540i opinions

cantdecide

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/540i/200917192566750/advert

I bet one or two of you have spotted this. I'm giving it serious consideration.

How much extra commitment is this likely to be over my '98 A6 2.8 quattro sport?

Apparently in good working order with no major imminent service or repairs. Tyres are okay for a bit etc. some NCT left but no tax. Currently being held by the owners brother at his garage.

Virtually no service history which might be a deal breaker IMO.

Opinions???

biggus

Looks like value to me and sure not much dearer than your 2.8 to tax. No history but if an irish car which at 01 kk 636 looks likely i wouldn't worry too much about history... a few questions around kk would probably reveal all ?

Go for it

Big Nasty

A whole lotta car but I would rather a 7 series if I was going for an engine of this size. That said you're likely to have less issues with a 5. It's gonna be a very difficult car to sell though with no SH / NCT. New tyres are gonna cost ya the guts of a grand - no point in putting economy tyres on it as they will walk off the rear. Then you have the obvious tax and insurance costs. Walk up with €4k cash in your paw and you should be able to drive it away. He obviously doesn't want to trade.

cantdecide

MCMLXXV wrote: »

It's gonna be a very difficult car to sell though with no SH / NCT

Yeah. I'm mainly worried about being lumbered with it later

MCMLXXV wrote: »

no point in putting economy tyres on it as they will walk off the rear

Good point.

MCMLXXV wrote: »

the obvious tax and insurance costs

Meh! I've got those already with the Audi. At least now, I'd have about another 90bhp and the auto box I've always wanted.

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Walk up with €4k cash in your paw and you should be able to drive it away

Having spoken to him, I'd say the third word in his reply would be "Jose".

Big Nasty

cantdecide wrote: »

Yeah. I'm mainly worried about being lumbered with it later

Having spoken to him, I'd say the third word in his reply would be "Jose".

You will be pretty much be married to this car - hence the €4k

DirtyOilBurner

I know some of the history of this car, i know its first two owners, pm me if interested

and it is an irish car from new

unkel

The handling of the E39 coupled to the steptronic box and the V8 petrol 4.4l is an awesome combination!

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

I know some of the history of this car, i know its first two owners, pm me if interested

and it is an irish car from new

That's very helpful. The OP might be able to "build" some service history from nothing out of that. Original Irish E39s with the V8 petrol engine are extremely rare. I had an originally Irish E34 with the V8 petrol (original owner the Finnish Ambassador) and apparantly only about 10 were ever sold in this country!

OP - let a BMW indy check the car over before you buy. The engine / tranny are extremely well built and reliable, but the car might need suspension work or it might have other expensive (electrical) issues.

How much NCT left? If less than 3 months, the NCT can be done now. If that's the case, make it a condition of the sale.

Let us know the progress

DirtyOilBurner

How do you know there is no service history? There should be up untill 30 or 40 k anyway

unkel

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

How do you know there is no service history?

Because the OP said:

cantdecide wrote: »

Virtually no service history

So the current owner of the car is not in possession of any service history much. But based on your information, the OP could possibly be able to verify more service history if he starts ringing around.

That said, even with a complete service history, I would still have an independent specialist check the car out.

DirtyOilBurner

I dont want to say too much on here about first two owners as it may affect the current owner, so pm meand maybe i can be of some help...

cashmni1

Go check the car out, it being an Irish car from 2001 explains the service history to me. As said, get it checked by an indy. You could be getting a cracker of a car for that price.

DaMonk

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

I dont want to say too much on here about first two owners as it may affect the current owner, so pm meand maybe i can be of some help...

I'd say somebody was the first owner and sold knows the second owner thruogh selling it:rolleyes: hence the surprise when his service hstory has disappeared? maybe I'm stretching it but every one loves a conspiracey!:p

DirtyOilBurner

DaMonk wrote: »

I'd say somebody was the first owner and sold knows the second owner thruogh selling it:rolleyes: hence the surprise when his service hstory has disappeared? maybe I'm stretching it but every one loves a conspiracey!:p

What?? Dont understand ya?

DaMonk

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

What?? Dont understand ya?

just messing with the idea that you were the first owner of the car.

Anan1

The ad alone would put me off that car, an almost complete lack of service history buries it, IMO.

DirtyOilBurner

No i worked for the second owner of the car, he bought 3 of the origional owners cars after him, he didnt buy a 540i to drive easy needless to say

Captain Slow IRL

Buy it.

(wish it was me:()

Get it checked out by a reputable independant (like AC Car sales) - if they have a key reader, it should give you a good indication if the mileage has been tampered with. Anyone used to working on them would know what to expect of a car with such little mileage.

Lord Nikon

A friendly word with the local Gardai, and they might check the previous owners of the car, how many and any previous accidents. Just say can they check is the car stolen or anything, they might give some extra info, and it will cost you nothing.

Voodoomelon

For such a rare car, this seems very underpriced to me even if it is a gas guzzler. Only 74k, full Sport kit and the 4.4l V8, something is a miss here. Unless the seller is looking to get rid of it super quick.

