BMW and M Power Owners

A workmate has a545i, my impression is it doesn't feel as well built as my e39 530i Sport, the interior looks and feels Ford / Vauxhall esque by comparison if that makes sense!

It drives beautifully though, he's had no issues with it what so ever in his two year ownership, it replaced an e34 540i which he still regrets selling!

Not an awful car by any stretch of the imagination, by itself arguably a very good car just not the improvement over the e39 it should have been.
 
Archibald0 said:
It isn't advertised but has cruise control, Bluetooth, nav, parking sensors, no leather but I don't mind. Changing from a Polo so I'm happy. There is always going to be a better car or deal somewhere in the country but based on auto trader comparisons I thought it was not a bad deal.
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Fair enough, just giving my opinion :)

I can't see the price though so I can't say if it's good value or not.
 
Mr Gimp said:
What's the general concencus on E60s?

I'm looking at wanting a V8 saloon as a second car for wafting about in and the 550 and 545 are appealing for some reason. :/
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If it was cheap enough I could be very tempted....I'm willing to bet they're far from cheap though? Especially a 550.

I'd find a 645ci much more appealing than its e60 equivalent though, regadless of the fact it's much the same
 
Mr Gimp said:
What's the general concencus on E60s?
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I do not like them and I never have done. Thats just my opinion obviously and technically they are fine cars but tech aside I think it represented a bit of a backwards step.

The outgoing facelift E39 was a wonderful car, the E60 arrived and with it gone were the nice LED rear lights, gone was half the standard spec, gone was the solidly built interior and it's in place was a triumph of wacky styling and tech over substance. It didn't even have digital climate control.

The facelift fixed quite a bit of this - they toned down the totally bizarre interior design with far nicer door cards, the LED lights came back and in late 2009 the iDrive got upgraded to a version that actually was excellent but if you are looking at 545i's etc they are pre facelift cars so you won't get this.

I used to think perhaps I was just unkind to the E60 because I owned an E39 but when the F10 came out in 2010 and I loved it I realised it wasn't that :p

If I was in the market for something like a prefacelift 545i I would buy a W211 Mercedes E500 instead. IMHO its a better car.
 
Thanks for the input guys.

I had a friend selling a 545 auto (not SMG) for peanuts and it looks nice enough from the outside, but a more informed opinion goes a long way. I had a feeling I recalled something about the iDrive in the early ones being more than dire, and digital climate control not being present is absolutely farcical considering my T plate snotter 323 has it!

I've looked at W211s before as someone else mentioned them as an alternative but they don't float my boat styling wise at all sadly :(
 
Define peanuts!

If your talking say £3k - £4k peanuts, I'd ask why it's so relatively cheap?

And bear in mind for the money your looking at early pre facelift e60's and usually scruffy ones with big miles as opposed to an end of the line e39 which should be easily achievable in very good condition for the money (bear in mind I've just bagged a very tidy and straight e39 530i Sport for £1500) a local dealer to me has an e60 530i on a 53 plate for £3995, it's done 150k as opposed to my 109k yes, it's 3years newer, but it's interior shows its age and miles where my e39's doesn't.

Above all, to my mind at least, I have the FAR better car for nigh on £2.5k less...
 
[TW]Fox;27270350 said:
Because the e60 is nasty and a genuinely sporty exec wafter sounds awful. If you want genuinely sporty buy a sports car.
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Really? Been looking at E60 M5's just out of curiosity for a potential future car, why are they nasty (genuinely know nothing about E60's)
 
I have had a 1981 320 (E21), then a 1984 323i Dogleg box (E30). Followed that with a 1985 520i (E28)and then a 1988 525i (E28).

Then a 1988 316i (E30) as a runaround for £300, kept it a year, replced a spring in the doorhandle, put 12k on it and sold it for £450 ! Then a 1991 520i (E34) which I loved although a bit underpowered.

Then a 1993 316i (E36) and despite being immaculate and never let me down was easily the worst BMW I had ever had. Too plastic and cheap. Now driving a 1999 318I SE (E46) and it is built as well as the 80s ones. I want to get a decent powerful E30 again or even an E28.
 
Tom|Nbk said:
Really? Been looking at E60 M5's just out of curiosity for a potential future car, why are they nasty (genuinely know nothing about E60's)
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As far as the M5 is concerned, all of the downsides I list in my post above with the added fun of an engine which, whilst a technical masterpiece, is IMHO in completely the wrong car with completely the wrong gearbox. A screaming revving V10 with a tiny fuel tank and a jerky SMG gearbox. Fun in a supercar. Not so much in an executive wafter. Whats the point in a 5 Series you need to stop every 200 miles to fill up every time you use it to go on a road trip or similar?

Plus the running costs are just hilarious - some of the bills are completely ridiculous and just not something I can understand why anyone buying 7-10 year old cars would want to put up with. Read the PH M Power forum for tales of woe from E60 M5 owners, the theme is 'not without a warranty' but the warranty itself is hugely expensive...

