e39 2002, should I keep it?

"Florida NRA SW" wrote

One more thing I forgot about CR & JDPower; because they don't differentiate between "bugs" and "features", they have lumped complaints about the usability of iDrive into "electrical" or other problems, which skews things considerably.

Yeah, it sucks, but it's not broken.

FloydR

Dave

The ones on my 730d SE (2007) are pretty good but the trick is to run the wipers first then switch to auto they will than adjust their speed accordingly with the amount of rain.

they work by diffusion similar to the way cameras auto focus. the daylight is diffused by the rain drops and the amount and quantity determines the frequency of the wipe from manic to .5Hz

Hugh

PS the auto dipping feature is dammed good too.............. Sir Hugh of Bognor

"Florida NRA SW" wrote

Oh, BTW, here are some *REAL* facts; the total cost of maintenance for our E34 '91 525i (recently retired after minor traffic accident :-( ): Date Mileage Problem Cost My labor

Sep-96 52,447 Brake Light Switch recall $ -

Sep-96 52,447 Airbag ring recall $ -

Oct-00 99,699 Radiator cap recall $ -

Oct-00 99,699 Blowing Fuse $ 100.15

Jan-92 1,200 1200 Mile service $ 37.92

May-92 18,000 Inspection I $ 285.81

Sep-92 22,800 Oil change $ 24.96

Sep-92 22,800 Minor warranty stuff $ -

Dec-92 24,717 Minor warranty stuff $ -

Nov-93 36,854 Inspection II $ 482.27

Nov-93 36,854 Fuel system recall $ -

Nov-93 36,854 Electrical/Ignition recall $ -

Apr-95 38,906 Engine miss/Check engine $ 134.71

Jul-95 42,112 DME Recall $ -

Jun-97 59,868 Inspection II $ 499.44

Jun-97 60,086 O2 Sensor, Coolant hoses $ 305.26

May-98 70,126 Cruise/throttle cable recall $ -

May-98 70,126 Oil change $ 62.93

May-98 70,666 Replace 2 coils $ 297.40

Jul-99 86,164 Replace 4 coils $ 489.94

Nov-99 91,032 Inspection II $ 631.90

Nov-99 91,032 Brake Flush, Belts, Muffler $ 895.78

Jun-00 96,452 CEL, O2 sensor $ 395.05

Aug-01 110,016 Inspection I, fuse, Fan clutch, Brake Flush $ 804.87

Sep-01 111,320 Thermostat $ 53.88

Dec-01 113,190 Heater core, center muffler $ 1,553.48

Feb-99 75,000 Coolant Level Sensor $ 37.03 Yes

Jun-02 119,638 Inspection II, brake flush, valve cover gasket $ 1,354.30

Mar-03 127,408 Water pump, thermostat, belts $ 765.22

Oct-03 134,497 Front shocks, ball joints (labor) $ 443.91

Oct-03 134,497 Front shocks, ball joints (parts) $ 500.00

Oct-03 134,497 Rear shocks, ball joints (parts) $ 250.00 Yes

Aug-04 140,904 Inspection I, Tests, speedo sensor, Fuel Sending Unit $ 598.29

Jun-05 147,693 CEL, O2 sensor $ 248.86

Dec-05 150,882 Radiator replacement $ 656.19

Apr-06 160,830 Inspection II $ 657.49

Aug-07 186,161 Inspection II $ 762.75

$ 13,329.79

(This doesn't include oil changes every 3-5K miles that I did myself.) As you can see, your conjecture based upon your "facts", that you will have to spend $5,000-$6,000 per year has no basis in real facts.

FloydR

Let's try that paste again

"Floyd Rogers" wrote

Date Mileage Problem Cost My labor Sep-96 52,447 Brake Light Switch recall $- Sep-96 52,447 Airbag ring recall $- Oct-00 99,699 Radiator cap recall $- Oct-00 99,699 Blowing Fuse $100.15 Jan-92 1,200 1200 Mile service $37.92 May-92 18,000 Inspection I $285.81 Sep-92 22,800 Oil change $24.96 Sep-92 22,800 Minor warranty stuff $- Dec-92 24,717 Minor warranty stuff $- Nov-93 36,854 Inspection II $482.27 Nov-93 36,854 Fuel system recall $- Nov-93 36,854 Electrical/Ignition recall $- Apr-95 38,906 Engine miss/Check engine $134.71 Jul-95 42,112 DME Recall $- Jun-97 59,868 Inspection II $499.44 Jun-97 60,086 O2 Sensor, Coolant hoses $305.26 May-98 70,126 Cruise/throttle cable recall $- May-98 70,126 Oil change $62.93 May-98 70,666 Replace 2 coils $297.40 Jul-99 86,164 Replace 4 coils $489.94 Nov-99 91,032 Inspection II $631.90 Nov-99 91,032 Brake Flush, Belts, Muffler $895.78 Jun-00 96,452 CEL, O2 sensor $395.05 Aug-01 110,016 Inspection I, fuse, Fan clutch, Brake Flush $804.87 Sep-01 111,320 Thermostat $53.88 Dec-01 113,190 Heater core, center muffler $1,553.48 Feb-99 75,000 Coolant Level Sensor $37.03 Yes Jun-02 119,638 Inspection II, brake flush, valve cover gasket $1,354.30 Mar-03 127,408 Water pump, thermostat, belts $765.22 Oct-03 134,497 Front shocks, ball joints (labor) $443.91 Oct-03 134,497 Front shocks, ball joints (parts) $500.00 Oct-03 134,497 Rear shocks, ball joints (parts) $250.00 Yes Aug-04 140,904 Inspection I, Tests, speedo sensor, Fuel Sending Unit $598.29 Jun-05 147,693 CEL, O2 sensor $248.86 Dec-05 150,882 Radiator replacement $656.19 Apr-06 160,830 Inspection II $657.49 Aug-07 186,161 Inspection II $762.75 $13,329.79

It will be after the owner runs the car into a tree while paging through menus trying to figure out how to change the volume on the radio....

