About to go for an E70 to replace an E46

[Alchemist]

What a fantastically helpful thread - the advice I've had from you all just in the last few days has already nudged me much more towards an E70 and I've got some viewings this week on a few SEs. Definitely looks the right car for me, and I'll accept the higher tax if the price, condition and spec of the car are right.

Just to come back on a few of the useful points you've raised:

I also had an E36 (single vanos, with Nikasil lining) and was lucky to get north of 30mpg on a run, but mid to high 20s round town (was low geared though in 5th). Quality wise felt more solid overall than my E46 and got 180k out of it before I sold it, still miss that car (daft I know, but it was the car I bought when we first had kids, great memories of camping holidays with that car).

My E46 is an M Sport and super stiff, so I'm quite used to a fairly harsh ride, especially when towing. It also sits low on the back with limited, travel and I'm thinking the E70, even with sports suspension, may be a little more forgiving and suitable for towing. I've test driven an SE model and the wife said it felt firm, but felt quite normal to me - felt more connected to the road than many cars I've driven.

Most of the engine issues and things to be aware actually also give me confidence, as many of these bits and bobs I've had practice on via my E46. It's a late engine (204hp, remapped to 265hp) and had the uprated larger swirl flaps fitted as standard which I removed. I've also done the glow plugs and module (plus starter motor, crank sensor, thermostats, EGR etc over the years...) so some of it should feel familiar on the E70 if I have to get the spanners out, although I'm new to 4x4's, air suspension and electrical gremlins!!!

I've been reading around on other common issues such as the 'park' button failing, but my rationale is that something like this could fail on many modern cars, and I'd rather stomach a hit on a car I really enjoy owning, driving and looking after long-term than something I've compromised on because its modern and cheap.

My thinking with the tyres depends on what's on the car I go for. One of the E70s I've shortlisted has 20" RFT. If this turns out to be a good motor, I'd look to swap them early on for 18" non staggered and explore running non-RFT while looking on the bay for a full size spare to keep in the boot for long distance runs, which would probably give me more confidence if I had a puncture.

[gmc15]

If you go for a 7 seater there is no space under the boot floor for a spare so it would have to sit in the actual boot
I have the 20" runflats but also have a spare under the boot floor - that was just in case I got a puncture while towing in France on the autoroutes, as trying to source a spare would be difficult with them being odd sizes.

[Alchemist]

[quote="gmc15"]
If you go for a 7 seater there is no space under the boot floor for a spare so it would have to sit in the actual boot
I have the 20" runflats but also have a spare under the boot floor - that was just in case I got a puncture while towing in France on the autoroutes, as trying to source a spare would be difficult with them being odd sizes.
[/quote]

Reckon I could live with that for piece of mind on long runs TBH for the added flexibility of having 7 seats, especially if I can pop it in some kind of clean cover. Good to know if could be stowed away though if I plump for a 5 seater. Starting to get exciting about E70 ownership!!!

Bit freaked by the lack of a temperature gauge but I'm figuring an app running of the OBD could be a simple solution.

[gmc15]

Keep us updated on your viewings this week please - good and bad points of each car - getting exited for you looking for a new car )

[Alchemist]

Absolutely will do, looking at both a 5 and a 7 seater.

I viewed a blue 7 seater at the weekend with cream leather. The ad failed to mention a number of issues:

Rusty rail under one of the extra seats on the back row (the seller had actually left the trim off and tucked it in the boot). Carpet felt a little damp as well (and had a sunroof so I presumed it was leaking).

Three holes in the windscreen (seller told me it had minor chip), one of them was so big I could feel the air flowing through it. Like a bullet hole!

Had the comfort seats but the motors to raise/lower them were super noisy, also the passenger seat back had a gap where the seat back had been forced open presumably for a fix.

Glove box trim had peeled and lifted, preventing it from opening.

Dirt and litter down the seat gaps, and some of the stitching had parting in the rear, hardly confidence inspiring.

Lots of filthy marks, especially on the seat belts.

Turned the rear wiper on and it fell off! Left it swinging in the wind.

Both keys looked like they'd been chewed by jaws.

Outside the car the paintwork had loads of marks, under the arches looked really rusty for the mileage and the tyre treads were worn and uneven. Still, he'd gone to the trouble or spraying the tyres so they looked shiny.

Anyhow, that's one ruled out!

[Chrispy]

Re the boot floor, this is indeed correct. The 3rd row folding flat reduces the under floor boot space to a little set of cubby holes right at the back, where the battery lives but also where I put my jump leads, tow rope, wheel brace etc. Just "peice of mind" things I've always carried. Oh and now a can of get me home foam now I've ditched the run flats too.

But with the 3 kids and their cousins / friends, the whole 7 seat thing has been amazingly handy. Carrying everyone in one go is so useful, providing you don't want to put anything in what's left of the boot with the 3rd row up.... Like, a pushchair for example. That day was interesting.... Still might get a roof box at this rate....

One thing to note, if you do get a 7 seater, make sure the blower fan / heater in the 3rd row works, visible when you lift the seats. Mine didn't and it was a symptom of my failed climate main control unit. Alongside its lack of ability to aim the air anywhere other than the windscreen or do any form of recirculation.