DirtyOilBurner

8 year old 4.4 litre petrol, all its worth no? surprised u dont recognise the car voodoo? was around your parts for a while...

bazz26

Voodoomelon wrote: »

For such a rare car, this seems very underpriced to me even if it is a gas guzzler. Only 74k, full Sport kit and the 4.4l V8, something is a miss here. Unless the seller is looking to get rid of it super quick.

The reason it is priced that way is because a car like that doesn't appeal to 95% of the Irish motoring population. The other 5% know specifically what they are looking for and how much it is worth. Repeating the old cliche: "a car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it".

Voodoomelon

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

8 year old 4.4 litre petrol, all its worth no? surprised u dont recognise the car voodoo? was around your parts for a while...

I don't think i've ever seen a 540i in the South, rare as anything those yokes. If I got that for €4500, i'd be unbelievably chuffed. Bargain of the century. But i'd go for an E38 740 over that any day... :P

x in the city

A friend of mine got a 540i mtech up in norn irl. couldnt get one here.

why would a car like that have zero service history, its not a fiesta. something fishy about that.

my mate paid around 15k or more so thats some deal

but then again, if it looks too good to be true.....

milltown

Get the chassis number and fire an e-mail to customerservices@bmw.ie
They should be able to give you a list of servives and work done by BMW dealers. Looks like you will have to make some assumptions and go with your gut feeling in the end though. i.e. If the mileage was flying up in the first two years before it dropped out of the dealer network, how likely is it that the next five years only added another 20k?

cantdecide

Thanks guys.

I decided that the lack of FSH on such a car really has to be a deal breaker. I wasn't overwhelmed by the seller and the price is right-ish but I think there's no incentive to accept the risk of a dodgy past when the stakes are that bit higher. You won't get a replacement engine or box down the local scrappy after all and that's not mentioning LCDs/ Cats/ mysterious suspension clunks etc...

Cyrus

id try and pick up a cheeky 530i, plenty of power, lovely smooth engine, much cheaper maintain aswell

unkel

cantdecide wrote: »

Thanks guys.

I decided that the lack of FSH on such a car really has to be a deal breaker. I wasn't overwhelmed by the seller and the price is right-ish but I think there's no incentive to accept the risk of a dodgy past when the stakes are that bit higher. You won't get a replacement engine or box down the local scrappy after all and that's not mentioning LCDs/ Cats/ mysterious suspension clunks etc...

Would you not just have an indy specialist look at it? It would be a missed opportunity imho if you just decide to give it a miss because of lack of paperwork.

Matt Simis

cantdecide wrote: »

Thanks guys.

I decided that the lack of FSH on such a car really has to be a deal breaker. I wasn't overwhelmed by the seller and the price is right-ish but I think there's no incentive to accept the risk of a dodgy past when the stakes are that bit higher. You won't get a replacement engine or box down the local scrappy after all and that's not mentioning LCDs/ Cats/ mysterious suspension clunks etc...

Where did replacement engine come into it? "LCD"s and CATs are fairly common or generic. Surely BMW can provide full info on service history for first 3years / 50k miles at a minimum?

cantdecide

unkel wrote: »

Would you not just have an indy specialist look at it? It would be a missed opportunity imho if you just decide to give it a miss because of lack of paperwork.

If I'd been happy with his answers then I would go down that road. However, Having spoken to him, I think I could be just tearing up €100 to confirm that he actually was being as economical with the truth as I suspected. I'm on my thirteenth vehicle so I've learned to read between the lines...

cantdecide

Matt Simis wrote: »

Where did replacement engine come into it? "LCD"s and CATs are fairly common or generic. Surely BMW can provide full info on service history for first 3years / 50k miles at a minimum?

(Not that you could in this country but) I feel that if you could line up ten of these with similar spec, details and price this would be among the lesser examples. If it weren't 150+ miles away, I'd give it a spin and go from there but playing the odds, I think I'll end up disappointed.

Matt Simis

cantdecide wrote: »

(Not that you could in this country but) I feel that if you could line up ten of these with similar spec, details and price this would be among the lesser examples. If it weren't 150+ miles away, I'd give it a spin and go from there but playing the odds, I think I'll end up disappointed.

Fair enough, if the seller is setting off spidey senses, you are as well walk away no matter how good the deal looks.

unkel

Matt Simis wrote: »

Fair enough, if the seller is setting off spidey senses, you are as well walk away no matter how good the deal looks.

+1

There are always other cars out there, OP. And a buyers market it sure is

Drummerboy08

That car is known by the highly technical term of a "wedding ring" in the trade. Buy, and keep it for life.

Anan1

cantdecide wrote: »

If I'd been happy with his answers then I would go down that road. However, Having spoken to him, I think I could be just tearing up €100 to confirm that he actually was being as economical with the truth as I suspected. I'm on my thirteenth vehicle so I've learned to read between the lines...

I got that very same feeling when I read his ad.

DirtyOilBurner

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

That car is known by the highly technical term of a "wedding ring" in the trade. Buy, and keep it for life.

