Hi all, New Owner/New Member here.
03-05-2012, 11:56 AM
#1
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My Ride: 2011 528i and 2006 550i
Model Year: 528i and 550i
Hi, I recently purchased my 3rd BMW. A 2006 550i with sports/premium/and winter packages. It even had the M-tech body kit, Navigation, Logic 7 and other accessories. I got it for a steal at $12K. I posted this info on another site and got bombarded with questions so I will try to answer them in my initial post here. The car was indeed sold at a dealer's auction that my friend (a dealer) attended, bought the car and passed on the deal to me at cost. That's even on the carfax. As normally auction cars are robbed of everything by personnel working the auctions and resold on ebay. I had to buy a new owners manual set, a Navigation DVD, and original floor mats off ebay. They all came in and the manuals in it's original leather case are in great shape. The navigation works just fine now and the floor mats look awesome. All for a total of $130 on ebay. As far as the car, it does have relatively high miles (104K which equates to 17K per year) but that's normal here in the DC area. This is the land of the commuters. I sold my 99 3 series (e46) 3 days later and it had 242K miles (18.6K per year avg) on it (original engine, transmission, and clutch). I performed most of the maintenance on it and found it to be very easy thanks to E46fanatics.com. My 1st BMW was a 96 328IC convertible (e36) and sold it with 360K miles and it was still running strong with no major repairs. After having 2 high mileage BMW's, I dont really worry too much about high mileage as long as the car passes some of my initial tests which include:
1. Starts right away (no hesitations, or cutting off)
2. smooth idle
3. no smoking from exhaust
4. all warning lights work
5. No leaks
6. suspension good all around
7. No hesitation with power
8. Downshifts on command (no stuttering)
9. No leaks/smoke in engine bay
10. No burning oil smell
11. coolant at normal levels
12. Oil does not "run" off dipstick
13. Drives smooth, no weird noises
14. alignment is good (tracks well, hands off steering wheel)
15. brakes responsive with no pulling or noises or jittering
16. Clean carfax.
These are in no particular order, just things that I look for. What really sold me on this car was the carfax. The carfax showed that the this car was maintained and serviced at BMW Dealers it's whole life. I saw every oil change, every recommended service performed, spark plugs, even bought 4 new run flats at the dealer (who does that?), everything. Before I found the deal on this 550i, my choices were a 2006 530i with 120K miles for $12K or a 2006 530xi with 153K miles for $13,500 (http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/2799386810.html). There are plenty of 2004 - 2005 E60s going for less than 13K miles but I wanted the increased horsepower and features offered from 2006 and newer. There was also a 2008 550i for $12K (http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/d...847525336.html) that had a savage title. According to the shop, it looked liked someone was trying to run an insurance scam so they set the car on fire on the inside. The car ran fine and all the accessories worked but needed an interior. The car only had 48K miles on it but I passed because I thought an interior would cost an arm and a leg. Then I found this http://raleigh.craigslist.org/pts/2825113908.html
Well I hoped this answered all of the questions concerning my car. So far I have put 1000 trouble free miles on it in a week. I performed my 1st Oil change (DIY) a week ago and used the Oil interval reset found here to reset it back to 15K. I like to change my oil every 7,500 miles so that means I will get two oil changes before each reset. I changed the oil for my peace of mind. the light said it was good for 8K more miles which means it was at my interval for changing anyway. It was kinda weird using Castrol 5w30 full synthetic when I've always used BMW recommended Mobile 1 0w40 but the oil cap said Castrol and the manual said 5w30 or 5w40. I did the oil change at the Hobby shop on base where all the mechanics and bodyshop men were in awe and gave it the full once over looking for flaws (accidents or engine problems).
