What exactly do you mean by the 545i being complex? I would have thought the turbos (petrol OR diesel) engines would be far more complex than what I would have thought is a simply lazy-ish V8. That certainly came into my buying decision, thinking that I'd have a lot less parts that can go wrong on a 545i than for example a 535d or a 535i turbo.

 

Please describe to my, how a EU county (Holland) "demands a very high fee" for importing a car from you
neighboring EU country (Germany)?


Did you know, that in the 60's not even a drivers license was required in you country for driving a car?

 

Welcome to Holland, the country where you can do everything, if you've got the money... (there is a tax on just about anything you can think of).
We have multiple taxes and fees applied to cars.
The mayor fee you pay is when you buy a new car or import a car. This tax is called "BPM" and roughly translated stands for "Taxes for personal transport and motorvehicles". This tax is rediculously high (on new cars, it's 45.2% of the value of the car). When you import a car, the percentage value is calculated by how old it is, stretching back all the way to 15 years old!

So if you import a car (even if it's from Germany or Belgium), you pay about 30% of the value of the car when it was new (so, that's a lot...).
And then we've ofcourse got the ridiculous green taxes (called "slurptax", literally translated: "gas guzzling tax") which is 110 euros for every gram of CO2 above 232g the car produces when driving a kilometer.

Yes, i know, it's ridiculous, we pay WAY too much for anything here and yes, i know i should move

 

Due to a more realistic budget, you are forced to consider only 5 series models that are older and are out of factory warranty. That is not good with a BMW. They break and cost a small fortune to repair. Do yourself a favor and test drive an 06 330 model or an 07 335 model. They cost less such that you can afford a newer model still under warranty, they drive just incredible with their newer technology, do better than the 5 in crash tests, and are surprisingly roomy compared to their bigger brother 5.

I came to my 535 from an 06 330 and really enjoyed that car. It's a great car!

 

cpo m5 would be a great choice, no regrets!

 

Well, i finally bought one yesterday.
A mint Black '04 530d (yep, diesel) Executive M-Tech with almost all available options (Navi-Pro, Cold weather pckg, Bi-Xenon, etc...). Got about 75k miles on the clock.
Got 6 months of warranty on everything, and a year on mechanical parts.

It's dark now, so i can't take pics, but i'll up some pics ASAP.

I'm a very happy camper now (did about 200 miles today, just driving around).

 

Congrats man... Enjoy the car and the forums...


Tonymac

 

The 530D is realy "amazing" to drive.
Enjoy your purchase

 

[topic="67841"]Continued here[/topic]

 

I'm a car broker and buy cars from private auctions here in the states.
One thing you must be is run your fingers along the edges of the body panels , especially the edge of the hood by the windshield.
if it feels rough and grainy that means that panel was repainted and therefore you should look further into the matter. When you run your finger along the edge you will not feel one flaw but rather a smooth solid feeling with no abrasions. be very careful .

also , if you have a local bmw dealer near your home take the car in and ask for a full bumper to bumper inspection. I did that with my car and it's well worth the 120.00 dollars. You don't want to own a bmw knowing that a certain portion of the car was repainted.

good luck!