In other words AIDS

galwaytt

Alternative? buy an 'ordinary' 1400cc car for, say 12k. Allow 3k/yr depreciation.
(After 3 years, it'll be worth 3k, and you'll have spent 9k.)

But, if you buy the 540i for, say 5k. In 3 years time, call it zero. Like, throw-match-at-it zero. Tax will be an extra 1k/year. After 3 years allowing for extra fuel, extra tax, you'll have spent .....9.2k

Now, factor in that you've financed the 12k, so add interest.......

So, now which car is cheaper 'to run' ?? It's not the 1.4......

(More juice. Your 1.4 will use 720 litres/year for 12k kms. The 540, say, 1100litres. So, an exra Eur 400 per year)

DirtyOilBurner

galwaytt wrote: »

Alternative? buy an 'ordinary' 1400cc car for, say 12k. Allow 3k/yr depreciation.
(After 3 years, it'll be worth 3k, and you'll have spent 9k.)

But, if you buy the 540i for, say 5k. In 3 years time, call it zero. Like, throw-match-at-it zero. Tax will be an extra 1k/year. After 3 years allowing for extra fuel, extra tax, you'll have spent .....9.2k

Now, factor in that you've financed the 12k, so add interest.......

So, now which car is cheaper 'to run' ?? It's not the 1.4......

(More juice. Your 1.4 will use 720 litres/year for 12k kms. The 540, say, 1100litres. So, an exra Eur 400 per year)

Insurance? Tyres? Any mechanical problems?

L-M

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

Insurance? Tyres? Any mechanical problems?

Took the words from my mout...er... fingers.

unkel

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

Insurance? Tyres? Any mechanical problems?

Insurance - I would get a quote for it fully comprehensive for about €450 (which would be about €100 more than for the 1.4 in galwaytt's example)

Tyres - Well yes, you've got a point there. Tyres will be more expensive.

Any mechanical problems? - well, there's the thing. If you are unlucky / uninformed, it could cost you a fortune. But high-end high quality (some people call it "overengineered") cars are unlikely to develop mechanical problems to the same degree as cheapsh!te econoboxes.

drver1

If you were to bring this car in from the UK the VRT would be more than the car advertised

€5600!

MarkN

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

That car is known by the highly technical term of a "wedding ring" in the trade. Buy, and keep it for life.

At that price, I don't think that's applicable. A 130k plus 09 M3 in this climate, perhaps, a car that's price wouldn't put wood on the floors of your average semi-d, not quite the same, that's the beauty of older huge petrols, biggest cost is just running them.

galwaytt

unkel wrote: »

Insurance - I would get a quote for it fully comprehensive for about €450 (which would be about €100 more than for the 1.4 in galwaytt's example)

Tyres - Well yes, you've got a point there. Tyres will be more expensive.

Any mechanical problems? - well, there's the thing. If you are unlucky / uninformed, it could cost you a fortune. But high-end high quality (some people call it "overengineered") cars are unlikely to develop mechanical problems to the same degree as cheapsh!te econoboxes.

About the tyre prices. For a start, on either car, on the mileage I'm working on, above, you won't even wear through one set. I've just put new tyres on my Porsche, via Camskill via the 'net, and that cost me less than €400. So if your 1.4 is half that price, say, 200. Over 3 years ?? And if you half-wear that set, half that again. Immeasurable.

This forum is littered with examples of cars of all sizes/types/prices being both good and bad, so, if the 1.4 you pick is a lemon, and the 540 a peach, you're fubar'd anyway. True, if it's the other way around, you're fubar'd too.
Either way, 1 x fubar = 1 x fubar, imho ! I'll go with Unkel, and so long as you buy it right, and both are good, neither is more likely to break down than the other.

Biro

drver1 wrote: »

If you were to bring this car in from the UK the VRT would be more than the car advertised

€5600!

Ya, VRT is siilly on them, they have the OMSP at over 15k. Maybe that one can be used as a weapon to appeal the VRT on the 540i!

Johnboy Mac

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

Insurance? Tyres? Any mechanical problems?

Simple, if one wants to run a high spec. 4.0lt car it costs, be it a BMW or a Lexus etc.
But very possible it's worth it for the pleasure and enjoyment.

May I wish any potential owner the best of luck and happy motoring + good on you.

JJJJNR

What about this one.

unkel

JJJJNR wrote: »

What about this one.

That's the straight six. Nice engine, but it ain't a V8

Here IS a V8 and it looks good - how about it, OP?

Voodoomelon

Are they cheapo aftermarket eBay head lights?

Seth Brundle

They are aftermarket alright but I think they are Hellas like mine

Voodoomelon

Yours are the proper deal, the ones in the link look pretty poor, could be just the light.

cantdecide

E39 has to be M-Sport/ sports suspension model IMO

Keep 'em coming. I'll consider anything...

unkel

cantdecide wrote: »

E39 has to be M-Sport/ sports suspension model IMO

Why? Even an entry level base spec early 520 has very well set up suspension / driving dynamics. Much better than the competition