1. Starts right away (no hesitations, or cutting off)
2. smooth idle
3. no smoking from exhaust
4. all warning lights work
5. No leaks
6. suspension good all around
7. No hesitation with power
8. Downshifts on command (no stuttering)
9. No leaks/smoke in engine bay
10. No burning oil smell
11. coolant at normal levels
12. Oil does not "run" off dipstick
13. Drives smooth, no weird noises
14. alignment is good (tracks well, hands off steering wheel)
15. brakes responsive with no pulling or noises or jittering
16. Clean carfax.
These are in no particular order, just things that I look for. What really sold me on this car was the carfax. The carfax showed that the this car was maintained and serviced at BMW Dealers it's whole life. I saw every oil change, every recommended service performed, spark plugs, even bought 4 new run flats at the dealer (who does that?), everything. Before I found the deal on this 550i, my choices were a 2006 530i with 120K miles for $12K or a 2006 530xi with 153K miles for $13,500 (http://richmond.craigslist.org/cto/2799386810.html). There are plenty of 2004 - 2005 E60s going for less than 13K miles but I wanted the increased horsepower and features offered from 2006 and newer. There was also a 2008 550i for $12K (http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/d...847525336.html) that had a savage title. According to the shop, it looked liked someone was trying to run an insurance scam so they set the car on fire on the inside. The car ran fine and all the accessories worked but needed an interior. The car only had 48K miles on it but I passed because I thought an interior would cost an arm and a leg. Then I found this http://raleigh.craigslist.org/pts/2825113908.html
Well I hoped this answered all of the questions concerning my car. So far I have put 1000 trouble free miles on it in a week. I performed my 1st Oil change (DIY) a week ago and used the Oil interval reset found here to reset it back to 15K. I like to change my oil every 7,500 miles so that means I will get two oil changes before each reset. I changed the oil for my peace of mind. the light said it was good for 8K more miles which means it was at my interval for changing anyway. It was kinda weird using Castrol 5w30 full synthetic when I've always used BMW recommended Mobile 1 0w40 but the oil cap said Castrol and the manual said 5w30 or 5w40. I did the oil change at the Hobby shop on base where all the mechanics and bodyshop men were in awe and gave it the full once over looking for flaws (accidents or engine problems).
03-05-2012, 01:47 PM
#2
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Location: UpState SC
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My Ride: 2008 535i LCI with sports/premium package, Sports trans with paddle shifters, CF emblems, JB4 Software, Dinan Exhaust, Navigation, M5Tech body kit, Carbon wrap interrior trim and CIC Controller.
Very nice, I like this color.
You have yourself a great Rt 95 cruiser 
03-05-2012, 02:49 PM
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My Ride: 2011 528i and 2006 550i
Model Year: 528i and 550i
Thanks all. I'm loving it and right now, primarily uses it on the weekends. It's decent highway mileage but city driving mileage sucks. As far as mods go, I kinda like it's clean lines. I might add some rims but for the most part, keep it looking the way it looks now.
03-05-2012, 03:02 PM
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Location: Thousand Oaks, California
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My Ride: 2008 550i Jet Black on Black Leather, SAT with Paddles, Logic 7, Comfort Seats, NAV, Sport Package, PDC, Xenons, Sirius, Trinity 12W LED Angel Eyes, RPi GT Exhaust, M rear spoiler, ACS Roof Spoiler, Tinted Tail Lights, Bimmian Carbon Fiber Pillar Trim, Bimmian Shadow 550i emblem, RPi Scoop, E60 Forum Cling, Mtec bulbs in fog lights, Mtec 2W LED for License Plate Light Bulbs, K&N Filter, Bimmian LED Smoked Side Markers, Blackout roundels, Carbon Fiber Kidney Grills.
Retired Rides - 1989 325i convertible, 1995 M3, 2002 X5, 2005 545i, 2008 X5 (Lemon)
Congrats on a great deal! 
03-05-2012, 04:40 PM
#10
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Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
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My Ride: 2008 535i
20"Concept One / C F Emblems / JB4 / M5 Front / R1 Concept Rotors / Vorsteiner Spoiler (waiting on...)
Welcome to the forum and nice buy.......