HELP ME WITH MY NEW USED 530i BUGS?

[xtranaut]

ISN'T IT ALWAYS THIS WAY? You go in to the dealer to see the car that looks too good to be true and..it is.

Such is the case with the immaculate 06 530i that I saw at my local BMW dealer on the net. I drove up and three others (I was told) had looked at it and all wanted to buy it but the cash didn't meet the payments, etc so, I thought, here is my opportunity to jump.

The car had been on the showroom and was pulled outside to show the others who came in before me. Minus some rock pelting on the windshiled that produces those little sparkly smacks that annoy you in bright sunlight, the car was like new physically.

I took the test drive and it was as expected. Smooth, quiet and fairly responsive. It idled quietly with no loping or dips...and I heard no peculiar noises that would have caused me to think twice.

I bought the car, feeling i got a pretty good deal. It had 39k miles on it and was a local, one owner car. All serviced at the dealer. I felt safe. Isn't it a beauty?



As I began to drive the car a little on a new tank of gas, I noticed that what the MPG readout was telling me was not a happy number. I had reset it to get a more accurate look. It reset at some ridiculously low number -- like 11 mpg (??) OVER THE PERIOD OF TWO DAYS of driving like a 90 year old woman, it has climbed to a whopping 15 mpg.

According to the manual, the MPG is only really accurately recording the driving results for the time that you are in the car and isn't cumulative mileage so this means, to get more accurate reads, you should reset it every time you turn on the car??? REALLY??? Not sure I get that.

Then two other things happened. i started to hear a high pitched noise sounding like it was coming from the rear. The noise become noticeable at about 40 mph and gets louder at about 60. I haven't run it on the freeway yet to know if it gets louder.

The transmission doesn't feel abnormal and shifts as it should..

Then, I noted that when I was slowing down for traffic head at about 60, when I applied the brakes, the steering wheel started shaking ( a right to left type shake).

I traded in an 07 328i that drove perfectly without noises and shakes at 19.7 mpg all day everyday no matter how I got on it. Now I am driving like an old lady to try and eeks mpgs out of this car that has less miles than my 328.

Any ideas on what all this could be? The car seems too young and in too good a shape (with consistent service maintenance records shown on the carfax) to have these kinds of pains.

[brettski]

Welcome to the Werkz.

Try and get hold of the original owner to see what they can tell you about the car. Armed with that infomration go back to the dealer and tell them about the issues that you have and see what they are prepared to do for you. Was there any warranty on the vehicle?

[xtranaut]

Originally Posted by brettski

Welcome to the Werkz.

Try and get hold of the original owner to see what they can tell you about the car. Armed with that information go back to the dealer and tell them about the issues that you have and see what they are prepared to do for you. Was there any warranty on the vehicle?

No warranty. Too old. Past the CPO but looks showroom new. Amazing the car lasted that long without a scratch or a ding and you can tell it was garaged - probably even at work..paint is great. The car only had 39k miles and was purchased in 05 when they came out new so that is a little over 6k a year for mileage. It was owned by a female doctor and i would expect by the address that it was mostly driven freeway.

Funny you say to check with the owner because I often wonder what people think nowadays about getting a phone call from someone who just bought their old car. If they want to tell you anything - good or bad. People are getting so security conscious now and doctors are always cautious about getting sued for anything.

The first night I had the car i was messing around with the I-DRIVE and there were lots of nav settings for directions and address book, including the owners name and address -- something I NEVER do, along with putting my garage opener setting in the homelink. But I might call.

[toadfish83]

the shakeing under braking is probably warped front brake disks and at a guess id say the rear noise is a wheel bearing. as for the fuel consumption have you worked it out manually? if so get it checked out with diagnostics id guess at a o2 sensor

[brettski]

Is it possible that one of the rear brakes is partially stuck on? That might explain the noise and the poor fuel economy. Go for a drive and then check the rear brakes to see if one or both of them are hotter than they should be given the driving you have just done. Remember that the hand brake and the disk brakes are two different systems, so it could be any one (or more) of the four braking mechanisms on the rear. The other option is jack the wheels up one at a time with the car in neutral (make sure you chock the other wheels) and then see how much resistance there is to you manually turning, pay attention to any unusual noises like rumbling or scraping. Good luck, it looks like you have a nice car apart from these wheels.