[MannyZ06]

delete please

[raleedy]

He's just a BMW mechanic. What does he know?

[Grover432]

Welcome. Sorry to say you will likely get more opinion than fact on your question here. Each person has had their own personal experience with their car here, but the best advice will come from a BMW mechanic who fixes F10s daily. Of course, maybe your mechanic friend can fix your car after warranty for you, or, why don't you take over the lease and wait and see how it is over the next year? The interest cost in that time will tell you whether your new car is a keeper or one you should walk away from at the end of 2 years.

[Nickoftime]

Don't listen to the mechanic - it's a great car - agreed the mpg is not great but it's a beast so if that's not a problem and u have free service and maintenance along with warranty from bmw so don't worry

[Vinfast]

I never had an issues with my 2011 550i. No melting plastic, injector issue, etc. It was a monster of an engine with the Dinan Stage 2, and I'm no grandma driver. Now I'm on to a 2014 550i, and it's an even better engine!!!

[ezmaass]

If you're concerned about it, keep it through warranty and see how it goes. Another option may be to get a CPO car. A lease doesn't make sense if you're driving 4k miles per year? Also, be weary of the bitter mechanic. While they have credibility for working on these cars, they're sometimes jaded and have skewed views. I can't tell you how many bad things I heard about the 335i when I bought it... Including mechanics telling horror stories of bad HPFPs, turbo problems, etc. 6+ years and 89k miles the car has been very solid. Not to say you should discard what you hear but take it with a grain of salt. I would expect more problems with a 550 versus more mainstream 535, but that's just conjecture. Expect maintenance to increase with cost and complexity of the car.

[BossBeamer]

Best thing for you to do is take over the lease and see whats up. You have warranty. Another option is to look at a 2011 535i. If you are looking for a weekend cruiser with the family, the i6 in the 535i is great, no need for the V8.

I myself love BMWs, and never really get the v8's. That's just me. You might have different tastes, but from what you're saying, you don't need the V8. I own several auto repair shops, keep in mind when people have a V8 in ANY car, let alone a BMW, the car will be pushed to the max with a lot of stress on the car's components (flooring it, heavy shifts, hard turns, ect all wear out the car faster).

[Hoa]

people that love their car will always say its a great car. people that hate it will always have something negative to say. check with a few other bmw mechanics and see if they also ran into similar problems with them like your friend. here isd two 550i owners having problem with their car.

http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=923949

[Alan l.]

Between the 535 and 550 the 535 is a more reliable / economic choice. I also know a BMW mechanic and he told me the same thing. BMW V8 are more expensive and problematic compared to there inline 6 motors. You will find much more 550 owners on this forum posting about engine issues if you look around...

Alan

[ezmaass]

Alan, I would tend to agree in principle. I've had inline 6 BMWs for 13 years and never really any engine issues. The 550 I just bought will be my first experience with the v8, but it seems logical that the i6 would be more reliable considering the heritage of that engine design with BMW, not to mention the popularity. That said, BMW has also been stepping up the number of cars with v8's lately, too, so hopefully reliability there builds... although I feel the v8 is living on borrowed time with 6's as powerful as they are, electric on the horizon, etc.

[zzzbullseye]

Originally Posted by Hoa

people that love their car will always say its a great car. people that hate it will always have something negative to say. check with a few other bmw mechanics and see if they also ran into similar problems with them like your friend. here isd two 550i owners having problem with their car.

http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=923949

^^^^ This. ^^^^

As long as you have warranty coverage... I love my car, but my recent engine trouble has steeled my opinion of not owning these cars outside of coverage.

[Alan l.]

My opinion if you plan to keep the car well over warranty period I would stick with a BMW inline 6. If you only plan to keep it right till the warranty is about to expire then get whatever satisfies your right leg. I've had both the F10 535 and now 550 and there is no denying the V8 is a ton more fun but I couldn't imagine fixing it out of warranty.

Another note for the buyer is that you want to avoid the 2011 since it's the first year for the F10. I think all would agree that BMW made changes for the better each year.

Alan

[The X Men]

MannyZ06, your mechanic knows his stuff. What he told you pretty much reflects some of the most common problems with the 550, injectors and oil consumption. A 535 should be more reliable in general but with older cars, its more pot luck than anything else.

