Possible purchase - 04 545i

It has been about a year since I sold my 99 e46 and although I have been checking out bimmers for fun ever since - I now have a possible purchase. I know the owner on this personally and he is a very meticulous guy - all service is up to date and the vehicle was at the dealer last week getting a break fluid flush and they found nothing wrong with it.

2004 2-owner 545i - 94k miles
Sport, premium, cold weather packages
Grey on black
The exterior is perfect, interior has a very minor wear mark on the driver's side seat
Auto trans
Navigation
All service performed at dealer and up to date.

$11,500

With respect to service - 100k is around the corner - brakes are at 50% - tires have a few thousand miles on them - so that's not a problem. I'm more concerned with Cooling System, tranny fluid change, plugs etc.

Any feedback on the price and service that I will need to do - would be greatly appreciated.

SWC.

Depends on your income really. That car is going to be monumentally more expensive to maintain than your e46. However if you have to have it and nothing else will make you happy, then there is your answer. I say drive it a bunch first.

Hey man this is a nice price for a car like that And if nothing wrong with it definitely get it

So - will this be a maint intensive 10-20k miles?

Originally Posted by SWC

So - will this be a maint intensive 10-20k miles?

If what you said is true and the owner was very meticulous about maintaining his car and can prove it, you should be ok depending how you drive. Going forward maintenance on this car will go up, its inevitable on all high mileage cars especially on BMWs.

11.5k for that is a steal. I'd have a 3rd party perform a vehicle check on it. On average my 530 has been costing me on average around $1500/yr in regular maintenance + repairs all performed at the dealership. This is over the 50k-90k interval so far.

Given the additional miles and the larger more expensive components in the 545, I'd estimate low to mid $2000s per year on average.

Then again, my car has been pretty good to me so those numbers might be a little low.

I wouldn't buy an 04 E60 with a gun to my head, much less a high milage one. Unless the car has been maintained to the nth degree (highly unlikely), then it's a money pit.

Unless you have the means to pay the increase in maintenance cost, which could be anything from $1,500 - $4,000 a year absent any catastrophic failure, I would stay away from a high mileage BMW. I over maintained my 545i and spent $3,850 in 15months but that included new tires and a host of preventative parts replacement that are known to be weak points, such as cooling system. Mine had only 26,000miles when I bought it and 52,000 when I sold it (2 weeks ago). There was nothing wrong with it (I just wanted something more fun to drive and newer model with more tech) and I had no major issues, but someone may consider a $700 vacuum pump replacement on a 7year old car a major issue. This you need to accept when you buy a 7year old $60k car for $12k.

I wouldnt say stay away from it, but know what you are getting yourself into. This is true for any aging luxury car.

Here is a similar post for interest sake.
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=572188

Thanks for the feedback - and the good advice - I'll sit on it for a week.

SWC