collin

Im an avid user over at bimmerpost(e90post), and i have unfortuneatly just totaled my car a couple days ago. My next car im thinking will be a 04-06 530 or something like that, im trying to keep the price down to about 20k. I have been around bimmer forums for awile so im not an idot when it comes to these cars, but im not a past e60 owner so i would like some help in anything i need to know before buying an E60

things i want include-CA,NAV, adaptive xenon, blutooth, logic 7

i dont need the logic 7, and if they didnt make the adaptive xenon in those years that is fine

any tips or pointers would be amazing, oh and im gonna either get white or dark grey with flat black 20 inch CSL reps, probably through on a Msport front bumper or M5 bumper, and the list goes on, any ideas on modding would be great

v_therussian

I think you'll find that this forum is a lot better than the others

On to your questions:

Get the 530 with the N52 engine (MY2006+) - you'll have more power. I think all xenons are adaptive on U.S. spec 530's and I believe they all came with it standard (525 e60 being the only one in the U.S. that did not have xenons standard).

You will not be able to get CSL reps on an Xi car in 20 inch size. As a matter of fact, research Xi on this forum thoroughly if that is what you want to get - there are issues with dropping it and finding wheels. Which is not to say that it is a very huge problem - I have an Xi and I love it. But there are definitely lots more mods available for the RWD e60.

Get the sport package - for the suspension and the seats. Well worth it.

Logic 7 IMHO is awesome but not necessary, so I'd not base my entire decision on that.

White is definitely a better color - I've spoken to countless people off the forums about this and 10 out 10 say white is the best color (my best friend actually has a 2008 jet black e60, so we tend to compare at times )

Good Luck with your purchase and keep us posted on your progress.

FiveFifty

cool, i just bought my 07 550 couple weeks ago. u shud get a 550, its fast, vroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!

TakmaN

Welcome to the forum!

You sound like you know your stuff and have done research on your end regarding the e60. There's not much I can add but I can reassure you that you can probably find a 530i in that price range with those options if you keep a sharp look-out. I purchased my fully-loaded (sans comfort seats and heads-up display) 2005 545i for $23,500 a few months ago.

I'd have to agree that AW (Alpine White) is the best color. I drool over AW/Imola Red interior E46 M3's. Silver grey is a great color too, along with Carbon Black and Jet Black .

As far as problems are concerned with the 530i, there is nothing that really stands out to my knowledge. Just make sure the car has proper maintenance records and drives fine. Also if you get a 2006+ MY the engine was bumped up in power by 30 hp to 255.

In terms of mods, you have quite a few to choose from for both looks and power. In the power department, I'd defnitely consider an RPI scoop, BMC air filter, and RPI exhaust. You can then throw on a tune/reflash if you want. For looks, the M-Tec kit is definitely the way to go. CSL Reps also only come in 19'' but still look really nice on our cars. Also consider style 166 wheels (OEM M5 wheels) as they shop up in the used parts section here pretty often and the concave look is sweet!

Check out people's signatures as a lot of us put our mods there and just search items you are curious or interested about. Good luck on your search and hope to see you around here as a proud owner!

pinguhk

Welcome to the best e60 forum in the world and have fun too
If you can get a car with the sport package its the best deal.
I wish I had it for my car but it just car way too much.
for the sport package in HK it would have cost me over $12,500us :thumbsdown:
If you can find 1 with DD then that is even better.
good luck getting a car over there

DKNewYork

I'd say spend the extra money and get a 545i or 550i. You won't regret it.

porsche911targa

to the forum. Good luck with your search. Hope to see pictures soon.

collin

Im looking at a AW 05 545 with 50k miles for 23k private seller, he is like 5k upside down and im gonna offer like 21.5k, plus he is a friend of the family...i think its funny that a 20 year old knows how to purchase a car better than this guy who obviously got fucked when he bought this car to be 5k upside down

TakmaN

That would be an awesome deal if you can get it for that price. It's hard to believe that 545's and 550's MSRP'ed for over $50,000-$60,000 brand new and now they are worth about 1/3 of that price a mere few years later.

I also wouldn't call him out on being upside-down on his loan. You have to remember that some people finance all or almost all of their auto purchase and with the sharp decline in economic conditions in the past 2 years, car values (as well as everything else on the market) have dropped significantly in such a short amount of time. If you were able to get a great rate on an auto loan, then putting a significant down payment might not be the best longer-term option based on the time value of money.

Also, if he purchased a similar car in today's market, he would probably have saved that $5k. Cars depreciate and when the market depreciates its value even faster = easily owe more on the loan than the car is worth. The $5k he owes might be $2k less than what he was able to make by saving from not contributing a significant down payment. Or he could have just gotten ripped off...

bha7176

Dude you have no idea what happened to this guy. I would hold judgment. You're young and have lots to learn my friend. We were all there, so not busting your balls, I'm just sayin'.

Later