E39 540i 6 Speed

[Yuen 16]

Figured some of you might be interested:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...n-159384239.htm

[jjs 60]

Apart from the kms, its not a bad buy...

[kiwi535 538]

if it has been well serviced kilometre arent really a problem with the 5 series.I think the average 5 series lives a much more pampered life than a three....There is the cooling system which some say need to be renewed at 100 000 miles but aprt from tha everything else should be up to date.

[sp8s 1]

Apart from the kms, its not a bad buy...

I do note the speedo was replaced at 254020 with one that reads 162167

Done a lot more miles than advertised

Report here

http://www.carfax.co.nz/car/?plate=ajd666&search=Check

[Yuen 16]

Good info!

[nath 128]

Nice car, and kM's will be correct- 254 should read 154- must be a typo

[bmw.maniac 1]

Yes, I doubt anybody can travel 110,000 km in 6 months.

[jjs 60]

I do note the speedo was replaced at 254020 with one that reads 162167

Done a lot more miles than advertised

Report here

http://www.carfax.co.nz/car/?plate=ajd666&search=Check

No, the kms are correct as advertised.

Some muppet mechanic / WOF inspector must have typed 254,020 into the computer instead of 154,020.

[Yuen 16]

Anyone know if you can get it changed when the WOF guy enters the KMs wrongly? They seem to happen on a fairly regular basis - my current car has that problem as well.

[jjs 60]

Anyone know if you can get it changed when the WOF guy enters the KMs wrongly? They seem to happen on a fairly regular basis - my current car has that problem as well.

You can write in, with a mechanic making a declaration or the person who made the original cock up putting something in writing.

This happened on a BMW E46, the monkey WOF inspector entered in the "kms till next service", not the odometer reading. A letter I sent to LTNZ fixed this.

[Yuen 16]

Thanks for that Jeremy

[martyyn 2]

by the way, anyone interested, it looks to be the M62 4 litre not the updated 4.4 litre

its the 4.4. The m60 4.0 was long gone by 1998

[jjs 60]

its the 4.4. The m60 4.0 was long gone by 1998

Yes, I thought the 4.0 only featured in the E34 and E38, as the E39 was the car that debued the 4.4.

[PBOY23 0]

a nice set of wheels and a clear indicator kit would relly set it off id buy it they fact its a bmw v8 in a 6speed and if you did a few upgrades it would be a very very fun car to drive

[Foohey 0]

Anyone know if you can get it changed when the WOF guy enters the KMs wrongly? They seem to happen on a fairly regular basis - my current car has that problem as well.

got my WOF today,

when i got the car, it had done 75,500kms

when i got my last wof it had done 85000kms (but the knob mec typed it in the computer as 145,500kms.)

when i went today, it had done 87,500kms (had no licence and was off road for a while)

the mec asked me why the kms were so low etc, i still had the old WOF slip so he fixed it all up for me.

where can i check what they have on their records?

[jjs 60]

where can i check what they have on their records?

At Carfax

http://www.carfax.co.nz/car/?plate=s1kbmw

[elmarco 56]

Does look to be a nice car. And a 4 litre V8 with 6 speed manual is gonna be some fun any day of the week!

[martyyn 2]

Apart from the kms, its not a bad buy...

Can we stop being so hung up about kms ?

Not picking on you Jeremy youre just the latest one thats all. But a well looked after m62 will easily do twice this distance. Why do people wet themselves as soon as they see the magic 100000 ?

In NZ its the kms, in the UK its miles.

Personally I think this car will be one of two things.

If its all good and has been looked after then its an absolute bargain at that price. I helped my mate buy one a few years ago and I can tell you it goes like a cut cat.

If its not been looked after it will swallow 10k without even blinking. If the gearbox goes your looking at 6k plus easily. The dual mass flywheel in these is 2.5k alone. Add on the potential around the cooling system as Paul has already mentioned and there's another grand.

If anyone is serious about this car then I suggest you do your homework and get it properly checked out. If its all ok then its an awesome car to own.

[Yuen 16]

Since we're on the topic of KMs, what would you guys rather own - a car that's around the 100,000Km mark, or between 150,000 to 200,000?

The seemingly obvious answer would be 'the lower the better' but sometimes I wonder. A lot of items seem to need replacing between 100,000 to 150,000Km so something closer to 200,000Km would have had them done and might necessarily be worse... Thoughts?

[antony 0]

If they need replacing at 100,000kms, chances are they will need replaced at 200,000kms. Then you get cars that didn't get the work done at 100,000kms, or didn't need it, but will then need it at 150,000kms.

It's hard to generalise cars like that, you need to take each one on its individual merits.

[jjs 60]

Can we stop being so hung up about kms ?

Not picking on you Jeremy youre just the latest one thats all. But a well looked after m62 will easily do twice this distance. Why do people wet themselves as soon as they see the magic 100000 ?

In NZ its the kms, in the UK its miles.

I agree with you.

But, the problem is the general consensus the public has.

