Hello to all! E60 Newbie from New Jersey
07-28-2010, 04:35 AM
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Hey all, wanted to introduce myself and tell you how i came about to become an E60 owner.
My name is Manuel and i own a Dental Laboratory in central Jersey. Bought my 2002 Maxima vq35 6spd new when it came out and i opened my business. Nearly 9 yrs and 140k miles later, it was time to let it go to a new owner to maintain it. I'm married with 2 kids and while the Max always served me well as far as rear seat and trunk space, the wife hated driving it-claimed it was too masculine and hated driving the stick with the kids in the car. It was getting long in the tooth, i got my $25k worth out of it, i got a quarter of it back selling it and now some young kid in Ct has a loaded, modded top to bottom sweet ride that he doesnt have to do anything to but maintain it.
My mother leased a white on beige 08 528xi and her lease was up in august. I always told her over the last 2 yrs to lest me know when her lease was up that i wanted to inquire on the residual of the car and if it would work for me, i loved the car. She calls BMW in June to see what they had to offer her for a new lease, and they did not try to accomodate her. She paid $4500 up front for a 3 yr lease/$640 a month on this car, and told her they'd require the same money up front for a 2011. She went to Audi, they gave her new A6 3.0T supercharged for $640 a month, $1800 down and they made her last 2 payments on the 528xi on top of it all. She said, screw BMW and this particular dealership's poor customer loyalty.
In any event the residual on the 08 528xi was $34k and they claimed it was non negotiable. Even to CPO it for me(34,000k on the ODO)they wanted to add $3500 to the bottom line. For $38k i said screw that, i could buy a new TL 0 miles. We left the dealership and headed to the preowned center to drop the car off for inspection. Showroom full of E60's , all CPO, many in my ballpark. They had her very same car on the floor with 10k more miles on special for $30,999, pretty mint but coming off a 18 month lease/44k miles i wasnt crazy about it but the warranty was there and the car looked good and decided to take it for a spin. Needless to say, all maintained BMW's run the same-car drove just as nice, new rubber and all. As he opened the gate to drive out of the showroom i noted what would end up being MY car. Freshly detailed, 528i Space Grey Metallic, black interior. It just drew me. I was sort of settling for the white and light interior at the time because the price was right, but this one was $33,999 and the seed was planted. When we got back i asked to test drive it the 528i, i was iffy because i 'thought' i wanted an X drive for the North East winters when it would come in handy, but boy the 528i felt so much LIGHTER and sportier to drive, and even though its not as fast as my Maxima , the refinement of the inline 6 and added throttle control of the Steptronic make it fun enough for me. The 5 series handles (stock) unlike any other mid size sedan i've ever driven i thought.
In any event, i could only get them down to $32k on this car, but the 28k on the ODO and coverage till 100k miles seemed like a no brainer and better powertrain warranty than anything else i could buy new, outside of a Hyundai. So while i wish the car had a few more bells and whistles, i feel like i got a great family car for the money and it seems based on the activity on E60 forums there are plenty of projects i can embark on to make it own for years to come.
Thanks for listening. Sorry for the wall-o-text
This is my last car:
The new baby:
My name is Manuel and i own a Dental Laboratory in central Jersey. Bought my 2002 Maxima vq35 6spd new when it came out and i opened my business. Nearly 9 yrs and 140k miles later, it was time to let it go to a new owner to maintain it. I'm married with 2 kids and while the Max always served me well as far as rear seat and trunk space, the wife hated driving it-claimed it was too masculine and hated driving the stick with the kids in the car. It was getting long in the tooth, i got my $25k worth out of it, i got a quarter of it back selling it and now some young kid in Ct has a loaded, modded top to bottom sweet ride that he doesnt have to do anything to but maintain it.
My mother leased a white on beige 08 528xi and her lease was up in august. I always told her over the last 2 yrs to lest me know when her lease was up that i wanted to inquire on the residual of the car and if it would work for me, i loved the car. She calls BMW in June to see what they had to offer her for a new lease, and they did not try to accomodate her. She paid $4500 up front for a 3 yr lease/$640 a month on this car, and told her they'd require the same money up front for a 2011. She went to Audi, they gave her new A6 3.0T supercharged for $640 a month, $1800 down and they made her last 2 payments on the 528xi on top of it all. She said, screw BMW and this particular dealership's poor customer loyalty.
