advancedlogic

+1 - Of course its not as reliable, on the whole, as say the Japanese offerings. But, its a hell of a lot more fun. You got an 05. Many of the early frustrations (transmission slam, bluetooth, etc) were resolved in software updates, dealer adds, etc. Of course the prior owner is the unknown here. Were they diligent? Who knows. You bought yourself an awesome machine, probably at an amazing price (I paid over $45k used years ago. Many members paid close to $70k new!). There are some things to check for, but most would be relevant for most cars of age.

Check hoses for leaks//corrosion. The most common failure is a little plastic hose that runs under the metal shield on the top of the radiator (you can follow it starting at the overflow bottle). The plastic gets very brittle, and can simply break, leading to a moderate coolant leak. The hoses are special easy connect/disconnect types. Unfortunately the rubber seals can go bad, causing weepage.

Check in the trunk where the spare tire would be. There is a foam insert. At the bottom are the Parking Distance Controller (PDC) and Mirco Power Module (MPM). If there moisture enters the trunk (spillage, poor drainage, etc), enough fluid could accumulate in that well and cause damage. Simply check for it.

Control arm bushings should be checked, and possible gasket leaks.

If the battery is original, have it replaced for peace of mind

There are a few other "laundry list" items to check. Dont be discouraged by what you read. You are in one of the finest machines crafted. Her faults pale to her joy.

jaycal3

The specific drain I had an issue with was as I stated, is under the ebox on the passenger side engine compartment... when it clogs it eventually leads to the passenger side of the car after flooding the ebox which contains your DME among other things. Then your car will take the additional water and throw it into the passenger compartment flooding the floor and ruining all your sensors and modules there - and they are all there! Sunroof drains have a tendency to clog which is why you see so many "My A Pillar is wet" threads... and then there are the drains in the rear which lead to the "another blown mpm" thread. I mention these not to scare people, but to hopefully educate someone who has no clue - like me when I purchased the car. I garage my car and never thought it would be an issue and within a few months I had this issue:
https://5series.net/forums/topic/107...1#entry1277480



I wish someone would have warned me... I would have spent a little money and gotten them cleared out.

turboawd

ok, i read through your thread. your car must be parked around trees a lot, for the debris buildup. those drains are kinda small too in my opinion.
i'll check mine to make sure they're clean...

onetime

Any car with 95k on the clock is going to need repairs because parts just wear out after time and mileage. You can't buy a car with that many miles and not expect to put money into it. Unfortunately, BMW repairs tend to be expensive compared to Hondas and Toyotas and most american cars. Hopefully the previous owner maintained it properly. Only time will tell.

BimmerFan52

I guess I got lucky - bought mine at 75K miles from a private party who scanned all of his repair records and gave them to me. He also authorized the dealer (who had maintained it from 23K miles) to dump their entire maintenance history into a PDF and send it to me.

Previous owner followed BMW CBM, but the drain intervals averaged about 10,500 miles and the miles were mostly highway. He had a bumper to bumper extended warranty so whatever the dealer said it needed it got.

krzyschicago

Congrats on your new vehicle! Have had my 05 545I for over three years and still love it. I could not have bought a better car for the money...

Scubasm161

Thanks again for the positive feedback. I'm hoping to get the dealer to take care of the mechatronics sleeve leak under the 3 month/ 3000 mile warranty. If not I'll be taking care of it myself. Other then that the car is in great shape and seems like it was maintained well. I contacted the local BMW dealership about getting service records. Hopefully hear back from them soon.

jaycal3

Nope, as I said it is garaged... I drive my car part time as I have a project Jeep I drive when its nice out and in the winter with the snow. Of course I have no idea what the previous owner did but I can tell you leaves, pine needles and stuff all turn to sludge over time so, while the drains are small, that simply means they will get blocked easily.

luigi524td

One piece of advice - if your car is going to be an occasional driver, especially if you drive a beater to deal with harsh winter weather, connect a battery tender to the charging/jump start post under the hood. Short drives will suck your battery power down faster than a politician telling you NO MORE TAXES!

hooch999

Just make sure you have enough cash and/or enough free time to support your car as around your mileage pretty much everything in bmw starts breaking.
As to your "homework" - I don't think you did a great choice speaking frankly: based on mileage and age of car you bought I assume you are short on cash, so bmw and german cars generally are not the best choice under your circumstances.
Enjoy.