Reading Alanovic's Saab woes and the resulting discussion might make my ongoing older car experience interesting.
I've had my 525D 14mths now and it's just been for the second MOT in my hands so thought I'd update on what I've had to do over the year and a bit.
During initial 3mths after purchase...
Replaced alloys (with OE spec) as 3 were buckled, fitted 4 new tyres.
Major all filters service.
Repair high resistance joint on steering column airbag wiring.
Replaced one underbody fuel line which was weeping.
Removed all brake pads and rear handbrake shoes to clean, check & copaslip.
Replace a-roll bar droplinks front & rear.
Replace propshaft front joint and centre bearing, repack rear prop UJ.
Replaced missing exhaust support at rear of gearbox.
Changed gearbox and diff oils.
Replaced door mirror glass, cupholders and drivers door rubber.
At this point initial purchase cost and repairs had reached about a top private or average garage price... so for the post repairs condition a very good start point.
In the 10mths since then...
As I worked on the vehicle at different times removed every underbody shield and Waxoyled floorpan... no rust anywhere so far.
Replaced the drivers side wheelarch liner as it had caught on tyre in the past and cracked.
Fitted new front shock absorbers, top strut bearings, gaiters and bump stops.
Fitted front exhaust pipe (cat) flexy repair sections.
Fitted new rear subframe bushes.
While subframe was lowered to do above checked and Waxoyled rear brake pipes.
Reset airbag lamp after a heavy load in the front seat temp shorted out the passenger occupancy mat (I guess... fine since).
The MOT a couple of weeks ago was a pass with no advisories... very pleasing so I treated it to a new spare key from BMW as we'd managed with one so far.
This work over the last 10mths has cost about £500 inc the second MOT and extra key. Quite happy with that as it's probably mechanically as good as any E39 in the country. And most of that £500 work is on jobs that would only need doing once in the lifetime of the car so the figure can be spread over the remaining time we own it.
I have to admit as I drove it home 200mls 14mths ago I wondered a bit if I'd made a mistake. After my previous nimble Alfa it felt a bit lumbering and on rubbish tyres, with worn subframe bushes, slightly blowing exhaust flexys, 2 buckled wheels and a clacking prop joint it didn't feel up to the E39's reputation.
With all the above work done the car has been totally transformed into a super smooth cruiser which we value for its effortless load carrying ability.... only recently whooshing us back from Scotland with the family, dog and three packed inflatable boats plus engine and all our kit.... in supreme comfort.
It goes without saying it's given service that would be a credit to a brand new car with not a hint of unreliability.
Still doesn't handle like the old 156 though!
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I'm very pleased that you've had a good experience with your purchase. It's great that you have the skill, time and equipment to do the work on your vehicle, I do wonder how possible it is to have such a good and cost effective old car experience if you're not able to work on your own car...
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It isn't...
Years ago I serviced my own vehicles, but even with my 11yo BMW I get someone to do it for me. Fortunately I have a friend, an ex BMW 'technician' who does an exemplary job. Drop the car off at his home where he takes it to work, an independent, and I collect it a few days later.
Last summer I paid him £570 for a new set of discs, pads all round, plugs and all filters...oil, air, fuel, pollen. Maybe some other items as well... I thought it expensive at the time but trusted that I wasn't paying over the odds, and probably far cheaper than a main dealer or BMW indie.
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There is no doubt it's a game changer if you can diy all the labour. Otherwise jobs I can undertake in a somewhat pre-emptive or over the top way are prohibitive so the quality or completeness of maintenance suffers.
After all if you could easily afford top notch maintenance on a BMW you'd probably not be running a 13yr old one.
Anyway a similar cycle started again yesterday in that we bought my youngest daughter a 2002 Jazz for her first car... currently in our garage going through "the process".
In a strange way I enjoy it... if someone mentioned car OCD I'd not put much effort into denying it.
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Thumbs up. Wish I could do the same. I'm keen, but have just about zero DIY skills...
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Honda Jazz, sounds a good choice. I think I've said before that my daughters have a sort of 'low cost airline' attitude to cars - if it gets you where you want to go reasonably efficiently and cheaply, they are happy. Older daughter took over my Father's 2005 Jazz about 18 months ago when he gave up driving, ticked all the boxes for her - free car, no depreciation. Cheap to tax and insure, no repair bills yet, just an annual service and MOT. Seems to get close to 50 mpg. Shame they are not more popular with young drivers, like they are in other countries....
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BMW 5-Series E39 - BMW 525D E39 5-series Tourer - 14mth report - Paul Robinson
