GIantic010

My brother, a vw car salesman on Melbourne suggested that any car, be it vw, Ford or bmw will have some level of failure rate. And as the number of vehicle required produced increase, the number of potential failures, and unhappy reviews, go up too. I guess any car purchased is a calculated risk.

I have nothing against Saabs, just not my cup of tea that's all

I currently enjoy a 530i, which I would classify as slightly larger than average car. I didn't really think, at the beginning off this post, that my life story would be required to answer a question of vehicle suitability, so excuse me for omitting a few personal details. My better half is not a confident driver, and finds larger vehicles intimidating. She enjoys the SUV which makes this statement a little contradictory, but she is a she. As we live just outside of Christchurch, she commutes daily, and my Bimmer is beginning to show it's age, we are looking at replacing it with something a little more... sensible. Yesterday, we test drove a 2013 Focus Sport. A tidy mid sized hatch with a modern interior and great feel. It also had adequate space behind a taller than average driver. We've found our car. However Research reveals some serious transmission issues with this model. I might have over looked this, but I've also decided I would rather spend a little less on our next vehicle. I'm eyeballing the Mk5 VW Golf wagon 2.0 as a possibility. I've already driven these in the past. So, the question now is, turbo, or not.

Today I went test driving cars, and I hoped in 2007 120i. As usual, I pushed the seat right back, which seemed a natural fit. There can't of been more than 10 cm between the front of the back and the back of the front. For me, that counts the Bmw out sadly. On a side note we are looking into 2014ish Ford Focus Sport.

At 197cm (for those new age people) most cars I've owned have little to no leg room for anyone behind me. My 530i is the first car I've owned where I don't need to push the seat right back. Ultimately, I just need to get out in one and see how I go.

Wife isn't confident driver, and she won't do big cars. And the kids would make a Z4 impractical. Although I do like the hard tops. They look like mini dodge vipers. Like I said, we decided to get a run about, and I have a short list of cars to try. The criteria is 2007-2010 vintage, for up to $20k with under 100000km, with 4 doors, and more the 2 litre. The list includes; Mazda Axela/3 Bmw 1 series Toyota blade master G ( Not really a serious consideration, but I wanted to try this little 3.5 V6 front wheel drive) Audi A3 VW Golf Ford Focus

My 530I is starting to show is age, as it's plastic is starting to crumble, as well a few other little niggles. None of it unreasonable to repair yet. However we decided that the best combo of cars for our life style is one work horse, and one run about. We already have a 2007 Honda Crv, which goes well enough and has good space for those long family road trips with all the kids crap. I guess I'm hoping to justify a 130i as viable option, to avoid ending up with 2 "sensible" cars B-)

Hi all. I see there is a few posts regarding this question, but I've been contemplating replacing my 2001 530i with a 130i M sport 2008ish. My wife and I have been thinking about getting a hatch back, and I was hoping to push this vehicle as a viable option as opposed to her more sensible option of a Mazda axela. Has anyone had one? What are the common problems? And, as I haven't had a chance to test drive one yet, will some one who is 6ft6 fit? Cheers

Cheers all. Luckily I've got a company vehicle that will get me out of the proverbial. Eurorec is close to where I'm currently working, so I'll go talk to them tomorrow. Thank you for all your input

I got home a short time ago, and after I turned the engine off, I was greeted by the "check coolant level" warning. Steam was coming out of the engine bay. When I popped the hood, this is what greeted me. I need the car tomorrow, so how bad is this?

Thanks Tim, but I've read these posts. Like I said, the ability to reprogramme the radio came in September 2001. My only option is to change out the radio for its European equivalent.

Okay, so there stereo, I believe, is the BM53. The 16:9, with nav, TV, blah blah blah. My car was built march 2001, and the global radios, I believe were fitted from September of that year. I'm not sure if there is a band expandor but the radio will get upto about 100mhz

Cheers Qube. That's really useful! I like the idea of "piano black", more of a minimalist look.Not only I have wood to burn but there are some cracks I would like to cover, and my gauge surround is broken. It would good to hide any repair jobs.

Cheers, I saw this. I was thinking about having a go at it myself so I was looking at the likes of 3M, but I couldn't find pictures of the colours, so find it hard to imagine

I've trawled through a few pages of this forum, and done a few Google searches, in relation to "removing the wood" from the interior trim of my E39. I don't seem to be none the wiser on topic. Can anyone point me to a sight so I can easily explore my options?

Makes me appreciate my car that much more. An early 2001 530i with tiptronic. Pity is a Jap import as the bm53 stereo is limited in bandwidth

I had to get some new rear tyres rather quickly, recently (double puncture). The rears are Supercars (235/45 R17) and the fronts are Potenza's. My feeling is a worn joint in the steering system, but in any case a wheel alignment wouldn't hurt.

Greetings all. I'm joining bimmersport after owning my 2001 530i E39 for about 10 months. Like a lot of my generation, I grew up, and learned to drive, in a selection of Datsuns and Nissan's. My first car was a 1974 Datsun Violet, 160j SSS, a car I inherited. However, not being mechanically gifted and conscious of not attracting the unwanted attention of fuzz, I moved onto a sequence of sedans. That was until last year, when it was decided that my family needed a second car. I saw an opportunity to get something a little more exciting than our Honda CRV. At first I started looking at 300ZXs, a long obsession of mine, but at long last I concluded that they were fun, but impractical, and also a little small for a man of height. So I started looking at BMWs until, through word of mouth, I heard of a friend of a friend that was thinking about selling his 5 series. He had worked in France, for BMW, developing the drive train for the series that succeeded mine. So now I have my own bimmersport, and there's no looking back. I love driving it. It's a great high speed cruiser with enough to make it fun too. I came across this forum while researching the stereo. I wanted to be able to get the higher frequencies and possibly be able to connect up a aux input of sometime. I've learnt my car is to old to have the global radio and would need to replace the unit with a European model. Future work well be required on the steering system as the car darts and wanderers a little, and I've also noticed, what guessing is the fire wall, is crumbling away. Sorry for the long post.