I have remarked a couple of times recently how BMW parts prices for the older models have become very reasonable. In the interests of fair and balanced reporting, I thought I should mention my latest experience ...
My 1992 5-Series needed a new fan clutch (viscous coupling) so I went to the local BMW main dealer where I was quoted £110 inclusive. I bought exactly the same part, same make, for £37.60 from an independent source by mail order (£44.65 'all in' with next day delivery).
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Thanks Dizzy - you've partly answered a question I was going to ask.
I'm thinking of changing my 1993 Mondeo 1.6 LX (82k) for a 1995/6 BMW 5-series, but am a bit worried about high running costs. I only do about 9k miles per year, so petrol shouldn't be a huge factor, but wear & tear parts such as brakes & exhausts, and service costs do put me off.
Should I stick with a car in the Mondeo / Zantia / Peug.406 bracket?
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JohnnyBoy, don't get the idea that I am slating BMWs. Far from it.
You may have missed my earlier postings where I have said that driving my 1992 525iSE Touring still brings a smile to my face after over two years of ownership. A while back I also posted some Genuine BMW parts price examples which David W thought were competitive with the likes of Ford and Vauxhall. It was the BMW price of the fan coupling that disappointed me, the few other parts that I have needed from the main dealer have been very reasonable.
I'd never had a BMW before and always assumed that they were for poseurs and that the running costs were high. It was my wife who persuaded me to buy the car and I'm certainly pleased that I let her talk me into it.
The running costs are in fact very reasonable, so long as you steer clear of main dealers with their sky high labour rates. D-I-Y servicing is surprisingly easy and many parts are available at relatively low cost from people like Europarts (which is where I bought my fan coupling from). Other examples are oil filter £4, front brake disc (ventilated) £18, brake pads £23, front wing £26 (all plus carriage & VAT). Locally to me there are several suppliers of discounted BMW parts with prices only a fraction higher than Europarts. There are also lots of non-BMW specialists who carry out servicing and repairs at prices not far adrift from Ford, Vauxhall, etc.
Having said all that, I did recently buy a new rear silencer box from the BMW dealer which, with fittings, cost just over £200 or about twice the price of a pirate part. However, the box is special to the Touring and is very large and heavy and of a complicated boomerang shape. And since the original box was the original 10-year-old item, and the rest of the system is original, I decided to go for the OE part made by Eberspacher rather than a cheaper part which might be difficult to fit and could have a short life. The genuine part is double skinned and aluminium coated.
If and when the centre box goes, this will be much cheaper to replace, about half the price of the rear box. A new catalytic converter is £400 + Vat, which is a bit steep but perhaps not that much dearer than Mondeo/Vectra, and my local MoT testing station says that it is very rare for them to fail on BMWs.
So BMW ownership has, for me at least, been an eye-opener. I would say that its biggest drawback is the reputation that BMW drivers have, given to them by a relatively few idiots who drive selfishly and aggressively.
That's my argument in favour of buying a BMW - but I'm sure that there are equally good arguments in favour of Mondeos, Zantias, Peugeot 406s, etc. I wouldn't condemn any of that trio.
Just one last and very important point which you may already know about. The early E39 BMW petrol engines are prone to severe bore wear as a result of high sulphur petrol attacking the Nicasil coating on the aluminium cylinder bores. Engines made between late 1995 and early 1998 suffered this and BMW replaced them with engines having steel liners at no cost so long as the car had been serviced properly (by a bona fide service station) and had covered no more than 100,000 miles. I know five E39 drivers (they are favourite managers' cars where I worked) and four of these had to have new engines.
If you did decide to go for a 5-Series made between 1995 and mid/late 1998, it is essential to check that a steel-linered engine has been fitted. The following website tells you how to check this, plus lots more: www.lestac.co.uk/bmw/nikasil.htm
Good hunting, and let me know if you need any more 5-Series info.
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Dizzy
Thanks for all of that information - especially about the engine wear...I could have made a very expensive mistake!
I'm leaning more and more towards buying a 5-series, because I'd earmarked spending £4-5k on a Peugeot 406 or Citroen Zantia, but I now think a slightly older BMW for the same money would be a better buy. Old Peugeots/Fords etc... tend not to age so gracefully. Also, I'm now 32 so insurance is not such a large factor. I know a very good local mechanic so hopefully I could avoid the extortionate repair charges of the main dealers.
Thanks again for all your advice.
PS
Which engine do you recommend?
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Johnny Boy:
Also, have look at HJ's car by car breakdown.
There are a number of other useful BMW web sites. eg.
www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/bmw.html
HJ: This one and the one suggested by Dizzy may be worth adding to your FAQ1 list.
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<0.One%
Thanks for the link [www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/bmw.html]
A really informative site; also has helped me make up my mind to go for the E34.
They're a bit thin on the ground here on Northern Ireland, but my 1993 Mondeo is still motoring well so I can bide my time & wait for the right one to come along.
All the best,
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