BMW 5 series or 7 series??

shuffles03

I'm looking to buy a car and have 13,000 to spend. Was thinking of getting a 5 series or a 7 series. I've seen 04 5 series' for 12,000 and 02 7 series' for 12,500 and upwards. Basically I'm looking for a big car. I know the 7 series isn't economical but for some reason I love the look of it and all it's high tech. What are peoples opinions on which one to buy and also where would I get the best price? Also, how come the 7 series is so cheap?

colm_mcm

I'd go the 7 series. 5 series getting almost common at this stage.

samsemtex

shuffles03 wrote: »

Also, how come the 7 series is so cheap?

Big cars = big running costs. They all depreciate badly. Its probably much less desirable than an S-class as well in that sector which is just a better car. I saw a 2002 S65 on pistonheads for £9000! Thats 180K of depreciation! Thats impressive!

Voodoomelon

I was in a similar boat as you, in that I was torn between the E38 2001 7 series and the E65 2002+ 7 series.

Early E65s are plagued with electrical problems and I would walk a mile away from any 2002-2004 models. If you could get an aftermarket warranty with one for 2-3 years then you could consider one.

However your money would be much better spent on an E39 2004 5 series or a 2001 E38 7 series. Either of these models have virtually all issues ironed out as they are the last years of production. You'll do well do find any with less than 70k at this stage, an age when things start to go wrong (suspension, cooling system rebuilds etc).

Mechanically, they are sound as a euro.

shuffles03

Think I'm swaying more towards a 5 series. The only 7 series I can find cheap are petrol and I'd imagine I'd be pissing petrol into the wind with them. So, where should I buy???

Voodoomelon

Can't go wrong with a 530d E39 5 series from the UK. I'm sure you could find a real peach.

shuffles03

Sweet! Wat would I be looking at for one with sat nav as well? Under 13,000?
Cheers for your help by the way!

Stevie Dakota

Voodoomelon wrote: »

However your money would be much better spent on an E39 2004 5 series or a 2001 E38 7 series.

+1 Very good advice.

robtri

I should say take the 7.... dear god they are beautiful.... but as said they are cheap for a reason... huge running costs, anythign goes wrong and you will be paying out your nose to get it fixed....
MPG is not too bad for a Large car like that, around 24 to 28 mpg is what you should expect...

but I think I would have to say take the 5 series, and the 530D is brilliant....
has everything you need for a car.. lots of power and torque.. comfy to drive... common enough so parts aren't a huge problem...
mpg is 40mpg+... except on the days you want to have fun

Owen

Sounds like a great idea at first, but remember a 7 Series is 100k + new, so when your shocks go, they'll be 1300 Euro, as opposed to 130 Euro for parts, and similarly for other parts of the car. People have a huge tendancy to forget that when buying older luxobarges.

Get an e39 530d M Sport, and get it chipped. The power you end up with afterwards is phenomenal. I got a spin in one recently, it was still spinning the wheels in 3rd gear.

daRobot

With the current market, I think you could be getting into an E60 530d for 13-15k, which would be a far better buy.

Stevie Dakota

I hate these threads, they send me straight to autotrader.co.uk!

shuffles03

I have 13k so should I hold out until I've 15k so I can get a better spec? Wat do u think of picking up a finance repo from Merlin?

unkel

shuffles03 wrote: »

Also, how come the 7 series is so cheap?

Because people are scared. If something big goes wrong in such an expensive car, it's going to cost money. Thing is though, we are talking top of the range cars here with matching build quality. Buy a good one and chances are nothing major will ever go wrong with it. A 530d is a nice car by all means in either E39 or E60, but a 745i E65 is on a different planet altogether

What annual mileage are you doing, shuffles03? If it is less than 15k, I would not even consider a diesel. Do your sums and you'll find it is more expensive than petrol.

Padraig Mor

Do the right thing: get an E38 740i Sport or an E65 745i*. The MPG is pretty much the same as the 735s and the tax is the same. Diesels only arrived in 03 I think.



*Yes the early E65s have a very bad reputation. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that this was mainly software issues, which should be pretty much resolved by now.

Voodoomelon

Thing is you won't get a 745i E65 for €13,000. And there's no point in stretching to be able to afford the buying price, as you almost certainly won't be able to afford the running costs.

I like the E65, but the E38 and E39 are much better choices in this situation, you'll get either around the €10k mark if you search hard and have plenty left over for running or repairs.

shuffles03

I'd say the 5 series would be more economical for me. I used to be out in the road with work but I'm office based now so I don't think I could justify the running costs of a 7 series, especially with an 88 litre tank! Has anyone used Merlin before? If I was to go there, I think I'd have to bring a mechanic to check the car to see if it's alright though! My friends a mechanic so I could always bring him but I'm a bit unsure of using Merlin though!

Big Nasty

Personally, if I had €13k to blow I would buy a nice 02 730+ (The old model, it has much more presence) and spend the balance on a nice classic for the weekend!

Double the fun!

unkel

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Thing is you won't get a 745i E65 for €13,000.

