Buying it to replace our 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee that has 165K! Plan is for my wife to drive it for 2.5 years than let my son use it and get her something brand new. Just need a nice car for low price. The car is loaded with HUD, Nav, sport & cold weather. Car has a solid trouble free history but I'm worried about the high miles. Thanks in advance for your thoughts...

 

check the service papers. test drive it and if u feel its fine go ahead only if the price is ok. if I were u and paying cash, I would not pay more then 16k out of the door. good luck

 

or maybe 16K is still high to me

check this car. its already sold. just compare the price and options

https://5series.net/forums/topic/116...lack-on-black/

 

be prepared for relatively high $$$ maintenance on the BMW. I would not consider the 545i as a wifey car or pass-down-to-son car--high maintenance, high insurance, high profile. Sounds like you just want cheap reliable transportation. Get a used Toyota...

 

I bought an 05 545i in April and already have about $5k into it... part of that is for a warranty and part is for wheels/alignment/tires because Classic BMW in Dallas apparently doesn't check for dents in the rim when doing a pre-buy inspection.

 

I say too high of miles and depending if the prior owner had extended warranty and had everything that can possibly leak replaced then, OK. My first year owning my car i abused the extended warranty and had way too many trips to the dealers. Now that im out of warranty I had two separate repairs for $3,000 each with in 1 month appart and not to mention a power steering pump leak that i got quoted for $1,600 just for the pump and not to mention the labor. Find a lower mile e60 and purchase a extended warranty and enjoy the car with piece of mind that you can take it to the dealership for any major repairs. Maintenance is another story just search how much it cost to replace tires and break/rotors on these cars.

 

At that mileage your are looking at brake service, cooling system overhaul, and suspension overhaul. Do you like working on cars? Have the tools/time/ability to do so? Not wanting to burst your bubble but an 86k mile BMW is not one you are going to be able to drive for 50k more miles and never put a wrench or dollar on it. There is a reason these $60k+ new cars plummet to $15k in just 5 or so years.

Now with all that being said, when everything is as it should be, there is nothing like them. There is a reason I don't drive a more reliable Toyota or Honda, they don't make me smile when I'm driving them and that to me is worth a few busted knuckles and dollars.

 

There are plenty of high mileage cars on here that didn't require brake service, cooling overhaul and a suspension overhaul... I think the point is that somehow these cars find a way to cost more than normal cars. You hear it, but sometimes some life lessons need to be learned (was def that way with me with this car).

 

I wouldn't consider 86k high mileage at all! Check the service history. Many of the common failure parts on the car may have already been recently repaired. Engine oil leaks will be the most pesky problem at that mileage. For some reason, BMW likes to use rubber seals and o-rings that turn rock hard after 5 or so years and the high underhood temps. Examples will be valve cover gaskets, upper timing cover gaskets, and the alternator bracket gasket.

Plastic cooling system components tend to go at this age an mileage, but that is not a BMW issue, but more of a plastic issue that most cars deal with now-a-days.

Not sure I would give a 330hp car to a kid (you didn't say how old your son is). I won't even let my 18 year old son drive the 545i.

 

if you want economical to keep you're better off with a 530 or 525. the V8 is prone to troubles. i'm not saying there aren't trouble free 545s out there; i'm just saying the likelihood is you're going to be shelling out considerable amounts of money for repairs. everything is much more complicated (i have a WK Grand Cherokee too, I can work on that one really easily) than on domestic cars.

the 6 cylinder cars are easier to work on (there's more room in the engine bay) and since there's common parts between them and the 3 series, you're more likely to find economical parts alternatives and solutions to common problems.