I've finally decided to stop being a pussy and get a V8.
The 550i is basically the only one I've seen within my budget that is sporty and modern enough. I've seen a few between 5K and 10K, the most expensive one being a mint manual one.
What can go wrong with this car? Why is it that a Corolla from the same year can be more expensive? What WILL go wrong?
Should I just stick with a jap econobox?
Also, these prices are in CAD, not usd.
Would I kill myself in this car? I love speed but the most powerful car I've owned had 150hp which is very controllable.
get a e39 540i, much nicer bit smaller and less tech problems
Dude there’s a reason the 550i is so cheap, it’s unreliable as fuck. The head gasket is just waiting to leak. If you want a reliable e60 go for the 525/528/530.
It seems like you’re dead set on a V8 though but I disagree with the guy saying get the e39 540i, those develop a lot of problems too with high mileage.
If you really want the e60 550i then spring for a lower mileage one, drive it for a couple years and sell it before it gets fucked.
2005 sti
This. E39 and e38 had the most reliable V8s.
Newer ones are terrible
Timing chain guides should be replaced after 150k+ miles, other than that, those engines basically run forever with proper maintenance (E39 and E38 V8s)
I think, though, that the early V8 E38s, with the 4.0 instead of the 4.8, don't have the chain guide issues
Just buy a V8 Challenger, mustang, or camaro. BMW V8s post-2000 are really unreliable
Import a 535d or a 530d if you go for the manual, BMW is all about diesels unless you get the M one.
>535d 275hp
>540i 302hp
The diesel has loads of torque, gets nice MPG and its way more reliable than the petrol.
With just a remap the 535d goes well over 300hp easily, i know a guy who's running a modified E61 535d, if i remember correctly it's sitting around 440hp / 900nm, it's got over 430.000kms on it and still running strong
Yeah the 535d has great potential, getting to that back cylinder is a real bitch though. Also the petrol inline 6’s sound much better and petrol costs less in the US than diesel, not sure if it’s the same up north though.
I agree the petrol cars always sound better, i'm in Iceland though, diesel is slightly cheaper than gasoline here, and they of course have a much better fuel economy.
But it's also important to remember the torque difference, a remapped 535d with over 300hp will have much much more torque than any petrol E60, the stock 535d has more torque than a 550i, and more torque than the M5, and after a remap that rises quite a bit
with just a custom remap of my 2.0 4cyl, i can get an extra 120nm of torque, for a 3L twin turbo 6cyl, you get much much more from just a remap
This is true because bmw squeezes as much power as they can from the NA engines but all of the turbo engines are tuned quite conservatively (presumably for longevity and fuel efficiency).
This is why you can just alter some timing in the ecu and make much, much more power. Basically you can trade some mpg and longevity for less or almost no turbo lag and much more torque.
Not surprised that the 535d puts out such tremendous torque, diesels have always much greater torque than petrol engines. The only thing that prevents diesels from making huge power is their inability to rev high.
While that may be true, almost all diesel engines always have a tremendous potential for power, for instance a 5.9 cummins diesel RAM that was in my family, was if i remember correctly somewhere around 320hp / 650nm stock, and with just a banks power chip it went to 500hp / 1300nm
but BMW really knows how to make a diesel engine, with a custom remap and DPF delete on my 320d i can get it up to a reliable 250hp / 500nm, more torque than an M3
>for instance a 5.9 cummins diesel RAM that was in my family, was if i remember correctly somewhere around 320hp / 650nm stock, and with just a banks power chip it went to 500hp / 1300nm
Damn you could pull a house with that torque. The cummins is definitely the best diesel engines to come out of the US
>BMW really knows how to make a diesel engine, with a custom remap and DPF delete on my 320d i can get it up to a reliable 250hp / 500nm, more torque than an M3
That’s inline 6 power out of a little diesel engine and double the torque, pretty good results. I’ve heard the exhaust can get very nasty after the dpf delete though, might be a no go for people who drive in traffic.
why not an E class?
sure its not as sporty and the SBC can fail but otherwise the chassis is reliable so is the engine and trans
If you have a few grand saved up for repairs it would be a fine car. Buy the cleanest example you can find. Any money you save from not buying a mint one will be spent in the future. You want maintenance records and to make sure it's not burning oil.
