I had a e63 630msport and to be honest wasn't overly impressed with ownership.
After driving the 650 and not really wanting the low teens MPG and it feeling a bit heavier up front I went 630.
The drives in both weren't very engaging. Too heavy for country road twisties and no lsd meant drifting was a challenge in such a big barge. Straight line both pulled well. As a cruiser it was ok. Auto box didn't help with involvement and kkickdowns would get confused. Sport mode you could see a big difference.
Downsides apart from the dull drive and not great auto box...no bluetooth audio connectivity. No aux connection. I drive is a bit s**t compared to buttons or other esystems. No cup holder (that was really annoying on long drives). Reliability. My starter motor went and being auto was a pain. There was an issue where water would drain into the vack footwell. Window didn't shut 100 full even though it looked it. Brakes weren't confidence inspiring. No heated seats or nav (that's msport spec tho )
All in all. I was underwhelmed. Point and squirt is fine for a while. But I prefer more engaging cars. This left me cold.
Unlucky owner tbh. Just read a lot of 650i/550i posts on PistonHeads and it was the antithesis; for the most part they're a reliable unit. That issue has happened on 330i/530i/630i cars too
I could opt for the M5/M6 V10, but as a daily it would be ridiculous with 12-15mpg and the worry of rod bearing failure (£10k-15k fix), SMG pump failures, brake discs at £2.5k all round every 12,000 miles etc etc etc. High maintenance divas. It's a grey area whether the rod bearing failure will be covered under warranty too - many don't.
What I like about the 650i/550i is they offer 90% of the M5/M6 real-world performance with 24-27mpg and the same consumables as the rest of the 5 Series range
Plus I think the Bangle styling has finally come of age
Not unlucky owner matey, it's a common v8 problem across the whole v8 range, it's what put me off buying a v8 x5. Although it's just a rubber seal that perishes, the amount of labour to fix it is horrendous. Shame really as I really fancied a v8, I especially like the 550i.
I have a 3.0d sport x5 and it's fantastic as a daily, not far off the performance of the v8 with non of the issues. The v8 engines can also chew through timing chain guides.........not good.
I'll be totally honest ...if your buying a car like that on a budget ...don't! I worked for bmw for many years and I see the pitfalls with cars like that . Lovely car especially an lci msport but when something goes wrong it's normally a fortune to fix. Even general maintaing like ball joints ,rear arms that cause camber wear ,breaks from memory are very similar to an m5 so it's 200 for front pads and sensor etc it's all expensive stuff...then people say just buy nongenuine lol year so you want all the flash bit don't want the up keep lol ...champagne eyes coke-a-cola pockets .
I've had loads of bmw cars over the years and now if I buy anything it's new with warranty , I understand not everyone can do this but honestly from my own experience paying peanuts for an expensive car is just a ticking time bomb.
I'll be totally honest ...if your buying a car like that on a budget ...don't! I worked for bmw for many years and I see the pitfalls with cars like that . Lovely car especially an lci msport but when something goes wrong it's normally a fortune to fix. Even general maintaing like ball joints ,rear arms that cause camber wear ,breaks from memory are very similar to an m5 so it's 200 for front pads and sensor etc it's all expensive stuff...then people say just buy nongenuine lol year so you want all the flash bit don't want the up keep lol ...champagne eyes coke-a-cola pockets .
I've had loads of bmw cars over the years and now if I buy anything it's new with warranty , I understand not everyone can do this but honestly from my own experience paying peanuts for an expensive car is just a ticking time bomb.
Well you would say to take your car to a main dealer as you worked for one. I would never ever take my car to a main dealer. They are the worst of the worst, rip you off with parts, charge extortionate rates of labour and don't give a toss about customers generally.
Of course you can run any car on a budget, if you do it right. I source all my own OEM parts at far cheaper prices than any main dealer and service my own cars. I drive a 530i Sport and it's been super cheap motoring over the last 20k miles.
I don't run any of my cars on a shoestring and I'm probably the most thorough owner of a car you could find. I take pride in maintaining my cars and following servicing schedules to a T
650i/550i brake sets are different to the M cars and do cost almost half the price.
I'll also be running it with an auc warranty and it certainly won't be a peanuts example
A mate has a C63 running about 700bhp. 8 mpg and with today's petrol prices I have no idea why he hasn't sold it. Same goes with all these big engines cars, they're cheap for a reason
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