Lets talk about BMW wagons. Who has owned them, driven them, worked on them?
I have a child on the way and we are either looking at a Honda Odyssey or a BMW Wagon. I know the van will be more useful down teh road but for now the wagon will work out great. This will be the 1st child so I dont really need 3rd row seating yet. The open back will be great for car seats stroilers etc.
I found a 2003 5 series (sport pkg) with 132k on it for $10k. Sounds expensive to me but I guess these were like 45k back in the day. Ebay even has a few for 10k with 250k miles.
Im just worried about the cost of parts and labor being a lot more then my Hondas. Im sure yes BMW parts are more $ but…a lot more?
I could see this lasting up into the 200k miles range if treated well.
Thought, opions etc.
IMO the BMW wagon looks much better then the Odyssey…though the odyssey isnt bad
They are easy to work on, the 6 cylinders really only have tstat/radiator/water pump/evap problems. The first 3 being a one time fix with upgraded parts. The 8’s have the same, plus sometimes a valley cover leak. 8 cylinders never came in manual in the US in a touring. Both suffer from rear shock mounts that need to be replaced. I’ve owned 3 e34’s and an e39 and would definitely recommend an e39. Not bad on parts cost, easy to work on, and really nice to drive.
You could look up the cost of common maintenance parts instead of taking our word. If you are worried about it get the 6 cylinder. Super reliable and easy to work on. The cooling system isn’t too hard to do either. I’d recommend the bimmerzone kit with the all aluminum radiator.
For a car for your wife and kid hauler, i would look into something reliable, not something you can “wrench on” in your spare time. I would buy the BMW wagon, but its not something i would buy for a wife or gf. By the van, the subaru wagon is nice, and so is the acura tsx wagon. I’m not saying the BMW is a bad car, its jut not worth the risk
e46 wagons are hit or miss if they look good or fugly, I am not sure why though. I’m considering selling my sedan for a wagon this summer but I would really want a white one with black sport interior.
bmw is a builit proof inline 6, and make solid drive lines the only issues we see here at Swiderski, are usually small issues like radio pixs burning out, blower motor resistors, valve cover gaskits, thermostats. they make solid cars.
at the moment we don’t have any Bimmer wagons but Justin can source you one give him a call. or even if you decide to go with the van he could source you one of those as well we recently sourced a Toyota Sianna for a customer.