Whereas by contrast the F10 M5 is simply stunningly right - effortless performance from it's smaller yet twin turbocharged V8 and better fuel consumption for a better tank range.

There is no denying the E60 M5 is a fast technical masterpeice but to be honest if you want M Power that excites, thrills and begs to be rev'd why do you want a 5 Series? It isn't that type of car. The M3 is IMHO a far better package than the E60 M5.

The E39 and F10 M5's were of a different character - quick bruisers with effortless performance. Suited the 5 Series perfectly.
 
[TW]Fox;27276509 said:
As far as the M5 is concerned, all of the downsides I list in my post above with the added fun of an engine which, whilst a technical masterpiece, is IMHO in completely the wrong car with completely the wrong gearbox. A screaming revving V10 with a tiny fuel tank and a jerky SMG gearbox. Fun in a supercar. Not so much in an executive wafter. Whats the point in a 5 Series you need to stop every 200 miles to fill up every time you use it to go on a road trip or similar?

Plus the running costs are just hilarious - some of the bills are completely ridiculous and just not something I can understand why anyone buying 7-10 year old cars would want to put up with. Read the PH M Power forum for tales of woe from E60 M5 owners, the theme is 'not without a warranty' but the warranty itself is hugely expensive...

Whereas by contrast the F10 M5 is simply stunningly right - effortless performance from it's smaller yet twin turbocharged V8 and better fuel consumption for a better tank range.

There is no denying the E60 M5 is a fast technical masterpeice but to be honest if you want M Power that excites, thrills and begs to be rev'd why do you want a 5 Series? It isn't that type of car. The M3 is IMHO a far better package than the E60 M5.

The E39 and F10 M5's were of a different character - quick bruisers with effortless performance. Suited the 5 Series perfectly.
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Thank you for this post, I actually considered changing to an E39 M5 but worried I'd miss how agile the M3 and the performance is relatively similar so didn't seem worth it?. Although I can't stop myself from looking over them time and time again...
 
Mirage said:
So the X5 is in for work. Started tapping Tuesday so took it straight to the garage.
Unfortunately the simple possibles have been ruled out, now it's looking like an engine strip down.
Will be in the trusty S reg Fiesta for a few weeks....
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Replacement chains, tensioner and guides on order, along with a cam locking kit.
Autodata quote 18 hours to change the guides, which basically means I'll be out of the X5 for at least the next fortnight.
 
Having had the codes read on my e39 the other day, I've decided it would be handy to have a reader of my own.
Ideally, I'd like either a stand alone unit or, one that I can use with my iPhone 5 as I dont have a laptop any more.

Seen this... http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00ALPWO8U?vs=1 Seems pretty reasonable for under £40 or should I be looking elsewhere?

I'd like one that can clear fault codes, not just read them.

Ta.
 
You need the proper BMW specific software otherwise you may as well not bother IMHO, being able to read the ECU is only somewhat useful, the E39 has about 4-5 different fault code memories many of which are proprietary BMW and thus not reachable by generic code readers.
 
[TW]Fox;27278554 said:
You need the proper BMW specific software otherwise you may as well not bother IMHO, being able to read the ECU is only somewhat useful, the E39 has about 4-5 different fault code memories many of which are proprietary BMW and thus not reachable by generic code readers.
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Ok, that rules out the one I've found I guess!

Any specific reader you'd recommend? Or, more to the point, which reader handles the correct BMW software?
 
You can get a package for about £60 that'll do you the correct obd2 cable plus some BMW software (think it might be carsoft) Once you have this you can then acquire and install whatever you want to use (you want inpa) and it should work with little hassle.

You can also just buy the cable for £20 or so and get the software yourself. I had a lot of problems getting it all working properly on windows 7, though I know some others have had no issue. Its very easy if you have an xp boot though
 
rodenal said:
You can get a package for about £60 that'll do you the correct obd2 cable plus some BMW software (think it might be carsoft) Once you have this you can then acquire and install whatever you want to use (you want inpa) and it should work with little hassle.

You can also just buy the cable for £20 or so and get the software yourself. I had a lot of problems getting it all working properly on windows 7, though I know some others have had no issue. Its very easy if you have an xp boot though
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Looks like I'll need a cheap laptop / netbook too, I was hoping I'd find a solution for the iPhone but it looks like its a pc jobbie.

Thanks for the replys.
 
Been thinking about an M6 (and an X4 or Porsche Macan for the wife) to replace the 650i. Problem is I hear the LCI is just around the corner and the new 7 apparently has a completely different drive system etc.

Has anyone lived with the M6, any opinions?
 
Can't believe it's 13 years old now. Took it out today and it's as great as ever.

IMAG2676_zps8dee7f4c.jpg
 
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