looking to buy a 2006 530xi with 56K on it - BMW experts please guide me

Hello folks - I am planning to step into the BMW world with a plan to buy a -

2006 BMW 5 Series 530xi Wagon AWD - clean title 2 owners, 56K Miles
+ Nav
+ Rear Parking Sensors,
+ PREMIUM PKG
+ROLLER SUNBLINDS FOR SIDE WINDOWS
+ HEATED Front Seats

Dealer is asking 22995

Wanted to know if this is a good price, and any significant issues that you all have experienced with this model that I need to be wary of?

Also will appreciate if you folks can point out any specific items I need to watch out for while checking the car out physically?

Finally what would be the cost I would incur if I were to buy a extended warranty - say bumper to bumper to cover the car?

Any good companies you all have used in the past to buy ext warr you can suggest?

Sincere appreciation in advance to all of you for any help.

About one year ago, I bought a 2006 530xi with 100k miles on it from Kuni BMW in Portland, OR. Similar packages, cold weather, etc. The sticker price was $23-24k if I recall correctly. I offered $18k, and I ended up paying $19,300. It was a single owner, and sedan, but otherwise very similar to yours. 12k miles later, I have had no serious problems with it. Not sure if I really needed the xDrive, but its nice peace of mind knowing I have it.

I credit a lot of this to the dealer I bought it from, because I do not know much at all about cars. I was very impressed by them. Now I have no idea if I actually got a "good" deal, but I am very happy with the purchase. This is also the first car I've ever bought.

On the contrary, a coworker bought a 2004 3-series from a random used car lot for $10k. It had less miles on it, and was a bit older and far less packages on it, but a few weeks later, he found out it had no spare tire in it!

Call a third-party mechanic and see if you can get it checked by them.

I am far from a "BMW expert" but I just throw these tidbits out there for price comparison and to share what I know...

Thanks Pfollmer....assuring to know your experience and thanks for such a prompt post...did you buy any extended warranty?

I am planning to buy it in the SF bay area in CA.

Would you mind sharing the dealer name ...i go upto portland a lot for work around the NE airport pkwy.

It always helps to know you can trust a dealer ...so if this one does not work I may look to see if your dealer has a similar car...not much of a deal to drive it down back from there worst case.

Thanks again

I wasn't eligable to buy the official BMW used car warrenty because my car had over 70k miles or something. Even if I was, I generally steer away from extended warrentys because if it was profitable for the consumer, they wouldn't offer them.

I got mine from Kuni BMW in Beaverton. http://www.kunibmw.com/ I was not planning to buy a car that day, and didn't think I could afford a BMW. Before I even drove it off the lot, I knew I'd get it, if I could afford it haha. Luckily I didnt get stuck with buyers remorse.

Kuni is a BMW "Center of Excellence" which means somthing amongst BMW dealers... not sure what though. But shoot, if you end up buying from there, drop my name. Maybe I'll get a little bonus too Peter Follmer

Originally Posted by pfollmer

But shoot, if you end up buying from there, drop my name. Maybe I'll get a little bonus too Peter Follmer

You bet I will....if it so ends up.

Seems a little high , you may be better off in a 535.

Originally Posted by Kushp14

Seems a little high , you may be better off in a 535.

+1000 Although, given the choice I'd rather have the 530 - it may not have the power, nor potential of the 535, but it does have far fewer issues. The biggest thing I am aware of that fails on the 2006-07 530 is the starter seems to fail around 80-90k miles, other than that I haven't heard of much.
The price does seem high, even with that mileage you should be paying under $20k. The reason you didn't qualify for a BMW extended warranty is not because of mileage (you only have 56k), it's because of age, they don't warranty anything past 6yrs/100k and since the one you'ree looking at is a 2006 it no longer qualifies for a BMW warranty.

I paid $17.5K for an 07 530xi with 65k miles, Nav, premium, cold weather and night vision from a private party.

They are very reliable. But there are a few things you should be aware of.

Look for water stains at tthe fabric by the top of the real pillars, behind the sunroof. The sunroof seal is guaranteed to leak. It did in my 06 530i, my wife's 07 530xi and my buddy's 06 530xi as well. Look for a cracked rear window seal as well.

Look for transmission leaks, the mechatronics seal is a popular leak.

The water pump was replaced in my wife's car at 70k miles.

