2010 535i vs 2009 550i

Made the mistake of taking one home for the evening - 535 M-sport with HUD & Nav, CPO. They're asking $35k, which seems to be quite a reasonable starting point. Absolutely love the car.

They showed me the BMW internal maintenance documents, however. HPFP replaced at 9,330 miles, first documented oil change at 22,999 miles. Not a big fan of that, for sure. Next oil change right before it was turned into a CPO at 41,000 miles. It is for this reason that I see V8power's point. I guess I should walk away and find one with documented oil changes at closer intervals.

PS: They had an '06, 108k mile M5 that was in great shape. Tooled around in it for over an hour and was blown away by how solid it felt. All maintenance had been kept up on it, but it had right rear damage history that was invisible as far as I could tell (the repairs, that is). They were asking $24k. Only for a few moments did I consider socking away $7,500 for future repairs/maintenance and driving off in it. The car does NOT need a radio - just press the pedal on the right...

it's really bad that oil was change each 20,000 miles with BMW oil, which is not full synthetic already (just read Bob is the Oil Guy). When I was read this I was shocked so moved to Castrol and now to Mobil 1 5W-30 and 0W-30, but do every 5,000 -7,000 miles.

Just to add
1. BMW oil is Group III hydrocracked, it's not full synthetic oil at all and it's = Castrol TXT Softect
2. Only three brands in US are full synthetic are Mobil 1, Amsoil, Royal Purple
3. German Castrol 0w-30 (it has the red label and says on the back, "Made in Germany) is claimed to be full synthetic, but it's made in Germany.
4. Redline is a Group V PolyEster based oil
5.All other Castrol, Quaker State, Pennzoil, Valvoline "synthetics" are a Group III hydrocracked oil.
6.Used oil analysis has shown the BMW oil is generally depleted at 10,000 miles. Running it longer results in excess wear. It is highly recommended that you change your oil once between each BMW recommended interval (approx 7000-7500 miles). If you want to run your oil the BMW recommended interval, I would suggest that you use Mobil 1 0w-40 or Amsoil 5w-40 and change the oil filter at 7500 miles. I would encourage a full oil change at 7500 if you want your engine to last.

Bummer. I really liked this one. I'll keep looking...

Another quick question - does the HUD usually wash out in the daytime? It is practically invisible, even with the brightness setting all the way up. Any tips? I'm considering crossing it off of my list of desired options...

I don't have one , but I know person who has it, and he said it has very good visibility at any sun angle, but it has one weird angle when you can't see but it happened ones or twice and only for the short time.

Originally Posted by Acroduster

Another quick question - does the HUD usually wash out in the daytime? It is practically invisible, even with the brightness setting all the way up. Any tips? I'm considering crossing it off of my list of desired options...

Originally Posted by phlfly

I don't have one , but I know person who has it, and he said it has very good visibility at any sun angle, but it has one weird angle when you can't see but it happened ones or twice and only for the short time.

Agreed, I have no issues with mine. Check to see if the lil window is cleaned and tryising the navigation which would show direction on the windshield and see if its still dim. The hud was one of my main had to have features after I found one with it.

It is practically invisible to others in the car except the person sitting behind you telling you to slow down lol

Originally Posted by Acroduster

Another quick question - does the HUD usually wash out in the daytime? It is practically invisible, even with the brightness setting all the way up. Any tips? I'm considering crossing it off of my list of desired options...

Not 100% sure, the old HUD on E60 would not be visible when driving with polarized sun-glasses. As a matter of fact, the new F30 HUD still having problem with polarized sun-glasses.

HUD- The visibility mostly depends on the seating position, try adjusting your seat a little up and check..

Took the plunge - 2010 535i xDrive, M-Sports, HUD, CWP, Nav, Comfort Access, Logic 7, iPhone connection.

Enjoying it!

Thanks for the all of the help. I'll be surfing these pages for info in the coming years...

535 and cobb it! just keep under the original warranty/ and extend it to a hundred. and do 2 extra oil changes in between the scheduled ones this should leave you doing your oil 3 to 4 times a year.