Thinking of buying 2005 4.8is, any thoughts?

[srg.one3]

Appreciate the continued feedback.

I saw the car today and was a bit disappointed. Interior was rough, though the car rode very nice. The current owner has only had it for a year and I think the maintenance may be the reason why they are moving it.

Next step is for a dealer inspection and guess I will go from there.

[rogerkiu]

5K-6K USD per year for maintenance? That's abit exaggerated, I think. I think maybe average 1K-2k per year is reasonable if you keep your car in a good manner. Just don't do anything that is not recommended by the factory, like changing transmission oil/differential oil unnecessarily, which leads to transmission failure most of time. Keep doing maintenance following the indicator, and keep your eyes on the vehicle all the time, have your x checked when you feel something wrong and have it fixed as soon as possible. Then you should be fine. Facelifted E53 is much more reliable than pre-facelifted E53, don't worry too much. Remember, if you treat your car well, your car treats you well as well.

[julezw]

Originally Posted by rogerkiu

5K-6K USD per year for maintenance? That's abit exaggerated, I think. I think maybe average 1K-2k per year is reasonable if you keep your car in a good manner. Just don't do anything that is not recommended by the factory, like changing transmission oil/differential oil unnecessarily, which leads to transmission failure most of time. Keep doing maintenance following the indicator, and keep your eyes on the vehicle all the time, have your x checked when you feel something wrong and have it fixed as soon as possible. Then you should be fine. Facelifted E53 is much more reliable than pre-facelifted E53, don't worry too much. Remember, if you treat your car well, your car treats you well as well.

I have to open a can of worms here. Through my experience and research I have to respectfully disagree with you on following strictly factory maintenance or 'non-maintenance' and that face lifted e53s or more reliable? Factory maintenance says don't maintain anything until it breaks and push oil changes to the limits. Sure the tranny fluid change is iffy but diffs really? And how are sunroofs, air suspension etc and the N62 and ZF 6 speed more reliable than pre face lift trannies and engines?? Please elaborate cause I am dumb founded at some of these statements.

[rogerkiu]

Originally Posted by julezw

I have to open a can of worms here. Through my experience and research I have to respectfully disagree with you on following strictly factory maintenance or 'non-maintenance' and that face lifted e53s or more reliable? Factory maintenance says don't maintain anything until it breaks and push oil changes to the limits. Sure the tranny fluid change is iffy but diffs really? And how are sunroofs, air suspension etc and the N62 and ZF 6 speed more reliable than pre face lift trannies and engines?? Please elaborate cause I am dumb founded at some of these statements.

Ha ha... take it easy. I think everyone has his own experience. At least, to my experience, my 2004 4.8is has not brought me too many trouble up to now. Battery is still the original one and is still green eye up to now. Alternator was replaced when 30K Kms (this is a bit early???!!!). Both front CV boots were renewed recently. Other than these, nothing significant else. It has run 58K Kms. However, my previous 2001 4.4i really brought me much trouble. Almost replaced everything (of course engine and transmission were not included). I bought it when it had around 70K Kms and sold it at around 115K Kms. I had owned it for 5 years and it costed me around 5K USD per year.

Talking about air suspension of 4.8is, you must replace the leaking one or two as soon as you find it leaking, then you can save th air pump and other related things. Most of cases are that lot of people out there do not notice it and when they find leaking, actually it has been leaking for long time and it results in dead air pump and other thing, then they have to replace the whole system.

N62 engine is more reliable than M62 engine, I think this is no doubt. Frequetnly change engine oil (not follow the indicator) is just wasting your money, however nothing bad to the engine.

Transmission, lot of people here talking about renewing the fluid as precaution and differential as well. My friend who is workng in BMW Hong Kong told me that this is the last thing you should do it. The fluid is designed for at least 10 years or 200K Kms (which ever comes earlier). If you find something wrong with the transmission or differential, usually it is not the fluid, it because the life span of the transmission or differenctial has reached, changing fluid does not geting anything better. So my friend warned me not to change the fluid unnecessarily, unless you overhaul the transmission or the differential. Otherwise, serious problem will come after you change the fluid.

[LeMansX5]

Originally Posted by rogerkiu

5K-6K USD per year for maintenance? That's abit exaggerated, I think. I think maybe average 1K-2k per year is reasonable if you keep your car in a good manner.

At 5k-6k per year, it will be cheaper to have extended warranty and maintenance.

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

At 5k-6k per year, it will be cheaper to have extended warranty and maintenance.

I agree, or a new lease car every 3, or a new car every 4-5 years.
If my '01, or any of my cars cost me $5-6Gs a year in 'maintenance', I would send them packing.

[SlickGT1]

I don't think this is the thread to discuss fluid life and all. But I will tell you something my very, very trusted indy tells me. They have no investment in BMW and do not work for them.

They tell me that all the maintenance designed for the BMW is to make the car last 100k miles. That is it. After that, they don't give a shit about your happiness, and will be more than glad to rape you in all the parts that you need to buy.

