Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Yep.

Get that.

It’d be interesting to know the dates of the services.

Yes, that did occur to me - if it's been serviced when the light went on then it's potentially been serviced every ~3 years.

I'd much rather it'd had an oil change every year, even if it's only done 2,000 miles in that time.

Apparently the BMW service guide states that the oil should be changed every two years regardless of miles driven.

If it has the same engine in as the equivalent age 7 then low miles won’t be enough to dodge some big bills. My father has inexplicably signed himself up to the same fun twice with low mileage ‘serviced’ 4.4 7s. Serious load space in the back of a 7 btw.

What went wrong with his?

I worry asking him for a rundown wouldn’t be good for the stress levels but I’ll bring it up next time I’m by. Cooling/hoses I think. He’s selling it if you want an (upfront) cheap runabout. It’s a bit crude inside compared to his previous one of similar age though for some reason. I’ve been trying to push him on to an e61 Touring for a while but no joy.

You often find with low mileage cars they’ll do more miles in the first few years then drop after that.

Something that’s done 300 miles a year recently won’t necessarily enjoy it if you start to use it more than that.

Indeed, and also quite hard to value - so difficult to tell if that price is fair.

The seller does offer a warranty, albeit a brief one as stock it can be extended, which depending on the service history might be a key part of a negotiation.

That is very nice. Buy both it and an unlimited warranty for the first year, to pay for those 'not driven enough' issues to come to light.

Fun fact: Car warranties are all bollocks.

Regardless of what a dealer says they must sell you a car that is fit for purpose for a reasonable period. 3 months is not a reasonable period for an £8,000 car. 6 months is borderline I’d say.

A classic Ferrari dealer I know lost a court case and had to replace a clutch after 8 months and 3,000 miles. That’s a wear item. His argument was that the owner could have abused it. The judge disagreed.

How much did the case cost to bring to court and secure that judgement?

Although a wear item is specifically excluded from the warranty the dealer mentions, it is true.

Fun fact: Car warranties are all bollocks.

This. The dealer I bought the RS6 off said his warranty was really excellent and that he wouldn't sell the car with less than a 6 month warranty. I said it wasn't worth the paper it was written on. Having read the small print, and tried to see if it would cover any of Monster Bill #1, I was right. Used car warranties are useless.

A classic Ferrari dealer I know lost a court case and had to replace a clutch after 8 months and 3,000 miles. That’s a wear item. His argument was that the owner could have abused it. The judge disagreed.

I once acted for a company which hired out helicopters who tried to sue one of their clients claiming that he'd worn out the clutch on a helicopter by doing something inappropriately unpleasant to the drive belts, or something. We lost. Our expert witness was quite a character though, so we had a very interesting chat before going into court. #csb

I could buy some rabbits feet instead

Well, I did make that point but he seemed unimpressed by it. As unimpressed as the letting agent who was amazed when a friend and I, a long, long time ago, insisted on reading the terms of our lease from beginning to end, laughed about the out-of-date drafting, and then handed it back signed but with a list of proposed amendments to bring it out of the 1950s. Said friend is now a silk, so probably gets a bit more respect these days. And probably doesn't have to lease a house to live in.

Lucky heather?

A lottery card with every tank of fuel

It's been a busy week welding and grafting, swapped over my M-Tech 2 kit off my old 325i but ran out of clips on the last trim so I have to wait for the drivers door one to go on, here is her good side :)

Those E39 5 series have all plastic cooling systems right? That would be at least one thing to be fully replaced. Expansion tanks, hoses, the lot. And on a low miler factor in brake lines, bushings. All filters and fluids etc for peace of mind. Could be a 14 grand car quickly! But you'd have a great 540 touring at the end of it.

I wouldn't go near that BMW - as mentioned, doesn't matter about the mileage at that age. It'll likely need all of the consumables and a new cooling system at the least. Then control arms / bushings and all that jazz. Cool car though even if I prefer the next gen 5 series with the 3.0.

I'm in California from today until midweek next week, and I've not yet heard back from the chap who is interested in the Volvo, so no hurry.

I guess taking the car to someone like Munich Legends for a full inspection would be logical- and asking them about what would be required to essentially recommission it, cooling system etc.

I guess taking the car to someone like Munich Legends for a full inspection would be logical

Would it? It will cost you about the same to recommission this car as the 911.

Do you really want an old 5 series that owes you £15,000?

The only way that car will make sense is if you drive it and repair as you go.

Depends what the alternative is - which does of course start at "don't replace the Volvo" and escalate from there.

For a leased vehicle you are looking at 6-12k/year.

One of those 535d's is the the sensible choice I am sure, but it's looking like a decent example will be ~15k.

I have no idea whether the seller of the 540i would be open to any negotiation on the price but if we go your suggested route we're probably somewhere between 8-15k for the first year, and I do think it's somewhat cooler than a 535d. Albeit also a much worse car.

The 911 has cost slightly more than your suggested figure to bring up to standard, I'd rather not spend that on the Estate.

Service history:
2000 at 9,409
2002 at 15,182
2004 at 22,305
2006 at 28,006
2008 at 29,965
2011 at 32,677
2015 at 37,505

Servicing has been done according to the lights on the dash saying "service now".

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@Dammit

As someone who owns a much lower powered E39 Touring, that self levelling rear suspension will need looking at for starters, then what everyone else has said too.

They are fookin' massive inside, the seats are fantastic but I miss the fold down arm rest from the E34 seats, SE spec is so comfy but kind of wallowy, that said you can arm wrestle it at impressive speeds down quite narrow roads. The air bags on the rear do a good job of dialling out a fair bit of the bank angle when you tip it in round a corner.

Not that it's important to you, but I hate those wheels, it is important to stick to 16s to maximise the amount of tyre sidewall though otherwise you start losing that beautiful comfort.

We can swap for a bit if you want to try out what an E39 is like.

I just spoke to the sales-chap on the phone, he said that it's been to Chandlers BMW exclusively and had "whatever they said it needed". Sounds like I need to take a look at what that actually involved.

Thanks for the offer of E39 lending - I'm away for a couple of weeks now however (heading to the airport shortly).

The goal of this car is to be wallowy comfort, the 911 can do zoom-zoom.

Although entertainingly now that the 911 is slammed, on 18's, on Ohlins coil-overs the ride is (significantly!) better than the Volvo on 17's/Koni FSD.

If there's no rush on the E39 purchase then you're welcome to borrow it whenever you're back.