Can someone help me?

[JohnnyBoy]

Ok, so call it a peace of mind thread! I'm a new owner of a 530i my wife picked out last week (05 with 55K miles). We got a good deal at the BMW dealer, car is beautiful, clean carfax, one owner, service records available, etc. It seems that I keep reading horror stories about these things and posts all over the net that say to dump them when the warrany is up and/or get the CPO warranty. How reliable is the drivetrain on these models? I'm scared of the thing getting a 125K on it and finding out something major like engine problems, or active steering failure, etc, and ending up with a massive repair bill. I understand there's more involved in maintenance on these things because of the complexity.

Thank you all in advance.

John

[drz]

The powertrain is close to bulletproof. Just keep tabs on the cooling system maintenance (be sure the radiator is changed between the 90k and 100k mark).

The electronics are prone to failure from what I hear.

Enjoy!

[JohnnyBoy]

Thanks a lot bud. I've always cummuted a long ways and stacked up around 25k a year on them. I've always maintained my vehicles and never had a major failure shy of 200,000 miles or more. I can handle the occasional 600-800 repair bill once in a while, but not a $6,000 repair bill. I guess I was just looking for some confidence before really settling down about the purchase. I should probably go and talk to my local indy to get a feel for what could be expected on average and worst case.

Thanks a lot for the info.

[JohnnyBoy]

Originally Posted by drz

The powertrain is close to bulletproof. Just keep tabs on the cooling system maintenance (be sure the radiator is changed between the 90k and 100k mark).

The electronics are prone to failure from what I hear.

Enjoy!

One more question (I'm still learning at the most basic level).

When to change the oil? (I dont like the idea of the 15k even for a syn)
When to change the tranny fluid? (I'm sure it's the original fluid, and was reading the posts about changing fluid on high mileage cars and ruining the trans ~ scary stuff there!)

[witeshark]

I like to change the oil at about 3000 miles. I have heard that the tranny fluid should be replaced at the first 75,000 miles or so. I think I'd do it sooner.

[drz]

I've been changing my oil using synthetic on my BMWs every 6000 miles for over five years. About tranny fluid: shoot for every 60,000 or so. By the way, BMW will claim that the tranny fluid is a lifetime fill: that is BS.