Thinking of "trading down" - need advice

[Majdnoon]

I've got a bit of a decision to make and I wanted some perspective that isn't my own.

I currently have 2 cars; a '98 E36 M3 (my weekender/race car) and a '14 Dodge Charger R/T (my daily driver). There's a lot to like about the Hemi, but also a lot to dislike. IE lack of a manual, undefeatable stability control, heavy. It's got about 23,xxx miles. Now that it's out of warranty, I'm thinking I might move on.


My idea is to trade in my Charger for a clean, low-mileage, well-maintained E39 5-series with a manual trans. Preferably a 540i M-sport. The reason for this is twofold: I'd enjoy my daily driver more than I do now, and I'd have an extra $10-15K to invest (IE deposit for a house, buy a car to flip, save for a rainy day, etc). The Charger is paid off with a bluebook value around 20-25K.


I've had plenty of frustrating experiences working on my E36, so I'm gonna do the E39 right. No POS Craigslist specials. Sub-100K mileage, zero rust, great condition, lovingly maintained by someone who keeps all maintenance records in a laminated binder. I would take care of it in the same kind. I'm a lawyer so I'd have the money to properly maintain the E39 when issues come up.


The way I see it, the main risks are potential reliability issues (see my mostly-broken E36 race car). Despite my plan to buy the cleanest E39 I can find, it's still a 20 year old BMW. But the Charger is out of warranty now, and I've heard about poor reliability in modern Chrysler products.


What do you guys think? Am I making a financial mistake? Are reliability issues not gonna be worth the extra $10-15K in my pocket? Should I keep the Charger as a daily just by virtue of it being newer? Any issues I'm not seeing here? Anything else to add?


Thanks for your input.

[dannyzabolotny]

I only see one thing wrong with your plan— get an M5 instead. You might pay a little more, but they tend to keep their values better and are more robust in a lot of ways, like with the cooling system and relative lack of chain guide issues. Manual 03 M-Sports with under 100k miles are getting to be about as expensive as M5's...

[fullthrottle540]

I've been told that my E39 looks like a "lawyer car" haha.

If you have the means to deal with it, then I say go for it... but only if you have a reliable second car. My E39 is currently at my house on jackstands and I daily drive an Infiniti.

[edjack]

The M5 will be less of a "stepdown" from the Dodge than a 540i. There are gems out there; look for them.

[Majdnoon]

I've been told that my E39 looks like a "lawyer car" haha.

I'm gonna be hopeful and say it's because its a dignified, classy, stately, handsome-looking car people can aspire to... rather than a boring, outdated, broken status symbol that steals everyone's money :P

but only if you have a reliable second car. My E39 is currently at my house on jackstands and I daily drive an Infiniti.

There lies the problem; my Dodge IS the reliable car. Recently my door card fell straight off my E36... I mean it runs and everything but so much convenience/comfort/aesthetic stuff is brokeded. The last thing I want is to get an E39 and have to tear it apart as often as I do my E36.



For everyone saying I get an M5... all the M5s I've seen in the condition I want them (clean, babied, meticulous maintenance records) are all at least double what the standard 5ers cost. Even the 03 540 M-Sports. So it defeats the purpose of having extra money in my pocket to invest or save up.

[cnsorial]

I'm gonna be hopeful and say it's because it's a dignified, classy, stately, handsome-looking car people can aspire to... rather than a outdated, broken status symbol that steals everyone's money :P



There lies the problem; my Dodge IS the reliable car. Recently my door card fell straight off my E36... I mean it runs and everything but so much convenience/comfort/aesthetic stuff is brokeded.



For everyone saying I get an M5... all the M5s I've seen in the condition I want them (clean, babied, meticulous maintenance records) are all at least double what the standard 5ers cost. Even the 03 540 M-Sports. So it defeats the purpose of having extra money in my pocket to invest or save up.

Yea. All the "get an M5" people don't think about the condition. A clean, well-maintained M5 that is daily driver worthy is a $20-25k car. Whether you buy a basket case for 10 and put 10 into it or you buy a fully sorted one. I think a perfect 540 is about a $10k car (some of the 03 M sports have ridiculous list prices.) Same rule applies. You can get one for 5k and put 5k of repairs in the first year or buy a maintained one and just keep up with it.

With all that said, if you want to buy a car to just put gas in and drive every single day and can't be late to hearings, court, or client appointments and don't have another car that's always ready to go, I wouldn't suggest an E39 as a daily. Especially if you don't do your own work. It will be a costly headache for someone that doesn't really love these cars and is willing to put up with maintenance and repairs.


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[edjack]

With an M5, you could do a Clive Owen on your balky clients.

