BUY 2007 530xi

I am looking to buy a 2007xi for $17,000 with 90,000 miles. I would like to know what can I expect as for as maintenace and also is this acceptable amount?

Average is about 15k miles per year, with this many miles it's all about how much the previews owner cared for it, if he/she took care of it meticulously then you should expect a great running machine for some time, if he/she did not care for it then good luck!

I bought an 06 530i smg with 89k miles for $15k three months ago and so far so good!!

Thanks for the advice, however the person I am buy it from is my brother in law and He bought it used from a dealer in march. So should I run the vin and also get it inspected. Also I am trying to get an estimate of my annual maintenance cost.

I would have it inspected, specially if you are worried about the annual maintenance cost, besides the cost you have to be mentally and financially ready for anything with this vehicles, they tend to give people headaches in some cases with repairs.
In the end if you buy it, welcome to the elite club!!

Originally Posted by kupid

Thanks for the advice, however the person I am buy it from is my brother in law and He bought it used from a dealer in march. So should I run the vin and also get it inspected. Also I am trying to get an estimate of my annual maintenance cost.

We purchased a 2007 530xi (meticulous and loaded) for $28,000.00 a few years back. Great car btw.

1) First, search AutoTrader.com to compare prices and see what's available. It took me almost a month to find ours(wife's specs) but did so in this fashion. Anyhow, I quickly found 157 listing for you with numerous of those at your price point but cars under 70k miles. You'll have to read the details and consider who is selling it. Irrespective, do the following....

2) Inquire for a Carfax to get the cars history. A dealership should do it for free as they pay for a subscription and not per inquiry. If they don't provide that service, stop by any willing dealership and ask if they will print one out for you. They just need the VIN number.

3) Call BMW USA with the VIN number and find out which dealership originally sold the car. From there, you can usually trace down the maintenance history. BMW will maintain the car to 50,000mi at no charge, so most likely the previous owner would have taken advantage of that until then. Hopefully, that only leaves you with the 40k miles to consider. Note: You'll have to call each dealership individually for that.

4) Tell your local BMW dealership you're interested in buying the car and have them inspect it. They might perform some of the above for you.

5) If you're able to maintain the car yourself, it really isn't any more expensive than most other cars. Oil changes are quite easy and really the greatest yearly maintenance cost. Depending on your driving habits, you'll really only need to consider brake pads and possibly changing out the cabin microfilter, each year.

You are however at the point of needing to change the spark plugs, brake fluid and a few other things, given it's at 90k miles. Tires would be your only other major consideration in regards to maintenance.

Whatever you do, check the car out with a fine tooth comb. Then drive it and test every aspect including gears, etc, etc, etc.

6) When considering any used car; a) mentally allow yourself a certain $$ each year or every other year, for unforseen and major repair costs, such as $1,500.00. If you never incur such an unforseen cost or go years without such, then you'll feel good about your purchase. Otherwise, b) buy a used car warranty but only one that comes highly recommended. Many of those are nothing more than scams.....

Good luck,
Ralph

Great infor thank you so much for the usefull info. Well the owner of the car is doing a full service before handing it over my concern was not having alot of maintenance after the car is handed over.

Originally Posted by kupid

Great infor thank you so much for the usefull info. Well the owner of the car is doing a full service before handing it over my concern was not having alot of maintenance after the car is handed over.

No problem Kupid. If the car was/is well maintained then you should have no problem getting 200k plus miles out of it. You have to do your homework though as $17,000.00 is a lot of money and as it's had multiple owners.

Other than that, we're still loving our '07 530xi. I have piece of mind with the wife/children due to all the car's safety features and great handling characteristics. Maintenance hasn't been much different than the Toyota's or Ford's I've owned. The only thing I've had to do that wasn't anticipated, was recently re-tap the oil pan threads. A mechanic apparently damaged the threads at some point and I finally wasn't able to torgue to specs on my last oil change. I never felt the threads were right and that was confirmed. Anyhow, I installed a HeliCoil and now all is good again...

Ralph

yes I was saying that exact samething as far as the car having mutliple owners, I will try to bring him down to atleast 15,000 due to him still driving the car. Thanks for the great review on the car. I currently own a volkswagen and after driving in the BMW I feel in love.

Originally Posted by kupid

yes I was saying that exact samething as far as the car having mutliple owners, I will try to bring him down to atleast 15,000 due to him still driving the car. Thanks for the great review on the car. I currently own a volkswagen and after driving in the BMW I feel in love.

Oh, you'll enjoy it for sure, especially the handling. There really is only a couple of things that could have improved the car. 1) Most of the radio features have to be accessed through the I-drive which is cumbersome. BMW addressed this issue on later models though by adding some radio specific buttons. 2) I wish there were a cubby-hole in the front to hold things. The center console isn't easy to access for such. 3) The BMW navigation system could be better and more intuitive. That probably applies to all though...

God Bless

So after I did my assessment my wife came to me today and stating that she think it is a bit expensive based on year and mile.

Originally Posted by Ralph III

2) Inquire for a Carfax to get the cars history. A dealership should do it for free as they pay for a subscription and not per inquiry. If they don't provide that service, stop by any willing dealership and ask if they will print one out for you. They just need the VIN number.

I would also suggest get an AutoCheck done by Experian when you do decide to get the car. We were almost fooled by CarFax on a heavily frame damaged E60. The Indy dealer showed us a clean record. Our lender ran a VIN check anyway with AutoCheck and it showed up as frame damage and airbag deployment. You can either get a one shot report or unlimited for a month for a fee. Its very worth your while to do that.

Good luck.

I will simply on the fact that the person I am getting it from is the 2nd owner.