I've waited a long time and last week i finally decided to go for a used 5-er.
I'm from the Netherlands (Europe) and car prices are thru the roof here (prices for new cars are about twice the price Americans pay for the same car... thank you Dutch goverment...)

So, today i had a look at a used 545i (2004) with all options (I think that BMW US calls this premium, BMW Holland calls this High Executive).
(Link to dutch car site)
I really liked the car, but i saw some worrying things. All rims were badly damaged and the right front tire had a bulge on it.
The salesperson assured me the car was always driven responsibly, but when i see that kind of damage i begin to wonder...
The price was really good, especially for this specific type (545i High Executive), but i'm beginning to think the price is too good to be true. (It's about $38.000, that's low for dutch standards)

I saw the complete service history and it looks okay, but seeing the family who owns the showroom (not really the types to be trusted) and seeing the damage, i told the salesguy that i'd sleep on it.
The problem is, i have no frame of reference on how a 545i SHOULD drive, so i can't really tell if the car is up to spec. It doesn't wiggle or drift to one side while driving, but i know that doesn't mean that there is nothing wrong underneath.

I'm not in a hurry to buy a car, but i really like the 5-series and now that i can afford one, i really want one.

What do you guys say? Let it pass and look for a better (perhaps pricier) 5-er or go for it?
(BTW, a 545i isn't a must, but a 530i is my minimum and it really has to have the High Executive package (big nav-screen, electrically controllable seats, etc...))

 

Clearly, the first sight of the scraped rims and tire buldge would be enough for me to immediately walk away.

 

Aren't you considering the diesels? It took me a long time to decide between 545i and 535d. Any random day, if you'd asked me, I would have said the opposite to last time. Somehow I finally went for 545i, so naturally I now think I should probably have gone for the 535d for fuel consumption reasons. I'm sure if I'd gone for the 535d I'd be thinking I should have gone for the 545i. It's extremely close between the two of them on performance (excluding the 0-60 test). Maybe the best option is a 530d and have it remapped. Luckily for me I drive less than 15.000km (9,000m) per year, so the fuel consumption isn't as bad an impact as it would be for someone driving double that.

 

Well, i don't drive that much either (about 15k km/year (9k mpy) too) and because diesels are considerably more expensive to drive (not the fuel, but the roadtaxes), i'm looking into a petrol one.
A diesel certainly is an option, i don't really care about the 150 bucks a month extra (i get that back in fuel costs anyway), but there's a bit of a problem there.

Almost all diesels for sale here are ex-lease cars. In Holland, that means cars with NO options at all (because they charge - you guessed it - taxes for that).
Diesel 5-ers with the options i want, are far more expensive than a comparable petrol 5-er.

 

It does sound like the petrol is the choice for you then, unless you wanted to look at buying your diesel in Germany (where you'd get a better choice with more options).

I'm very happy with my choice. Options I'm really happy I waited (to find the right car) for, are heated seats, ventilated seats, full "Pro" navigation, multi-function steering wheel, full electric comfort seats, non-sport suspension (it's a 5er, even the non-sport suspension outperforms Audi and Mercedes OEM sports suspension), 17" or 18" wheels (I find the bigger than 18" rims spoil the ride), run-flat tyres (if you're running non-sport suspension and max 18" rims, you won't notice any negative ride issues run-flats give).

 

And for whatever it's worth, I have always gotten such great feedback and advice from E60.net members. I love this forum. Thank you. =)

 

How many miles are on the car and/or how long till the warranty expires ?

If you have some time then I would say pull the trigger. BMW's warranty process is normally top notch....and given that the economy is going down the sh*tter you might be able to get an extended warranty at a good discount. WIth the BMW warranty you dont pay a dime for ANYTHING, it is quite nice (at least here in the US).

 

Consider the car (especially with the tire and wheel issues) ONLY if it has a warranty!!

 

Unfortunately, there's no original BMW warranty left. It has 142500km's on the clock, which is about 88500 miles.
The car is not at an original BMW dealer, but more a generic dealer (it's a bit more than that, also deals Lambo's and Ferrari's).

It has 6 months of BOVAG warranty, which isn't really any warranty, because it only validates the warranty when the the defect was already in place at time of purchase.
I have had bad experiences in the past with this type of warranty, they'll always blame it on you or your style of driving and you end up paying for it anyway.

 

That's scary. I waited a long time to find the right car with the right options. It's really worth waiting. I managed to get one with only 46.000km (29,000m) and got a full 1 year BMW warranty.