Yeah, after a dpf delete and a remap it will spew a bit of black smoke on full throttle, but luckily in iceland there's no regulations for emissions on diesels, that RAM for instance had a 5" straight pipe all the way and passed inspection just fine
Not him but I personally prefer BMW designs over MB. MB designs seem quite dated, even when they were new, while BMW seems ever so fresh.
I've owned a w211 and a e60 (both equally powerful diesels) and e60 is the better car
Those ones cost a lot more
Good for you bro!
There will be a million people telling you the engine sucks, but fuck em.
Just buy it and enjoy feeling like a fucking boss
If it was any good it cost at least 10k just like the first gen cts-v.
OP here.
I went to see one in person today. Holy fuck it sounds godly. The car has 180k km but it's already on its second engine-transmission which is worrying.
The owner is some sketchy eastern-european mechanic. The fact that a mechanic is trying to get rid of it is also worrying.
Red flags everywhere but it's hard to say no to a luxury german V8 cruiser selling for 5k.
It’s not hard to say no because that car is going to cost you much more in the long run. Trust me man, I could easily sell my 530i and buy a 550i with lower miles but I will not because it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Spring for a more expensive low mileage one or don’t bother. It seems amazing on paper and all that but remember “if it seems to good to be true...”
Nice Reddit spacing, Redditor.
What's the difference between the 550i and the 545i?
550i is has a 550 cubic inch V8 and the 545i has a 545 cubic inch V8
Wrong and wrong
550i has a 4.8 liter V8, 545i has a 4.4 liter V8
Lol
Is the 4.4 liter more reliable ?
Slightly yeah since it’s lower compression, they’re both prone to having head gasket issues though. If you find one low mileage and well taken care of you could probably daily it for a few years before it starts developing problems.
What is "low mileage" for one of these?
No man, especially not in a E60 sedan with the rough edges all sanded off, it is tame. I went from 148 hp to 300 hp to 500 hp then 600 hp in the span of seven years. No issues, you get used to it, perhaps you get used to it a little too easily.
Might I suggest our lord and savior the 5.0 AJ V8 Gen3? They are dead reliable outside 2 things:
Plastic coolant crossover tube: Easy to replace with the metal one from the Supercharged.
Water Pumps: Old design was prone to early failure, but the aftermarket and later models (2011+) didn't have the issue.
Which cars did you have?
Pretty sure they aren't as cheap as an E60 and maintenance is probably even more expensive than a BMW
I know this feel. Started with I think 98 Hp, after 10 years Daily 540 hp, sunday drive 610 hp on occasion, fill the bottle on drag nights. You do get used to it.
Maintenene is about on par with the BMWs. Most expensive items ive had to do is tires. The rest is general maintenance. Mercon SP for trans fluid, Mobil 1 or Castrol for oil. Working on it isn't too bad, though there is much more room on N/A v8s over the S/C. Engines and trans are now to be reliable and most common faults are also well documented and easy fixes. Just make sure if you look for one to avoid 2009 model year due to issues first year and you can get one in the 10k range.
Like 60-70k
>buying an old jaguar
Ishygddt
>2010+
>Old
What year is it?
Get an E39 you retard, E60 a shit.
There's a reason. Those cars are cheap because they're ridiculously expensive to maintain.
Damn it looks really dated. I was talking mainly about the 90’s-2006 ones, although I’m still skeptical about their current reliability.
Also someone looking to get an E60 550i. Do they feel fast?
Faster than 95% of cars on the road probably. But it's still a massive car.
Fuck yeah.
I love Austrian cars!
Nah the interior is quite nice and pictures don't really translate well on the car. Again, outside a few well documented common issues, these are quite stout reliability wise.
Cat piss additive and a dpf are not fun though