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2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I plan to get another 80+K out of her... I hope
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
FWIW, I changed the WP, belt and thermostat on my e46 for less than $300 in parts and 2 hours of labor. It is amazingly easy to do if you are at all mechanical. I'll go in later and change the hoses (should have done that at the same time, since I had to replace the coolant). I'll probably replace the hoses and rad at the same time, as a preventive maintenance thing.
I think $2300 is a colossal ripoff for this work. Look up the parts at autohauz to get a price on OEM or better. Thermostat: $60; WP (Graf metal impeller) $60; Hoses: $60; radiator (Graf): $138. So, for under $400 you have parts, and he's charging you $1900 for labor! For a job even I could do, as a competent shadetree mechanic, in 3-4 hours!
Anyway, do what you must, but know what you're paying for. Good luck.
Anyone can shed any light on this? Seemed odd, since it happened, have not had a reoccurrence, but I don't want to get stuck on a highway trip with fans running and my battery going dead. You know what I mean? I'm taking it in next Monday. Thought I would ask. Weird, huh?
Gardis in CT
I'd have a careful read the section in the manual about the Auto Climate Control. It could be a fault in the ACC module or it could even be a normal function.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Yesterday I was driving my 530i 2007, I'm pulling into a parking lot and the "Oil Level Low" message comes on the iDrive screen. Now the car was just at the dealer for a routine minimum "service" certainly they would have checked the oil level? When I got back in the car
the message was gone, didn't come up again. Then I checked the iDrive Service records, all is OK, and all systems register as good.
What gives with this?
Or, your oil level could actually be low... Doesn't that model still have a dipstick?
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Thank you for your insight. Yesterday, as I was parking the vehicle, again that oil can icon appeared in the dash as I turned off the vehicle. Nothing while driving came up on the iDrive screen. I called my tech rep, and asked her if they had checked the fluids when they had the vehicle for a minor inspection two weeks ago. She called me back and said, no they did not check the oil, it needs a "top off" and bring it in they will do it immediately for me, and she apologized to me ("my mistake, sorry"). I brought the car in and the service rep said, BTW, when you add oil between services, we charge you for that oil" but said it in a kind of apologetic way, so I said, go ahead, no problem. They added 1 QT (so she says, I didn't see her add it), charged me $6.89
She said to me that it was nothing to worry about, BMW actually says the vehicle could burn 1 QT every 1,000 miles. I thought that was a lot of oil to burn, what do you think about that?
I was surprised they charged me, given the vehicle is still under the service warranty until JUN2012. I wasn't going to argue, I was happy they took care of adding it for me. Otherwise I"m pretty satisfied with this dealership, and have been dealing with this service tech for years also on my previous 3 series. She herself owns a CPO 7 series 2006 and I feel that is a vote of confidance in the brand, don't you? She puts her money where her mouth is I think.
My wife has been driving it her second day and is getting used to it. She only drives in the automatic mode but she swears the gears are switching from auto to manual by themselves. So in auto (D1) she says is going back to manual (1).
As a remedy, she is pulling overtothe side ofthe road, pressing the brake and moving back to Auto mode.
Is there a problem? I think she may be hitting the paddle accidentally but not sure. Does she have to stop completely when going from manual to auto or can you switch back and forth while driving without hurting the transmission
Got tune up (new plugs, fuel filter, etc.) still have issue. When temp guage hits normal, problem goes away. It's only a cold start up that there is a problem. Suggestions?
Had a total cooling system overhaul with all components replaced. Radiator, fan, shroud, expansion tank, water pump, thermostat, etc. all replaced. SInce I had this done in Nov 2010, I have noticed a pretty good leak from the PS hose from the lower fitting.
Question is whether or not the PS hoses must be disconnected in order to perform the cooling system replacement. Given the nature of this current leak, the techs at my indie BMW shop would HAVE to have noticed something in November. I noticed the PS fluid on the floor in mid December. Fluid dripped onto the under engine "tray" for some period before it was of sufficient quantity to make it to the floor of my garage.
Taking it into the indie shop tomorrow, as the dealer that performed the original work while under CPO Warranty wnated to charge me $159 just to put it on the rack to look at it. At least my guys did not charge me to find the problem and even topped of the ATF fluid. Don't want to "accuse" them of not sufficiently tightening the pressure clamps on the hose (if that is the prob), but if these hoses needed to be disconnected to do the cooling overhaul, then I want them to do the right thinkg by me.
Any thoughts as a sanity check before I take the car in tomorrow will be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
it's really not the fault of the car. It's more of a maintenance issue and where you park and live.
How do we unclog the vents? I'm guessing we remove the screen cover and try to drag the debris out of the vent cavity?...
Is there a simple way to access the drain?
otherwise, you have to pop the cowl vent off and peer down in there.
8 years/84000 miles and the 530 runs and drives just beautifully. Sport Pkg still allows for crisp handling and no suspension issues to deal with yet. Imagine some bushings and shocks may need attention soon, however.
Any ideas on what this might be?
:confuse:
I am thinking into buying a bmw 530i. So far I have found two of them. Both of them are from 2003 model. One has 155,000 mi on it which costs $7995 and the other has 111,798 mi which costs $10,990.
I have been reading a lot of consumer reviews about the reliability of the 5 series and nearly half of them state no problems while others had reliability issues with high maintenance costs. I haven't test drove these vehicles yet, but I have test drove a 2001 525i the other day. However, judging the reviews even on edmunds I would like to know your opinion.
This is first I am looking into a european car. I have another car in mind - 1998 mercedes e300 turbo diesel and I have test drove it with 193,000 mi on it and it drives fantastically.