Both mine and my wife's oil condition sensor had to be replaced as well. I would ask the dealer to have the sunroof seal and mechatronics seal taken care of as part of the deal.

All our issues were covered by our Route 66 exclusionary warranty. The warranty cost us $1895 for 5 years/100K miles and we got it along with the lowest possible loan rate ever at penFed.org. So far I have been very happy with the warranty and the credit union. There are ways to join penfed even if you are not affiliated with the Government. Search.

Check the battery date and insist to be replaced if older than 3 years old.

I'd highly recommend having an indy perform an all fluids change, including transmission, transfer case , front and rear differentials and reset all adaptations after that. The transfer case fluid change is hard to do on the xi as you have to remove the exhaust and the transfer case support brace to grt to the fill plug. We did this in my garage but it took us a whole day. Change the oil and change it again after 3K miles and every 7k miles afterwards. This should help clean up some components such as the vanos solenoids. Use Castrol 0w-30 European Car formula. These engines love that oil, trust me . If you do all that, you will have a car that performs as new and with some preventive maintenance it will last for a very long time. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions. I know these cars in and out.

Good luck!

I just pick up a 06 530xi with 60k for 15900$. Clean carfax 2 owners. Car has been with the same dealer since new. Second owner purchased it certified. Not crazy loaded but has premium sound cold package and Dakota leather. I believe it has the premium package. But no navi but super clean. Dealer is jmk fiat who's big brother dealer is jmk BMW in north jersey. Warranty I was offered was 4 grand

Originally Posted by Bigjule111

I just pick up a 06 530xi with 60k for 15900$. Clean carfax 2 owners. Car has been with the same dealer since new. Second owner purchased it certified. Not crazy loaded but has premium sound cold package and Dakota leather. I believe it has the premium package. But no navi but super clean. Dealer is jmk fiat who's big brother dealer is jmk BMW in north jersey. Warranty I was offered was 4 grand

I'd say that is good buy; may be you could've negotiated $1K lower. Nonetheless given that you have all the maintenance history; you will get many years out of that car.

That car has N52 engine. It's not a rocket; however, it's very reliable and very good on the gas mileage - you should get close to 30MPG on the highway.
Valve cover gasket tends to leak, oil filter housing gasket tends to leak, keep an eye for coolant leaks at coolant reservoir, radiator, lower hose. Electrical connector sleeve on the transmission tends to leak; keep an eye on it. If not already done so, move all the electronics items under the spare tire to either side of the trunk.

Thanks. I think I did ok. But originally I had it bad for the 545 model. I seen 3 of them. And all 3 had substantial leaks the one had every possible option. From smg , nav, sport package and heads up display. Had 80k, dealer wanted 14$. But walked away. Hope I don't regret it. I had no idea the 6 cylinder has leak issues too?

Originally Posted by pkmbmw

....... and any significant issues that you all have experienced with this model that I need to be wary of?

Also will appreciate if you folks can point out any specific items I need to watch out for while checking the car out physically?

Finally what would be the cost I would incur if I were to buy a extended warranty - say bumper to bumper to cover the car?

Any good companies you all have used in the past to buy ext warr you can suggest?

Sincere appreciation in advance to all of you for any help.

I have exactly a 06 530Xi wagon and really like it. That's a great low mileage find. Here's my experience that you should look for, they may be more E60 issues than wagon specific.

- valve cover gasket leak - have your mechanic check for this
- transmission pan gasket leak - have your mechanic check for this, not cheap to change. Have the tranny fluid changed!

I bought my after market from warranty direct (https://www.warrantydirect.com/) I don't know what they'll offer. I am off warranty now.

Good luck to you.

To all - cannot appreciate enough the value of all the information you folks have provided me with - thanks a lot for your time to chime in.

