ya...if I know how often it breaks, then I would get it because I can plan my trip around it (lol). I rather get reliability than power in this case. Coming from an IS 350, I am aware of the power loss on this 528i, but I don't race or anything. Wouldn't want them freaking cows to laugh at me XD.

Also I couldn't find any good deals (like other members have found) on 535i OR 528i.

I think it's because my budget is unreasonable. My budget is $30k out the door. Worst comes to worst, $31k.

 

I know you are no longer looking at the 535's... but really? No offense to the 528 owners out there, but I need a bit of kick. Had one once as a loaner and it had nothing. Granted a BMW "nothing" may be different than other makes, but the price isnt that much different for a 535.

What color combos for these 3 listed? They are all fairly comparable I think.

 

ah I forgot to jot down the color combo. But when it comes to buying a CPO, as long as it has sports and premium and xenon I'm happy. Didn't really care too much about colors =/.

But I understand why you guys would love 535i so much because I would too. I plan on driving this car after the warranty expires (assuming I can't get a job that pays enough to help me replace this one after 3 years).

Guess BMW really isn't a poor man's car.

BTW, you guys don't think its questionable that 21k miles 528i is only 31k while all other comparable 528is are selling for almost 40k?

 

what do you mean it doesnt have a carfax report? did you try obtaining a report yourself? you can also try autocheck.com

 

i meant by it doesn't have the free one haha. I guess instead of putting $40 for the report, I'll go in and read the inspection report. Any thing I should be watching out for on those reports?

I'm plain clueless. First time buying a car by myself, let alone a CPO. I really know not much about this process

 

Drive the 535i if I could go back I would have gotten the 535i. CPO 07 550i right next to my 528i silver grey was only $4k more and was LOADED. =/. Those prices are insane...what year are those cars? Try looking around the COUNTRY granted...a hassle but you can get CPO 528i's for 27-28 thousand fully loaded.

 

those were all 08s. I could look all over the country but if anything more than 300 miles then it'd be a hassle to drive back. Certainly not gonna find a NY one and ship it back. Plus mileage is kind of important for me. I'm hoping for 12000/year to at most 16000/year.

 

ask the dealer to provide a carfax. what's $40 to run the reports yourself in the long run anyways? don't cheap out here. since you're buyign a CPO'd car, it's under warranty by the dealer for X number of miles so I wouldn't be too worried. i really check out cars when they are sold by private parties.

if you have the VIN, try googling it, you never know what you might find.

 

+1 - i've been pricing religiously lci 535/550's and TBO they are NOT much more than what you have listed and im sure 90% of members would agree its worth the lil extra.

 

oh another basic step u can do is bring a magnet and wave it around the body panels, if there is bondo (cheap way to repair dents) the magnet won't stick (make sure you put a cloth between the magnet and the paint so you don't scratch anything). also, if you feel the edges around the body panels if there is uneven paint, most likely that area was repainted. when i check out a car, i'll rub the edges of the hood with my hands, the part that goes into the engine bay and look closely for uneven paint.