My local dealer has a nicely equipped program car w/6K miles. I'm giving up my pristine and very reliable 2000 540i Sport w/only 37K miles. Am I crazy? I'm craving the technology, but want to make sure its worth a car payment again. Since I have limited exposure to the E60s and this twin turbo engine - what experience has everyone had?
By "program car" do you mean sales demonstrator? I can't help you with empirical info on the E60 or the twin-turbo motor but I can say I'm leery of demo cars. They are rarely broken in properly. That can be a problem if you plan to keep it and rack up the mileage. Otherwise, a demo can be a great deal. Edit: Nevermind, I just realized "program" means CPO. Shutting up now.
A Carfax report might show if the vehicle has had high pressure fuel pump, injector or other common N54 engine issues. Many cars that have the HPFP failure once have them multiple times including all x35i models from 2007 right into 2010. The pump on 2007-2008models has a 120K extended warranty but that doesn't correct the problem nor prevent break down on the highway. The extended warranty doesn't apply to 2009 and later models, yet. See the nhtsa.gov website for safety complaints on this model as a reference of other owner's experience.
Carfax won't show that info. You are talking about a local BMW dealer, right? Ask the dealer to show you a vehicle history report from the BMW dealer computer system. If they have nothing to hide, the report should show you every repair and service the car has had in its short life. Make sure the dealer sold the car and serviced it, or can explain where they got it. If it's not a BMW dealer, "Program" could be a BMW buy-back sold at auction that doesn't qualify for BMW's CPO program. This can often be the case with Carmax or any independent dealership that buys late-model cars from auction. They might not even know the car's particular history.