I'd be confident that you can. It is 7 years old. I bought my 735 when it was 7 years old for €11k. Granted, the E65 still is the current model, but we all know what happened to second hand prices of cars since last year - especially big engined cars...

shuffles03 wrote: »

I used to be out in the road with work but I'm office based now so I don't think I could justify the running costs of a 7 series, especially with an 88 litre tank!

So you drive less these days, so your mileage is more important than it was?

shuffles03

The reason why I was saying that I didn't think I could justify the 7 series with the mileage was because currently I have a company car, Golf 1.4 to be exact and I want to buy my own car to get rid of benefit in kind, it's killing me!!! So right now the company is paying for my fuel but I'll be paying fir it when I get my own so that's why I was questioning the mileage against the cost. I've had 2 company cars so far so this will be my first ever purchase.

joeperry

How about this last of the E39 530i sports.

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200924193095677

Can't go wrong there i tell ya.

Seems a resonable price compared with others and 3grand in your pocket if it needs some maintenance.

AÆ

Be careful about saying goodbye to BIK and hello to depreciation.

I would look carefully at the MPG....in a couple of years time...trying to sell a sub30mpg car will be like trying to sell a sub20mpg today....(case in point...the new 316d is over 60mpg!)

daRobot

Don't know anything about this car but haggling hard may get it within your budget:

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/886169

DirtyOilBurner

Anyone know where i would get a black 1999-2001 740i sport? Must be clean have the big alloys and ni reg?

Voodoomelon

unkel wrote: »

I'd be confident that you can. It is 7 years old. I bought my 735 when it was 7 years old for €11k. Granted, the E65 still is the current model, but we all know what happened to second hand prices of cars since last year - especially big engined cars...

Cheapest i've seen of the E65 on Carzone is a 02 735i at €12k. The cheapest 745i is €20k. He may well do better in the UK, but again I feel €13k would be pushing it for a 745i.

I would have expected the F01 model to push prices down, but like you say the car market is arseways at the moment for big cars.

Voodoomelon

DirtyOilBurner wrote: »

Anyone know where i would get a black 1999-2001 740i sport? Must be clean have the big alloys and ni reg?

UK is definitely the place to shop for one of these, wasn't a lot of money about here in the early 2000s so you won't find more than a handful of them for sale.

http://www.keycops.co.uk/default.asp is where i bought mine and he has a 740iL in stock for 7k, you could definitely beat him down to 6.5k. Its a beaut.

DirtyOilBurner

Voodoomelon wrote: »

UK is definitely the place to shop for one of these, wasn't a lot of money about here in the early 2000s so you won't find more than a handful of them for sale.

http://www.keycops.co.uk/default.asp is where i bought mine and he has a 740iL in stock for 7k, you could definitely beat him down to 6.5k. Its a beaut.

Thanks voodoo, i take it your talking about the blue one? Dont like it at all, dont like the wheels orange indicators colour small sat nav and i think its the older model, the one im looking for is same as yours with same wheels only a 740i?

Voodoomelon

I was talking about the blue one yup. You seem to be looking to a 2000-2001 model which got the scalloped headlights, clear corners, coded side skirts etc.

It's hard to to find a genuine Sport E38, there's a lot of imitations out there.
You could always stick the clear corners in yourself, its a 5 minute job, and the headlights swap out easily enough too. A set of 5 M-Pars will cost you over €3200 at a dealer but you can get replicas no problem on eBay.

unkel

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Cheapest i've seen of the E65 on Carzone is a 02 735i at €12k. The cheapest 745i is €20k. He may well do better in the UK, but again I feel €13k would be pushing it for a 745i.

735 / 745 there really isn't much in it (same as the 735 / 740 in the E38). It's the V8 that counts. And after 7 years, I don't think there's gonna be much of a difference in value between a 735 and a 745 E65 either. Asking prices on carzone are often picked by dreamers

Voodoomelon

Very true, find the lowest price for a car on Carzone and take away 25%, thats the price it will actually sell for.

EDIT: Did you sell the 735?! :O

unkel

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Did you sell the 735?! :O

Swapped it for an E39 520i

Big Nasty

unkel wrote: »

Swapped it for an E39 520i

What!?! You swapped a nice 735 for an underpowered 520!?!

Please tell me you're kidding! :eek:

unkel

The 735 had been mainly off the road since I bought the 928 to use as my daily driver. Mrs unkel used the Rover 75 as her daily driver but now uses the 520. Sorry for any off topic here

shuffles03

Does anyone know a rough estimate for VRT of a 5 series saloon or estate if I was to buy one up north? Cheers

shuffles03

thats VRT on a 2004 5 series saloon or estate

unkel

Voodoomelon wrote: »

Cheapest i've seen of the E65 on Carzone is a 02 735i at €12k. The cheapest 745i is €20k.

Here's one now. A low mileage 745i for under €13k. And that's the asking price

shuffles03

Is this a scam?:

http://www.autotrader.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/touring/200928194560716/advert?channel=CARS

I checked the registration plate into the vehicle history box on the right side of the page and it said that it was a 3 series M sport petrol. 8,000 is far too low for a 5 series touring isn't it?

shuffles03

Or is this a 3 series touring and if so is that price correct?