In any event the residual on the 08 528xi was $34k and they claimed it was non negotiable. Even to CPO it for me(34,000k on the ODO)they wanted to add $3500 to the bottom line. For $38k i said screw that, i could buy a new TL 0 miles. We left the dealership and headed to the preowned center to drop the car off for inspection. Showroom full of E60's , all CPO, many in my ballpark. They had her very same car on the floor with 10k more miles on special for $30,999, pretty mint but coming off a 18 month lease/44k miles i wasnt crazy about it but the warranty was there and the car looked good and decided to take it for a spin. Needless to say, all maintained BMW's run the same-car drove just as nice, new rubber and all. As he opened the gate to drive out of the showroom i noted what would end up being MY car. Freshly detailed, 528i Space Grey Metallic, black interior. It just drew me. I was sort of settling for the white and light interior at the time because the price was right, but this one was $33,999 and the seed was planted. When we got back i asked to test drive it the 528i, i was iffy because i 'thought' i wanted an X drive for the North East winters when it would come in handy, but boy the 528i felt so much LIGHTER and sportier to drive, and even though its not as fast as my Maxima , the refinement of the inline 6 and added throttle control of the Steptronic make it fun enough for me. The 5 series handles (stock) unlike any other mid size sedan i've ever driven i thought.
In any event, i could only get them down to $32k on this car, but the 28k on the ODO and coverage till 100k miles seemed like a no brainer and better powertrain warranty than anything else i could buy new, outside of a Hyundai. So while i wish the car had a few more bells and whistles, i feel like i got a great family car for the money and it seems based on the activity on E60 forums there are plenty of projects i can embark on to make it own for years to come.
Thanks for listening. Sorry for the wall-o-text
This is my last car:
The new baby:
07-28-2010, 06:08 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2006
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My Ride: Jan 2006 E63 650i Sport
.
Options:
Sport version (includes: sport-seats, sport-suspension, M-Sport steering wheel, Anthracite headliner, Shaddow Line), Saphire Black, Black Dakota Leather, Anthracite Maple Wood trim, Steptronic Auto, Xenons, NAV-Professional with Voice Control, TV, CD-Changer, Bluetooth, Logic7, Head-up Display, Comfort Access, Seat Heating front, Auto Dimming & Folding Mirrors, Extended Auto Air Conditioning, PDC.
.
Mods:
Spacers 5mm front & 15mm rear
.
Wheels:
20" Alpina Softline (Classic) with Dunlop Sport Maxx non-RFT (255/35/20 & 285/30/20)
on board and enjoy the forums!Congrats on the 528i -- looks great and pleased to hear you're enjoying that silky smooth I6
07-28-2010, 11:35 AM
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Thanks fellas.
Tri-State meets? Sweet
Just what i need, go to meets to drool over fellow Bimmers and get more ideas...hehe
I already placed the call to John, i should have all my lighting taken care of soon enough. Cant wait.
Any here from central Jersey? Middlsex/Somerset/Hunterdon counties?
Tri-State meets? Sweet
Just what i need, go to meets to drool over fellow Bimmers and get more ideas...hehe
I already placed the call to John, i should have all my lighting taken care of soon enough. Cant wait.
Any here from central Jersey? Middlsex/Somerset/Hunterdon counties?
07-28-2010, 11:50 AM
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Thanks fellas.
Tri-State meets? Sweet
Just what i need, go to meets to drool over fellow Bimmers and get more ideas...hehe
I already placed the call to John, i should have all my lighting taken care of soon enough. Cant wait.
Any here from central Jersey? Middlsex/Somerset/Hunterdon counties?
Tri-State meets? Sweet
Just what i need, go to meets to drool over fellow Bimmers and get more ideas...hehe
I already placed the call to John, i should have all my lighting taken care of soon enough. Cant wait.
Any here from central Jersey? Middlsex/Somerset/Hunterdon counties?
