hi,
this is my first posting.

we are looking for a replacement for our 1999 e39 540. I love the car but now has 90K miles. this is the family (wifes) car and while is it a great car it has needed a lot of attention. Mostly small issues but seems there is always something. Compared to my Porsche 993, which never seems to break-- the BMW is more expensive to keep running.

I have driven a 530i and its kinda slow compared to our e39 so I am looking at 545s and 550s.

How are e60s compared to e39s in terms of reliability and expense? thanks much peter

 

Sadly, when it gets older I wouldnt say its any better...

 

well i will say this, the newer e60 does not have the 'same' little issues as the e39, just a whole bunch of new little issues...... they did improve the cooling system, aluminum radator, no plastic impeller, improved other plastics, changed the front end so we shall see if they have all the bushing issues as before, window regs improved, but i had to replace sunroof seal as i did in my e39, and my electronic thermostat is starting to fail, but other than that the 5k miles i have owed it have been good, the car has 80k miles, and the original onwer only replaced clutch and brakes he said its been perfect, i think the e60 is the 1st step into a more computer based car and that is where all the issues are comming from with these, i am glad my car is pretty basic, the only options i wanted was heated seats, steering wheel and manual(which i have, but the sport seats air bag has a recall i must fix air bag light keeps comming on), but i did get the active crap that i could do without but makes the car amazing to drive but i am nervous about up keep(steering lights and sway bars ect) i would stay away from nav and pdc as they seem to be having software issues and it sucks and hard to use anyway a $69 bestbuy portable is better.... i was going to get a Porsche carrera instead but bmw is a way better all around driving machine....

 

I'm actually thinking of trading my E60 in for a E39 03 M5 right now.

 

E39 M5 is one of the best 5 Series cars ever made IMHO. Why not?

 

Where are you from? Because, if 535i is available, I suggest you go and have a drive of that! And also, which E60 530i did you drive? The 1G or the 2G/3G 530i? The latter has more power and better 6 speed gearbox etc... but I guess if you were driving the top of the range (except for the M5) E39 540i, I guess it might still be a bit slow for you. But definitely try out the 535i if available. I'm from Australia, and they didn't bring a 535i for the E60, so it was either a 530i or 550i at the top end.

I've currently got 60,000KM (not miles) in my dash and I've never really had big issues until now (with transmission something which I need the dealer to look at) and teflon tapes for the door squeaks! Other than that, it's been perfect!

 

I agree.

 

one of the best? So E60 is the best.

 

Stay away from 545 and 535. Both these models are problematic though the problems are different. E60 550 on the other hand drives very much like a more powerful version of E39 540 and should be resonably reliable. I would suggest 2007 550 since they are dirt cheap right now and still have some original warranty left.

 

Too bad there isn't a 550 manual to be found.