[geargrinder]

Yea. All the "get an M5" people don't think about the condition. A clean, well-maintained M5 that is daily driver worthy is a $20-25k car. Whether you buy a basket case for 10 and put 10 into it or you buy a fully sorted one. I think a perfect 540 is about a $10k car (some of the 03 M sports have ridiculous list prices.) Same rule applies. You can get one for 5k and put 5k of repairs in the first year or buy a maintained one and just keep up with it.

With all that said, if you want to buy a car to just put gas in and drive every single day and can't be late to hearings, court, or client appointments and don't have another car that's always ready to go, I wouldn't suggest an E39 as a daily. Especially if you don't do your own work. It will be a costly headache for someone that doesn't really love these cars and is willing to put up with maintenance and repairs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I endorse all this.

Theres one evaluation to be done around "will you be ok living with it", and definitely an E39 is gonna need plenty of ongoing lovin. Maybe less maybe more than the E36. Some things are bigger and more complex and more involved than a 3er, so sometimes indeed the 5er work costs and takes more. On other hand it's nicer and more robust once it's fixed, so it's a little more rewarding. Can you psychic-ly accept the ongoing maintenance and recurring downtime, externalities aside? Perhaps you can... Ok.

But then there's the whole "daily life interruptions" angle. You gotta decide if yer Ok with the downtime vs job / life demands. If you have a half decent 2nd car, or even if your mate / spouse has a car you can stealmin emergencies... its proably ok. If the 2nd car is a busted track rat... Or doesn't exist... Mmmm...

Too many people think they can handle a used high maintenance bitch but can't. Either psychologically, or, practically. Honestly it's seldom really financially that people bail - although they use that as the excuse, often IMO bogusly. Really it's the burden of Dealing With It All The Time, or, the pragmatic "service interruptions"...

[amancuso]

It really depends. Now the youngest e39 is 15 years old. I bought my 1999 528iA in April of 2016 with 119K miles on it. When I bought it it needed a valve cover gasket, passenger seat occupancy sensor and front struts. All in all not bad, but it was a 1 owner car with service records. Just in the last few months it's started to leak from the oil pan, and I'm getting that taken care of in a few weeks. We drove that car on an epic 4000 mile road trip last summer and it didn't miss a beat. Great car. Fast Forward to this past April and we picked up another E39, this time a 2003 M5 with 137K. It was for sale at a BMW dealership in Richmond, VA. 2 owner car with some service records. Only thing I've needed to do is valve cover gaskets, and thermostat. We also took that car on a road trip this summer (about 2400 miles) and I loved every minute of it.

[Leonator134]

You're still under the factory drive-train warranty.. and that's the important one. The "bumper to bumper" doesn't cover much anyway.

Modern Chrysler products are just as good as anyone else's. Just gotta buy the right one.

Buy the cleanest E39 you can possibly find.

- - - Updated - - -

And sell your charger privately if you can.

[dannyzabolotny]

I endorse all this.

Theres one evaluation to be done around "will you be ok living with it", and definitely an E39 is gonna need plenty of ongoing lovin. Maybe less maybe more than the E36. Some things are bigger and more complex and more involved than a 3er, so sometimes indeed the 5er work costs and takes more. On other hand it's nicer and more robust once it's fixed, so it's a little more rewarding. Can you psychic-ly accept the ongoing maintenance and recurring downtime, externalities aside? Perhaps you can... Ok.

But then there's the whole "daily life interruptions" angle. You gotta decide if yer Ok with the downtime vs job / life demands. If you have a half decent 2nd car, or even if your mate / spouse has a car you can stealmin emergencies... its proably ok. If the 2nd car is a busted track rat... Or doesn't exist... Mmmm...

Too many people think they can handle a used high maintenance bitch but can't. Either psychologically, or, practically. Honestly it's seldom really financially that people bail - although they use that as the excuse, often IMO bogusly. Really it's the burden of Dealing With It All The Time, or, the pragmatic "service interruptions"...

Yeah, owning and maintaining an E39, any E39 really, requires a lot of commitment. A lot of people don't have the time or the will to take care of these cars properly, so they just neglect them and sell them when stuff starts breaking. I have extra cars to drive if I ever need to, but I haven't needed to in all my time of owning the 540it. Though even if my 540it broke and I didn't have any other cars to drive, I wouldn't be too bothered— I don't really care about my job. Everyone's situation is different, so for some people the E39 works fine while for others it doesn't. And that's okay.

[Majdnoon]

Thanks for all the info guys. After much soul-searching, I've decided to keep my Dodge until the E36 is where I want it to be.

[fullthrottle540]

A clean, well-maintained M5 that is daily driver worthy is a $20-25k car. A perfect 540 is about a $10k car.

If you want to buy a car to just put gas in and drive every single day and can't be late to hearings, court, or client appointments and don't have another car that's always ready to go, I wouldn't suggest an E39 as a daily. Especially if you don't do your own work. It will be a costly headache for someone that doesn't really love these cars and is willing to put up with maintenance and repairs.

This guy nailed it. I agree 100%