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Opened-ended question, but I am new to the BMW market and looking at 02 or 03 540s. I know this is a price discussion, but first question is good call? I would look for a certified pre-owned. My preference is sport package, cold weather package, 17 or 18 in rims (02 or 03), black/black.
Second question is indeed price. 02s with low to mid mileage are going for high 30s certified. 03s are in the low to mid 40s. Is this appropriate? Seems a bit high to me. Do you think there is a lot of wiggle room in this shopping arena?
Thanks in advance. Any and all feedback is helpful, this site looks like a great forum for discussion.
The fact that it doesn't is the only detectable flaw in an almost perfect car inside and out.
Also, the Service Manager told me that these cars are all meant to be driven aggressively for best performance and he actually sees more problems with the ones that are babied (or thrashed).
respond to your posts. Continued good luck with your 5er. I will post some more news
in a week or so.
Please does anyone know where i can find a user guide or manual for BMW 528IA 1997? Also for the radio guide.
Also, does anyone know how to change the language from German to English?
Thanks in adavnce,
"On-line Owners Manuals are currently available for vehicles of model year 2000 and greater only. If you would like to order an Owners' Manual for your vehicle, please contact your preferred BMW center:"
Other than BMW, eBay is a good place to look.
Good luck....JL
As a first time BMW owner, I LOVE the way the headlights look. In the sea of nondescript copy-cat designs out there, the 5 stands out like a shining light. Now I am definitely getting carried away :-)!
I was out there today on the interstate. What stability! What a great ride!
Hairpin turns just effortless at 70!
Even the flatbed truckers are getting out of my way! Must be the daytime running xenon head lights!
Thankfully in Florida the speed limit is 70 but 85 is more like it.
I passed someone at 99. Felt like I was hardly moving. What smooth power!
Not the autobahn but better than NYC where I came from.
Every time I go back there and rent a car, people are afraid to do 70 on the highways.
That close monitoring has got to stop!
The other day my non car-person wife finally noticed the headlight shape after only 3 months. She said "wow it looks like a cat's eye."
I said "YEAH BABY!
I wish I had the DST/ST setting in iDrive like your 2006 has. Mine is a 2005. At least iDrive makes it very easy to re-set the clock.
Enjoy your E60. You and I both know we got the best. The others are merely pretenders.
They can criticize, but you and I will be laughing all the way to the interstate!
Door #1: Take the 02 530i 5spd spt (60K miles, extended warranty) with its A/S tires and hope for the best.
Door #2: Put snow tires on the 530. (wincing at the expense)
Door #3: Leave the bimmer home and take the 92 ES 300 5 spd with 80K miles (no warranty) and A/S (it's better in light snow than the bimmer with A/S tires; haven't ever driven it in heavy snow).
I'm not kidding about this; I might really have to do it. The only part that's a lie is the beautiful, sunny, downtown part. The rest of it is all too true.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Rochester? Heavy, heavy snow... Go for the most aggressive winter tires you can get.. Q-rated..
And, if it were me, I'd take the old Lexus.. (winter tires should be cheaper for that one, as well).
regards,
kyfdx
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2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
How interesting I have always thought that the headlights of my E60 looked like a pair of eagle eyes! :shades:
I like it, anyway.
Regards,
José
What scares me now is that current BMW design themes will be copied. What really scares me is I like the Lexus and hate the new BMWs.
The ultimate compliment.
For the record, NOT ONE person who has seen my 530xi (that I have owned now for over 3 months) has said that they don't like the way it looks. EVERYBODY has gushed about how unique, agile, and feline the car looks.
When I was a kid I once read a review of a Jaguar that said "the car looks like it is in motion even when it is standing perfectly still". That's exactly how I feel whenever I walk up to my 530xi.
The M35x may be the more practical, cheaper alternative to the 530xi, but it does not come close to the excitement I feel when I walk up to the car. That, and the lack of a Manual Transmission, did it for me!
"Feline" is an excellent word to describe the E60.
Some folks (nobody I know) may criticize the front or the rear design but I can't see anybody saying anything negative when you view the car from the side. Breathtaking! Like a sleek, aggressive cat about to pounce on its prey. IMHO.
