E60 Reliability?

Hmm....you guys got me excited! Ok, so this is essentially the configuration for the 330i I'd like:

2006 BMW 330i

US ED

Base 33,485 30,975
Auto 1210 1210
Nav 1820 1820
PP 2000 2000
CWP 910 910
Met. Paint 430 430

Total 39,855 37,345

I calculated the invoice prices from the Price Lists on the 3 series forum. So, essentially, the main benefit of the ED program is that it takes around 2.5k off the US invoice price? In return, however, you have to (1) actually want to go through the ED experience (which from what people are saying on the ED forum is in fact loads of fun! ) and incur the additional expenses for the trip, and (2) endure a longer waiting time to finally take delivery of the vehicle in the US ? Does this accurately characterize the trade-offs?

Also, is the BMWCCA rebate something that is given by BMWNA or does it come off the dealer's profit margin? Because if it is the latter, then, the rebate may simply substitute for discounts one could get with negotiation anyway, right?

Thanks so much for all your great advice and sorry for going off topic!

The dealer could care less about your BMWCCA rebate...no skin of their back. It comes straight from BMWNA.

When I picked up my 545i via ED, BMW had a deal going where they paid for a month of leasing so I only pay for 35/36 lease payments. Considering you are without your car for at least a month (but usually longer), it is a nice gesture on their part.

Another nice thing about ED is that the dealer won't lose any of their allocated cars (i.e. car quota promised to them by BMWNA). It is a "freebie" to them.

So, yeah, basically the money you save on the ED goes into the trip. Don't forget the BMWCCA rebate factor, too!

I think you'll find the experience of toting around Europe in a brand new BMW well worth it. It is so cool...Europe is so cool. Too bad the Euro is pricey for us but the dollar is gaining strength agains the Euro. When I did my ED, it was 1.3...now it is 1.2. I hope it is better in 9/06 when I'm planning another ED.

You can get some deals for airline tickets through BMW (Lufthansa 2 for 1) but even those aren't always the best you can do. I got lucky, BMW again had a deal where it was 2 for 1 AND they gave you another $500 on top of that...it was called Fly Free.

Thanks so much Agent99 (and yamilrx)! After taking a careful look at ED, I do think you're spot on --- this is definitely the way to buy a BMW! Sounds fun! Too bad I'll have to wait a whole 12 months before I can get that BMWCC rebate! Grrrrr....

Any one ever have problems with the trunk and the panic alarm??

My trunk does not unlock sometimes, and sometimes I will press the trunk key once maybe twice, still nothing... twice the alarm has went off!!!! NOT COOL um what did you say............ ears are still ringing...... Oh btw NO I did not hold it down.............

Probably will bring in this weekend...

Still playing with Bluetooth, sorta works with my LG325 and Sprint about 50% of the time.....

Jim

600 miles and except for a little vibration at idle with the ac on, my 545i is purrfect.

I think that the BMW's are very dependable plus they are top of the line foreign cars.

Originally Posted by Stiffy

Any one ever have problems with the trunk and the panic alarm??

My trunk does not unlock sometimes, and sometimes I will press the trunk key once maybe twice, still nothing... twice the alarm has went off!!!! NOT COOL um what did you say............ ears are still ringing...... Oh btw NO I did not hold it down.............

Probably will bring in this weekend...

Still playing with Bluetooth, sorta works with my LG325 and Sprint about 50% of the time.....

Jim

Jim,

I think you know that you are supposed to hold the trunk button down for like a second in order for it to open. However, hold it down too long, and you will set the alarm off. Well, at least your trunk is not opening all by itself! Some have had that problem....

Thing is that I have just traded up from a 2002 330i that I have had for 3.5 years, So I would assume the trunk worked the same. I will try holding the button down a bit longer.... this time with earplugs on!!!

Originally Posted by Stiffy

Any one ever have problems with the trunk and the panic alarm??jim

My panic/burglar alarm went off by itself occasionally when the car was fairly new and sitting in the driveway locked up. Took it into the dealer and they put it on the computer and determined that it was the hood switch that was defective and causing it to go off. They replaced it and never had a problem with it since. Took about 30 minutes total.

950 miles. Car is perfect. I couldn't be happier. Love the thigh extender on the comfort seat. A monster on the interstate. Much better than week one.
Happens with all new BMW's. Takes 2-4 weeks to break 'em in and then bliss!

Getting quite a few jealousy passes: little Civics and the like being floored to see if they can pass me. I only play this game if the vehicle is: M45, S series, 911 or Corvette. For the boring Civics, I actually slow down which really frustrates 'em!

I had problems with my windows going down after I one-touched them to go up. Seems the car was thinking someones arm/head/other-body-part was blocking the window rolling up - so it would go back down. BMW had to replace the actuators as they were unable to tweak the software to stop the problem.