I have owned several cars with odometers readings north of 200,000km. They were well maintained cars with good history and were no less reliable than vehicles I have owned with "low kms". The biggest issue came when it was time to sell them. I had a mint E36 325i (ex SA), which had travelled 196kms, but with full BMW dealer service history from new. Everyone that came close to the car was put off by the kms. It was priced very well, but regardless people were scared by the high mileage. I ended up selling it to a chick who looked passed the kms because it was the exact car in the exact colour she wanted...

NZers have a problem with high km cars, as their perception of what is an average distance travelled is warped by the crap that gets imported from Japan. I still cannot beleive the stuff that comes through nowadays with mileage that cannot be reconciled with the overall condition. A mate of mine recently bought a 1994 320i with 65,000kms on it... Yeah right! It was hard to believe that 3,600kms a year would result in the leather getting worn off the steering wheel and gear selector...

So, I guess if you intend to own a car long term, kms won't be an issue. But personally I now tread carefully when buying something which has done over 150kms as it can be very difficult to off load it.

[jjs 60]

Since we're on the topic of KMs, what would you guys rather own - a car that's around the 100,000Km mark, or between 150,000 to 200,000?

The seemingly obvious answer would be 'the lower the better' but sometimes I wonder. A lot of items seem to need replacing between 100,000 to 150,000Km so something closer to 200,000Km would have had them done and might necessarily be worse... Thoughts?

Not sure about maintenance etc, but would own an NZ new car travelled 150,000km over an import with no service history travelled 100,000km.

[elmarco 56]

Can we stop being so hung up about kms ?

Not picking on you Jeremy youre just the latest one thats all. But a well looked after m62 will easily do twice this distance. Why do people wet themselves as soon as they see the magic 100000 ?

In NZ its the kms, in the UK its miles.

Personally I think this car will be one of two things.

If its all good and has been looked after then its an absolute bargain at that price. I helped my mate buy one a few years ago and I can tell you it goes like a cut cat.

If its not been looked after it will swallow 10k without even blinking. If the gearbox goes your looking at 6k plus easily. The dual mass flywheel in these is 2.5k alone. Add on the potential around the cooling system as Paul has already mentioned and there's another grand.

If anyone is serious about this car then I suggest you do your homework and get it properly checked out. If its all ok then its an awesome car to own.

I am always wary of higher km vehicles and most likely wouldn't touch one with a barge pole (unless it was a classic where mileage was largely irrelevant - like a 68 Camaro). As you say, in the UK it is 100k miles and here is 100k kms. NZ has some of the harshest road conditions and anyone that has cruised the Autobahn, US interstate or UK motorway system will appreciate that racking up the mileage is a hell of a lot easier to do, and a hell of a lot easier on the car over there.

I believe both BMW and Mercedes both class NZ and Australia as 3rd world roads and specify full size spares as opposed to space savers a lot of the time (read it in Automotive News a couple of years back). This might have changed with the runflats and might be a bit out of date now. And the road conditions do take a toll on the car (like salting the roads in winter and gravel roads).

There is always the wear and tear items that need regular replacement (pads, rotors, belts, wheel bearings etc) but once the mileage gets up it isn't the wear items that cause the grief... It is the bits that don't have service intervals - like A/C, wiring, suspension bushes, electronics, interior and paintwork. Things that you typically don't have to worry about below 100,000kms and less than 6-7 years old.

The car needs to be judged in the flesh and the true mileage will show to anyone who knows anything about cars - regardless of what is shown on the odometer...

[kiwi535 538]

I am always wary of higher km vehicles and most likely wouldn't touch one with a barge pole (unless it was a classic where mileage was largely irrelevant - like a 68 Camaro). As you say, in the UK it is 100k miles and here is 100k kms. NZ has some of the harshest road conditions and anyone that has cruised the Autobahn, US interstate or UK motorway system will appreciate that racking up the mileage is a hell of a lot easier to do, and a hell of a lot easier on the car over there.

I believe both BMW and Mercedes both class NZ and Australia as 3rd world roads and specify full size spares as opposed to space savers a lot of the time (read it in Automotive News a couple of years back). This might have changed with the runflats and might be a bit out of date now. And the road conditions do take a toll on the car (like salting the roads in winter and gravel roads).

There is always the wear and tear items that need regular replacement (pads, rotors, belts, wheel bearings etc) but once the mileage gets up it isn't the wear items that cause the grief... It is the bits that don't have service intervals - like A/C, wiring, suspension bushes, electronics, interior and paintwork. Things that you typically don't have to worry about below 100,000kms and less than 6-7 years old.

The car needs to be judged in the flesh and the true mileage will show to anyone who knows anything about cars - regardless of what is shown on the odometer...

but a well maintained car will have had shocks, suspension bushes etc done....and the bodywork and interior are there to see,and in my opinion it is that that reflects the true condition of the car,plus the service records,not the mileage.If it is as good as it looks i will be able to tell how it goes

[jjs 60]

So, back on topic...

Has anyone been to see this car?

Suprised it hasn't been snapped up by now. People are still wanting the same money for auto 540's...