E65 schooling please

[jeffbebe 1559]

A friend of mine has his heart set on a 2002 E65 745i. He rang me to ask about them but I don't know a lot about them.

Presume on a 10 year old car that's done 165,000kms he should look out for the usual things - cooling system, suspension, transmission - anything specific to pre-facelift E65s? I've heard the early iDrive was a PITA, anything else that I should warn him about.

Car is from a dealer apparently. NZ new and full service history from Jerry Clayton which is promising. They want $15K - seems expensive for a car that's done 165,000kms to me but perhaps I'm missing something.

[Michael. 2313]

I've been in a friends from work, while nice and loaded with fun features, the quality is a bit shoddy in some places, plastics wearing, leather seats separating, electric gremlins etc - that said he is a bit rough with it and doesn't care.

This video is an interesting one, whether or not a limited market problem in Aussie I'm not sure but interesting nevertheless.

[Allanw 1071]

anything else that I should warn him about

Have you already warned him about the ugly?

Don't take the service history to mean it's well maintained - it could still have bodges or unrepaired faults - The dealer is only ever going to do the work the owner will pay for!

He does need to be aware that they are a very complex car, and some of the repairs could be expensive. It may be very reliable, but a single major fault can cost a lot too. As long as he doesn't think it's going to be as cheap to run/maintain as a $15K Honda or Nissan, he might be OK. They have a LOT of goodies and systems that increase the possibilities of faults.

For that kind of money, I'd be looking for an immaculate, low mileage, super tidy, well maintained E38 740i or 750i - I REALLY like how they look - before the 525i, I was seriously thinking about working out how to convert a late E38 728i Sport to manual trans

[jeffbebe 1559]

Have you already warned him about the ugly?

Yes, warned him about that, the sh*t iDrive, the potential cost of repairs and that a mint E38 would be far nicer but I think it was all a little too late.

Thanks for the help though, gents.

[BMWTouring 20]

Having owned an 02 745i and 06 750i, I am fairly aware of the ins and outs..

The early I-Drive is a bit painful but once you get all your settings sorted and get the hang of it its not as bad as people make it out to be.

Transmissions are notorious to sh*t themselves, so get a mechanical insurance policy!

Waterpumps are common at that mileage, and the coolant pipe that runs in the valley leaks around then also which is an engine out and heads off job.- again get a MBI policy.

Some of the higher mileage ones are beginning to need valve stem seal replacement.

Suspension eg bushes and ball joints wear as they would with a big heavy car.

Control unit failures are not uncommon, most of which will be due to lack of software updates and old technology.

The build quality is generally good, and NZ New cars seem to be much better after this amount of years.

All in all, I love the E65, and i'd buy another one if the right car came along. But again I wouldn't touch one without a breakdown insurance/warranty.

[jeffbebe 1559]

Duly noted, thanks all. He's committed to buying subject to inspection and production of the complete service history. I've passed all this and more on, so maybe he'll be able to push the price down if anything's not quite right.

Cheers

[Guest winwalk]

Transmissions are notorious to sh*t themselves, so get a mechanical insurance policy!

[kiwi535 538]

you might find it difficult to get a warranty on a car that s done 165,000ks

[jeffbebe 1559]

you might find it difficult to get a warranty on a car that s done 165,000ks

Nah, it's easy - they just won't pay out much if anything goes wrong! Mine's done nearly 180,000kms and has a 3 year warranty but maximum single payout is $2.5K, so if the trans goes or I blow a head gasket it won't cover it.