[jrosevear]

This is my first post; forgive me if it's not appropriate for this forum.

By way of introduction, I'm a personal finance writer by trade. When it comes to cars, I tell my readers to "buy good cars slightly used, maintain them carefully, and drive 'em until the wheels fall off".

Though I have owned various "toy" sports cars off and on over the years, when it comes to daily drivers, I follow my own advice. I've had my '95 E36 325is since 1998 (BMW certified used), and it has been a joy to own. But it now has 160k miles, and it's tired and worn. Time for a "new" car.

I want to replace it with another BMW, and on paper the best choice is an '04-'05 530i with manual trans and the sport package.

But. I look at how these cars evolved from the E39, and I look at what has failed over the years on my E36 (and on what I know of failures on older BMWs like E38s), and I'm a little concerned about how these electronics-heavy cars will hold up over the long term.

What do you owners think? If I buy, say, an '05 530i with 35k miles on it, and drive it hard but maintain it well -- garaged, scheduled services done on time, regular detailing, etc. -- will I get 10 years and 120k more miles worth of mostly-reliable service out of it, as I have with my E36? Or will it start melting at some point before that? Is there anything in particular I should look out for when shopping, or any particular options to avoid in the interest of longevity?

Thanks very much, and again I apologize if this post isn't in the right place.

[GT Premi]

Were it not for excessive electronics, any car maintained as you propose could theoretically last for decades. But since there is no real maintenance schedule for electronics, failure is practically garanteed at some point. You'll notice the only piece of electronic equipment on cars that has any sort of maintenance schedule is the airbag system.

[Ceenit]

Mechanical, suspension, and base electronics will easily go 120k (or 200k) with normal maintenance. The only piece that remains questionable to me is the iDrive system which is tied in throughout the car.

I am at 60k and have had absolutely no problems. But I tend to read a lot of posts where owners have had software upgrades to the iDrive that were buggy and had to be redone a few times. And then there are other posts where there are some intial bugs on new cars. Overall, my advice on iDrive is 'if it's working, don't mess with upgrades'

The coolness of iDrive is worth the risk for me. But where you can easily see an E36 going 150k plus withough major computer gremlins, I'll be surprised if the E60 can go that far without at least a few iDrive gremlins.

[jrosevear]

GT Premi, on Jun 17 2008, 07:49 AM, said:

Were it not for excessive electronics, any car maintained as you propose could theoretically last for decades.

Sure, but at some point the maintenance costs start to overwhelm the remaining value in the car even if it is properly maintained, and it's not worth spending more money on it. (If the car is in the Snow Belt, this is often the point at which the rust starts.) The car's "upper-middle-class life", as my wife calls it, comes to an end, and it gets passed to a young person or a DIY enthusiast or parted out or whatever.

On mainstream Japanese cars, for instance, that point often hits around 130k miles. On E36s and E39s that point is more like 150k - 200k, sometimes higher, occasionally much higher.

On older V12 7ers, on the other hand, that point is... often a lot sooner.

I'm trying to get a sense for what to expect from an E60.

Thanks.

[lawguy]

I think its hard to really know for sure, since there is variability in any car model. I'm only at 20k flawless miles myself, but so far, so good.

I do have a sense that BMW really got it right with this car - i know the 2004 models had some bugs, but overall, I am excstatic with the car and the way it seems to be aging.

I suppose you just have to look at the manufacturer and make your best assumption. My last BMW - an '01 740iL, started to struggle with electrical issues at 75k miles, but was otherwise flawless. I think this car will easily pass 100k and 150k miles if well maintained.

And like the poster above mentioned, i think i-drive is pretty darn cool too.

[boltoa]

Mine went over 130000miles this week. I bought it with 111000 1 year ago. Nothing's gone wrong on it in that time, and it doesn't particularly feel like it will, to be honest. Still feels pretty tight. Doubt I'll be selling it any time soon, so we'll see what I can get it up to. 1800 mile trip through various bit of Europe in August. Including the Autobahns .

[EBMCS03]

Once you find a good softwre version that works keep it! and park the car indoors as much as you can away from exteme temps and the electronics should last a few years longer right?