What's the verdict on E61s?

"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll) 01/31/2016 at 16:46 • Filed to: None

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My stepdad is leasing an ‘08 or ‘09 E61 525d as his company car. The lease is up soon. Like pretty much everybody else in Germany who is in a position where they can dictate the terms of their company lease, he set the residual value artificially low. (It’s a tax evasion thing.) Meaning that in a few weeks, there will be a € 12k car to be had for 6k or so. Should I go for it?

Big sunroof, cloth sports seats, “Standheizung” (the mature version of remote start), sat-nav, buuuuuuut it’s an autotragic. It’s pretty much everything I want in my next car except the gearbox, but it has the auxiliary heater, and I know where it was and how it was treated the last three years. It now has around 150k kms (around 90k miles) so there is still some life left in it, I think.

My stepdad wants to switch jobs, otherwise he would just renew the lease. My mum is still happy with her e39. My brother makes zero money with his web hosting business. So this leaves me as the only one who is vaguely interested, otherwise it will go back to BMW and THEY will benefit from the low residual.

So what do you guys think? A post-facelift E61 for half the price, with pretty much all I want, just the wrong gearbox. Should I do it? Will it break my wallet/heart? Can you forgive me, if I chose to drive a car with the devil’s gearbox? I always wanted my next car to be a black BMW wagon. Should it be this one?

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Klaus Schmoll 01/31/2016 at 16:59

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Diesel wagon? Why not?

Klaus Schmoll > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. 01/31/2016 at 17:01

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Automatic!!!!!!!!!!

pjhusa > Klaus Schmoll 01/31/2016 at 17:07

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Go with it!

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Klaus Schmoll 01/31/2016 at 17:09

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I'll give you $500 to import it over here ;)

Klaus Schmoll > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind 01/31/2016 at 17:13

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Didn’t they offer the E61 in the US as well?

AM3R shamefully returns > Klaus Schmoll 01/31/2016 at 17:22

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I would go for it, if it has the ZF gearbox its honesty a good auto trans. I searched and searched for an E61 535xi 6MT here in the states but couldn't find any on my side of the country that weren't high mileage.

duurtlang > Klaus Schmoll 01/31/2016 at 17:24

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Have you driven it yourself? If you have and you liked it, try it. If you for whatever reason start to dislike it after a year you can sell it for more than what you’ve paid for it.

Writing the above made me realize something: don’t give it back to the leasing company. If no family member wants it, sell it privately. There’s a nice profit to be made there.

Cé hé sin > Klaus Schmoll 01/31/2016 at 17:29

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Like any BMW they’re not the most reliable cars around and being a diesel it has potential turbo, injector and fuel pump issues, all of which are expensive.

There’s not usually anything wrong with the gearbox though. The earlier five speed tended to lose reverse gear expensively but the six speed is more reliable. It’s a good box anyway and suits the car. Why would you want a manual one?

Klaus Schmoll > Cé hé sin 01/31/2016 at 17:34

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Ce he, you have been around this place for a long time and yet you ask why someone would want a manual over an auto? But yes, you are right, the autobox somewhat fits the car’s nature. It’s a long distance cruiser, made for the Autobahn, not the race track.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > Klaus Schmoll 01/31/2016 at 18:07

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But you don’t need it.

Klaus Schmoll > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. 01/31/2016 at 18:08

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WUT? Care to elaborate?

Klaus Schmoll > duurtlang 01/31/2016 at 18:30

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I haven’t driven this one, but it’s his third E61 and I have driven one or two of the others, so I have an idea of what it’s like. A bit detached from the actual driving “feel”, but that’s probably normal with modern cars, it’s a perfect Autobahn cruiser, just what I need for my North-South runs which I do every other month.

Also, the Honda when driven hard on the Autobahn (which I have to do when I have to cover 930 kms and have a certain time to be there) likes to drink a lot. Like over 15 liters/100km. So a diesel car with a higher top speed that I don’t have to drive at 10/10ths all the time might be just what the doctor ordered.

Another plus (????) is that I would give the Honda to my brother, who doesn’t have a car, doesn’t care about cars, and will probably run it to the ground sooner or later. So I would do a good deed, and wouldn’t have to deal with lowball offers on a car that is still good but has no market value at all.

duurtlang > Klaus Schmoll 01/31/2016 at 19:20

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Sounds like you’ve already made your mind up.

I wouldn’t buy an automatic E61 if I had to pick a random car, but the offer you’ve gotten is very attractive. Assuming the €6k itself isn’t a big problem you probably should go for it.

As you know I’m rather familiar with doing long north-south Autobahn trips every other month. ‘Only’ 890 km for me to reach Stockdorf though. Anyway, I choose not to cruise faster than 150 kmh or so with my 406. Mostly because the short gearing of the gearbox and the meagre 100 kW. I get about 11L/100 km, maybe 12L/100km if I’m really pushing it. 10L/100 km in Dutch conditions. On €0.50/L LPG fuel, so that helps.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Klaus Schmoll 01/31/2016 at 19:53

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Nope. No wagon in diesel.

phenotyp > Klaus Schmoll 01/31/2016 at 21:32

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As a two-time E60 owner, I’m super jealous that you get a diesel, RWD wagon. In the states we only got x-drive, 3.0 six cyls for the wagons.

Having driven both manual and autos on E60s, I honestly prefer the auto boxes. Hate to admit it, but they're so much better for that car. My second E60 also has flappy paddles. I'm totally ok with that.