Which BMW for reliability

[Millsand]

The company I work for is going to relocate me from Australia to London for 18 months. I am going to sell my modern family car here and store my precious e30.

In the UK I need a modern family car, preferably a touring. My wife will not let me buy an e30 (not modern enough according to her) or e36 (ugly according to her). She would let me buy anything from 2000 onwards however I have not heard good things about the e46 models reliability.

So I am looking for some recommendations on what to buy. Which 2000 onward 3 or 5 series models are reliable/ unreliable and any tips on what to look out for?

Advise would be much appreciated.

[donnyboiler]

I'm with you on this one. I actually bought a late e36 328i SE over an early E46 equivalent recently, and I have no desire to get into an E46 at this point. I would go with an e39 touring.

Personally I'd go 523i or 528i. In fact I think you're into the 530i from 2000 on, which is a good engine too. In my opinion the e39 is the last proper BMW in terms of build quality. Deep paint, tough bodywork, all bolted together with traditional BMW solidity and attention to detail. The interior is one of BMW's best ever.

Weak points that I am aware of include warped discs, suspension bushes, balljoints, and double vanos on the 3.0 litre. (Have I remembered that right?). Earlier M52 engines have the Nikasil issue, but I've owned three Nikasil 328i cars with absolutely no issues, and in any case, by 1999 they were all Alusil, so there may not be any Nikasil E39s.

I also read somewhere that the 3.0 litre sometimes uses oil and this is cured by moving up a grade (to 10w40 IIRC).

I don't know much about the bigger engines or the diesels, but they seem to have a pretty good reputation.

You could trick her into a 2000 e36 convertible, too - that's what I'd do... - but something tells me you wouldn't get away with that...

Don

[bss325i]

E39's suffer from pretty much the same problems as E46's.

[B7]

Theres no way the e39 is the last proper BMW. I've had 2 now and niggly faults on both have been plentiful.

The e34 was IMO the last properly and best built BMW. Had 2 of those over 9 years and all I ever put on them was tyres and a few services.

[325isporttech1]

In my opinion the e39 is the last proper BMW in terms of build quality. Deep paint, tough bodywork, all bolted together with traditional BMW solidity and attention to detail. The interior is one of BMW's best ever.

I think its widely regarded that the E34 was the last proper Bmw. It was the last one built to there old values of the 'ultimate driving machine' anything after was built to different princibles i.e quantity over quality, cheaper materials, questionable reliabity, interior trim that falls apart, softer dynamics etc

The e39 can still be a good car (ive had one)but in my opinion most are at the age when they are money pits if they've been neglected in any way and that goes for the e46 also. Plenty seem to be getting fragged at the moment because they are expensive cars to put right and half the time not worth it due to poverty spec, rocket ship millage, nasty colours etc.

If you want 2000 or newer go for a 530d touring or 330d Touring both can also be had in sport flavor

Just make sure you get a good one thats been looked after with plenty of history etc or trust me you will regret it more than once

[bmw9818]

e39 535i, dads had it since new for over 10 years not a single problem whatsover, hasnt replaced any new part, only recent change of water pump and thats it since new! safe to say their pretty solid

[Millsand]

Thanks for your opinions.

I wish I could get away with the convertible but the todlers in the back seat might not like it so much, that cold London air is a bit too much for us, coming from Sydney.

Think I will have to head towards the e39, however I did show my wife a picture of an M Sport e36 touring and she looked interested.

[B7]

e39 535i, dads had it since new for over 10 years not a single problem whatsover, hasnt replaced any new part, only recent change of water pump and thats it since new! safe to say their pretty solid

Id say he's been fairly lucky. Neither of mine have been sheds. The first was a 3 year old when I bought it. Needed a gratuity job from BMW on the dash due to Pixels missing (and my 530 sport has the same issue), therostat (shite plastic crap) Suspension patrts wear constantly, Needed 2 ABS sensors and an air bag light reset.

The 530 Sport has needed, wiper motor, heater resistor pack, new buttons on the AC panel, water pump, Top hose (shite plastic crap ), Cam cover gasket (crap plastic shite cam cover ), PDC issues, new key + programming, Headlamp adjusters (Shite plastic crap ), Breather hose (disintergrated) and I think thats about it. In the history it has bills for air bag work, rad work, suspension (which it's needing again now etc etc.

Both were / are 1 owner fully historied cars with not exactly sharship mileage.

I still love them but buy with eyes wide open.

[mark_i]

Millrat, some good suggestions there... my advice, lose the wife LOL

[pacerpete]

e39 535i, dads had it since new for over 10 years not a single problem whatsover, hasnt replaced any new part, only recent change of water pump and thats it since new! safe to say their pretty solid

If no parts have been replaced in 10 years this must be a proper sorry shed ! These cars eat suspension and have plenty of other regular problem areas. Not a car to be run on a shoestring, not if you can't tolerate squeaks/srattles/wobbles and warning lights

[Morat]

I'd go for as late/well maintained an E46 touring as you can, assuming that it is big enough for your needs. They have niggling faults, and check out the rear demist and rear hatch switch (on the underside of the rear wiper) because a fault here might mean new tailgate glass which is £1200 from BMW.
Other faves include oil pressure/level sensors which cost a couple of hundred IIRC and dodgy coolant level sensors. Get used to buying Castrol Edge in large quantities, opie oils sometimes do a buy 5l get a 1l can free deal which helps. Up to 1l/1000miles is acceptable (to BMW).
Personally I'd get a petrol because the economy really isn't that bad, they're cheaper to buy and they don't have swirl flaps - if you're going to be doing big mileage then that equation will shift in favour of a diesel. On a motorway run, using cruise control set between 75 and 80 most of the time you can expect an easy 400 miles from the tank, personal record is nearer 450 (330i).
Oh, if you drive them hard they love to warp their brake disks as well eat wishbone bushes. If the seller says it's one, it's probably both!

