2006 BMW 5 series

[bohica]

I know there are some BMW peeps on the board. Had my sights on a new 530i, but someone told me not to do it. Are they as bad as I was told? Said their having problems with tires and since their so technologically advanced, way too many things going wrong with them. I guess the Wall Street Journal said it was the worst luxury sedan ever built. Sucks because I've always loved BMW's.
What's your take.

[Havasu Hangin']

I would like to know too...since I was actually thinking of a 545 myself... :idea:

[stoker]

Drove one 3 weeks ago. Nice cars! You seem like a 750 kinda guy though :mix:

[riverroyal]

i got one,05' 525,,,,heres my only issue,cars been perfect so far 9000 miles,,but,Its in the shop because my wife hit a retread on the way to havasu,did lower bumper cover damage and radiators damage(a/c condenser,power steering cooler)Its at a BMW dealership being fixed,the labor rate on the mechanical end is 95$ a hour,insurance companies pay around 50$,they tell me because of all the computers and technology in the car that a typical ASE mechanic really wouldnt know the car well enough to work around those thing,maybe,maybe not.So im gonna get stuck with a bill covering the difference between the labor rates.So just beware with insurance,if this was a 20000$ accident id be screwed.By the way im changing insurance as soon as i get it back.Its a great car to drive also

[dirty old man]

how can anyone have a history yet on an '06

[riverroyal]

i think,if anything they may have fixed a few things

[JB in so cal]

i got one,05' 525,,,,heres my only issue,cars been perfect so far 9000 miles,,but,Its in the shop because my wife hit a retread on the way to havasu,did lower bumper cover damage and radiators damage(a/c condenser,power steering cooler)Its at a BMW dealership being fixed,the labor rate on the mechanical end is 95$ a hour,insurance companies pay around 50$,they tell me because of all the computers and technology in the car that a typical ASE mechanic really wouldnt know the car well enough to work around those thing,maybe,maybe not.So im gonna get stuck with a bill covering the difference between the labor rates.So just beware with insurance,if this was a 20000$ accident id be screwed.By the way im changing insurance as soon as i get it back.Its a great car to drive also
for a second there, I thought she hit a retard.

[riverroyal]

ran me over last year,,

[ADDICTED]

for a second there, I thought she hit a retard.
Hahahahhahhah me too! :D

[ADDICTED]

My sister has one and my wifes friend has one. They have not had any problems. They seem to drive very nice. A little under powered but nice. The I controls take a little bit to figure out.
We just picked this up
http://www2.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1929angelas_new_car.jpg

[BarryMac]

PM Ziggy, he is the official BMW Pimp...

[meaniam]

i got one,05' 525,,,,heres my only issue,cars been perfect so far 9000 miles,,but,Its in the shop because my wife hit a retread on the way to havasu,did lower bumper cover damage and radiators damage(a/c condenser,power steering cooler)Its at a BMW dealership being fixed,the labor rate on the mechanical end is 95$ a hour,insurance companies pay around 50$,they tell me because of all the computers and technology in the car that a typical ASE mechanic really wouldnt know the car well enough to work around those thing,maybe,maybe not.So im gonna get stuck with a bill covering the difference between the labor rates.So just beware with insurance,if this was a 20000$ accident id be screwed.By the way im changing insurance as soon as i get it back.Its a great car to drive also
im suprised to hear the labor rate is only 95 at bmw. mitsu and dodge are around 89 an hour. i have never had a claim declined on the hourly range. they are paying as if this is a body shop rate. which they can do on body work. but mechanical repairs as a service writter this was always seperated from body shop repairs. and as long as they are seperated all mechanical work should get paid at shop rate. unless you have a crappy insurance company. in that case post who they are so people know to stay away. i would find out the body shops rate at the bmw dealership. i read that an insurance company has the right to pay only what is considered fair. but it has to be a compitent shop. and use oem parts if consumer request. but the consomer is aloud to bring the car to who they want and pay the diffrence. but if you can show that the charges are fair, then i thank that falls under bad practices or maybe called bad faith ( i cant remember the term but its there) look on the website form dept of insurance state of california. that is where i read this. if you present your case to the adjuster yourself you would proably get this resolved

[blender over]

My sister has one and my wifes friend has one. They have not had any problems. They seem to drive very nice. A little under powered but nice. The I controls take a little bit to figure out.
We just picked this up
http://www2.***boat.com/image_center/data/520/1929angelas_new_car.jpg
PIMP status right there :cool:

[bear down]

My brother in Law has one...He has had some electrical issues that are reoccuring and his wife hit a pot hole last week and looks like he will need to spend about $500 for the tire and another $400.00 for the rim. Awesome looking cars though but a doesn't feel roomy though.