--scott

Hi Floyd, I appreciate you posting this info. However it seems to show only parts costs and no labor costs. However your parts costs come to about the same cost per mile as my total cost. I see a patttern of about $1k per 10k miles. This cost is rather high. If you add your labor costs this makes your cost per mile even higher which only proves my point!

I posted an E39 2002 525i sport with about 65k miles. So far a bit less than $6k in parts AND labor. This happened in a time between 45k and 65k ($6k of repairs).

I've owned 2 hondas (accord and crv), a mazda rx7 and ford mustang. All of these had MUCH less repair/labor costs at 65k than the bmw. This is what is upsetting me!! I feel like I've been exposed to fraud. BMW, german engineering, etc, etc - the best in the world. Oh great !

Then you see the repair bills by 65k miles (which isn't that much) and the picture starts to come into focus. It's not a pretty site!! I have friends who are professionals (lawyers, doctors, small business owners) who also had bmw and mercedes autos and their experience was similar to mine - unexpectly high repair bills due to parts wearing out very soon - compared to other cars. Most will never buy a bmw or mercedes again. Some are die-hard fans and even though they realize the very high repair bills they stick with it. After a while it seems like it's more of a head trip (I drive a Mercedes!! or that's MY BMW!) JD Powers and Consumer reports only give support to our experiences.

You can also look here for more unbiased information/statistics. This place collects data from all autos sold in the USA. When the problems get bad enough, they are the ones who prompt the auto makers for recalls. A technical publication is one step before a recall. An auto with lots of technical pubs is usually a bad sign. This information is collected from dealers across the USA and from independant auto shops. Please verify what I'm saying by reading their website.

Oskar

Try reading again while brain is engaged.

Nice try, but most people don't fix their own cars! For proper cost analysis parts AND labor should be included, not just parts. So the 'I do my own labor' story is fine but the final cost is misleading - it includes no labor.

Oskar

Nice try, but most people don't fix their own cars! For proper cost analysis parts AND labor should be included, not just parts. So the 'I do my own labor' story is fine but the final cost is misleading - it includes no labor.

---------------------- He was attempting to point out to you that, except for a few cases where *my* labor was *specifically* called out (notice the "Yes" in the last column), the costs listed are for parts *and* labor.

FloydR

Nice try, but most people don't fix their own cars! For proper cost analysis parts AND labor should be included, not just parts. So the 'I do my own labor' story is fine but the final cost is misleading - it includes no labor.

Actually, a fair number of BMW owners do fix their own cars. I suspect several times more so than, say, Cadillac owners.

R / John

"John Carrier" wrote

You just wrote that radiator failure in 60-90k range is not uncommon on the V8. What I was trying to get across is that it is also not uncommon on the I6 as that radiator is plastic.

Cheers, Pete

Fair enough, but the I-6 evidently doesn't put as much stress on the cooling system. Failures (cracks in the upper neck on the drivers side typically) are much more common on the V-8's.

R / John

The rad isn't plastic - just some parts of it, like the header tank. And for some reason the ones on the six cylinder cars don't fail anything like as often. I'd guess the under bonnet heat is lower on average. Or perhaps the vibration where the hoses meet the rad is lower. Who knows.

Thanks Floyd for a great post,

I'm just about to buy a 2001 540 and was curious about some of the costs that d come up. I might keep records of work done rather than fuel used!

Col> Let's try that paste again

wrote

No problem! I would like to point out that, because the OP believed that brakes and tires are similar (to other cars), that I didn't include those costs. Tires generally lasted me 35-45K miles. I always did my own brake replacements; pads and rotors at around $100-$10 per corner plus around 1/2 hour of my labor per corner.

I could post my figures for my '01, they show similar numbers.

FloydR

ahahahahahahaha! Great imagery, that - and probably true ;-)

I'm just about to buy a 2001 540 and was curious about some of the costs that d come up. I might keep records of work done rather than fuel used!

Colin soon to loose my BMW cherry to e39 540 :-) Melbourne Aus.

Before you pop it, you might consider the 530i. Granted, it lacks the grunt of the V-8 (about 1 second slower to 60 and similarly 1 second slower through a quarter mile), but it's less expensive to maintain and feed. So, do you need the extra performance? While I looked long and hard at a 2003

540i Sport Pckg, I weighed the (only occasional) gain versus the (continuing) expense and came out on the side of the smaller engine.

The bonus is the lighter 530i has slightly better balance, crisper steering (rack versus recirc ball) and is as much fun (or more so) to drive than the

540i except when you have the opportunity to put the hammer down.

R / John