SHOULD I trade a 2006 750i for a 2009 X5 Xdrive?

I would like other opinions on this.
I currently own a 06 BMW 750i with 95k miles on it. One year ago I bought it used with no warranty AS-IS at 82k but bought an extended warranty through another company. After about a month of driving the car the transmission went out. I had to finance separately enough money to pay for the transmission that cost me thousands. At that point Im paying est $900 in monthly payments including insurance, warranty, and transmission for an 06 750i with high miles. Don't get me wrong it is great car and love to drive it but a few features does not work on the car. Minor features such as the 5 disc Cd changer, Bluetooth cant connect, old navigation but still works, Logic 7 crackles when tuning the EQ, driver sub woofer blown, and voice communication sucks. Mechanically the car is working in perfect condition nothing. This is no original 750i it MSRP sticker price was brand new 106k because it was an custom order car. It came with the sport package, cold weather package, comfort access, ventilated seated, doors/ trunk opens and closes by itself,, curtains, titanium silver with tan interior seats, and polarized windows.

Now its a year later Im offered to purchase a CPO 2009 X5 Xdrive with 40k miles price at $35,000. I would be rolling over 10k of negative equity which puts me at $30 less payment from I used to pay for the my old 06 750i. So the total finance price is 45k. I did get approve. Plus my insurance went down 30 bucks too. AND my interest rate went down 3%. This X5 Im currently looking at is a certified CPO car. BMW is offering to pay $ 500 for 3 months of my car payment.

The main question is do yall think it is the right decision to trade the 06 750i for a X5 with less features but its fully functional. The car came from 1 owner who own the local dealership. It was well taken car of and everyone knows the guy at dealership saying he took goo car of the car.

I say if ur over the car there's nothing u can do from my experience
Guys will be guys, money is money and it sounds like ull be putting more into the 750
See ya later 750
U know what the right thing is to do
If ur not mechanically inclined I would get into a low mileage vehicle.
Good luck
Rob

Corolla. If you have to finance transmission repairs on a 7, you need to get some cheap basic transportation until you are in a financial position to own an expensive car. Don't kid yourself. If you're rolling $10k in negative equity you are broke. Do not buy a $35k car. That never makes sense, even if you've convinced yourself it does.

Originally Posted by sea6speed

Corolla. If you have to finance transmission repairs on a 7, you need to get some cheap basic transportation until you are in a financial position to own an expensive car. Don't kid yourself. If you're rolling $10k in negative equity you are broke. Do not buy a $35k car. That never makes sense, even if you've convinced yourself it does.

Or u could take this position which is probably accurate, sucks but its a reality right now.
Things change
Money comes and goes
Sanity does as well
Once again keep us up to date
Rob

Originally Posted by sea6speed

Corolla. If you have to finance transmission repairs on a 7, you need to get some cheap basic transportation until you are in a financial position to own an expensive car. Don't kid yourself. If you're rolling $10k in negative equity you are broke. Do not buy a $35k car. That never makes sense, even if you've convinced yourself it does.

Bingo. OP is driving cars he cannot really afford. IMO.

BUT, I would want to dump that 750.....


Do keep in mind that if either car is totalled you will have NO car to drive...AND will owe someone big $$$.

Originally Posted by ard

Bingo. OP is driving cars he cannot really afford. IMO.

BUT, I would want to dump that 750.....


Do keep in mind that if either car is totalled you will have NO car to drive...AND will owe someone big $$$.

I do have gap insurance. So just dump the 750i and keep the car or buy a cheaper car? Or keep the 750i? I did search for a car on the the dealer website I didnt find any certified car that i really enjoy. I just got back from a test driving the X5 and Im not comfortable with the way im sliding around the seat. IM used to my 750i hugging me to keep me from sliding around in the driver seat. Im 5'8 btw so Im not that small. Plus not having comfort access is annoying because I constantly have to put the Key to start it. In addition im used to the 750i gliding across highway bumps. the X5 on the other hand hops over bumps on the highway.

