BMW 5 series - money pit?

Wildly Boaring

Yeah my father has ran 2 cars from new to say 350k. Avensis and Vento.

Both wanted for nothing.

Both basically calved at that mileage and were scrapped. He was putting in more money than the cars were worth.

Father on law just did similar with a passat. 320k km. It could be still going somewhere in Donegal? No end of dpf and sensor issues. Handbrake issues (09 passat, never got it right). Driver's seat was getting bad. Climate control had given up.

Gant21

I’d say your father in law had a bad mechanic with that Passat. It’s a horse and cart you will be advocating for next.

yoshiktk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118623671#Comment_118623671

Don't shatter my dreams. I know, I know, even though I still would love to go for one there's a slim chance, especially because I'm perfectionist so I would need to have everything, even the smallest thing fixed, so that's the last nail in the coffin.

Passat is great choice, that's why I already have one. Was laughing to my wife that we will just get another one, as besides service we haven't had to do much, 2014 with 200k on the clock, but she wants something "new". When we bought it we test drove Mondeo as well and I don't know how Ford did it, but for me personally it felt worse than the previous generation. At that time we had 2006 Mondeo Ghia and the comfort especially on seats was completely different. When we swapped at test from Mondeo to Passat it was like mowing from cheapest IKEA sofa to a proper Italian one. So Mondeo is on "no list"

I'm back to square one, now its Accord vs A6 but probably the A6 would be in the same danger group as 5-series.

As for the Volvo or Saab, don't laugh but can't get one as my wife don't like the control panels in them, so she will never agree to one, eh woman.

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/honda-accord-2008/30282688

Not perfect, NCT almost gone, but gives me breathing room for all the service and insurance to be paid in one go and some spare money for few other things like radio.

Wildly Boaring

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118623848#Comment_118623848

Nope i'm advocating for less than 200k miles

It's high mileage.

If you're buying second hand you need to be buying something with a couple years in it at least

Vikings

A superb / Octavia vrs would be on my list too but finding a good one is tough.

Worse is, whatever I buy will be replacing my motorbike which gets me from A to B very quickly

yoshiktk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118624710#Comment_118624710

In my budget the ones which I saw interesting had or small mileage under 200k but without things which I want or over 300k but with nice spec.

Have to make myself a trip to Dublin to check few cars and maybe decide.

Im slowly loosing hope to find something decent for my peculiar taste. Was calling about few Accords today, or at least I tried, no response and even when I get one, I felt like CIA agent trying to get something from enemy.... Its like people dont want to sell the cars in the end. I even started checking petrol, dont see anything worth checking.

Ok, whats big, have nice petrol engine and fun to drive? Maybe Ill try from this angle.

coolbeans

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118623194#Comment_118623194

'Evergreen' ditchfinder tyres on her too. Plenty of expense will have been spared.

yoshiktk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118627141#Comment_118627141

Isnt it obvious that after spending so much on car You have to cut the corners somewhere. When I was a teenager I've worked in Poland on petrol station, the amount of people driving BMW just so they could fill it with 5€ worth of fuel was quite big. But hey, they could say that they have BMW.

I for now have setup few search alerts on dd/adverts, I'll wait for something to pop up.

Car99

Roll the dice and pull the trigger. It's a lottery.

passatman86

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/07-volkswagen-golf-gti-2007-low-km-new-nct/29971402

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-320i-m-sport-sport-dr-2008/30362995?campaign=3

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/exceptional-bmw-convertible-320/30371723

Something different to other suggestions

yoshiktk

Ive seen couple of that 320 coupes, look is tempting. How hungry for fuel are they?Currently with diesel I'm driving in fuel friendly manner, but I'll be honest in petrol ones I change into Schumacher mode.

WacoKid

Buying a 5 series offers a rear-wheel drive, auto box, good weight distribution car. Buying an Accord offers a front wheel drive, manual box, nose heavy car.

If you loved your previous Accord then its driving dynamics are all you need. For some they are poles apart and the Accord would not even figure in the conversation.

bazz26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118627646#Comment_118627646

It's a 320i, not a M3. 😀 E92 also has a very low down sitting position and low roofline due to being a coupe. A tall person may not have a comfortable driving position in one.

CiDeRmAn

I'm just about to say goodbye to my 2012 F10 MSport.

I have to say, while it is a fantastic car, it has cost me quite a bit of money, from a blown turbo recently, to coolant pipes broken, swirl-flaps (most pointless component ever) just caught before falling into the engine, rear shock and so on, all in the last year.

I have probably sunk nearly 3k into it.

While I am sad to see it go, it was a really really nice car to drive, I would be cautious about buying another one.

yoshiktk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118628040#Comment_118628040

Sometimes I have weird ideas, like always wanted to have Mx5, when my wife heard it first she just looked at me and burst in laugh.

I'm still torn what to do exactly, like I said before I did setup some alarms and wait and see. The market is crazy right now, I presume that it won't be ant better in upcoming few weeks but maybe my luck will work again and something nice will pop up.

fancy pigeon

My 2 cents...

Last year Mrs Pigeon upgraded her 1 series to a 2012 520d for not much more than your budget (there, I let the cat out of the bag!) as she does nice long runs on good roads

It has intergalactic mileage but critically was faultlessly maintained by the same garage for it's life, (until it came to us naturally). No noise of the chain either. No strange noises, clonks or bangs. Drives beautifully, 4 matching tyres, wearing evenly and new discs + pads all round when bought

It had a bad wallop on the drivers door, suitably fixed with a pry bar. It had other cosmetic issues, again all sorted fairly sharply for pittance. It's now serviced every 15k kms. The 1st time I serviced the car all the filters were mann, a very good sign. Oil was in an acceptable condition. Can read a rake of modules with the code readers at my disposal; nothing major to report

I plan to take it off the road later this year for a day or 2 to extensively clean the DPF (soak in bucket overnight job) along with a few other niggly jobs but apart from that it's been a fantastic car

You can make it work if you buy the right car and can do the work yourself. Otherwise, have deep pockets

yoshiktk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118628571#Comment_118628571

My plan originally was to buy something for a year or two and then replace it with 2014+. As the price of cars and insurance and tax is horrible the plan already have changed like 20 times and don't know how many times more it will change. Just now I've looked thru my saved ads, 3 months ago 2009 Accord with 200k went for 3500€ on average, now its 4500€, its mad.

The amount which I would save on car, if I would go for something nice and comfy but pre 2008 is taken back by tax/insurance.

Have a mess in my head now. Thanks for all the input and information I'm getting from You all.

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/audi-a6-2-0-tdi-nct-9-22/30165002

Vikings

Don't discount the pre 08 too much.

Just going by what's available right now the higher tax pre 08 cars are anywhere between 1-2k cheaper than the co2 based tax models.

Take the 5 series, a 2008 on 520 like this (https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-520d-estate-mint/30401163) is tax €280 asking price €4250.

A pre 08 like this (https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/bmw-520d-automatic-nct-tax/30407770) is tax €710 asking price €3250.

430/year tax difference means you are looking at 2-2.5 years before the tax starts to cost you anything more. Will you still own it at that stage?

I'd rather the cheaper car, have that extra 1k available today for any maintenance or repairs that needs doing.

yoshiktk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118630130#Comment_118630130

Tax and insurance in my case. Haven't checked the difference on BMW but on Accord pre 08 would be a 200€ more expensive to insure, so that's plus the tax difference make nice sum in year. Plus I have to think about resale value, its gonna be easier in the next two years to resale 08+ than older one.