Thinking of getting a BMW 5 Series

Basically, growing up, I really liked the look of the 5 series saloon, it was around 2003-2005 but it was the eyes, I just loved the look.

I've saved some money up now and whilst I'm not an overly big spender, they're going for around £4k with less than 90,000 miles.

Being a German car, I'd expect it to get over 150,000 miles at least and I'm not the biggest car user.

This is basically a thought in progress, I won't buy one tomorrow but would insurance be insane? I'm almost 22, got my licence and first car 8 months ago and would be thinking of getting it towards the end of this year.

I wouldn't want the most powerful model, it was just a dream of mine to own that particular model at some point. I'm not bothered about the latest 5 series or anything.

Is it worth it? And if such a car did fail, would the parts be worth something? Also, does anyone know how much the insurance might be?

Reply 1

NX172

Original post by accno1

Just go on autotrader, find something that might be of interest and bang in the registration plate and your details on an insurance website to get quote. Having a quick glance at the least powerful 5 series i.e, 520d, it's still insurance group 31. Which is going to be quite expensive for someone without even a year of no claims. You could consider getting something smaller, such as a 3 series, the 98-05 models goes as low as 316i which is insurance group 25. (still expensive) Honestly speaking, the cost of maintaining a high mileage car and paying the insurance each year won't be worth your while.

Reply 2

XMaramena

Not sure about the 5 series, but we had a 320d and it was horrible. Really stiff suspension, seats like a go kart, impossible to sit in the rear and not end up with a bad back by the end of the journey.

Now our C class is much comfier. But still not as comfy as a citroen C5!

Reply 3

accno1

Original post by NX172

Is 70,000 miles high?

Reply 4

martinnmartin

70k miles is low especially for a bmw

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Reply 5

shaymarriott

Original post by martinnmartin

70k miles is low especially for a bmw

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But always buy on condition over mileage... I'd rather a car with 120k motorway miles and a FSH than one with 70k or urban miles and a patchy service history....

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Reply 6

NX172

Exactly, the mileage itself doesn't really tell you the full picture. We've had a BMW 320d with over 150,000 mostly doing motorway mileage yet runs perfectly. Whereas a same year BMW 1 series I had bought second hand, had quite a few problems despite having only a 1/3 of the 320's mileage. One of the people interested in buying the car brought along his mechanic friend from the AA to have a quick look and he found multiple problems with it. At the end of the day, regardless of mileage, you need to take a test drive, listen for sounds, check the condition, etc.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 7

JC.

I've been looking at the E39 5 series myself lately.
From what I've read they seem to be a bit heavy on their suspension so think bushes and broken coil springs when you're looking.

They are big heavy cars so you need something with a big engine unless you don't mind sluggish performance. I would suggest a 528i is about the smallest engine you can get away with.
I had a 2.8 in a 7 series of the same era and that felt a bit sluggish behind an autobox. Cracking engine in a Z3, though!

There are nice cars out there, but at this age it's a patience thing. There seems to be a lot more choice if you want an auto saloon, but a manual estate seems to be a bit rare.