2005 545i with 85k miles or $8,000 , do think it's a good buy? I plan to go to school to become a technician, so I want to do my own repairs and maintenance, do you think its a good buy?
When I was younger ppl used to refer to BMWs as Break My Wallet and Broke Man Walking and I never really thought about it until watching this video and reading every single comment. I was never into German or any Euro car for that matter so I never really dug into it. Thanks for the vid.
i change my syn oil every 5k always NEVER had an BMW catastrophic engine failure in the 12 BMWS i own i feel like people who complain go 20k miles with no oil changes lol
The guy I got my 545i from said he was going 12-15k an oil change I’ve only went past 4K one time. Explains probably why valve seals were shot when I got it
Thanks for posting ! Great vid! I'm purchasing my first bmw in a couple weeks and its gonna be an E60 LCI 550I. for a while I was worried that I would not find any info or repair vids, but the more I dig the more I find and the more confident I am in taking on the V8 instead of the 6 cylinder. Thanks!
had to replace the OEM BMW valley pan gasket, while in there i did the manifold gaskets, injector gaskets, two knock sensors, oem coolant hose from valley pan to water pump (did not replace pipe left OEM it was not leaking), did spark plugs, oil and filters, i also have an 08 BMW 550i too man nice vid.
@@DeColaBros thank you been solid so far. Tracked and serviced everything that the previous owner neglected. Now I just have to change my ac belt and clean my steering angle sensor
550i M Sport over here. approx 160k miles, 260km. Poor service history... here's what I had to do. New water pump, go the metal impeller upgrade. Few new water lines, new thermostat. Series of oil changes. Sump gaskets. Used Forte seal conditioner to deal with the leaky valve stems, no longer needs doing. About to do trans overhaul... new seals, filter, and fluid. Alternator oil seals, new brake booster, pads, sensors, and fluid, new front lower rearward suspension arms. New Battery. Used quality OEM off label or high quality parts. Did the work myself... no worse than maintenance on other cars considering mileage and work required.
The list of parts to be replaced is a great idea. I brought a e70 x5 N62 last year and now planning to do all these maintenances. There are a couple of small seals for mechatronics.
Great video. I am looking at a car with 178,000 miles on it. 550 full maintenance records.. coolant pipe, valve seals, ect. How many miles do you have now?
I am at 114k and nothing wrong currently. My only concern moving forward is my valve stem seals so it’s good that car has them done. Definitely check the transmission for jerkiness, surging, and make sure it’s fluid and filter pan were changed at that mileage. If it’s maintained well that can still be a solid car at the right price. Also, pretty funny but I ordered your plants many times for my 30 gallon fish tank. Great success with it thank you very much! Keep up the good work
@@DeColaBros That’s hilarious man. Thank you for the advice dude I ended up buying that car. I got it for 6000 bucks. I did the transmission Mechtronic sleeve-Seals etc. It had been serviced five years earlier which made me feel good. The car is actually ripped apart in my garage right now I am replacing the wheel bearings which are howling. I’m also going to replace the front struts and sway bar links the control arms look good for now. Thanks for replying and thank you for the business in the past I guess it really is a small world
I just did my water pump not too long ago, I’m hearing a weird noise at idle though. Wish I could send you a video so you can hear what I’m talking about. But other than that mine is great, I just hit 138k and haven’t had too many issues
@@rich_forever9485 I’m thinking of getting an 08 550i and it has 134k miles has no issues no accidents or anything. My question is. Have you needed to replace any parts because they just gave out or anything like that?
My 545i got a 134k miles on it i so far replaced the secondary air pump, intake manifold, and a coolant hose lol im currently dealing with a low oil pressure light, it came on after i got my incresed emissions fixed 😑
mine had that too and luckily it was just a 350 dollar fix at the dealer, sorry i dont remember exactly what it was they replaced but i do remember it was super cheap for bmw dealer quotes
If you can get a good deal on one and fix it yourself it can be worth it since they drive so nice. The N/A V8 is actually pretty reliable and failed rubber gaskets in a few places is what makes them leak.
