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Thread: I am shopping for E61. Is it a good choice?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
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    Stroudsburg PA
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    s500

    I am shopping for E61. Is it a good choice?

    Hello Everyone,

    I am driving about 60K miles per year and I am looking for a reliable middle size car as a workhorse. My priorities are 1. Comfort, safety, features. 2. Reliability, longevity and cost of repairs 3. Fuel economy.

    I like my Mercedes S500, but is it big, heavy and easy to park in small spaces. I don't like E-class and I was looking between Nissan Maxima and Acura RL. However, several people suggested to look at 5 series 2008-2010 XI535. What would be your suggestion - is it the right choice if we factor cost/performance as a work vehicle as a daily driving about 200mi?

    I was also surprises to find that there are many competing but active forums for BMW owners. For Mercedes are only two. What is the difference between them?
    Thank you in advance,

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Location
    Plainville, CT, USA
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    2,133
    My Cars
    '89 535-GTS,'10 535xit
    I've got a 2010 E61 m sport (sport auto). It's a great car. I got it 2.5 years ago with 98k and now it's got 131k. It still has the original HPFP, Injectors and turbo, but a ton of other maintenance. It's a very comfortable car (you have to get the Komfort seats, aka sport seats, and not the standard seats). If you're driving 200 miles a day, you'll probably get high 20s for your MPG (93 oct). You'll want a 09+ so you get the CIC iDrive.
    These are very maintenance intensive cars. You need to stay on top of them to keep them in top shape. Given that mileage, you need to figure out $5000+ a year for maintenance as you're going to thru a lot of service cycles and parts that need to be periodically changed.
    Inspection 1&2
    tires
    oil changes
    water pump
    HPFP
    turbos
    transmission
    suspension
    bushings
    vanos solenoids
    o2 sensors

    If drove that much a year, I'd probably get a 328d. or a 535d, over a gas powered car.

    As for forums. There's a lot of enthusiast support for BMWs. You can find DIYs, mods, advice, parts, etc. In addition to traditional forums there's a ton of Facebook groups that are very active. Each forum seems to have a focus. R3Vunlimited is E30 and E36. This forum had a very active E34 group for a long time. E60s seem to get more attention on 5series.net
    M5s, the M board.
    One of the great things about BMWs is the support for old cars. I feel way more comfortable owning an older BMW, than I would a Benz, Jag, etc. I've had a number of Audi's but they seem to be sucked into the VwVortex

    2000, 2001, 2002, 2011, & 2020 One Lap of America Race Team Follow Redfive Racing on Facebook
    1989 535GTS-S5S, 2010 535xit M sport wagon

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    New England
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    25,402
    My Cars
    F90 M5; E36 M3 Turbo
    If you like the Nissan and Acura, I would buy one of them. More reliable. I do like my 08 535xit but don’t recommend older out of warranty BMW to most people.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
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    Ca
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    6,981
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    2001 525it
    The cheapest models would be none the non turbo six clyinder and avoid the v8, many oil leaks, valve stem seals, I would think the Japanese cars would be more reliable and cost less to maintain.
    Last edited by jclausen; 11-20-2018 at 08:55 AM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
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    Monroe, CT
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    423
    My Cars
    2007 530xi 6 spd.manual
    I would stay away from the E61. The newest of those cars are still 9 years old at this point and if you are going to be putting on that kind of mileage, reliability will probably take a hit. You might want to look at an F11. Those at least will be a few miles newer.

    BTW, why are you looking at a wagon? All the cars you mentioned are sedans.
    Last edited by JayArras; 11-20-2018 at 11:37 AM.
    2007 530xi, Black Metallic Sapphire, 6 speed manual, Sport package, Cold Weather Package, Premium Package, Premium Sound Package, Sirius Satellite Radio, MTech front bumper, Replica Style 166 wheels

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    You want reliability, longevity, and low cost of repairs? You do not want a BMW.