[ezmaass]

Aside from the reliability question, I'd still take a hard second look at your purchase strategy. From what you've shared:

- You're going to drive 4k miles per year
- Car will be a "garage queen" - assuming it will be pampered
- You're going to keep it for 6+ years

Based on the above, I'd suggest a few things:

Buying out a lease likely doesn't make sense. You already know you're going to keep the car. Chances are good then that you're going to pay more during the remaining lease period and THEN need to purchase at whatever the residual was that the previous owner negotiated (or didn't).

I would recommend, rather, buying new or buying a CPO. Leasing doesn't make sense for two reasons - the very few number of miles you're going to drive and the fact that you're planning to keep the car for 6 years. Leasing will only increase, in most cases, the amount you pay in the long run - great if you don't know whether you want to keep the car or not, can use it as a business write-off, or just want a new car every few years... but not so great if you know for certain you want to keep it. So, if I were you I'd buy from the get-go - the only question should be (a) new or (b) CPO?

If you go new, there are a few benefits:

1. You're the only owner. You'll know how the car was treated, maintained, driven, etc. If I were, for certain, going to own a car for 6+ years, I'd go this route if you can swing it financially.

2. You'll get the LCI version. The 550i has a new motor for 2014. There are also other upgrades, including iDrive, lights, etc for the LCI model.

If you can't go new, I'd do CPO. I would NOT want to own, as others pointed out, a 550i without some kind of warranty coverage. If you go CPO, you can still get a nicely discounted car with lower mileage... but BMW's CPO program will cover the car up to 100k miles and 6 years. If you don't need new (or the LCI stuff), this is really the best financial move. You won't need to do both a lease takeover and then buyout, plus deal with being out of warranty and all of those potential issues. You'd buy from day 1 and get a CPO car with the peace of mind of a warranty.

Finally, there's a third option worth exploring if you're on the fence about keeping the 550i after the first few years. You can lease a new 2014. It's cheaper than buying, if you're concerned with having high monthly payments. You can do a 10k mile/yr lease (probably the least they offer) to bring it down as far as possible. If at the end of the lease you decide to buy, bring it to your BMW dealer and ask them to finance and CPO the car for you. I'm not sure if all do this, but I know mine will. They'll essentially "resell" the car to you and CPO it. You'll have no problem doing this as the car would still be under warranty - anything wrong, they need to fix pre-CPO. The only thing you may get hit up for is tires if you replace them with anything other than OEM or any other non-warranty issue.

Anyway, there you have it. I think those are better options than what you're looking to do with the lease buy out. They all, most importantly, buy you peace of mind of a warranty. These cars are typically between $70k - $90k new, depending on options, and the repair costs will reflect it. I've had two 3ers outside of warranty (one until 125k and the other to 89k) - however, I owned both from new, and I still kept Geico's Mechanical Breakdown Insurance (MBI) on the last one (a 335i). A 550i is a whole new ball of wax, and I just couldn't imagine being stuck with a relatively new purchase that ends up costing a small fortune due to bad luck and no warranty.

[MannyZ06]

wow thanks for all the input.
in response, I am getting a pretty good deal with the lease buy out the original owner is going to give a wad of cash to get out of his lease, and I checked for a CPO at the dealer, this car I am looking at would still be cheaper and has low mileage. The only advantage of the CPO is the extra warranty coverage. If I would be using this as a daily driver, I think the warranty would be beneficial, but since I am barely using this car, is it worth the extra money for the extra warranty? its all about risk at this point.

the only things that are concerning me now are the engine issues about oil consumption, and now all this talk about vibrations at 70-80mph.

[ezmaass]

Manny - only you know what kind of deal you're getting at this point. CPO on a car this expensive to repair would make me feel better. Despite the lower mileage and the minimum you'll be driving it, anything can happen at any point once you exit warranty in 2 years. If you're going to keep the car for 4 more years beyond that, I think having the coverage would make a lot of sense. But as you said, it's all about risk. If you can swallow the potential repair bills if you fall on some bad luck, it may be a good bargain to roll the dice on... but do realize you're rolling the dice. Unless you're literally stealing this car (you haven't revealed financial details, so I can only assume), I'd look elsewhere. If it's THAT good of a deal, I'd also ask why.

[kthankzbye]

I have the 2011 500i, and no major engine problems yet *knocks on wood*.
Not all 20" rims are weak. I hit a pothole going 100mph and it bent my rim, didn't crack, just get really good quality rims, aftermarket will crack. I don't know about the 10,000 miles on a tire, I've driven 5,000 on my PSS and still a good amount of tread left.