Well I might have lucked out... I own a 2008 550i M Sport now has 140,000 kms and all I've done is regular maintenance oil brakes filters Etc water pump tensioner pulleys other then that it runs strong and never had any issues . Before this I had a 2004 545i 160,000 kms and same thing no major issues just keep up with Maintenance which most people don't then they complain....
Hey - much appreciate your methodical approach! Just bought a beaut of a 60k 2010 650, one owner, no codes and impecable but leaking big time from valve covers - can’t tell if the alt bracket seal also leaks but suspect it does - anywho, can you suggest a good video for the bracket fix - many thx
I just acquired a 2006 550i with 90k miles. Like yours, it was well maintained and garaged. I have the full service records. One thing I noticed is the frequent tire replacement (every 20k miles and some times sooner) due to excessive wear on the inside tread on the rear of the car. Have you experienced this problem with yours and if so, did you find that the BMW spec for extreme negative camber was the problem? Thanks.
Thanks for the comment! anytime! The Japanese cars definitely get into the higher miles with less maintenance and repairs. The German vehicles do not make it very far with neglect, so if you plan on keeping one for a while or buying a used one, make sure you factor in the repair budget or learn how to do some things on your own. Higher end, luxury trim levels tend to have more technology (5 and 7 series) and more failures while lower trim BMW's like 2 and 3 series with the non-turbo engines are pretty reliable. With all vehicles, regular maintenance and replacement of worn parts will keep the car around much longer. Some just need more attention through the years than others.
I changed the valve stem seals and replaced the timing chain tensioner on my e90 316i for only 150 USD!! Oem parts from BMW. The job would have been a staggering 3000 Bucks at BMW!! I can only imagine what BMW would of charged for the same work on a V8 engine here in Norway😂
Hey how's it going looking at a 2008 550i with M Sport package at $11,500 w/ 121,000 miles on it. Is this an overly priced sales tag or would you say that it is reasonable for this model?
I just bought a 2005 545i with 140k back in July for $5k it’s in pretty nice condition but the rubber seal on the coolant transfer pipe went bad and it’s leaking coolant bad now I gotta to get that fixed along with replacing the water pump gonna cost me $1700 lol damn.I’ve done the plugs,coilpacks and transmission drain fill filter pan,ccv vent valve,Castrol synthetic euro oil changes,alignment,new battery and new oem hid bulbs so far
The coolant pipe kit is about $220 and the valley pan is around $60 if you can do it yourself. The pump seems hard to get off but someone with skinny hands can get the bolt off that seems impossible. You should be good for a while with all those repairs. Good luck
@@DeColaBros I don’t have experience repairing cars I only know how to do basic stuff that’s not a job I’m willing to take on lol plus I don’t have a garage to work in, I’m taking it to a local independent bmw repair shop so it’s a lot cheaper than the stealership at least, appreciate the advice though bro
@@FELIPE8226M i had luck with a small mechanic shop that serviced a small luxury outlet car dealership, he only charged like $40/hour, i went to some independent bmw shops but they charged almost the same per hour that bmw did, id pay an 20 or 40 an hour and at least get to drive the loaner
I was planing on purchasing one but man I don’t even know now😂 it’s a 2008 550i with 29k miles tempting for the price but Idk if I want to fix my car often, if I do plan on purchasing it what do you recommend looking out for when I inspect the car?
all of the the issues described except maybe the trans sleeve, have to do with regular oil and coolant maintenance, a 2008 car with only 30k probably has had its oil changed a handful of times over its 14 year life so yeah its highly likely it will have all these issues. If its cheap enough and your mechanically inclined though it might be worth wild to take the whole engine apart and do everything at once cuz there are a ton of videos on how to do it
It would probably be a good purchase at the right price. I’d take it for a test drive and make sure it’s shifting smoothly, doesn’t have funny noises, and check under it and the engine bay for leaks with a flash light. A lot of the issues can be seen or experienced in a good drive.
