BMWs that I have lusted for
 

Used £50,000 plus cars are always going to pose a certain risk.

The BMW 540 I had before was a dog and needed £200 a month throwing at it to keep it on the road on top of the other high cost's involved.

Then it blew a head gasket twice which was the last straw until due to the shot front suspension i rear ended a car on the motorway and it got wrote off.

Since then and owning the 8 for 7 months which is 3 years older than the 540 was and has more miles on it I have had to spend nothing on it except for service items.

Whatever you do stick with VAG I am on my 5th VAG car now and every other car I have had has had more problems than all the VAG cars put together.

Funny you should say that Mick, here's a picture of some of the family fleet parked outside my sisters house. All german, all V8.

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...8/15b6ec08.jpg

All the Audi's have issues, the S4 has suddenly stopped going into reverse! (6 speed manual). The other A8 is generally okay, had its fair share of control arms, air con not working and it has the usual clunky gearbox symptoms. That A8 does 5k miles a month so it will probably need a new box soon!

Anyway, point is the BMW has more then double the miles of all Audi's, its way over 200k but its never had a single issue, the gearbox is smoother then a freshley rebuilt S8 ZF box and is the comfiest car I've ever been in. I have a huge amount of respect for the E39 and that particular car is my favourite out of loads we have had, including the 335, S6 V8 quattro etc...



Anyway, I just want my green car back!

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...8/535ef251.jpg

Love this picture Tonupkid posted, I can forgive it for breaking an engine and gearbox within the space of three months. All it needs is a Milltek, slam, private plate :rolleyes:

E39's Rule.

I've had my E39 M5 for 4 years now. 156k on the clock, driven hard and it's superb!!

A8_Doc, pics and more info please! Have you had any vanos issues? I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought about getting one. E39s do rule!

Can I make a confession - I too had an E39!!!! ...... I know, I know!
Mine wasn't an M5 but a 530d M-Sport in that stunning blue they did. It was buetiful to look at and drive, awful interior and stereo but lovely car. Could never get let out of junctions though and it made me consider a career selling drugs and organising prostitution rings..... :ROFL:

Cool car it was, and GREAT fun on roundabouts, you could hold a HUUUUUUGE slide with ease on the exit!

I did eventually see sence though and thats when I bought the A8 4.0TDi. +++

ok, seeing as we're having a confess-all session here, I do admit that although I (obvously) love all Audis unconditionally, and (being and Audi lover) I also hate BMW, I do have a bit of a soft spot for the E39 M5....

Give me one of those with the SMG box, and I might just struggle to hold back the grin....

Anyway, back to reliability.... The British are no better.

My range rover needed two new tyres a fortnight ago (£300), but I cant really blame it for that as they're wear and tear. So, I reluctantly forked out new wellies for her, and no sooner have I done that, the weather turns and changes the battery into a lump of cheese. Well, it might as well have been as it held charge about as effectively as dairy produce.

I spent a week avoiding using it for short journeys, and kept a battery in the back to jump start it should it go flat on a longer journey.

Anyway, come Wednesday night, tried to start it after being stood for 8 hours during the day, after having a 4 hour non stop run in the morning and it was dead. So, used the last remaining joules of power in the spare battery to crank it over and then found I had no LPG and a thimble full of petrol to get to the nearest battery place before I died in the middle of the road forever... Plus. it was now 6pm. Ggrrrrr..

So, googled for Halfords, drove gingerly across town, got out of the car, took my trousers down ready for the pricing, and sure enough got well and truely stuffed. £95 for a 70AH battery. :eek:

1 sore butt later and I have a new battery, and she starts every time.....

Now, theres just the faulty central locking, trip computer, rattly exhaust, torn boot trims, dint in the rear quarter, loose door trim... Oh wait, its a Landy... its supposed to be like that... +++

so it turns out British reliability is infact fine, it having limped on giving you a week to sort it out and get a battery but instead you left it until it was little more than a paper weight and had to emergency purchase it's replacement.........struggling to see the car's fault here :D

No problems with my '8' whatsoever, except the transfer box seal in my 18 months of ownership (rapidly grasping xylem!)

I too confess to once owning a beemer, a 328, too small, cramped, seats about as comfortable as a park bench (not too good with a knackered back), did have a couple of good points, the brakes, and being able to get rid of it quickly.

i cant believe you are all talking bmw on an audi forum :tuttut: you should be ashamed of yourselfs.http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1285364290
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1285364290
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1285364290
so here is a few photos of the company car i have had recently while out doing a spot of caravaning +++

We all turned out to be a bunch of closet BMW 5 series fan boys :ROFL: