the entire transmission instead under warranty. As if I was going to say no?

Dampers: Originally like yourself I simply assumed this was an expected casualty of mileage. But no - on removing the second rear damper it was found that the reason for it failing was not age or mileage but the fact that when this area of the car was worked on (By a nameless yet BMW Authorised workshop) the fuel filler cap breather was left dangling on the wrong position. Over the next 2 years it gradually chaffed at the aluminium casing of the damper until eventually wearing through.

The cooling system: Fails at 4-6 years old. Don't take my word for it - ask the other E39 owners on here. PeterNems went at 90k. Mine went at 150k. Ollys went at 130k. People on BMWLand have had it fail at 30k. 50k. The common factor? All the cars were between 4 and 6 years old.

The pusher fan: This was actually replaced the day before I got the car. But the low mileage 530d in the household has returned from BMW last week having had... oh, a new pusher fan.

Heater blower motor: It's active for the entire time the car runs regardless of mileage. Park outside the fish and chip shop for 30 minutes and cover 0 miles, cover 40 miles in 30 minutes on the M5, it receives the same amount of wear.

The wheel bearing: You can have this one.

Interestingly the most common mileage related failiure on an E39 are the suspension bushings. The car is particularly sensitive to poor bushes as the aluminium suspension must be just right or you get awful vibrations in the cabin (The dreaded E39 shimmy). I was particularly concerned about this as the car was, when I bought it, on its original bushes with the exception of the ARB Droplinks. There was no vibration, but I booked it into BMW to get the suspension bushes checked anyway. Despite this perfect opportunity to fleece me for new bushes they didn't take it and reported them to be fine. At every service, every MOT and every personal inspection between the bushes remain fine. I am as suprised as you are at this - the car is still on its original bushes. I've even got the money tucked away to replace them - yet as yet, nothing. Very suprised but I think it demonstrates how no two cars will wear uniformly over the same mileage.

I'm half tempted to just replace them anyway at some point next year. What harm can it do? But given that most E39's fail MOT's on suspension bushes WELL before 100k...

I will however agree with you and say if I was buying a car of this age I'd chose a lower mileage one. Is that because high mileage is bad? No, its because high mileage is bad when you've no idea how the car was treated. Most 7-10 year old 150k+ BMW's are shabby. Not simply because they did 150k but because they did 150k over all sorts of roads owned by all sorts of random people with all sorts of different ideas as to what constitutes the right way to look after a car.

I am confident my particular car looks feels and drives better than any of those 13-15 year old Jap imports I am also very much aware that my car is not your typical high mileage 'beemer innit'.

 

[!bluetonic!]

On the 24th September 2006 I collected my 530i Sport from Berkshire.

I thought you picked it up from Swindon in Wiltshire?

I like it. You've kept it in great condition.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I thought you picked it up from Swindon in Wiltshire?

I picked it up from Berkshire and went home via Swindon to visit a friend from Uni

 

[v0n]

The cooling system: Fails at 4-6 years old. Don't take my word for it - ask the other E39 owners on here. PeterNems went at 90k. Mine went at 150k. Ollys went at 130k. People on BMWLand have had it fail at 30k. 50k. The common factor? All the cars were between 4 and 6 years old.

4-6 years, that's really early. You would almost expect yanks to do class action and sort out a world wide recall for everyone. Is that plastic bits in pump or..? Are 3 series with same engines also affected by cooling issues?

 

[[TW]Fox]

4-6 years, that's really early. You would almost expect yanks to do class action and sort out a world wide recall for everyone. Is that plastic bits in pump or..? Are 3 series with same engines also affected by cooling issues?

It is really early and it's also really rather unacceptable. I'm pretty sure it affects the 3 Series as well - it's even worse on the V8's. The guys on the American forums seem to replace the entire cooling system as if its a consumable before it fails. The OEM BEHR radiator splits at the plastic end tank (Yes thats right, the RADIATOR has a plastic end tank at each end rolleyes, and the header tanks split as well. The waterpump is prone to failiure but to be honest no more so than any other marque and this is probably mileage related. And yea, obviously, in true retard style the impellors in the waterpumps were originally plastic. Good skills BMW.

It's a running joke on BMW forums that the cooling system is made of cheese. It's the one really weak area of the cars. Bit of a crucial part to have as an achillies heal, eh?

 

[v0n]

no one makes durable aftermarket alternatives?

 

[[TW]Fox]

Yes - you can buy all aluminium alternatives which remove the problem altogether. They are about £400, though. The aftermarket regular ones are also better - but obviously to buy either first your original must fail, and it's the failiure of the original that occurs between 4-6 years of age.

Once you've replaced the whole system its unlikely to be a problem in the future, but it shouldnt be a problem in the first place IMHO. My 10 year old Mondeo is on its original... everything cooling system wise.

 

[Scania]

Yes - you can buy all aluminium alternatives which remove the problem altogether. They are about £400, though. The aftermarket regular ones are also better

Are you refering to the plastic impellors in the waterpump? I ask as I've just had mine replaced, the OEM BMW one had split and cracked in a few places and was barely turning yet the replacement has a metal (although I doubt its alloy) impellor but that only cost around £60 + VAT.....

 

[[TW]Fox]

No I was reffering to the radiator.

 

[Scania]

No I was reffering to the radiator.

That sounds more like it.

Nice speedy reply there!