Decent E60 Money?

Soldato
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I’m becoming more and more tempted by a new car, specifically an E60. I’ve looked at (not been to dive, can’t find one locally) the 645ci, I think it’s a little out of budget.

I’m going to try and find an E60 this weekend to go for a spin in. I’d like to know what what sort of money I’m looking at for a decent spec one though. I've look on auto trader but as you know they could look cheap but be dogs, I though your knolagable expericance would be far more useful.

• I’m not bothered about engine, each have pros and cons.
• I don’t care how old it is, as long as it’s an E60.
• As many toys as possible, what’s best to have in your opinion and what’s not that important (obviously I know this is subjective).
• Not overly fussed about mileage, I would rather something that’s not going to be massively unreliable. I know it’s a BM and it’s not going to cost fiesta money to run.

I would rather a sport but what difference is price are we talking and is it worth paying the extra for when resale time comes?

Any tips you can give me would be great. No buying should be happening until new year so there is no hurry to buy. I can wait and travel for a good’n.

Thanks in advance!
 
Soldato
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• As many toys as possible, what’s best to have in your opinion and what’s not that important (obviously I know this is subjective).

My priorities were in the following order:

M-Sport body kit & suspension
Sat-Nav
Bluetooth phone
Voice Control
Xenons
Comfort Seats
Multi changer
Active lights
Tints or Double Glazing
Panaramic Sunroof
TV
 
Last edited:
Soldato
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Bath
[TW]Fox;15057169 said:
I would want £15k+ for a nice M Sport and £12k+ for a nice SE I think.

That sounds about right :)

Options I'd ensist on having:
  • M-Sport
  • Professional Media Pack (Navigation Pro, 6CD, Bluetooth, Voice Control, ConnectedDrive Assist & Online for LCI cars, not sure about pre-LCI)
  • USB Interface
  • DAB

I'd also ensist on it not having the Automatic Gearbox option!

The sunroof has a few problems and was a quite expensive option, but I guess that extra cost premium is reduced for second hand cars?

Xenon low-beams can be added to LCI cars (LCI has projector low beam but pre-LCI has reflector low beam) and BMW can retrofit the headlamp washers if wanted, but to get Bi-Xenons you have to replace the whole headlamps assembly (it's been done though).

TV can be retrofitted to a Navigation System Professional car I think.

E60 net has some good forums - http://forums.5series.net/
 
Soldato
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There are virtually no manual E60's, unless they're base model 520d company cars.

And Fox is right, virtually nobody bothers with DAB either.

I'd not want to spend this sort of money on a car and then bodge retrofit HID's so I'd just buy one with the Visibility Pack and be done with it.
 
Man of Honour
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I'd not want to spend this sort of money on a car and then bodge retrofit HID's so I'd just buy one with the Visibility Pack and be done with it.

Provided its a projector fitted LCI model you wouldnt be able to tell the difference but on pre LCI I agree. However, I bet 99.9% of well specified LCI E60's will have Xenons anyway so its not hard to find one with them already.
 
Soldato
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Do you really know what you want? They're quite different, one is the base of the range with a manual gearbox and the other is a higher end diesel with an autobox.

I'd not touch either of those as neither have satnav or xenons for a start.
 
Man of Honour
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I was about to post what Olly said.

It strikes me what you want is 'a BMW' rather than something specific for its individual merits. How could you consider both a MANUAL 520d and an automatic 530d?

Both look nice but both are priced to reflect the comparatively poor spec.
 
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;15060077 said:
I was about to post what Olly said.

It strikes me what you want is 'a BMW' rather than something specific for its individual merits. How could you consider both a MANUAL 520d and an automatic 530d?

Both look nice but both are priced to reflect the comparatively poor spec.

I'm not overly bothered about size of the engine, a 2l diesel has better economy while the 3l better performance, I value both in a similar regard. I would rather an auto, I’m starting to think changing gear is overrated, again though I’m not all that bothered.

I know both of the above models are relatively poor spec, I just wanted your opinion, so thanks. I just wanted to know what you though about the price given the poor spec, mileage, fsh and one owner.

To say I don’t know what I want though just because I choice two different sized engines and transmission I find a little narrow minded.

I’m going to drive both a 530d and 520d next Tuesday, if I find I have a preference then I will go from there.

I like the car because of the comfort and the looks, I for one don’t see that as a problem. Size of engine and transmission have little to do with the former.
 
Man of Honour
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I like the car because of the comfort

Then I caution you against an E60 Sport on 18 inch wheels with runflat tyres. The ride, whilst hardly like a race-car, is not what you'd expect from a large executive saloon.

I used to think the ride in my 530 Sport was good until I realised I was making allowances for its better handling etc. I got a bit of perspective when I drove to Yorkshire last week and my girlfriend moaned about the harsh ride, jarring over expansion joints on the Motorway, etc etc.

Have you considered, a serious suggestion here, a Mercedes E320 CDI Automatic?
 
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