negative review: 2006 530?

"Kent" wrote

AFAIK, the main issues are: 1) some (many?) people don't like the active steering, 2) many people don't like the iDrive.

I'm not aware of issues particular to the wagon.

FloydR

Any MANY people think the car is just plain ugly.

R / John

I did read an article that the current model 5 and 7 series are some of the most unreliable cars on the road. About 15 cars made the list in all including all Jaguars, most Mercedes, Porsche Cayenne.

All this electronical crap take time to debug.

And even main dealers have trouble doing that. Once these things get on in years you'll need a damn good independant. But at lest things like the wiring diagrams are now out on DVD.

I think consumer reports labeled the 530 as a best buy a year or so ago. The 7 series does have problems in quality. I had someone at the dealership tell me they once had the door handle just plain fall off a car in the showroom and nobody was near it.

Both 5 and 7 are crap.

here's is the complete list of cars in the unreliable junk pile. Not opinion, just facts.

Bottom line, if you buy a 5 or 7, be prepared to spend some quality time at the dealership.

Redline thinks every BMW is crap.

I don't know why is watches this forum and annoys everyone with his ramblings.

yeah, I am pretty lame in that I think if you pay 60-80k for a 5-7 series, you would expect the car not to be on someones top 15 worst cars list.

I do love BMWs, always have, but over the past 10 years the 5 and 7 series have lost their way in terms of quality. The only reason why I think they sell so many 5/7 series is because they are leasable cars. By that I mean the typical 5 or 7 series buyer does not know a lot about BMW's or Mercedes for that matter. They are just buying the label for a 2-3 year lease and if things break they really don't care so much becuase they are just renting.

The 3 series tends to be financed more because of a lower price point and of course BMW sells a lot more so the bugs are worked out quicker.

I apologize for sounding so negative, but the initial poster was looking for objective answers. So I did not want to paint a rosey picture when they are not rosey at the moment. I had a brand new E39 (1998 540i) and I will never forget my first service call at 2k miles. The interior door handle on the driver's door broke off. And then again every 10k miles. Dealer said the 7 series exterior doors handles had the same problem. Of course the car had other issues. But geeze, and damn door handle.

WTF? I could not help but notice, that both the Porsche and the VW got caveats like the Cayenne "is still luxurious and incredibly powerful" and the Toureg "is a beautiful, luxurious SUV that is a pleasure to drive". Bribery?

and the Toureg has had more problems and recalls than any in it's class.

Thanks to all for the replies. I'm a pregeezer, from the days when we all looked to BMW and the Mercedes as a way to escape what Detroit was imposing. Thanks again, Kent