They look at buying a cheap second hand BMW 5 series, and looks at the models to get, and the ones to avoid. Taken from season 14, episode 14. hubpages.com/hu...
Bilal Ahmed In fairness, I did drive the 520d so it might not be the fairest comparison. If you like the luxury and build quality of your e39, the f10 is a lovely thing to be in (which the e60 wasn't). The best thing to do would be to try out a pre-fl 528i, because that's probably the closest thing to our 530s.
Couldn't agree more, my '99 528i (V reg) being one of the last pre-facelift ones, but still feels nice and tight to drive with everything still working.
owned 528i in 1982 brand new blue/blue full options, accedent 212/km on a long curve rollover hit a tree from roof side, only 60k km on odometer... Plus am on a weelchair since that ugly day feb 1988 ;0'p "still i looove looking @ that gentle man.. with such a handsum face round lights"
Actually, when I first read that, I was tempted to say you should change that out for E34-> E39, but looking at some nice condition stock ones (ie not lowered with ugly wheels) they do actually look pretty sharp still, though I'd say my '99 E39 528i can still fit in next to an F10 or E90, if it weren't for all the stone chips I keep procrastinating fixing properly
The E28s are desirable these days (along with the E30). My E36 runs like a dream. You don't "get it" with a BMW until you've owned one. They are indeed "the ultimate driving machine". I'm now hankering after an E39. This is how Top Gear started out before the Holy Trinity (Clarkson, Hammond & May) turned it into something completely different.
1:18....lol THAT HAIR!!? I bought an E34 520i for a few hundred quid and it was a superb car. Drove like new even with 185k on the clock. Newer ones are more luxurious but also have a lot more electronics to go wrong.
Now I know where Alan Partridge gets his presenting style from 🤣 On another note, I used to have an E28 M535i and loved that car. Had so much road presence.
Bit wrong there Mr Wilson regarding the service lights,the lights going out is what you want to avoid,when they have been re-set all the lights are on.
It was a 2.3 with leather, power everything, alloy wheels etc. It had a small problem (why I got it so cheap) which cost me $150 to fix. btw, I am originally from Europe, so I know the difference in car prices and sometimes it is ridiculous for what cars go.
I prefer old 3ers. Just easier to maintain and more fun in the twisties, more availability of parts, bigger community, etc. Simply fantastic looking cars and nothing drives quite like them.
It would be nice to own a BMW in good shape down here in Canada, but the only issue with that is when the parts do break down...even the bargain-bin parts as mentioned in the video are still very expensive nowadays, and not just here in Canada either.
I somewhat regret not getting one of these as a first car. But here in Canada, Bimmers are quite expensive to fix and their reliability was (and is) questionable. Still, the design looked really dated even at the time (I mean, the '88 looks like it is from a different world) but there was something cool about it.
My take is the E28 looks sort of good in a classic sort of way, whereas the E34 and E39s look more modern and could pretty much fit in perfectly in the expensive areas of wherever you live
A whole different era of motoring has descended upon us. Characterless cars, uninteresting, the fun is largely gone from the vehicles and the roads are a chore.
And you probably never will, that's why it's a "reputation." They're just "common" failure points based on many numbers. All the vehicles I've owned had a reputation for some fault or another. None of them ever gave me troubles though. Well, except the Subaru crank position sensor.
So, they bought an 8 year old 5 series with £2000. Accounting for inflation, that would be the equivalent of £4200 in 2023, according to the Bank of England. There's no way you're buying an 8 year old 5 series for that price nowadays!!
Rich people buy new cars or a real classic it's one of the reasons why luxury cars expensive cars in general lose their value so quickly compared to family cars.
these new ones are actually rebadged renaults, made in romania. every piece of those cars is designed by renault, the badge is just as a way to sell cheaper cars and not tarnish whatever reputation renault as a brand might have.
Personally, I prefer the look of an E28 to an E34, although, if it were me, I'd probably go for an E30; they're a bit smaller and, presumably, easier to drive in town as a result. A 5-Series with 1.8 engine (like C803 FVP) must have been remarkably slow, though!
*despite having 5 years under its belt* ... 5 years for these cars is considered as good as new ..... i have a BMW e34 1988 ( 25 years under its belt) and still runs damn fine ..not to mention looks great.
i picked one up in the 90s quite cheaply too allways have good memories of my metalic blue 528i until some twat reversed out in front of me without looking
In 1996 I bought a 1982 528e with 140,000 miles for $3200 and everyone thought it was a new car. Of all my past cars, that is the one I miss the most and it never, ever let me down. I finally sold in it 2002 with close to 300,000 miles on it.
I like the styling of that era. To me, these are the gangster's cars. Why? in the 90s, these were imported to what used to be soviet union. And the only people who could afford one were the mafia.
Not many! Although the German stuff is mainly pretty common, dull & boring. I own a MK 2.5 white ST-3 and would probably pick a Mustang over a 3 or 5 series.... if we could afford the fuel :)
