ShelseyWalsh

Hi


Deciding on car change and looking at 5 series, 65 mile each way commute. Looking at a 04 545i for $26,000ish, steptronic unfortunately, but loaded nav etc.. Now here is the rub 120,000 miles, every thing looks fine, drives very well, in mid west it seems like all highway miles. Waiting for BMW dealer, to produce the service history. A one owner car shiold by dealer. What are your thoughts? Any hi mileage 545is out there. For what i need a hi mileage daily driver it might be a great deal, or just be to good to be true..

jet190rs

If it were me, I'd be hesitant. The E60 is the first car to have so many new electronic features such as iDrive, Active Steering, etc.
There's just no telling if they'll act up given the high miles. The E60 is so new that we don't yet have an idea of how reliable they are in the long term.

Is it a CPO and/or getting a warranty from the dealer? If so, at least you'll be covered.

rodneyremington

I love my 545i but I wouldn't buy one off warranty with that many miles unless it was DIRT cheap. I'm talking like 40% off blue book for a car with normal miles. I don't care if it's "highway miles" or not. Too many expensive bits to replace unless it is being sold at a huge discount.

A look at KBB for this vehicle with this miles at dealer price is about $31k. Price for one that has 51,000 miles (typical for an 04 according to KBB but sounds like more than average miles to me) is $41k.

So assuming that service records are available, $26k is not a bad deal necessarily. Just be prepared to spend a couple thousand dollars a year on service.

info@trinityautosport

+1 for sure i would have second thoughts. the last time i remember when members were talking about high mileage, one member was only nearing 100,000 miles. any other 5 series available?

btw, welcome and enjoy the forums.

pinguhk

No way will I buy this car unless like they say itis dead cheep.
I bet there are loads more pre-owned E60 cars out there that are much better than this 1.
So spend more time and shop around and you will not regret it in the end.
It took me about 2 months to shop around for my new Honda Stepwgn.

pgilc1

I'm not sure buying a high mileage car to do high mileage in is a good idea. In another two years you will have over 200K on it, when (a) it will be pretty much worthless and (b) some of that electronic gadgetry will have let go and have cost you $$$$'s

ShelseyWalsh

Thanks all. my thinking too. Wanted some expert opinion. But must say it is an awesome car!

300TTto545

A 65 mile commute each way and you want to use a 545. That is roughly $20 in gas a day or $5000 a year. A fill up every 2-3 days. All to just cruise on the highway? $26,000 purchase price. Nearly worthless in 2 years. $5,000 a year in gas. And there you have it - over $1,500 a month to drive a 4 year old car that will likely need some serious time at the dealer....

New Honda Civic Hybrid. $7 a day on gas. $1600 a year. Probably depreciates $4000 a year at those miles (high guess). And there you are spending $400 a month on gas+depreciation. Not to mention 100X more reliable and less polluting.

So it is really worth $1100 more a month and a lot of dealer time???

uglybear

My daily commute is 12 miles one way. Look at my previous and current car. I am spending 4x times on gas now. Yes, it is worth it. Civic and Prius are CHEAP boxes with horrible seats, cheap plastic, road noise and bad sound systems. Life is too short to suffer if you can afford a decent car.

hstan545i

I think you are going to wrong direction. For your high mile commute, you should be looking at a low mile car to begin with. Speaking of that, I have a 05 with 17K if you are interested .
Test drove a CLS55 the other day and love it, I am afraid I can't hold it any longer...