studavis

I bid my beloved 550i adieu on the 18th of January. Have a couple of weeks to gather my thoughts about the car, so I offer the following:

Perhaps the finest all around automobile I have ever owned. I put 30,480 miles on the car in three years, and the only thing I replaced out of my own pocket was the idrive controller that did not survive the root beer bath (800.00 and change.) The car never had a hiccup in mechanically, never left me stranded, and from the first day to the last day, drove tight, was quiet, and oh how that wonderful V-8 sounded.

From the financial standpoint, I ordered the car new, in November of 2006. The car arrived on January 18th. Sticker price was 66,257.41 and change. The base price I negotiated was 63,801.00, and all of the charges, taxes, and such took the final delivery price to 65,208.99. I put $3000.00 down on the car, and made 36 payments of $833.56. My total out of pocket costs for the lease was 31,309.68. The car cost me $0.91 cents per mile for the lease payment.

Over the 30,480 miles, i averaged 13.9 mpg. Yes, it rarely went out of the city, and yes, my foot was always into it. The average fuel price over 3 years here in Boise, adjusted for inflation, was 2.16 a gallon. Thus I put almost 2200.00 gallons of fuel through it, for a total cost of approximately $4,736.00, or another 0.064 cents per mile in fuel.

The car cost me with a 1000 deductible, 100/300 liability, and medical payments, no deductible glass over the three years was 2800.00 total, or another 12 cents or so a mile.

Thanks to Rudy, I never had to put new rubber on the car, and with just a few exceptions I washed the car at home with my power washer.

So a pretty good guess would be that the car cost me around $39, 645.00 to drive for three years or around $1.30 per mile to drive.

Was the car worth almost 40,000, in one word, YES. Again, having owned numerous other cars, especially the Porsches, I would put this car against anything in the class, and feel like I have the best value for the dollar. There are substantially less expensive four door sedans out there, but none with the drive train/power/ quality of the BMW.

Complaints, yes, I have a few. A car in this price category that still charges $1000,00 for comfort access is a crime. I would mention the dealership service department, but we got a new dude named Curtis in, and he erased all of the negative experiences I had with the service department. I must also admit I am flummoxed over the decision of the run flats in this car. Why would you pay that kind of bank for a tire that "Can't" be repaired, rides terrible, is loud, and spendy to replace is beyond me. Especially when you go to the trouble to give me a spare tire/jack combo. I am still miffed about the prior damage to the car never being revealed to me, but that is another story.

It was a hell of a nice ride, and I enjoyed every minute. Even the missus, who never gets choked up over anything that cant choke, misses the car.

So now I wait like a patient 3rd grader for the pricing and specs to come out on the new F10 550i. I will report in the initial experiences with the car, as well as the ED experience and the Welt center.

v_therussian

Would you own this car out of warranty?

studavis

Funny you should ask me that, because the car is on the lot right now at the dealership, a full $6,000 off what the residual was, that being said, yes I think I would own it out of warranty. It was a damn good car.

bauska

Thanks for very informative post! You should send your review/conclusions to Roundel for publication!

stoic1

Glad you enjoyed the ride.

When you get the new car, pictures are expected of course.

mmitev

you said you ordered the car from new, and then mention a "prior damage" that was not revealed - was it something that happened at the dealership or while it was transported? how did you find out?

-Mike-

I think this was a fantastic review. I need to keep better data on my driving habits. Thanks for sharing and enjoy the ordering process on the F10

luigi524td

Nice summation on your life with the e60!

I've been reading about the new 5'er and it is really a technological wonder .

That said, I don't know if that's the good or bad news!

porsche911targa

Glad you enjoyed the E60 experience. I hope your F10 experience is just as good or better. Please let us know your experience with the F10.

flyingpuck

What a great ode to your recently departed E60! It's easy to tell that you really loved your car, I hope the pending F10 will only extend these feelings! Good luck and keep us posted!!