Is it me being being spoiled after driving a year in the 750i? or I need to get used to the X5 and forget about all the features my old 7 car had (half features in the car did not work properly, more like bragging rights cuz it there).

FYI the transmission is fixed. The shop installed a used transmission that cost me 5k.
10k is ALOT of money to roll over into a used car loan and my interest rate went down 3%. BUT again i am saving $60 total on this deal going into the x5.

What you need to do is look at you bank account and see if you have $10k to fix the negative equity situation. After that, see if there is $7k to put down on the X5 to reduce the odds you will find yourself in the same situation another year from now.

If you don't have the money, sell the 750, buy a $3000 beater and drive that until you've paid off the $10k negative equity and saved up a down payment for an X5. Or be smart and realize you can't afford to drive a $35k car on your current income, and buy a nice 3 year old corolla with an extended warranty.

Or are you too good for that?

Originally Posted by bmw479hp

I didnt find any certified car that i really enjoy.

Root cause.

Originally Posted by ard

Root cause.

Which is odd because there are a ton of BMW dealers in the DC area, and you can find pretty much whatever kind of CPO car you want. I miss that now that I'm in a smaller market. Sometimes the closest cars are in San Francisco or Las Vegas.

My income is 56k income. Im gonna look into a cheaper car because your right Im not happy with the x5. Im sad to say that I got my eyes set on a 2012 Acrua TL. Im gonna work up the numbers and see. Keep my fingers cross..
Thanks for the help everyone. Ill keep yall posted

Originally Posted by bmw479hp

My income is 56k income. Im gonna look into a cheaper car because your right Im not happy with the x5. Im sad to say that I got my eyes set on a 2012 Acrua TL. Im gonna work up the numbers and see. Keep my fingers cross..
Thanks for the help everyone. Ill keep yall posted

Hmmm... Yeah, definitely explains the problems. Most people earning 56k a year drive $10k cars. That's about what school teachers here make. You don't see too many x5's (or new TLs) in the teacher lot unless their spouse has resources.

Originally Posted by sea6speed

Which is odd because there are a ton of BMW dealers in the DC area, and you can find pretty much whatever kind of CPO car you want. I miss that now that I'm in a smaller market. Sometimes the closest cars are in San Francisco or Las Vegas.

My root cause point was that he was focussed on cars he enjoyed.

NOT the lack of CPOs.

Which I think is where we got to eventually.... I didnt drive the cars I really wanted for quite some number of years. Which is why I can now basically drive the cars I want.

Sell you car and do not buy another BMW. Move to Acura: RL and MDX are super reliable and inexpensive to maintain compared to any BMW and they will cost you a fraction of the price.

Originally Posted by bmw479hp

I do have gap insurance. So just dump the 750i and keep the car or buy a cheaper car? Or keep the 750i? I did search for a car on the the dealer website I didnt find any certified car that i really enjoy. I just got back from a test driving the X5 and Im not comfortable with the way im sliding around the seat. IM used to my 750i hugging me to keep me from sliding around in the driver seat. Im 5'8 btw so Im not that small. Plus not having comfort access is annoying because I constantly have to put the Key to start it. In addition im used to the 750i gliding across highway bumps. the X5 on the other hand hops over bumps on the highway.

Is it me being being spoiled after driving a year in the 750i? or I need to get used to the X5 and forget about all the features my old 7 car had (half features in the car did not work properly, more like bragging rights cuz it there).

FYI the transmission is fixed. The shop installed a used transmission that cost me 5k.
10k is ALOT of money to roll over into a used car loan and my interest rate went down 3%. BUT again i am saving $60 total on this deal going into the x5.

Do NOT buy a car you do not like. no matter the discount. NEVER, ever, ever, EVER!!! roll ANY negative equity into ANYTHING. It's just a SUPER STUPID move. No matter the way you have "justified it in your mind"...saving $30/month is NOT saving $30/monht. It is DEFERRING your DEBT an extra YEAR (or more).

