How many miles will a BMW 5 series 530D do?

[Ticktock]

FTFY.

The E class is actually the most reliable car in it's class.

Statistically BMW & Audi are pretty bad, although I suspect that to some extent this comes down to the models people buy and their sophistication. The high performance models are relatively popular and they are much more complex machines, so there is more to go wrong, and when it goes wrong it takes longer and costs more to fix.

I'd be interested to see numbers for the whole of europe where boggo 2.0L ones are more common.

Not forgetting the complete nobbers that used to drive BMWs before some then migrated to Audis, who rag them constantly, and put a lot of stress on the car and engine in general through hard driving. Mercs, especially E Class, don't seem to have been targetted by these types of people. I guess it's partly down to BMWs and Audis looking a little more aggressive in styling and so attracting this lot, whereas Merc E Classes tend to look a little more refined.

[sasguru]

You are debating what car it is wise to buy after doing that?

You are about to waste £5K and you're asking me that?

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

You are about to waste £5K and you're asking me that?

It might be a slight gamble but by no means is it a waste.....

[DimPrawn]

It might be a slight gamble but by no means is it a waste.....

Just buy the BMW. You tend to regret the things you didn't do, not the ones you did.

Sasguru is a boring old Guardian reading Islington Architect type. Toyota Avensis man in dull grey.

[doodab]

The question you need to ask is why is the car for sale?

In general these cars are on their second or subsequent owner, who picked it up planning to run it until something expensive goes wrong and it makes more sense to buy another one than fix it. So while you might pick up a fairly decent motor, the chances are you will need to sort something fairly expensive such as worn suspension, a gearbox or engine problem, brakes, clutch or a major service in the first 6 months. OTOH, once you sort the problems you have a good chance of ending up with a fairly reliable motor.

Other downsides are the inevitable wear and tear on the interior, lack of a modern stereo, sat nav etc, relatively bad fuel economy and generally higher running costs due to both cost of parts and shorter intervals compared to a more modern car.

[sasguru]

You tend to regret the things you didn't do, not the ones you did.

Do you really think you're qualified to give advice like this, sitting impoverished after your divorce in a crap tuliphole in Swindon?

On the other hand its only £5k.

You know what I'd do - I'd get an old Porsche Boxster for that money.

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/...rsche-Boxster/

[tranceporter]

Other downsides are the inevitable wear and tear on the interior, lack of a modern stereo, sat nav etc, relatively bad fuel economy and generally higher running costs due to both cost of parts and shorter intervals compared to a more modern car.

That's one of my major gripes. If it were easy to find an aftermarket fascia for the single din audio unit, then fine. However, most beemers etc have double din units with aircon controls integrated, which makes the audio upgrade a heavy expense. I hate it when they do that.

[gingerjedi]

If you had been driving Japanese perhaps you would never have had a problem - as I have never had.
Of course reliability is relative, and all cars are much better than in the 70s, but still no one would argue that every indicator shows Jap > German in reliability and German > Jap in performance

Oh I don't know, you can get a bonkers fast Jap car for half the price of a comparable German motor.

[original PM]

Jeez dunno about BMW's having high mileage but this thread has certianly had a lot of mileage thats for sure



if the OP wants to spend 5k on a 100k+ BMW then so be it - but keep us posted!

[sasguru]

if the OP wants to spend 5k on a 100k+ BMW then so be it - but keep us posted!

Nooooooo!. Buy a Porsche Boxter instead.