Thinking of "trading down" - need advice

[Majdnoon]

I've got a bit of a decision to make and I wanted some perspectives that are not my own.


I currently have 2 cars; a '98 E36 M3 (my weekender/race car) and a '14 Dodge Charger R/T (my daily driver). There's a lot to like about the Hemi, but also a lot to dislike. IE lack of a manual, undefeatable stability control, heavy. It's got about 23,xxx miles. Now that it's out of warranty, I'm thinking I might move on.


My idea is to trade in my Charger for a clean, low-mileage, well-maintained E39 5-series with a manual trans. Preferably a 540i M-sport. The reason for this is twofold: I'd enjoy my daily driver more than I do now, and I'd have an extra $10-15K to invest (IE deposit for a house, buy a car to flip, save for a rainy day, etc) due to blue book value being about $25K. The Charger is paid off.


I've got plenty of frustrating experiences working on my E36, so I'm gonna do the E39 right. No POS Craigslist specials. Sub-100K mileage, zero rust, great condition, lovingly maintained by someone who keeps all maintenance records in a laminated binder. I would take care of it in the same kind.


The way I see it, the main risks are potential reliability issues (see my mostly-broken E36 race car). Despite my plan to buy the cleanest E39 I can find, it's still a 20 year old BMW. But the Charger is out of warranty now, and I've heard about poor reliability in modern Chrysler products.


I'm a lawyer so I'd have the money to properly maintain the E39 when issues come up.*


What do you guys think? Am I making a financial mistake? Are reliability issues not gonna be worth the extra $10-15K in my pocket? Any issues I'm not seeing here? Anything else to add?

Thanks for your input.*

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by Majdnoon

I've got a bit of a decision to make and I wanted some perspectives that are not my own.


I currently have 2 cars; a '98 E36 M3 (my weekender/race car) and a '14 Dodge Charger R/T (my daily driver). There's a lot to like about the Hemi, but also a lot to dislike. IE lack of a manual, undefeatable stability control, heavy. It's got about 23,xxx miles. Now that it's out of warranty, I'm thinking I might move on.


My idea is to trade in my Charger for a clean, low-mileage, well-maintained E39 5-series with a manual trans. Preferably a 540i M-sport. The reason for this is twofold: I'd enjoy my daily driver more than I do now, and I'd have an extra $10-15K to invest (IE deposit for a house, buy a car to flip, save for a rainy day, etc) due to blue book value being about $25K. The Charger is paid off.


I've got plenty of frustrating experiences working on my E36, so I'm gonna do the E39 right. No POS Craigslist specials. Sub-100K mileage, zero rust, great condition, lovingly maintained by someone who keeps all maintenance records in a laminated binder. I would take care of it in the same kind.


The way I see it, the main risks are potential reliability issues (see my mostly-broken E36 race car). Despite my plan to buy the cleanest E39 I can find, it's still a 20 year old BMW. But the Charger is out of warranty now, and I've heard about poor reliability in modern Chrysler products.


I'm a lawyer so I'd have the money to properly maintain the E39 when issues come up.*


What do you guys think? Am I making a financial mistake? Are reliability issues not gonna be worth the extra $10-15K in my pocket? Any issues I'm not seeing here? Anything else to add?

Thanks for your input.*

I see this post is a few weeks old. I've had a couple of e39s and loved them both. You are smart to seek an 540 with M-tech or M-sport package. I'm not certain but the 6-speed manuals may have been called M-sport. The auto was sold in a package in 2003 as the M-tech package. Thats the car I had and I loved it. I'd still be driving it if it didn't get demolished in a crash.

Your plan is sound. The trouble you will have is finding one sub 100k miles in great condition. I drove my first E39, a '97 540 to 150k miles and then sold it to my son who put another 100k on it. The car was bulletproof except the well advertised issues like pixels, cupholders, radiator, etc. Not a single engine issue. My advice is to worry more about its condition and maintenance record than just miles. You may find the perfect one at 135k miles, for example. You wouldn't want to turn it down must for miles. As a side note: They are really safe. I crashed mine and the experts say my wife and I should not have made it and yet here I am writing this post.

Good luck.


BTW, nobody on this forum give a sh*t that you are a lawyer.