Originally Posted by Bigjule111

I just pick up a 06 530xi with 60k for 15900$. Clean carfax 2 owners. Car has been with the same dealer since new. Second owner purchased it certified. Not crazy loaded but has premium sound cold package and Dakota leather. I believe it has the premium package. But no navi but super clean. Dealer is jmk fiat who's big brother dealer is jmk BMW in north jersey. Warranty I was offered was 4 grand

Bigjule111 - that is an awesome price you got ........so if I put the one I am looking at next to yours then this is how it looks


Yours
06 530xi( 2 owners) + prem pkg +Prem sound + cold pkg +60K = 15900(dealer price)

Mine(hope it becomes mine)
06 530xi Wagon(2 owners - one of them was a fleet/lease)+ Nav+Pkng Snsr +Prem Pkg+Roller Blinds+htd frnt seats + 56K = 22995(dealer asking price)

So net difference is
Nav + Pkn Snsr + Roller Blinds +htd frnt seats + 4k lower mileage - prem snd - cold pkg


so assuming I use 15900 as the base price - experts please advice how much does this equate to based on the above difference + or - from 15900

BigJule111 - one thing you did not mention whether your's was an wagon or sedan and does the wagon command any price preminum by virtue of being an AWD vehicle or just being an wagon( more luggage space etc...)

As always my thanks in advance for any guidance.

Hello pkm. Nice breakdown. Lol. Mine is the sedan. I do believe there's a premium in price for the wagon. Also if mine came a lil more equipped I Woudnt had mine ponying up a lil more coin for it Thats y I kind of regretted not getting the 545. Was that it had every,and I mean every option BMW had available. But I think u getting a nice ride. The wagons are nice and also not very common! I say Good luck to both of us lol

FWIW - I think $23K is way too high for that Wagon.

It's a 7 year old car,
It's not fully optioned


It's probably worth $18K, 19K at most.


At $23K, your looking at 08 535xi wagons with 60-70K miles, moderately equipped for that. As a matter of fact, there is a 08 535xiT with 75K miles near me with Cold Weather Premium and Sport (no nav) for 19K from an Audi dealer. Another one near me is $22K with 68K miles with Preium/Cold weather, no nav or sport.

I am looking at an 07 530xi wagon this w/e. Fully loaded: nav, logic7 sound, premium, cold weather (no sport though), 6-cd changer, aux, satellite, Park Sensors, etc. 70K miles, $19K

Really don't bother getting the sports pkg on the wagons or Xi models in general, it is an appearance pkg only. You will get the sports seats and the shadowline trim, but nothing functional like the sports suspension, active steering, ARS, etc.

Originally Posted by pjinca

Really don't bother getting the sports pkg on the wagons or Xi models in general, it is an appearance pkg only. You will get the sports seats and the shadowline trim, but nothing functional like the sports suspension, active steering, ARS, etc.

But some folks really want the comfort seats that the sports package has. You can get them as a stand alone option, but that is more rare than the sports pkg. Comfort Access is a waste in my opinion. Had it on my 07 530xi sedan. Opening doors was not the issue, it was the one-touch handle locking that was problematic. Sometimes I couldn't do it no matter where I put my hand/thumb around the door handle.

Originally Posted by Pearson10M

But some folks really want the comfort seats that the sports package has. You can get them as a stand alone option, but that is more rare than the sports pkg. Comfort Access is a waste in my opinion. Had it on my 07 530xi sedan. Opening doors was not the issue, it was the one-touch handle locking that was problematic. Sometimes I couldn't do it no matter where I put my hand/thumb around the door handle.

The thing is the sports pkg seats have the thigh extensions, but they are NOT the multi-contour seats that are oh, so comfy, that is more common with comfort access, not part of the sport pkg.

Thanks for the advice ...not yet ....I found another one n Portland which is the same config but has 44K miles on it ...the dealer is asking 27K ...negotiating now .....but if that falls through i may go back to the 56K one.

I do agree 23K is too high ....I am going to start with 18K for the 56K one and 20K for the 44K one and see where it goes.....the 44k one is in Portland so I may have to pay taxes when I transfer to CA where I am .


Yeah ...I wish I could look at those you mentioned but I see you are in Boston....I will loose the negotiation in transport and transfer....

Originally Posted by Pearson10M

FWIW - I think $23K is way too high for that Wagon.

It's a 7 year old car,
It's not fully optioned


It's probably worth $18K, 19K at most.


At $23K, your looking at 08 535xi wagons with 60-70K miles, moderately equipped for that. As a matter of fact, there is a 08 535xiT with 75K miles near me with Cold Weather Premium and Sport (no nav) for 19K from an Audi dealer. Another one near me is $22K with 68K miles with Preium/Cold weather, no nav or sport.

I am looking at an 07 530xi wagon this w/e. Fully loaded: nav, logic7 sound, premium, cold weather (no sport though), 6-cd changer, aux, satellite, Park Sensors, etc. 70K miles, $19K