Transmission Question: If you had an extended warranty they will typically cover ALL drivetrain issues so why did they not cover the tranny service? Was it explicitly excluded? Lots of 7-series owners sem to think they are covered for tranny issues after they have dropped some $3K or $4K into a policy.

On a positive note... The Acura TL is an EXCELLENT car for 99% of the people and it has a LOT of features. I sold my '04TL w/56K miles when I bought my CPO'd '06 750Li. I make well over twice what you do but (so far) have never paid more than $43K for ANY car new or used. I'd recommend that you sell your 7-series "outright" rather than any type of trade so that you can get as much out of it as possible (and reduce your debt). If you are considering Acura's, acuraZine is an excellent website resource as good as (or better) than even bimmerfest.

Hate to say it but with a 56k income, even an Acura Tl is too much, you should be looking at a Mazda CX-5 for an SUV or a Ford Focus, nothing to be ashamed about , it is what it is, better than being broke, you are one major repair on the 7 from financial disaster, what if the valve seals go which I heard is common ( another 5k repair ) I would dump the seven for a car that I could afford to maintain. Just my opinion.

Originally Posted by ductman

Hate to say it but with a 56k income, even an Acura Tl is too much, you should be looking at a Mazda CX-5 for an SUV or a Ford Focus, nothing to be ashamed about , it is what it is, better than being broke, you are one major repair on the 7 from financial disaster, what if the valve seals go which I heard is common ( another 5k repair ) I would dump the seven for a car that I could afford to maintain. Just my opinion.

Seals are NOT $5K but are as much as 50% of that @ $2,500. What makes you think a $56K income can't support a TL? I know they have probably went up in value but they are still likely around $36K. With a decent $6K down payment, a $30K loan at today's super low interest rates is around $500/month for 5 years. Not really a big deal for someone with over $50K/year income, right? Now, if he doesn't have that downpayment and is (in fact) already in debt then I wouldn't even recommend ANY new car. Rather, he may want to consider a used car & again, a TL is a good choice. My '04 TL had nearly EVERY feature the 7-series does (voice NAVI, Bluetooth, heated seats, etc) & I sold it 3 years ago with arou 50K on the odo for $14K so I suspect he could likely find one used these days with 80K on it for $10K. it's a honda so that engine will go to 200K before he would need to bother with any issues on it (unlike these 7-series).

Originally Posted by ndabunka

Seals are NOT $5K but are as much as 50% of that @ $2,500. What makes you think a $56K income can't support a TL? I know they have probably went up in value but they are still likely around $36K. With a decent $6K down payment, a $30K loan at today's super low interest rates is around $500/month for 5 years. Not really a big deal for someone with over $50K/year income, right? Now, if he doesn't have that downpayment and is (in fact) already in debt then I wouldn't even recommend ANY new car. Rather, he may want to consider a used car & again, a TL is a good choice. My '04 TL had nearly EVERY feature the 7-series does (voice NAVI, Bluetooth, heated seats, etc) & I sold it 3 years ago with arou 50K on the odo for $14K so I suspect he could likely find one used these days with 80K on it for $10K. it's a honda so that engine will go to 200K before he would need to bother with any issues on it (unlike these 7-series).

Yes , a 56k income can support the above loan but without knowing the OP's other
debt, it may not be within budget, Also it appears the OP does not have 6k for a down payment so a much less expensive vehicle would be more realistic. Nothing worse than being " car poor " or " house poor "

Great New I did returned the X5! I did trade the 750i for a 2012 Acura TL with the technology package @ 0 miles. I leased it and my payments went down TREMENDOUS!! Im really happy because it has features i can enjoy.

As far as the warranty goes the 750i I had was purchased AS IS NO WARRANTY (thinking there was nothing wrong with the car because it was previously owned as a lease). MY MISTAKE!! I did purchase a warranty thru an outside company. In order for the Warranty to start I had to drive the either 1k miles or wait 30 days which ever one comes first. SO with my bad luck the transmission on the 750i went out 7 DAYS after purchasing it. At that point IT REALLY SUCKED because the dealer said it was purchased AS IS! So I had to get a loan to pay for my transmission with the help of the dealer ONLY paying 500 dollars -_-
Overall Im glad that Im out of the 750i cuz of all the issues. I at least tried to stay with BMW but Im just not an SUV person. In addition I just dont understand why BMW lied to me saying couldn't lease a car to me. Acura leased a car for me without no problem and took away my neg equity after 3 years. My next car will be BMW 6 series with a Warranty!