[Wasabe]

I would like to know too...since I was actually thinking of a 545 myself... :idea:
Essentially the 2005 545i and the 2006 530i is the same car style wise however technology is different as far as gadgets because they keep updating the software every few months and the engine capacity is different. For instance 530i has 255-horsepower six-cylinder engine. The 545i with a 325-horsepower V8. Point is that what ones experience with a particular model has nothing to do with the next.
With each passing year the problems are less. Never buy the "all new re-deigned" because it's like getting a demo car. They are the worst. Second and third generation is okay. They have had the time and the feedback to fix some of the bugs.
Jeffrey and I are different. He likes Mercedes and I like BMW. I got a Mercedes after owning a BMW and hate it. I can't wait till I'm out of it and back in a BMW.
If you really like the car then go for it. To each their own. What ever makes you happy and for me that's a BMW.

[MOBrien]

hold out for the new M5!!! Focking thing's got a 500hp V10 and 7-speed tranny.
WICKED!

[THATJEFFGUY]

i got one,05' 525,,,,heres my only issue,cars been perfect so far 9000 miles,,but,Its in the shop because my wife hit a retread on the way to havasu,did lower bumper cover damage and radiators damage(a/c condenser,power steering cooler)Its at a BMW dealership being fixed,the labor rate on the mechanical end is 95$ a hour,insurance companies pay around 50$,they tell me because of all the computers and technology in the car that a typical ASE mechanic really wouldnt know the car well enough to work around those thing,maybe,maybe not.So im gonna get stuck with a bill covering the difference between the labor rates.So just beware with insurance,if this was a 20000$ accident id be screwed.By the way im changing insurance as soon as i get it back.Its a great car to drive also
Yeah those retards can do some real damage to a car if ya hit one hard enough ! :D

[Ziggy]

I know there are some BMW peeps on the board. Had my sights on a new 530i, but someone told me not to do it. Are they as bad as I was told? Said their having problems with tires and since their so technologically advanced, way too many things going wrong with them. I guess the Wall Street Journal said it was the worst luxury sedan ever built. Sucks because I've always loved BMW's.
What's your take.
To this point I haven't heard of any type of major recurring problem on the 5 series.....maybe one of them had a bad experience and relates that to all of them, who knows :confused: .
Difference between 05 and 06 5 series is the engine. In 06 both the 525 and 530 have 3.0L engines.....one with more ponies than the other, otherwise its still the same car as the 05.
The model that had the most problems with software were the 02 and to some degree the 03 745......most if not all of those issues have been handled by BMW now with new flashing.
As far as body shop repairs, yes, they do have specialized training and equipment for most all BMW's.....lots of aluminum undercarraige, suspension, crossmembers and so on. Secialized adhesive components, rivots....you name it. The insurance companies need to get on the ball and realize the costs in repairing these cars properly and safely, they ain't no 'Yota assembled cars. :notam:

[redi4fun]

Yeah those retards can do some real damage to a car if ya hit one hard enough ! :D
:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :rollside:

[riverroyal]

its WAWANESSA insurance,huge company,they so for are refusing to pay the 95 a hour,its still on-going though.The dealership is brecht bmw in escondido,they have been good.They say they wont do "unqualified" work just cause the insurance wont pay the full amount,so i kinda like that,sticking to theyre guns.Its the newer 5 that is costing more,I guess it is so complex that there is special BMW training involved,,the problem like ZIGGY said is the insurance companys wont get on board,although they did insure it,my arguement with them has been "why did you insure this car without telling me about its special repair needs in a accident".So we love the car,but just beware before you insure it,unless you want it repaired at MAACO.Car gets done in a few weeks,then the battle begins,for now we arent rocking the boat anywhere,we just want to get it back without anybody getting bitter at us and slowing the process down............sorry so long,off subject also,i still love the car!

[Perfect Mixer]

Well here it is from a technicians point of view: 95 is cheap for a BMW dealer. When I left Crevier we where at $115 I think. The 5 is no different from any of the other cars that BMW has introduced over the last few years as far as problems go. The 7's (E65) was a huge money looser for those in the shop for the first couple of years. The techs where loosing there butts because BMW's warranty times weren't all that good. We ended up doing most of BMW's dirty work trying to help them keep the cars on the road. The 5's (E60) and 6's (E63) where the same way when they first came out. We had a lot of buy backs until BMW fixed the software problems. To my knowlege they've gotten mostly everything worked out. I haven't heard much about the new 3's (E90) yet. I'm curious to know if they are having the same issues (software) as the other series cars. Even after working on them for so long, I do miss them, and wouldn't mind getting a 530 or 545 (E60) in the future for a daily driver.

[Super D]

I've got a 2000 323 and it's a great car - solid, powerful, handles awesome, looks nice. Make sure you get the extended warranty, tho. A couple trips to the dealer would have cost over $2k, but it was $0 to me w/ the warranty. Man, I am gonna worry when the warranty is over! Basically, the 3 series is a nice Jetta - if I do it again it will be the 5 series.