One thing to consider, though, is that while they may work fine, one recommendation is to replace all of the airbags at 10-years. This could be more cost than the vehicle! While they may work, and you hope you never need them, they may not. Then, most, if not all, rubber components may be toast at that age. Plus, electronics may last a long time, there may not be replacements available depending on how long those parts were made, and when they stopped. A modern engine without a computer module is a boat anchor - and an expensive one at that.
So, buying old is a risky proposition. Often, except for common repair parts, you may have to wait a long time to find those rare parts that die. If you can accept that it may be out of service for awhile, then it can be a fun, maybe inexpensive (but probably not!) purchase.
As for the Benz, that high mileage is nearing the end of the car's statistical lifespan. I wouldn't pay more than $3500--$4000 for it tops.
I test-drove a 530i (6 cylinder) before purchasing another 540i (8 cylinder) and love the very noticeable power difference.
The '98 developed the following problems during my 50k ownership:
1. Sun roof retraction system began to fail (didn't even want to know how much that would cost). Used hand pressure to aid the weak mechanism.
2. Door handles are pot metal and we broke two off during an exceptionally cold winter where the door seals froze to the body. Found two used handles for $75 each
3. Driver door latch cable broke ($35 from dealer). Rebuilt my old one.
4. Rear axel excentric bolt that adjusts the tow-in for rear tire wear broke and had to be replaced ($12) along with a new alignment ($95).
5. Developed a typical water leak that deposited 1/2 gallon of water in the passenger side rear floor board during heavy rains (read old edmunds thread on this issue).
6. Replaced a missing second key ($160)
The M62 (V-8) engine (as well as the 6) is a beautiful piece of machinery as long as you maintain it. I have the Bentley Repair Manuals (2 volumes @ $135 from Amazon.com) and can see the effort required to tension the cam chains, replace the water cooled alternator, the starter, exhaust system, etc. These can be prohibitive costs as the value of the car declines if you have to pay BMW or others to perform these repairs for you. You might want to price out parts that typically fail on many cars with over 100k miles them before you buy any car. In addition, I believe consumer reports indicated concerns over some model year transmissions (you might ask Mr. Shiftright about that).
All of this being said, I did buy my second 5 series and thoroughly enjoy driving it! If you have good mechanic skills, you will probably survive the repair costs for quite a while. If not, ???
Nothing wrong with being all over the map like that, but it would be helpful if on a bmw or m-b forum you'd say your other option is a new corolla or civic. If you have no experience maintaining a 100K+ bmw or m-b, I'd say buy the new economy car.
Or buy a diesel, or a Mack truck, or a Model T, but maybe try to focus? Or maybe this is a send-up......
It has been long time since I last typed a message here on this forum. However, I would like to make a announcement that I have actually bought the 2003 BMW 530i with 111,000 mi. We did look at other vehicles like economy class ('07 Camry with 27,000 mi, '05 Focus with 85,000 mi, '08 Dodge Avenger) before the purchase. We test drove all of them. They were in the range of 10~18 grand, however, we could not get a good deal especially for the camry. Any ways, I am happy with the purchase and the car is running excellent. I changed the rear brakes and the alternator all by myself. Changed the spark plugs and put a new K&N filter as well as did synthetic oil change. Topped up the tyre pressure as per the specs. Initially in the first week I was averaging about 18~19 mpg, but now with the tune-up I am getting about 22~23 mpg in city driving. How about that!!
Thought I'll just update you guys. That's it for me to say now.
Take care.
Enjoy your car.
I appreciate your concern very much.
Thanks
You need to read it again; unless you're using the Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30 then your oil is incorrect and insufficient for use in your car. The only two Mobil 1 oils sold in North America that are BMW LL-01 certified are Mobil 1 0W-40 and Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30 (which is an expensive low SAPS oil meeting the VW 504.00 and 507.00 oil standards as well).
http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_ESP_Formula_5W-30.aspx-
On the website I put my vehicle's information to find the right oil grade and it tells to use the following:
http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_ESP_Formula_5W-30.aspx-
Do you think I should redo oil change with the right spec?
What you might want to do is send some oil out for analysis after maybe 3K miles, and see what it's doing. SHort enough where it probably won't do much, but early enough to see if it is lacking. But, at the cost of the analysis, I'm not sure...this isn't my area, just going on what I read.
BMW Long-Life 2004 (aka. LL-04) is BMW's required oil specification for ALL late model BMWs with a diesel engine.
Mobil 1 oils which meet LL-01:
-- Mobil 1 0W-40
-- Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30
Mobil 1 oils which meet LL-04:
-- Mobil 1 ESP 5W-30
Simple as that.
Long story short, in this era of published oil specifications by the various vehicle manufacturers, it is Oil Spec first and grade second. Said another way, if your two choices are a 5W-30 which is not LL-01 certified versus a 0W-40 which is certified, the 0W-40 is the oil you should pick.
Given more than one LL01 oil, though, I'd opt for the lower 30W over a 40W unless I was exposing the engine to extremely high temperatures caused by continued high RPM or heavy loads that might be experienced during racing or autocrossing. Don't think many people actually pull a trailer with their BMW's, but if they do, then that may point towards the higher weight. As long as the pressure is maintained at speed, the lowest weight oil will flow better with the least restrictions while maintaining protection. A thicker oil will flow less, and may heat up more since it won't go through the cooler as often with the slower flow. As long as pressure is maintained, you get no additional wear protection with the heavier oil. Your driving style, the environment, and engine may dictate a particular weight, so no one oil is best for everyone.
AutoZone appears to carry the Castrol European formula 0W-30, at least at some stores for $8.49/qt. Might be a good source, especially if you can find it on sale. About what BMW sells it for, I think.