Other issues I've had are peeling chrome around the idrive knob (sharp, I cut myself on it), a snapped parking brake switch (common I believe), a failed ball joint on a front wishbone, failed front thrust arm bushes and leaking rear light cluster seals (they fogged up). The comfort close tailgate is a bit iffy (sometimes just bounces rather than latches shut) and the 2nd row of seats still rattle no matter what I do, but I am a picky bugger and I do like my cars to be perfect....

You had a nikasil block? Ooh - any compression issues? No need for the alusil replacement?

Think the M50TU was a lot better otherwise than the M50 in terms of low down torque and MPG. All mine was good for was revving (and as a coupe the rear seats folded which was nice) but christ that car loved to fall to bits.....

[Alchemist]

That's really good to know, and I'll be using my boot box for similar if I go for the 7. For me the 7 seat option outways the boot space similar to you - 2 kids, their friends, plus holidays with parents and all using one vehicle for nipping to the pub/beach etc. Will be so versatile.

Yeah - I got unlucky/lucky with my E36. I bought it before I knew about the issue and then read up. Had 93k on the clock and the compressions were good. I ran it on decent fuel most of the time and also made sure I did regular oil changes. Only sold it as needed a better towing wagon and economy was poor/also struggled with emissions come MOT time.

Your 7 seater sounds ideal - I'm planning on retaining my roof bars and roof box for holidays etc.

Thanks also for the heads up to test the rear vents, I'd seen them and will make sure they're blowing properly

[Alchemist]

Quick update...

So my dad's viewed 2 for me today (as they were up for sale nearer to him than me).

Both 2007 models. 1st on was black with Nevada leather, looked great in the pics and only 50k miles. In the flesh quite a few dints and marks, history was patchy, tyres worn and it was stuck in park and wouldn't drive. Crossed that one off.

Next one much better, 90k miles, 7 seats SE model with dynamic upgrade, grey with Nevada leather. Superb condition inside and out. Only 3 issues though:

1 no towbar (to be expected but need to factor in as extra cost)
2 only one key
3 few receipts but missing service history log. Dealer said he'd bought from a BMW AD in Wales and the car had been serviced all it's life at BMW. He'd called them and made a printed sheet of which BMW garages serviced it, miles and dates. Obviously this could be nonsense and hardly counts as service history, but I'm wondering if BMW would share history if I was the owner? I'll call them tomorrow.

[Groken]

If you have a registration just pass it on to me and I can check what it history bmw has on it. I have access to bmw online service portal.

[Alchemist]

That's very kind of you, I've just PMd it. Without print outs or documented evidence this may make it difficult to sell on if I ever decided to I imagine

[X5Sport]

BMW GB will provide what service history they have, but they charge.  It’s not a lot though.

[Alchemist]

[quote="X5Sport"]
BMW GB will provide what service history they have, but they charge.  It’s not a lot though.
[/quote]

Firstly a HUGE thanks to Groken on this forum who sorted me out with some service records earlier today. Extremely grateful.

I followed up on this by calling BMW UK, helpful chap on the phone gave me dates and locations of every visit the car had made to BMW garages across the country, which tallied with what the dealer had typed up.  BUT what was missing was mileage at each visit and what work was actually carried out. For this BMW UK said I'd need to contact each BMW garage listed individually for their own records, which I did (well, I gave up after 4). Some had no record of the car being at their garage (despite BMW UK having a record), some had random dates and just wrong information and none of them would actually send me their records due to data protection as it contained the previous owner(s) name and address.

Therefore it looks like it was well looked after (annual visits at the minimum according to BMW UK) BUT without me being able to get these records it would effectively have no service history evidence if I was to ever sell it on. Bit naughty of the dealer advertising it as 'FSH' when all he has is a home made typed-up sheet of A4 for dealership visits that could relate to anything.

Think I'll have to pass on this one as well!

[NehalX5]

I think the park button on ours failed because we used it too hard I think, reminded us to treat the car nicer! The car freaks out slightly when the park button broke off and classed it as a parking brake failure with the '(P)' light on the dashboard going orange and not red.

I would be very skeptical about the service book for any car. BMW however should have direct access to the service history, might be a better idea to either phone the previous dealer which looked after it or phone BMW UK. I really don't understand how people can lose things that are of utmost importance to a cars history, it remains in a folder tucked away in a cupboard for us.

Nevada leather is very nice, it is better than the baseline Dakota but not as good as the Nappa leather. However it wears better than the Nappa so it should be good for children.

Shouldn't be any rust whatsoever on these cars, would be very surprised if I ever saw some.

I really like the style 214 wheels on SE with the Dynamic pack. I think it looks better than the 227M's on our M-Sport, might tempt for an alloy change.

[Groken]

You welcome, I own my own garage and I'm registered with BMW online service portal so I can record any service done on the cars I service but it also gives me access to any history as well. Problem with BMW service is that any little thing get booked as service and you can end up buying a car with Fsh that hasn't had oil replaced in 40k but had brake fluid changed every 2 years, when turbo packs up on a car like that you have no chance of any warranty company paying out for it. New data protection law is making a mess of service history for garages as they can't pass on anything with previous owners detail.

[Alchemist]

Thanks Groken - whereabouts are you? As I struggle to find good local BMW garages.