My friend still got his 05 5 series and loving it.

Originally Posted by bmw479hp

Great New I did returned the X5! I did trade the 750i for a 2012 Acura TL with the technology package @ 0 miles. I leased it and my payments went down TREMENDOUS!! Im really happy because it has features i can enjoy.

As far as the warranty goes the 750i I had was purchased AS IS NO WARRANTY (thinking there was nothing wrong with the car because it was previously owned as a lease). MY MISTAKE!! I did purchase a warranty thru an outside company. In order for the Warranty to start I had to drive the either 1k miles or wait 30 days which ever one comes first. SO with my bad luck the transmission on the 750i went out 7 DAYS after purchasing it. At that point IT REALLY SUCKED because the dealer said it was purchased AS IS! So I had to get a loan to pay for my transmission with the help of the dealer ONLY paying 500 dollars -_-
Overall Im glad that Im out of the 750i cuz of all the issues. I at least tried to stay with BMW but Im just not an SUV person. In addition I just dont understand why BMW lied to me saying couldn't lease a car to me. Acura leased a car for me without no problem and took away my neg equity after 3 years. My next car will be BMW 6 series with a Warranty!

My friend still got his 05 5 series and loving it.

Well, this is a good reminder why newer $35k cars are no indicator of ones financial health. Dumb financing is apparently alive and well.

Originally Posted by bmw479hp

Great New I did returned the X5! I did trade the 750i for a 2012 Acura TL with the technology package @ 0 miles. I leased it and my payments went down TREMENDOUS!! Im really happy because it has features i can enjoy.

As far as the warranty goes the 750i I had was purchased AS IS NO WARRANTY (thinking there was nothing wrong with the car because it was previously owned as a lease). MY MISTAKE!! I did purchase a warranty thru an outside company. In order for the Warranty to start I had to drive the either 1k miles or wait 30 days which ever one comes first. SO with my bad luck the transmission on the 750i went out 7 DAYS after purchasing it. At that point IT REALLY SUCKED because the dealer said it was purchased AS IS! So I had to get a loan to pay for my transmission with the help of the dealer ONLY paying 500 dollars -_-
Overall Im glad that Im out of the 750i cuz of all the issues. I at least tried to stay with BMW but Im just not an SUV person. In addition I just dont understand why BMW lied to me saying couldn't lease a car to me. Acura leased a car for me without no problem and took away my neg equity after 3 years. My next car will be BMW 6 series with a Warranty!

My friend still got his 05 5 series and loving it.

Congrats on "escaping" to a reliable alternative. However, seeing your past history and your desire to own a 6 series next, I feel as though you have not yet learned your lesson on this one. BMW was probably wise in refusing your re-fi request. It looks like the Acura dealer was a bit more willing to 'take a flyer" on you. Good for you but realize that leases have SUBSTANTIAL penalties if you exceed the mileage allowances. About the ONLY way to "get around" those issues at the end of the lease is for you to BUY OUT the lease at the end. So, if you gain a bit of understanding over the next 3 years, you will probably plan to buy the Acura and stay in it until you pay it off some 4 or 5 years later.

Having owned a TL since new for 6 years (4 year loan), I can testify that you will probably like it better than you are thinking you would right now. It has a FAR SUPERIOR Navigation interface as well as voice command and bluetooth. It also large enough you could actually carrier 4 full sized adults and/or children in baby seats so they are pretty versital. You will also be surprised to realize that your TL will probably be as quick (if not quicker) than your buddies 5-series that you (apparently) look up to. Put your pride in your pocket and quit trying to impress others. Grow up!