Well it is official, I listed the Audi to continue my search for my E53.

[TwinTurboGTR]

Nah I think you are in the right thread, lol. If you don't mind me asking. What year was your A4 and where did you sell it and did you sell it for a decent price. I.e craigslist, car gurus, audi forum or ebay?

[TwinTurboGTR]

Why does it seem like everyone around me is able to find a 4.6/4.8, but I just come across shill ads, unfaithful owners, or people just trying to steal my identity? I mean I'm using ebay, autotrader, cars, car gurus, etc... and I cant get the ones I am interested in to get back to me. People don't like me? lol

Well the search continues, congrats those those that have picked up their new E53's!

Oh and just puttin this out there, what the hell possesses people to low ball to the point that an owner gets upset? I swear, if I get one more $9K, $10K offer on my Audi, I'm gonna... the bastard!You want to move like $500, $1K, hell even $2K, ok, but when you ask to take off $10K $12K, yes, because I was born yesterday and I am looking to be bent over, just for your freakin pleasure!

Ok rant over. Looking at ebay and autotrader again. Pheww.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by TwinTurboGTR

Why does it seem like everyone around me is able to find a 4.6/4.8

Ok.. now.. granted. This process *did* take ab 6 or 7 years... but hey. It worked. Here's what I did:

First:
I had no budget. Ok, I did. I mean, I wasn't going to pay $40K for a 6 yr old car. But I had a range from my most incredible wet dream car price all the way to the one I would take.

Next:
I knew the mileage range I sought. I didn't want one with over 30K miles. I *might* take one with 40K, but it would be from a guy who used vaseline to clean the tail pipes. And made sweet sweet love to it from the day he took new car delivery in Spartanburg.

Finally:
I wanted a BMW dealer. Yep. Price uptick and all. The CPO ship had sailed, but I wanted someplace I could expect a reasonably good cooperation on the car's credence. I was looking for a car with maintenance history I could rely upon.

And so my experience:
Nearly every time let something slide- like the color or the dealer or the mileage- something would go wrong. I called a non BMW (Honda) dealer, the car was gone. I would invariably end up on a never ending SPAM email list. I called only about 6 dealers in the final 8 months. I was content with what I had. I had not convinced myself I *needed* what I really just always *wanted*. I did not allow myself to be pressured in my search. Not by *me* or by anyone else.

And then it happened:
I did the same silly search routine I had done for years past:
BMWUSA- X5, 2004-2006 4.8is. Sort by: Mileage.
Cars.com- Same
Autotrader.com- same

But wait- what's this odd thing at the top? 11,000 miles? 2004? 4.8is? That can't be. Ooohh look... a VIN! Google that muthah... Hrmmm... A dealer used car website had that VIN listed recently. Let's look at their site.. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. It's 2AM. I'll call tomorrow. Or, yeah. Like later today.

A familiar call ensued. "I'm calling about a car. Stock # xxxx. I want to confirm that you have it... that it's an E53.. and this typo.. that it has only 11,000 miles. (Shah. Right. And monkeys will fly out of my butt)

The rest is history. To keep it, I had to place a $500 deposit on it sight unseen. Within an hour I'd planned my flight, found a buddy who would go and look it over and *still* had zero expectations that it wasn't a flooded train wreck.

If from all of this you can take away some guidance.. I will suggest this:

Don't get in a hurry. The right one is out there. Don't look for a deal. Look for what you *want*. If you find what you *want* you'll find the deal. And finally, you don't NEED a car. You WANT a car. Shop as if you're buying the pair of tennis shoes that fit you best. If they don't fit, move on to the next pair. Nothing is better than getting just what you want.. when you know exactly what that is.

[SlickGT1]

Exactly. It takes a long time. It took me 6 months. Stick it out and dont rush.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by SlickGT1

Exactly. It takes a long time. It took me 6 months. Stick it out and dont rush.

Took me almost a year to find a clean 3.0 with sport, premium, and a manual transmission that was a 2003 or newer, under 75,000 miles, well maintained, and not silver, beige, green, or gray.

And also within 200 miles driving distance for me to pick it up.



Trust me it's worth the wait if you know what you want.

[TerminatorX5]

it took 1.5 years for 4.6... only couple weeks for 4.8 - but from last search i still have couple hundred VIN numbers that i crunched from the last produced unit backwards, looking for "my" combination of color and options, running good VINs through google, cars, carmax and others to see if they are/were up for sale... very tedious... lol...

[Naz24]

2006 BMW X5 4.8is, $23,890 - Cars.com


So this one looks too good to be true, Which i believe it is. I just checked the VIN on my Manheim app, mileage checks out, however, theres a title or problem reported, i cannot dig fully into it; however, it may be something as simple as a lien on it. I"m curious to find out.

[TwinTurboGTR]

UPDATE.

The AUDI is sold!!! Gentleman from Ma is coming to pick it up on Sunday. Ok so now one thing is off my plate, now on to finding the damn E53 of my dreams.

Search Continues.

Gotta love it!

[pnoyako85]

Yay!!!! I did see an e53 on rt 1 for sale.. Actually ita at HI-FI audio store in rt1. Probobly google them store... Ad ask for that e53. It is black with gunmetal 187's 20's... Hope this help,, if you want me to take pics i can...stopby tmrow. Just text me 732-421-6931 i dnt know if its 3.0... Or v8
Or you can tell us what your dream car is,. N help you find it

[TwinTurboGTR]

Yeah, if it is on your way, if you could take some pictures, that would be great. Hopefully it is a 4.6 or 4.8, tho I don't think either came with those wheel options.

Thank you for lookin out.