Liked the video. You cover a lot of the most common problems. However, you are grossly misrepresenting the TRUE cost of repairs on these cars!! I have owned a 2004 545i since 2006. The valley coolant pipe started leaking at just 33K miles , then leaked again at 94K miles!! first time under warranty the dealer had the car for 2 weeks! the second time at 94K miles the indy mechanic popped in the AGA pipe cost $2.1K total parts + labor. The dealer removed the engine, this was before the AGA pop-in style pipe was around. Then shortly after this job the transmission started leaking at around 40K, it's a plastic pan, then the second pan leak occured at 70K so only 30K miles later!!!. It has been replaced now 3 times!! car now 147K miles. The price list you show for each repair is very low(?) don't buy the cheap parts!! the cheap transmission pan made in Taiwan is crap!! Also very important ONLY USE ZF Lifeguard Trans Oil as it has special additives to preserve the fragile mechatronic lining and other small internal parts etc., the cheaper oil is not worth the risk!!! it's the labor if you don't do the job yourself. For me the coolant pipe with indy BMW mechanic was over $1,600 labor alone. The labor for the transmission pan and new mechatronic seals over $1,300. BUT, the real killer is the valve stem seals. The 550i has much better designed seals but still the N62 seals all ago out around 70k to 100K once you see the black puff of smoke after sitting at a stop light it is usually too late for your cats at a cost of $4K. PLUS all the carbon build-up in the emissions need to be cleaned out. AGA has a tool to do that but my indi mechanic said his experience was just 50/50 where you could clean all the carbon out and still have the car pass emissions or in CA smog test. He got tired of all the customers that paid big bucks after this job only to not pass smog. He from now on will only do complete removal of the cylinder head and take it to a machine shop so they can use machine tools to clean out all the carbon from the ports/tubes. I paid over $6K for that job!!! EVERY 545 / 550 will need to eventually need to have this done!!! fortunately I took my car in right away and saved my cats, if I had waited a day or two longer that cats would have been destroyed so the job would have been over $10K cost. And has to be done in States like CA otherwise you cannot pass the smog test which needs to be done to renew your registration. Hello!!! Then you look at a 545 or 550 in Autotrader and many sell for less than $10K ??? Also in my 545i the intake manifold had a vacuum leak and replaced with brand new at cost of $4k parts+labor. Have you seen the intake maniforl for 545i it's a variable intake with sensors and a propeller in it to shorten or lengthen the airway all to get about an extra ONE MPG!! Total bullshit!! Also the air pump for the emissions you hear when you cold start the car had to be replaced due to water damage over the years. That was over $600 parts+labor. THEN, after about one year after the valve-stem seal job, the engine sounded strange and apparently I took the car in just before the vanos guide rail broke apart that would have blown up my engine!! The engine had to be completely removed AGAIN and I paid over $2,800 parts, indi did it for free labor because he agreed he should have replaced the guide rails when he did the valve stem seal job. So here is the real deal owning a 545i and I change the oil every 5K miles. I forgot about the alternator bracket job, which has been done 3 times over most recently in 2018 parts + labor cost $1,045, Plus multiple oil leaks due to valve cover gasket leaks, timing chain gasket leak after leak!! I have spent over $30K in repairs+maitnenace/brakes/tires in the last 100K miles. and estimate over $60K done including up to 50K miles when car was under warranty. Now, the transmission is skipping gears a lot and starting the slight hard clunk shift when cold. Does it need a new or rebuild mechatronics or brand new tranny? My indy says not worth the cost to install rebuild mechatronics unit and related parts as likely could be the torque converter and clutches throughout the tranny. He says most likely need to replace the entire tranny. Keep in mind the car has had 4!!! 4 fluid fills of trans oil from brand new in Germany to present, and still trans is going out at just 147K miles!!! So that it!! at 147K miles the car is basically toast, should I spend $5K to $8K on new tranny + labor? when 545i's are selling in autotrader for around $5k? It only makes sense to buy these cars used if you can to all the labor yourself and you have another car!! Otherwise.... good luck Will I ever buy another BMW? HELL NO!!! A friend just bought a 2020 328 and at just 50K miles oil all over the garage floor due to valve cover gasket leak! Yep, It's a BMW alright --scheist
I never got a quote but I don't think the dealer would use an aftermarket collapsible coolant pipe solution. They'd probably open the back engine cover to replace it. That job alone would be thousands I assume. All of these items here at a dealer might be more than what the car is worth. At an independent shop maybe 2500 to 4k but thats a guess.