    You need Japanese. Lexus, or Acura.
    ASE and BMW Master Certified Technician

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Napa, Ca
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    1,796
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    1987 M6
    We LOVE our 2006 E61, but right around 100k miles, everything major started failing. I just completed another major repair (complete air suspension rebuild), adding what would have been another $2500 (dealer cost) to our running tally. If we had paid dealership prices for all the repairs completed in the almost 4 years of owning our car, we would be at about $25K in repairs, on a car we bought for $14K, with 92k miles on the clock. That is over $6K a year in maintenance. You could just about lease a new X5 at that price tag. Through crazy circumstances we were sold an extended warranty that has covered $21K worth of the repairs, but I am still very frustrated at the number of major repairs we have had to deal with. We are talking replaced transmission, AC pump, fuel pumps, complete rear air suspension, rear shocks, oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, oil cooler gasket, and tailgate lift pump. Unfortunately the warranty expired before we realized the intelligent battery cable failed too. That is a $350 part.

    My 2002 Saturn LW200 is FAR more reliable. We have had that car from new, and even rebuilding the cylinder head only cost me $1300 in total parts and machine shop labor. In all, we've probably spent no more than $2500 in actual repairs on good old Stuart. Matter of fact, if you need a reliable daily I would actually recommend buying a used LW200, and just replacing the cam chain if it hasn't been done recently. It is just a fantastic little wagon, and now that I added an android stereo with rear view camera and steering wheel controls, it has all the tech. features I could want. If looks mattered more, I remember that in the dealership, a lowered LW200 with nice wheels and tinted windows fooled me into thinking it was an Audi. Wheels, tinting, and lowering the suspension would be WAAAAAAAY less than even one year of maintenance has cost for the E61.

    In short, as much as we love our E61, I would not recommend it as a reliable daily driver.

    Jose
    1987 M6
    Livin the dream!

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    New England
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    F90 M5; E36 M3 Turbo
    Your shop must love you.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
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    Napa, Ca
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    Yeah, our local indie got lots of business off that extended warranty. The dealership got the last $4k, though. Thinking about it, at full dealership cost on repairs we actually would have seen a bill closer to $30k. Now I have to do all my own work. Thank goodness I have a lift now. It made repairing the air suspension SO much easier.

    I think the strongest point to make about an E61 is that you MUST to be a capable mechanic if you expect to keep the car running affordably. Otherwise, you should pick up a lease or CPO.

    Jose
    1987 M6
    Livin the dream!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2018
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    Atlanta, GA
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    2014 BMW 328i
    DaHose, what extended warranty company did you go with? I am in the market for my 2014 F30 with 40k miles. Thanks!

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    1987 M6
    The extended warranty is a crazy story, lib. We bought used from a dealership the next town over, and they sold us an extended warranty that didn't really exist. I posted on Yelp about the whole experience, and as I was preparing to file a fraud law suit, but the COO of the auto group saw my post on Yelp and contacted me. He ended up signing a contract honoring the terms of the original extended service agreement. So the dealership actually ate the $21K of repairs to make good on their promise.

    Jose
    1987 M6
    Livin the dream!

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Location
    Baltimore
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    7
    My Cars
    2007 328XI Wagon
    In general, I agree that a car of this sort is not ideal for 60k miles a year and that Japanese is the way to go. Acura... change the oil, and timing belt every 100k, move along.

    Apologies in advance for the thread hijack. DaHose, what was the name of the warranty company? I've never had an extended aftermarket warranty before; Consumer Reports did a study a few years ago that found them not to be worthwhile for most people. But I'm thinking with my possible acquisition of a 2010 535i e61 that I should get perhaps one! My brother is a mechanic, but BMWs of this ilk have so much computerized crap that has to be programmed to the car that I think it's worthwhile.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2009
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    grand rapids
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    audi a6, bmw 525, vw
    +1 for avoiding this model. Every time I start mine, something breaks. Just disappointing.


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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