Outstanding Used BMW Score

C

CKN

Joined
Oct 14, 2014
Messages
11,995
Location
Utah
So my son has a current girlfriend whose Dad is the original owner of this BMW 2003-525i with an automatic transmission. It literally sat in a barn for the last 10 years. He purchased it with 100,000 miles on it for $4,400.00. The leather interior looks new. He drove it from Wyoming to Boise, Idaho after he picked it up. After arriving in Boise he ran in to issues. It turns out all the rubber vacuum hoses were literally falling apart. After a smoke test he replaced all hoses and now it's running well. He is quite capable so he do almost any repair. 6959961614058839547.jpg It is in outstanding conditon.
 
measureman said:
I feel the same way.
Money pits.
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The older ones have issues-that come with age. That's a given. As mentioned above-you must able to do your own maintenance and MOST repairs on your own. All the rubber vacuum lines had extreme dry rot. As he would replace one line-and bump the one next to it-it would disintegrate. The BMW boards confirm these issues.
 
The inline-six BMWs really aren't that bad. I maintain several for family/friends and own one that I used to commute 100 miles/day for a few years. The V8s and larger engines can be expensive. Something like an E39 or E46 can be fairly reliable, just keep in mind that with age they will need maintenance like any older car. I don't find parts to be that much more expensive, and the older ones aren't very hard to work on. There is a "BMW tax" you will pay when going to a shop which is why I say it's cheaper if you do your own work.

I can change my oil on the BMW faster than I can my Jeep 4.0L, and it costs me around $40. If I take it to a shop it won't be under $100. A dealer would be $120+. Don't even get me started on the price gouging for brakes/tires. There is a reason the dealership near me has bathrooms with marble floors.
 
As a former Volvo owner, and a friend of a guy who had a disease for BMWs and flipped on about once a year, I’ve found that once you learn the car they aren’t bad to live with. In fact, I found that there were common components between the two, such as the Bosch parts catalog for vacuum bits, pumps and modules. As someone who doesn’t like to spend money, however, I’ll admit that buying the properly coded OBD scanner is worth it, because it will cut diagnostic time dramatically over the years.

And I agree with the above - The I4s and I6s are reasonable enough to deal with. I’d steer clear of any V8 in a bimmer unless youre an enthusiast who knows what youre getting in to.
 
meep said:
As a former Volvo owner, and a friend of a guy who had a disease for BMWs and flipped on about once a year, I’ve found that once you learn the car they aren’t bad to live with. In fact, I found that there were common components between the two, such as the Bosch parts catalog for vacuum bits, pumps and modules. As someone who doesn’t like to spend money, however, I’ll admit that buying the properly coded OBD scanner is worth it, because it will cut diagnostic time dramatically over the years.

And I agree with the above - The I4s and I6s are reasonable enough to deal with. I’d steer clear of any V8 in a bimmer unless youre an enthusiast who knows what youre getting in to.
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Yes- my son has the proper scanner. He also drove up to the mountains above Boise and stated it was a blast to drive. He drove about 200 miles in it today and said "no codes".
 
Last edited:
jeepman3071 said:
The inline-six BMWs really aren't that bad. I maintain several for family/friends and own one that I used to commute 100 miles/day for a few years. The V8s and larger engines can be expensive. Something like an E39 or E46 can be fairly reliable, just keep in mind that with age they will need maintenance like any older car. I don't find parts to be that much more expensive, and the older ones aren't very hard to work on. There is a "BMW tax" you will pay when going to a shop which is why I say it's cheaper if you do your own work.

I can change my oil on the BMW faster than I can my Jeep 4.0L, and it costs me around $40. If I take it to a shop it won't be under $100. A dealer would be $120+. Don't even get me started on the price gouging for brakes/tires. There is a reason the dealership near me has bathrooms with marble floors.
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My Son has been able to source parts as much as 70% less than what he was quoted from the dealer.
 
Silver said:
Used BMW's are incredibly cheap in my area but I'm afraid of them. Same with Mercedes and Jaguars. I'd love to have one but can't get past the stigmas. Maybe they're not all that bad?
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Mercedes is probably the best of the 3 automakers, BMW tends to have weird electrical problems but Mercedes also has their share. You have tougher requires on BMW with their oil resets and battery coding but not as much with Mercedes. Plus they have EPC/WIS although those went, basically a parts lookup database and dealer repair manual, you could get a knock off copy on eBay for $10. They're on a new system now and it's more money and there's no knock off of it yet. And they're not bad if you can DIY or use the forums, I've owned a couple for 5-7 years and prices aren't that crazy. Yes things like brake parts tend to be more, rotors might be $100 instead of $50 but there is FCPEuro which gives you a lifetime warranty on all the parts they sell. They also do BMW.
 
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