Honestly depends how it was treated for those 160k. Was the trans fluid and filter changed regularly? Along with the oil, coolant, brake fluid etc. ? They are pretty reliable but the rubber seals go bad and start to leak everywhere. At that mileage you’ll want to make sure the valve stem seals, coolant transfer pipe, all timing/cover gaskets were done
Thinking of purchasing an 2010 BMW 550i 93k miles . I noticed when I drove the engine light came on and then while in park if I hit the gas and white smoke came from the exhaust.. when I drove off very little smoke came out and then no smoke at all.. when I got back to the car lot which has its on mechanic shop ther the owner looked up the codes and purge valve came up to be fixed .. he’s asking $12k flat for the car taxes and repairs included with 6 month warranty on it .. I was going to get a dodge Ram or this 550i now I’m stuck in deciding.. will this car be a good choice at 93k miles and is the white smoke a red flag 🚩.. They printed out all the maintenance from 2009 but it’s a 2010 starts at a dealership in Vegas to Texas to Georgia then to NC .. I really like and want this vehicle but I’m not sure if things will start to fail me very quickly after I purchase it..
turn on the car and let it idle for a while, if it has any of the leaks it will show up pretty fast, check for blue smoke too but ideally take it to the dealer for a prepurchase check if its doable ... i think a lot of these issues deal with cars from 2004 thru 2010 the n engines the newer ones might not be so prone to these problems
@@Melliworldtv i ended up finding the mechanic shop for an outlet dealer that sold high end cars, they charged 40 an hour and i could bring my own parts, bad thing is he sucked at diagnostics so id get the diagnostic at the dealer buy the parts and bring it to my guy, even after the 180 fee I still saved a lot
Some kid at my job has one I offered h him 500 bucks because he’s driving it till he blows it up lol, it’s leaking oil bad but I drove it and it runs fine and it’s transmission shifts smooth.
I am planning to buy a 545i as my first car 6k$, should I buy it ? What are things to consider when buying a e60 545i ? My knowledge of cars and maintenance is not really good. First I was looking for e90 3 series but changed my mind for e60
Is a 2005 BMW 545i with 118k miles for $6995 a good buy? It has a previous minor accident. My worries is the possible transmission problems. Does the I drive fail on these cars? Thanks
The 545 would have all the possible issues in this video. If it shifts fine now it’s still workable with pan and filter changes. I’d try to get it for under 5k but sorry for not responding sooner. Let me know, thanks!
Got one of these as a lemon, it’s been hell so far. Now I need 4 wheels and the entire front end rebuilt. Some bs. They mean it when they say beakers suck ass
too expensiive for 2k is a good deal and pay like 1k for a new engine address all these issues for an additional 2 k and end up with an amazing beast for the same 5k knowing it will last you another 230 k
Mine has 206k miles with everything on the top end rebuilt plus valve seals. A lot of other things. I wouldn’t sell it less than $9k with every receipt I have since owning it in 2015
@@radianm6 How's the transmission holding up after so many years? I wish to own a V8 too, it's the parts expensive and easy available? What's your opinion on the V8, will you get another one?
You are pretty much a mechanic BUT what about when you don’t know Sh*t and gotta take it to shop every time? it is going to cost me a ridiculous high amount of money.
Thanks but yeah the car needs these items taken care of every 100k miles approximately. If you buy one that just had them done or can tackle it yourself, you may be able to get a decent V8 bmw for pretty cheap
@@DeColaBros yeah they are cheap! They are under 10kwith 100k miles or less but it’s about time when those little things and details start to come up! I would really like to own 1 tho
@@alexbarajas7997 If you can get one with less miles and have a good independent shop to take care of possible issues you could be okay. I would only get one that looks like it was cared for pretty well.
@@alexbarajas7997 the biggest thing with these cars is getting one that was cared for. You can easily tell it was cared for because the car will be 12 years old but clean interior and clean exterior. Don’t buy one with 130k miles from some buy here pay here place.
The worst car ever i put a rebuild transmission but my insurance company pay for a alternator 900 we have to think of the value of the car sometimes you have to let the go then you think 4000 into the car and your car is only 2500 is it worth it
You forgot about the craptastic front and rear window rubbers that turn to dust🥴. Shame that such otherwise great cars are let down by something as simple as shit rubber.