How the hell is all this oil supposed to last that long in a performance machine? Especially when BMW suggests you drive it as soon as you start it, and don't warm it up? When I go to the track, I change all my fluids right after. E30 but still. All the BMW enthusiast I know, say that the oil life meters are bullshit so save dealer costs. Oil life meter is solely bases of gallons of fuel burned.

If you want your car to last, stop paying attention to what BMW says the service interval is. If you want to "not waste money or oil", do what BMW says, and enjoy the money pit when the engine starts falling apart. I cannot see oil lasting in any engine, in every environment for 16k miles. That is just nuts.

Life time trans oil, how dumb is that. BMW definition of LifeTime is 100k miles. And those that work at BMW, rarely see a car over 100k miles. You know why? Because when you buy a car for 1/4th what it initially cost, you are not going to go spend a 1/4 of its value to get raped by BMW.

Enough on that. This issue has been beaten to death and not worth the effort to discuss anymore.

As far as maintenance. Bringing my car up to my standards has cost me nearly $2k since I purchased it. Most of it due to needing new tires. My window regulator and motor replacement was free, but my trunk latch is $300, part alone. Engine mounts were probably my fault because how I drive, one mount was free, one cost me $80, and $140 to replace. If this random failing stuff continues, I can see it costing $500 a month to maintain, which comes out to $6k a year. I hope it does not continue as I really like the car, but it's cutting into my time, which I expect with every used car when I initially get it. I bring it up to my standard of quality. Every car I sold has been mint to the point the buyers question my sanity.

Also, my car just came off CPO when I got it, and the previous owner really had a lot fixed / replaced, according to inspection and BMW service records. My entire air suspension is about 5k miles old.

Most other fixes have been free, but time consuming. Tail Light re-solder, PDC re-solder, etc...

I also have a garage, and can leave my car in pieces for as long as I need. Can you do that? Is this going to be your only car? I also have a lot of great friends that work on BMW, and have given me free parts, from window motors, to engine mount, to door clips.

Face reality. If you are not used to BMWs and cannot wrench, this is going to be a shocker for you, and you should stay away from getting one. Going to a Indy for every issue is going to hurt. Going to the dealer is going to hurt a lot more. Wrenching on your own will at least save your wallet. Even if you have warranty it will still cost you time (warranty isn't free either). Everyone needs to understand this.

You also need to read between the lines. Everyone who tells you their cars have been maintenance free, you need to know that person, and know that car. Because my expectation of a perfectly running machine, is definitively not the same as the next guy.

I would not flame 4.8isMike right away. Even though others have countered his post, I can totally see that type of expense even though I have not experienced it. Especially if you need someone else to wrench on it for you.

This might sound like a rant, it's not, at least not at the car, only to those that always say that this car is all peaches and cream, and BMW service intervals are gods gift to automotive reliability. It is a hit or miss, and all subjective. Everyone has their opinion, you will just need to form your own. I have driven super reliable Lexus cars. Not one of them has a stupid oil life meter that has taken me over 8k miles, and all of them require to maintain fluids with regular intervals, even the trans fluid. They even have dipsticks for the trans, go figure, someone without a temp meter might want to check their oil level from the top of the car. Yea sure, BMW suggested fluid intervals make sense.

Personally, I cannot see another SUV (SAV in Bimmer terms, rolleyes) that I would rather drive. Nothing out there that satisfies me the same way. It is a great machine, I like it a lot. I don't mind the maintenance, so far. Would I do it again, yes. Does it still cost me less than paying over $k a month for something newer and similar, yes. It drives amazing when you really drive it. Really amazing. Sounds awesome, handles like a 3 series. Looks stunning. It has a lot of positives.

Just this Saturday I really abused the piss out of it. It was epic fun, especially since I got out of a ticket. I am actually considering taking it out on a track day just so see it really go. Manual mode all day, and burned an entire tank. That manual downshift with the rev-up, kaaaawrooom, from 3rd to second at 55ish mph will give you goose bumps, especially when you mash it to redline from there. No way will any other Uber reliable Japanese SUV give you this level of performance. I tried.

Pick you poison. Fun, or reliable.

[Icer006]

cliff notes please?

[SlickGT1]

lol that looks longer that I imagines.

cliff notes.

Everyone has an opinion. Don't listen to everyone and read between the lines.

BMW not very reliable but fun, looks good, drives great. If you can't wrench yourself, you will get wallet shock.

If you want reliable, go with Japanese and sacrifice the fun.

by the way Icer, how is that turbo, and how much did you pay. That is a serious ass hauler. I just drove one recently. Damn. Just damn.

[Icer006]

Let's just say I got a great deal on it, quite a bit below blue book, from an acquaintance's relative. Let's just say, I'll have to disagree with the "go Japanese" part in terms of reliability. The Turbo is fun, looks good, hauls ass. Either way, Japanese or Euro, if you can't wrench, the minor maintenance will add up senselessly, you're right...