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Bill Arnold BMW Repair
68 Woodland Ave Suite D
San Rafael, CA 94901
Phone: (415) 459-2697
He is along time BMW CCA supporter. And do join the BMW CCA. It is worth it (you get rebates when you buy new cars/CPO up to $1500, the Roundel magazine, 10-20% off parts/service at different dealers, and all for $40/year). You can use my number # 345669 as a referral. Go to bmwcca.org
Im not sure if you have owned a BMW before but they cost big bucks to fix. Be prepared to spend around 1-2k per year on repairs to keep this car up. The reliability of the 5 series is terrible.
Wait til your pixels go on your dashboard display...it costs around $800 if you do it the correct way.
I know my car has never been cheap to fix (bought it in Germany so didn't get the 3 years free maintenance like in the US), but am recently divorced and suddenly broke so all of a sudden all these repairs feel painful. I never thought of the 5-series as unreliable though. Is that the general impression people here have? I sometimes wonder, with my car paid for and almost 78K miles on it, if I'm doing the most financially sensible thing in planning to keep it long-term (like 10-15 years...it's 6 years old now).
Best Regards,
Shipo
I sure hope he kissed you and sent flowers the next morning...
I'm not sure if you have owned a BMW before but they cost big bucks to fix. Be prepared to spend around 1-2k per year on repairs to keep this car up. The reliability of the 5 series is terrible.
Not in my experience; The maintenance/repair costs of my E39 averaged out to around $70 per month over the nearly 100K miles and four years I owned it-including tires. For what it's worth, My E36 is also a money pit-it costs a whole $35 per month to run. I will admit that my E24 M6 was a bit pricey to run, but it was still worth EVERY penny.
Wait til your pixels go on your dashboard display...it costs around $800 if you do it the correct way.
Wrong. As almost everyone in the E39 community knows, BMW will pick up the cost of the high level display-if you ask politely. You will have to pay the dealer for about an hour of labor.
I think most older BMWs suffer from a) being worked on by people who really don't know (or care) what they are doing and b) a lack of preventative, thorough maintenance.
If a guy speaks with a German accent and works on Mercedes, he may in fact be your worst enemy with a BMW.
Specialty shops like Arnold's are the best way to go IMO.
What often hurts on BMWs is the parts prices, not the labor prices (after all, it costs as much per hour to fix a Honda as a BMW).
So if you can spend $100 now to prevent a $600 part from breaking in three years, you are much better off obviously.
I figure it takes about $100/$150 a month in maintenance to keep an older BMW in tip top form for a long life beyond warranty.
If you aren't spending at least $100 a month averaged out for maintenance (that is, preventative items and replacement of normal expendables, NOT repairs), either you are a very low usage driver or you are slowly draining the bank account on your BMW, and it's going to come back and bite you.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I bought 525 BMW with 2004 navigator DVD and I want 2 use 2005 navigator DVD but it’s very expensive.. Can I use a copy of the 2005 navigator DVD, will it work properly??
Thanks 4 the help
Besides, I heard about someone that tried that and their navigation system was ruined. True story.
Excuse my impertinence(after all, I've only owned eight BMWs), but repeat after me:
Beemer=BMW Motorcycle
Bimmer=BMW Automobile
i have come to the conclusion that they are to lease new or while under factory warranty with full maintenance. Otherwise, you will drive yoruself(sic) into the poor house. The parts are virtually all dealer and quite expensive
Oh, really? Then how come my one owner 103K 1995 E36 track rat has averaged less than $40/month to run? And then there's my 130K E39, which averaged out to $85/month. By the way, those figures included four sets of Z-rated tires on the 3er and one V-rated set for the 5er. And as for parts prices, I've found them to be quite reasonable-especially with a 20% CCA discount.
For example, the pixels in the dashboard display burned out. The service advisor said it was a simple repair and that they stocked the part... Hmnn.. I should have been alerted. I initially thought what a good dealer, full inventory, etc. What I found out is that the displays do go bad and that they cost about $900 apiece. With labor you are looking at $1,000 to replace what used to be a light bulb in the dash! Good going BMW!
That's what you get for not doing your homework; a little digging would have revealed that BMW will usually pick up the cost of a bad high-level display. The owner will only be responsible for @one hour of labor. So it seems that YOU cost yourself $900. Good going indeed...
