I am purchasing a 545i on monday if I can gather enough information tonight and tomorrow. I have an 03 z4 3.0 in the garage but at the end of this month, my wife and I will deliver our first child. I need another car and it ain't no mini van! I have found an 05 545i that I like. All options available with smg tranny. The wife said she was fine with this type of tranny and did test drive the car. Are there any issues with this car that I should be aware of? Comments and advice on this model would be highly appreciated.

z4daddy (as of now)
545idaddy (possibly after monday)

 

with a 2005 it should be pretty good. I have one and its been awesome! I cant really think of any problems to look out for as I have none (* knock on wood 545 times *) Brain is kinda clogged right now maybe someone else can tell you what you should look out for. If I think of any I'll come back and post.

 

welcome. congrats on the arrival of your first child, and you wont regret having an e60. enjoy the forums

 

I've had my 05 545 for three years to the day and have 50,000 miles on it. No problems whatsoever other than getting only 13,000 miles on my first set of run flats which the dealer then replaced without charge. Great car - you won't regret it.

Something to think about. Unless the previous owner had the work done already, you'll have to do software updates to get MP3 and iPod compatibility. Also, the "search" capability on the latest NAV software is very nice - a PIA without it before.

I notice from your post count that you're new, so if you spend much time reading the threads on this forum you'll see that software upgrades is a common discussion. Bottom line is that you'll want to make sure you have the latest software. If you're buying a "certified" car the upgrades should be there, but if not certified, and especially if from a private party, the updates might not be present.

Good luck - have fun. You won't regret it!

 

Thanks for the information. I do not think the software revisions have been done. No work has been done on this car accoding to carfax and my local dealer that I have taken my 2 other bimmers to. It is still under factory warranty so I can get them to take care of it.

I don't remember where I read it but someone had complained about electrical problems. Since it has not been heavily discussed, I assume that his was an isolated case. I am also interested in the 100k mile bumper to bumper warranty. Any doubts about purchasing that?

Yes, I'm new to e60 forums but have been a member of several other bimmer sites. Still would like to find Jay Crouch.


545idaddy

p.s. Just thought about it. How is insurance on this model compare? I'll find out for sure tomorrow.

 

Also!!!! Why was the model only in production for 2 years? Is this same engine used in any other models?

545idaddy

 

Welcome 545idaddy,

Congrats on th baby!

I think the 545i got replaced wit the upgraded 550i.

I have the bumper to bumper warranty, but it came with the car. not able to use it yet cause everything still covered

in the 50,000mile warranty. The dealer told me not to worry about the 100,000mile warranty till I go pass the

50,000mile mark. So sorry I have no info on the warranty yet.

 

Welcome to the forums 545idaddy and congrats on the pending arrival of your first child!

I drove a 2004 545i SMG for about 32K miles over three years and it was an awesome car! The SMG is great once you've had about a month of really learning the finer points of driving it and developing a "seat of the pants" feel to learn how to shift it smoothly.

Overall, the 545 is a great car and you'll find many happy owner's here. As mentioned above, the 550 came out in 2006 or 2007 (I think) and was simply an upgrade to the engine. Sure, the 550i is a little more powerful but clearly, as you probably felt in your test drive, the 545i is no slouch.

As with any newer model BMW, there's clearly a need for a warranty of some type since these cars are extrememly complex and costly to repair. That said, I wouldn't categorize any E60 as having any common repair problems, etc. They're not Japanese cars as far as repair records (even though my Honda has probably had more problems than my E60) but in my two E60's I've never been stranded, etc. Most of the issues I had were software related and were solved by getting updates at the dealership. As part of your negotiation of the purchase, you might want to see if you can get the dealer to have the car updated to the latest version. If they won't, I wouldn't let it be a deal-breaker. If the car is under a factory warranty, you'll likely be able to complain about something that was fixed in a current version during your first visit to the service department...

 

Thanks for the information!

 

The car will be great but the baby will be Fantastic !! Congratualtions , with two new additions to the family you won't be able to stop smiling !! Your life is going to change forever ..... in a very good way !