Advice on buying a 5 Series

[E39McCullough]

I have been driving a 2003 Lincoln Ls V8 fully loaded since I was 19 and I love the car very much. However this year it turned 14 and his age is really starting to show. Lots of little things are breaking and I am afraid the car will reach a point of no return on investment. It's expensive to maintain which I don't mind to a point because of how much I adore the car but again, it's getting so old that this will just be more regular and more expensive. I'm going away to finish my masters degree and both my parents and I think that I should look for something that will last a lot longer and be dependable for the next three years or so.

I've been checking out a lot of cars preparing for the time I am ready to buy and so far I can only see myself ready to buy a 5 series. It has just about every feature I am already accustomed to and a few new gadgets that I really like! The 2008-2009 model year is where I am looking with a price point of $12,000 approximately and hoping to stay at 75,000 miles or less. I'll probably have the 528 engine though I'd be fine with a 530/535 and AWD since I'm in Ohio. This is a car I'm looking at right now though I'm doubtful it will still be there when I am ready to buy https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...8911/overview/

What I'd like to hear from the community is any advice you have on the car. I'm mostly interested in the logistical side of owning a 5 series but tell me what you enjoy about the car as well.
Is it worth the money and insurance costs?
How much should I set aside each month as a cushion for future repairs? I figure $200 or so
Will the car last a long time? Granted I maintain it. I need more than 6 years out of the vehicle.
If the car is around 75,000 miles what kind of preventative care should I be thinking about?
Are there any particular issues the 528/530/535 have that I should know about if I own one?
Anything else I might not be thinking of

Any advice or tips the community has will be appreciated. I'm trying to understand the car better and get to know what I might get into if I buy one.

[beshannon]

I wish I had seen this before I bought mine

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=731460

Then get a PPI, CarFax and do a thorough test drive

[eaton18spd]

I have had my 535xi for about a year and a half now and I love it. Most of my repairs have had to due with the engine. The 535 or any bmw with the n54 is going to be high maintenance, but if you want the power of the turbo engine its worth it to me. If you want something that is more reliable and a lot less maintenance, go with the 528/530. Not a lot goes wrong with the n52 engine. Both the n52 and n54 engines suffer from oil leaks from the oil filter housing, valve cover and oil pan gaskets, both have electric water pumps that fail, although I have owned a couple e90's and the e60 with no failures. The n54 has turbo wastegate rattle, Injector failures, hpfp, coils, intake coking, vanos solenoids. If you can diy, repairs are pretty easy and there is a ton of info on the forums on how to do this stuff and it will make the repairs if need a lot cheaper. If you can't diy I would suggest staying with the 528.

[E39McCullough]

I am a DIY mechanic when I can. I enjoy learning about my car and taking care of it if possible. Sometimes I do have to take it to a mechanic for more complicated fixes or if I simnply don't have time to work on it. Assuming I buy a 528 it should be an easy DIY I suppose and cheap-ish to repair at a shop if I need to?

[pbonsalb]

You may have to do stuff like the oil filter housing gasket, the transmission pan and mechatronic seal or solenoids if automatic, motor mounts, brakes, fluids, tension strut rod front bushings, shocks/struts, radiator, water pump, thermostat, possibly front drive parts on AWD models. None of this is really expensive except the auto transmission solenoids and the front drive parts on AWD models.

Stick with the inline nonturbo six cylinder M54/N52 motors for simplicity. The N54 inline twin turbo six is loads of fun and I would not want the car any other way, but there is more maintenance and you have to be willing to spend the money for it. And of course RWD is simpler and easier to work on than AWD.

[Norskie]

Since you mentioned your parents I'm going to assume that you don't have the benefit of middle age and experience to put things in perspective, so I'll be the buzzkill here. When I was working on my master's degree the absolutely last thing I needed was something stupid like car repairs and expenses to distract me from my studies. My advice to you is to take the ~$15k a 5-series will cost you, and purchase a lightly used and boring but absolutely dependable and functional Honda or Toyota still covered by the factory warranty and drive that for a couple years until you're done with school and start getting regular paychecks. Max out your 401k+roth, save your money, and pay cash for the BMW (or whatever) you are lusting after, as a second car (M5 maybe ???).

This isn't going to be the last car you'll ever buy, and three years will fly by.

Read this: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=731460

You said:

something that will last a lot longer and be dependable for the next three years or so

Thing is, BMW's aren't particularly dependable or reliable, especially as they start to age. You can mitigate that somewhat by staying away from turbos, v8's and automatic transmissions. The AWD system seems free from trouble, but it does complicate repairs. If you're OK with paying $3k up front towards potential repairs then a warranty will get you through the next two or three years. Having someone else fix it at $100+/hour and OEM parts prices gets expensive real fast. Read these forums and you'll find stories for $8k+ repairs aren't uncommon.