What did it for me was driving and comparing both the 545 and the M45 about 6 months ago. The 545 handled a bit better.
The M is a fine vehicle but you are spoiled for life after getting your first Bimmer.
I've had 3 of them now since 1993(2 325i's and now the 545).
I started testing the Lexus GS300, 430 and LS430 in addition to both M's and narrowed it down to the M45 vs the 545. I am very satisfied in deciding on my third consecutive BMW.
Yeah. Feline!
Not likely. When my dealer took my 530i 5-Speed, PP SP, Xenon, Premium Audio back at lease end this year, my dealer couldn't wait to put it on his lot. Why? Because of "How rare Sport Package equipped 530i 5-Speeds are."
Sure enough, he put my three year old car on the lot for only $5,000 less than I paid for it and sold it for a thousand less than that. Talk about a premium, it was the most expensive 2002 530i on his lot by about $3,000, including cars that had a higher MSRP!
The other way to look at this kind of a purchase is, "Just who are you buying this car for? You, or the guy or gal that comes after you?" Personally couldn't give one rip what folks down the road think about my choice of transmission, I'm ordering the car for ME and only ME. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
As a first time BMW owner (2005 530i), that pretty well sums up my feelings. The fresh, bold design (E60) caught my eye and, after one test drive, I was hooked big time! I can only hope that others get as much enjoyment driving their car as I get driving mine.
Martin
Add the fresh, bold and aggressively feline design and you have an irresistible package.
Judging from the impressive E60 October sales figures, plenty of people agree.
I have a 2006 530xi Manual Transmission (my first every BMW), and I am in heaven every time I get to drive the car. I got away from driving a manual for a few years, and I am delighted to be back. AWD and Manual Transmission in a car that looks and drive as well as the 530xi -- what more could I want?!
And, like Shipo said, I don't anticipate any resale problems down the road (although I don't care too much about that because I plan on keeping this baby for a while). By the way, Shipo was a great help while I was making my decision. I trust his judgement.
When I first bought the car I sent an email to my buddies with the Subject Message: "Warning: Black Panther sighted in MA". As you can imagine, the body of the message was a shot of my black 530xi! Three buddies came over the next weekend to check it out.
BTW, I have three young kids, and their favorite features are the sunshades in the rear windows (including the auto one in the back), and the auto up-and-down for all four windows. Go figure! Where does that innocence go?!
Wondering if anyone else has experienced any issues with the new body style 5 series (2004-2006). I'm hearing that this particular redesign is littered with issues. My car has 6800 miles and has been in for repair on several occasions - window malfunction, steering wheel vibration, and now a complete iDrive failure. The screen went completely blank. Dealer told me that BMW is coming out with a new replacement part for the iDrive screen since it's been a consistent issues across the board. Dealer has no idea how long it will take to get in the part since it hasn't yet been released. I've been in a loaner vehicle for 10 days now and getting more and more frustrated by the day. Any advice? Any similar experiences? I'd really appreciate the feedback...
Thanks.
Thankfully, iDrive makes the adjustment simple in just a matter of seconds.
No problems.
The extended warranty is in the neighborhood of $2200+... The maintenance is around $1200 or so. The latter is a deal, IMO, if you keep the car up to 100k miles. Between brakes/rotors and multiple service intervals, that $1200 is easily obtained.
Anyone know if BMW has a history of adding new colors during the mid to latter years of a production cycle (every 8 years before new style) for a particular vehicle?
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
The car has made it past, oh, I don't know, 5-10% of its life without ending up beside the road dead.
Alert the media.
Using your estimates, it costs $3400 for an additional 50,000 miles; 6.8 cents per mile. Kiplinger estimates for BMWs are around this figure, but include tires.
My 2002 530i has 60,000 miles, no warranty or maintenance issues to date and I estimate covered services would have cost less than $1000. I'm self insuring.
Even my crappy, old VCR changed the time back to ST.
It's just the idea that they didn't think to do that by 2005 E60's. It would have been nice.
I don't really mind doing it, but....
No Dunlops. I have the non-sport package Continentals. They are not run-flats.
Same brand as I had on my last 325i.
They were excellent on my 325i and expect them to be very good on my E60 as well.
No problems with the tires after almost 3.5 months.