crap, crap, crap, crap.... someone talk me out of buying this car:
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ctd/2174745269.html

I was just thinking about trading in the miata for something and went lookin thru craigslist... is 166kmi a devastating amount of miles on an e39 m5? I have heard they're expensive to keep, but at $12k, I'm so tempted....

1/23/2011 11:38:53 AM

Can you afford to actually own the vehicle? Let's start with the horrible fuel economy and premium gasoline.

1/23/2011 3:41:22 PM

Oh you're an odd one Dan...

1/23/2011 4:24:35 PM

Never been one for anything larger than the 3 series, but if you can digest the mileage that's a damn fast car

good color too

1/23/2011 4:33:42 PM

FWIW I paid $8k for mine last year. '00 M5, all options. 192k miles. Mine ran like it had 50k on it. I'd give 10.5k on that one. Looks like he upgraded to '01+ navi. Alpina roundel on non alpina car is rather gay...

A lot of people on m5boards are at 250k+ on their E39s. It is a well made car, and fundamentals on it are very solid.

Also, '00 had a tendency to burn through oil a lot. Bear in mind that quart of Castrol TWS is equivalent in price to a nice bottle of merlot.

[Edited on January 23, 2011 at 5:38 PM. Reason : m]

1/23/2011 5:34:34 PM

I test drove that car. I would not pay $12000 for it.

1/23/2011 6:49:33 PM

Why not, do share.

1/23/2011 7:06:39 PM

^^^looked like the car might have a few alpina pieces on it, the intake boxes and plumbing, at least. Dunno if there's any other alpina equipment on it aside from that and the badges. I sent them an email asking about that.

I normally would just assume 166k mi is something to run from on most cars, but I have known a ton of guys with high mileage bimmers and didn't know if I could expect this to be a car that needs crazy amts of equipment every 100k mi but could run forever on the motor and trans and diff.... at $12k, yes, I can afford it easily, especially with a fair trade-in on the miata. This wouldn't be my daily driver. It'd replace my miata, so I'm ok with really high miles. I went looking for Boxsters but I am really tempted by this blue beauty. It is a bit redundant with my DD, a 2006 Lincoln LS v8, same sort of car even though I'm aware of the difference in performance. To put it in perspective, the silver m5 they have for 17k isn't something that would've snared my attention. I'm fine with paying for repairs on a higher mileage car that's virtually fully depreciated. Especially one as hawt as that.

Normally I'd take the time to just look up a more specific buyer's guide on a used car that I don't know all the things to look for, as I'm pretty sure evo has covered it , but given the density of bimmer fans here, I thought I'd post the question cold to test my first local line of opinion.

1/24/2011 11:05:26 AM