TwoPedal

At long last my 2006 has made it to 100k miles. A series of serial problems at 75k miles had me up in arms at times about the engineering choices that went into our cars but the character of my car always won me over. It has carried me comfortably and reliably on many a road trip and through many a terrible storms or demanding road. From high speed journeys along desolate middle-of-nowhere roads to relentless LA traffic, the car never missed a beat (well maybe when a coilpack failed).

My love of BMW designs ends at our e60/61s and as the last '90s designed 5 Series, I intend to keep my lovely 530XiT going for another 100k+ miles. To that extent I recently fixed all the nagging gremlins and sent her in for a repaint. 100k miles of trips, daily grind, and careless drivers have left their mark but soon they will all be erased.

The shop is great, filled mostly with 911s from the '60s to '80s. Soon Silber-Grau Metallic will be gleaming once again. After that I need to have the wheels refinished and polish out all the pits in the headlights. No oxidation, which is nice, but lots of impacts. The interior, while taken care of, has held up very nicely. It looks new and still has the leather scent to it.

Car designs are going in a direction that I don't care for both cosmetically and functionally. I'll keep my e61 and one day park an e34 M5 touring next to her.

pocholin

Great looking car, congratulations on the 100k ml mark!
I agree with you, I do not like the direction non-sedan BMW vehicles are going, that GT egg-like shape is not only ugly but also not practical when compared to a wagon.

TwoPedal

E61FUN: Wow, you hit the ground running with that mileage. Did the service history reflect on fluid changes?

I felt that way about a loaner 535 a few years ago- it had all the addresses from other customers. I had a GLK Hertz rental in Southern California a few months ago and it was very amusing to see all the places the car had been.

pocholin: Thank you. There was a time when I wanted the M-Teknic bumpers, sportier wheels, and more power. Then I started to realize just how nicely the factory look works and how potent the engine is when needed. I'd still like to swap in the LCI LED tail lights. The LCI front lights ditched the halogen "Autobahn Flashers" in favor of strictly bi-xenons.

I agree, the GT designs are awful and impracticable. It seems like, at least for the North American market, automakers feel some need to mash up terrible styles, market it as a spacious "crossover" and pull their real wagons. Wagons that do exist seem to be sold as offroaders with tall springs and black body cladding. The new Volvo XC70s make my '99 feel like a low rider.

TwoPedal

Stealers and full maintenance history are mutually exclusive it seems. The great fluid exchange is on. I had my transmission done at 85k and it was dirty but not terrible. The rear diff on the other hand was very clean. What kind of brake upgrade are you planning?

The update (on the topic of stealers) for my car is.....it was in a rear end collision! The shop called me in to look at the rear bumper unit (don't recall the technical name of the metal cross member). It was nearly split in two. The impact was dead center and fortunately they could not find any other frame/body damage so at least we know these bumpers are effective. Carfax was in the dark about it, too, despite the cover up happening at the dealership.

When I bought this car from Herb Chambers BMW Boston, they were "touching up" the rear bumper. I inquired about it and they said it just needed some parking scratches fixed. Well, it would seem it actually needed more than that. Scuzzy dealership....

Anyway, the plastic cladding cost significantly more than the metal part, oddly. Oh, they also epoxied one of the parking sensors in place when they "repaired" the plastic bumper so I had to buy another one of those, too.

She'll be in better shape next month than when I bought her. I can't say enough for the autobody shop at this stage. They have done an excellent and thorough job.

TwoPedal

That's quite a list. I should have known since I was browsing your thread (nice garage floor, by the way). Oh, no X5M. Piloting a brick at high speeds and expecting car like handling from something with a higher CoG I always find scary.

Have you driven any of the T6 Volvo wagons? Faaasst with a factory option to be even faster. I do miss the days of the real R wagons, though.

My car goes in for baking after Thanksgiving. Still disappointed about the "discoveries." As soon as she's done I have to put her in storage for the winter but come Springtime the new paint will be ready for a wax.

Lotus99

Totally with you on that point. How was the handling of the AMG wagon? I'm sure amazing.

Did you drive the regular E350 wagon? I was curious about buying one, after having to replace my E61 (and giving up after a month as there were none for sale around me), but everyone kept telling me they drive lousy and their handling would be soft like a typical MB... should've test drove one just get it out of my system, but there was only one use one for sale locally, and laziness got the better of me.

grilledcheese

Can I ask how much you are paying for the paint job? Any pros/cons of doing the job? I'm interested but fearful in jumping into such a project.

TwoPedal

E61FUN: No problem. Its always fun to talk about wagons. I agree with you about the "tart" factor of performance oriented German models. What I couldn't get over with the E63 is that the W211 Mercedes models have their fair share of quality control problems. SBC and ABC are unpleasant for anyone keeping the car out of warranty and I can't tell you how many then-new 211 wagons I saw in Mass. with half of their 3rd brake light LEDs failing.

But power? Amazing. The low end torque AMG engine produce is worth it alone. At one point in time I was very close to buying a S65 AMG (W220). Massive power and equally massive depreciation. While not a wagon I have always liked the svelte '90s minimalist appearance.

On to my topic: No, thankfully no deployments that I have detected so far. Whatever hit the car didn't touch the trunk door, luckily. The bumper component did what it was suppose to do and protected the body.

grilledcheese: The invoice before all the lovely discoveries was $7,500. That was for parts/labor, removing lights, handles, bumpers, etc. The dings and dents were fixed, paint sanded down, new primer applied, repainted, baked, buffed, and polished. She's not ready yet but I'll have some 'after' pictures soon to compare to the 'before'.

The previous damaged required: 1 PDC ($200), rear bumper cover ($750), and one new bumper component ($300).

The only Cons I can think of besides initial cost is finding surprises but that won't be everyone's reality. Some collectors say that if a car become a classic but isn't wearing it's original paint, the value will be less.

For me, the original Pro was the make my well-maintained car look brand new again. The interior is near-perfect and mechanically there are no problems. That coupled with my detest of new car designs and the way some people dump their car when they get "bored", I wanted a rolling statement of care and longevity.

Finding and repairing the previous damage is ultimately another Pro. I realize it isn't a prudent financial investment but being a car nut excuses me from sense and logic every now and then.

If you are interested, I can give you the information on the shop. They're in Gardiner, Maine