My car is an 05 545i with 115,000 miles and runs excellent. Only problems I had so far that I fixed everything myself was the crankcase vent valves cause the car was stalling out at a stop. $20 parts with a 10 min change. I did the coolant reservoir cause it cracked. Easy fix and then I did maintenance to it. Oil, filters and spark plugs. Nothing else major was done. Car runs and drives mint. Had it almost 2 years already. As long as it checks out ok now , just do your normal maintenance and it will be ok.

 

I bought mine new and I've driven it for 173,000 miles. There have been a couple of fairly expensive oil leaks plus the Famous Coolant Pipe. It was expensive mostly because I wasn't doing any DIY at the time.

It's a great car, if you're prepared to accept the Famous Coolant Pipe repair, alternator bracket gasket, and a few other seals as part of the cost of ownership every 100,000 miles or so. They fixed all this on the 550, so that's a better option, but I wouldn't say my experience with the 545 has been terrible. I've never regretted buying it, and I'm going to keep it a good while longer.

 

I agree with your sentiment, though the 550i has a coolant transfer pipe just like the 545i. If there are fewer 550i failures thus far (which is impossible to know based on what you read here) it may be due to a change in the engine, or simply the relative youth of those cars. The same expanding-pipe repair kit is sold for all N62 engines.

 

Legend has it the oil cooler made a difference to the seal failures. And my luck has improved since I shortened my oil change interval, although hard to prove with a small sample. I change at 200 hours, which is usually around 8000 miles.

Edit: Ahh - didn't realize the 550 has the same coolant pipe.

 

I used to own E46 02 325ci.Sold it at 115k miles and to be honest I recall having more problems than with my 05 545i.

 

I bought my 2005 545i in Feb. I have replaced the following

Valve Cover Gaskets
Water Pump
Right Timing Cover Gasket
MAF
VANOS

Things that now need to be replaced
Left Timing Cover Gasket
Lower Oil Pan Gasket
Trans Filter Gasket

I love the car just hate that I haven't been able to enjoy it without having to pay for repairs.

 

Well I bought the '05 545i I really didn't want to spend over $20k. I have a few issues like a rough idle I can feel and a vibration that feels like the tires. The rear tires are cupped and worn as is typical and probably some of the vibration. It feels like I'm getting more vibration than I should feel thru the shifter as well maybe guibo. I am capable of doing most all mechanical repairs usually, I've rebuilt transmissions and engines before granted not BMW ones. I'm hoping for the best!

 

Hey congratulations!! Good luck with it, I'm sure you're going to have fun.

 

It's a good price, but you can mine 550i for couple thousand more and it's 2007 and listed here at the car for sale section.

 

I hope you're happy with it. I chose to go 550 over 545 for the extra hp and reputation for fewer leaks. I do have the valve seal smoking problem and its highly embarrassing and expensive to fix. I bought mine for 14,900 with 103K miles. I didn't know of the valve problem at the time, and the dealer sure didn't clue me in. I discovered about a week after I bought, so no warranty.

Did you do the idle test for 3-5 minutes to ensure there's no white smoke from the exhaust?
Were there any service records that show maintenance?