2004 530i

Are you sure the car is not possessed?

Maybe it is...

Last week it reported that the active steering had malfunctioned, they ended up reprogramming the car...

Originally Posted by Stiffy

Any one ever have problems with the trunk and the panic alarm??

My trunk does not unlock sometimes, and sometimes I will press the trunk key once maybe twice, still nothing... twice the alarm has went off!!!! NOT COOL um what did you say............ ears are still ringing...... Oh btw NO I did not hold it down.............

Probably will bring in this weekend...

Still playing with Bluetooth, sorta works with my LG325 and Sprint about 50% of the time.....

Jim

I had the same issue when I first got my E60. My E39 had an "immediate trunk open". If you hit the button it unlatched right now. The E60 takes some getting used to..... hold it down too long and [insert screaming sound here]. Take your thumb off the button too soon and "nothin"!

I had an interesting thing happen over the weekend:
Got in, started it up and took off.... noticed that the steering wheel hadn't moved down into position. I could not manually adjust it either. Couldn't go in or out, up or down... nothing. I parked, turned off the key, waited about 15 seconds...... started it back up and still had the problem, wrong position.

I went in and had lunch..... came back out and it worked fine. Worked great the rest of the weekend.

Ah, German electronics and software....

Originally Posted by delirium

I see that JD Powers gives the 2005 E60 good Over Quality Ratings on their website. However Consumer Reports gives the 530xi a BLACK dot for their rating... that is the worst rating possible in consumer reports.

CR rated the 530i, not the 530xi.

One year, 5000 miles, 4 times in shop for a total of 17 days.......enough said.

Ok, update on my 2006 530i experience: at 2100 miles I have an exceptionally (annoying!) squeaky driver's side seatbelt receptacle, and one blown pixel on the I-Drive LCD screen. This last one comes out as a bright red/white dot basically that persists through all screen choices. Horribly annoying. Has anyone else had either of these problems? If so, what did your dealer say/do? If you are a dealer reading this, could you please tell me if it is standard practice for dealers to replace these items under these conditions?

I'm going to take it in to my dealer next week when I get my first post break-in oil change.

Thanks so much for all your help once again! Cheers!

Mine was wonderful on the Autobahns. Perfect performance for the 8 days we drove it in Europe. Could not be happier.

Originally Posted by jkh

Not sure I understand how Consumer Reports could give a "quality" rating to the 530xi. It has been in production less than 3 months with fewer than 1,000 units delivered to the U.S. market.

I took delivery of a 530xi last month - less than 1,000 miles on it - but no problems or issues so far.

Dealer loses hold back, it is a significant amount of money. I suggest you use Edmunds.com or KBB.com or lastly NADA.com for accurate pricing. None show hold back. My understanding is that the options are also discounted.

People (not I) have been know to take delivery in the morning and return the same or next day. The ED car can immediately be dropped off at Harms. We loved the experienced. Have been back from ED almost 15 hours.

Originally Posted by suntan

Hmm....you guys got me excited! Ok, so this is essentially the configuration for the 330i I'd like:

2006 BMW 330i

US ED

Base 33,485 30,975
Auto 1210 1210
Nav 1820 1820
PP 2000 2000
CWP 910 910
Met. Paint 430 430

Total 39,855 37,345

I calculated the invoice prices from the Price Lists on the 3 series forum. So, essentially, the main benefit of the ED program is that it takes around 2.5k off the US invoice price? In return, however, you have to (1) actually want to go through the ED experience (which from what people are saying on the ED forum is in fact loads of fun! ) and incur the additional expenses for the trip, and (2) endure a longer waiting time to finally take delivery of the vehicle in the US ? Does this accurately characterize the trade-offs?

Also, is the BMWCCA rebate something that is given by BMWNA or does it come off the dealer's profit margin? Because if it is the latter, then, the rebate may simply substitute for discounts one could get with negotiation anyway, right?

Thanks so much for all your great advice and sorry for going off topic!

Originally Posted by stream

6K miles, 7 months--very happy ('05 545i).

Thanks for the pics Stream! I've been wondering what the rims on my car would look like. The BMW site just doesn't give the detail I wanted.

I'm at 18,000 km and have had no issues.

Kept up with software updates along the way though.

I've got an early 6spd manual 2004 530 with 14000 miles. The only problem I have encountered is a strange "waver" in the power curve between 4000 and 5000 rpm. Had it into the dealer several times: replaced all six coils and ignition, reloaded / updated SW several times, etc. Still not fixed. Took the service manager out for a ride two weeks back -- he says it is the transition between long and short air intakes, and this was a problem on manual trans 330s a while back. He's checking to find the fix.

Anybody else have this problem / know about the fix?