My 2010 E60 535i xDrive was in the shop for warranty repairs six or seven times in it's first 50k miles, and then a few more times for various oil leaks not covered under warranty. And it only has 54k on it now. Besides a couple Audi's, I have never owned a car as unreliable as this one. But it is an absolute joy to drive.

[KEI7]

word

since you mentioned your parents i'm going to assume that you don't have the benefit of middle age and experience to put things in perspective, so i'll be the buzzkill here. When i was working on my master's degree the absolutely last thing i needed was something stupid like car repairs and expenses to distract me from my studies. My advice to you is to take the ~$15k a 5-series will cost you, and purchase a lightly used and boring but absolutely dependable and functional honda or toyota still covered by the factory warranty and drive that for a couple years until you're done with school and start getting regular paychecks. Max out your 401k+roth, save your money, and pay cash for the bmw (or whatever) you are lusting after, as a second car (m5 maybe ???).

This isn't going to be the last car you'll ever buy, and three years will fly by.

Read this: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=731460

[pbonsalb]

That sounds so boring.

[oh2ball]

Everyone is giving good sound advice. Research,Research,Research! (CarFax, forums like this and Cars.com or Autotrader). If it speed you want then 535/550i but they come with maintenance trade offs. If you are in cold weather place consider the AWD version of all but they too have maintenance cost trade offs to consider. The 528/530s are decent cars but don't try to spend low thinking you can add performance features to the same performance as the 535/550s. If you can DIY then that covers a lot of concerns. If not then have a budget of at least $1000 per year for repairs.

Do not buy from Craigslist if you are a novice.

Join BMWCCA after you have made a choice. More good info and stuff available on the club website

Best wishes

- - - Updated - - -

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=731460

[militarydave]

I agree, fully with Norskie's advice! The exemption being if school is going to be paid for on someone else's dime, or in my case, the VA (MGIB, Post 9/11 Bill, Chapter 30 and Chapter 33). I don't know how I could have done it, paying for books, etc, and having to pay premium fuel, having to buy special tools etc to just do basic maintenance (special oil filter wrenches, etc). Maintenance all depends on each car, but tires, brakes (rotors/pads), all the special fluids (CHF power steering fluid, Brake fluid DOT-3 SV or whatever it is, coolant (blue pentosin stuff), etc) are to be taken in serious consideration for this.

not to mention insurance premiums at your age (full coverage, deductible, etc).

or, if you parents have deep pockets, then by all means.

Otherwise, dont fall into debt, more than your student loans. Boring isn't all that bad temporarily.

either way, good luck!

[pbonsalb]

The problem is if you wait for the future to treat yourself to a fun car, a wife, mortgage, kids, education expenses and so forth may come along and delay that fun car until you are over 50 and having a midlife crisis and finally insisting it must be a priority.

[Norskie]

The problem is if you wait for the future to treat yourself to a fun car, a wife, mortgage, kids, education expenses and so forth may come along and delay that fun car until you are over 50 and having a midlife crisis and finally insisting it must be a priority.

That's not a problem; it's called living within your means. Driving a fun car at the expense of financial security ... now that's a problem, and might be clue as to why 45% of working households have no assets in retirement accounts.

Delaying a fancy car purchase until after college is not the same as delaying until middle age; but you do have a valid point that this is one of many trade-off's we make in life. My concern is that most people don't have many things to trade until they get set in their career, so the costs of making those trades are significantly higher.

[pbonsalb]

Its more like suggesting the guy live on less than his means now, so that later in his life he will hopefully have more savings. This is just one approach, and as you note, it may not be the approach everyone takes. When you are young and have no responsibilities is a great time to have fun - especially since life may get in the way of that later.

If I could not DIY most stuff and was worried about maintenance and repair costs, I would probably skip BMW and look at Japanese cars. I think some of them are entertaining cars while having better reliability records than BMWs. Look in Consumer Reports used car buying guides.

As soon as someone starts emphasizing reliability and budget and maintenance costs in their car shopping, I generally tell them to look at Honda, Toyota, Mazda and Nissan, or the upscale versions Acura and Lexis and Infinity.

[70383roadrunner]

Non turbo engine unless you want to spend big bucks on repair!

[ss109]

Keep in mind you're maintaining a $65k car, not a $12k car.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

[mckenzie86]

I wish I had seen this before I bought mine

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=731460

Then get a PPI, CarFax and do a thorough test drive

Wish it the same Does your car bought or leased? My boyfriend is planning to get one and as he is considering leasing. I have this bunch of people talking about dsrleasing.com. Any suggestions?

[pbonsalb]

Don't use them. Terrible place. Spamming the internet. Can't trust people like that.

[beshannon]

Does your car bought or leased?

My car was sold because I got tired of dealing with the problems and the cost.

[pbonsalb]

mckenzie86 is a dsrleasing advertiser. There was another one who got axed recently and mckenzie appears to be the replacement.