So, lease if you can - enjoy yourself and walk away. Owning an older one off of factory warranty? Take out a seocnd(sic) mortgage for car repairs.
Find a good independent BMW tech, use your CCA discount, and do some research instead of whining. I believe you'll find BMWs don't cost all that much to run. For what it's worth, I'm literally putting my money where my mouth is; I'm adding another BIMMER(an E46 330i) to my stable. And I'm buying it "as is".
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
It could be any number of things; a control arm bushing, an anti-roll bar link, an upper strut mount...
That said, it might be something as simple as a loose or broken exhaust hanger.
See if the chirp goes away if you turn on/ or off the AC.
See if the chirp goes away the second you let your foot off the gas.
do these tests and report back to us!
Thanks in advance.
2021 Toyota Venza Limited Hybrid, 2022 Ram 2500 Laramie 6.4 Hemi, 2007 Mazda MX-5 Miata PRHT
Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Very nice find though, it's going to be a great new ride for some lucky new owner. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
They actually made such a thing?!? Yikes, what a way to destroy a wonderful car.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I guess BMW NA figured that it couldn't hurt, as the US E36 M3 didn't have a real ///M motor to begin with.
Interesting footnote: BMW NA briefly considered putting the 3.2 US M3 motor in a special M Sport E39. The idea was to offer an M5 Lite, if you will- which is what BMW does in Europe with their various M Sport editions...
OMG! I'm involuntarily drooling. Imagining what my 530i would have been like with a somewhat more screwed down suspension, a 6-Speed Manual and that 3.2 liter mill is just..., just, errr, WOW. :shades:
Best Regards,
Shipo
Main items in need of repair (it's at the shop today) control ar bushings and the airconditioning. Don't know the $ b/c I haven't picked "Schultz" up yet (it seems only my cars are named, not my husband's- something fishy there)
Because of the highway miles the hood needs to be repainted (this is next)and we are debating on whether th windshield really needs to be replaced (I'm hoping for a nice sized pebble from the interstate to help me on this one).
We gave up on the cupholders ages ago and the driver side door handle broke a few months ago (my husband fixed this with a scrap yard spare unit -read cheap- on a Saturday AM)
Other than these things, which really aren't awful for a vehicle that has been well loved by our family of 5 (now 6, so it's mine again!)...Hope this helps.
Before I forget. Sign up for the Susan G. Komen Ultimate Drive for a Cure. besides BMW donating to this great cause, you get to drive sweet rides...see BMW NA website: http://www.bmwusa.com/bmwexperience/EventsandPrograms/UDSK/
Happy driving.
Pretty funny, I'd had my E39 for nearly three years when I noticed one day that folks here at Edmunds were talking about their "Cup Holders". "What cup holders?" I asked. Someone told me where to look and sure enough, there they were, errr, if you can call those pop out loopy thingies "cup holders". ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
Darn it, now I'm tempted to go look at that 1998 5er. I suspect I could grab it for around $12K. Problem is, that dealer just took a 1987 928 S4 in trade, and I can pick it up for @$17K. I'm afraid resistance would be futile...
Not that I'm that familiar with the 928 market... I had always heard that they depreciated heavily..
I like that 5-series around $12K... but, the $15K they are asking would be wayyyyyy too much..
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I agree, I wouldn't even be considering it if it didn't have the manual tranny and the SP. Plus, I've already owned one E39, so I won't have to learn a new BMW platform. If only it was Electric Red like the 528i SP I saw a few weeks ago... Anyway, if I do get it I'll quickly rip out the CDV and maybe stick a Conforti cold air intake and Shark Injector on the old sled. I might even track it once or twice-who knows?
Have a good one...
Niki
When I took my car to the local dealer where I purchased my E39 to fix this problem , the service manager said "You are complaining about something we are never going to fix". It was definitely not the kind of answer that I expeced for a $50000 car. Anyway I had them check for it. When I got back to them later day when they said it is done, the service manager said he checked it and it is normal because he found the same problem in other cars too. This was one of the stupiest answer I ever heard.
Actually it is just a half of the whole story. I will talk about another half later.
Anyway, does anybody have the same problem for E39?