[harry_p]

Think I will have to head towards the e39, however I did show my wife a picture of an M Sport e36 touring and she looked interested.

to be honest, i think the e36 is about the only bmw that really can be run on a shoestring.

a good late one in a decent spec is still a nice looking thing, and drive every bit as nicely as more modern cars. they made millions so secondhand parts are plentifull, and new parts are easy to get hold of and about as cheap as they come from places like gsf and ecp.

theyre not quite up to old school bmw solidity, some of the interior plastics for example are pretty cheap and nasty feeling, but theyre still very well put together and don't seem to suffer the electrical niggles of later bmws.

obviously, as theyre now cheap caars there are some poorly maintained scrappers around, but there are plenty of reasonable mileage, well looked after ones around too.

[snakebrain]

e39 535i, dads had it since new for over 10 years not a single problem whatsover, hasnt replaced any new part, only recent change of water pump and thats it since new! safe to say their pretty solid

If no parts have been replaced in 10 years this must be a proper sorry shed ! These cars eat suspension and have plenty of other regular problem areas. Not a car to be run on a shoestring, not if you can't tolerate squeaks/srattles/wobbles and warning lights

My old man's an E39 victim too. He's in a 520i that's he's been pouring money into for the past couple of years, but he can't be persuaded to part with it. That said, approaching 200k and it really doesn't look or feel like it. Good car, but not a cheap car to run at this stage..

For your situation, I'd look for an E36 323i touring.

[Millsand]

So many of these comments make me appreciate how good the e30 is. "Up to 1l/1000miles is acceptable (to BMW). " Thats a huge amount of oil, my e30 does not use any noticeable amount of oil between each 5000km change.

Your comments have helped move the unmovable, she has agreed that i can get a late e36 touring.

[bmw9818]

e39 535i, dads had it since new for over 10 years not a single problem whatsover, hasnt replaced any new part, only recent change of water pump and thats it since new! safe to say their pretty solid

If no parts have been replaced in 10 years this must be a proper sorry shed ! These cars eat suspension and have plenty of other regular problem areas. Not a car to be run on a shoestring, not if you can't tolerate squeaks/srattles/wobbles and warning lights

no trust me its anything but, it was serviced on a regs dads a mechanic so its been taken care off, it was only driven on special occasions and recently its clocked up a few miles its also been garaged every day since we bought it, its done about 70k, their solid like in terms of reliability, if you want super reliability then japs the way to go,

the pixels on the dash are fading on this one as well thats a prob with all of them i thinks

[325isporttech1]

My dad has also been a victim of a carp e39 as indeed was i...both 520i's, shocking reliabilty, we have both gone back to the old school bmws.

[bss325i]

Think I will have to head towards the e39, however I did show my wife a picture of an M Sport e36 touring and she looked interested.

to be honest, i think the e36 is about the only bmw that really can be run on a shoestring.

a good late one in a decent spec is still a nice looking thing, and drive every bit as nicely as more modern cars. they made millions so secondhand parts are plentifull, and new parts are easy to get hold of and about as cheap as they come from places like gsf and ecp.

theyre not quite up to old school bmw solidity, some of the interior plastics for example are pretty cheap and nasty feeling, but theyre still very well put together and don't seem to suffer the electrical niggles of later bmws.

obviously, as theyre now cheap caars there are some poorly maintained scrappers around, but there are plenty of reasonable mileage, well looked after ones around too.

All of the above!!!!

[donnyboiler]

Glad to hear you're getting an e36 touring. I have two 328i SEs - a lovely 60k saloon and a touring for work, and they are brilliant all rounders, easy to run.

I agree that they drive as nicely as modern cars, and while they are not as solid as, say, an E34 in some areas, they strike a great balance, are easy to work on, and are still a nice place to sit if you have the leather. I'm sticking with the the 328s for as long as I can find good ones.

By the way, I've done a total of nearly 100k in three different M52 Nikasil engined cars and never had a single engine problem. Build date April 98 onwards is non-Nikasil anyway.

Watch for warped brake discs, rusty brake pipes, good old suspension shimmies from around 80 or 90k onwards usually (replace the whole arm with bushes and balljoints), and ABS sensors. Front wings sometimes like to rust from the inside out, and tourings often break springs (mine needed three at 80k...). I think some tourings have self levelling rear suspension which is obviously a nightmare if broken.

The 323 is no better on fuel than the 328. I get 34mpg saloon and 32 touring.
Don