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I have come across a 2006 bmw 645ci convertible with less than 50k miles on it @ a (very reasonable price).
I know that it is a bmw so with that high maintenance, but what exactly is the estimated cost to run the vehicle. Is it reliable? Is it a good buy for the amount of money? Does it have electrical issues? Will the maintenance eat up the marginal value. Im sorry about the questions but im trying to make a informed decision. I have researched the car and came up with very little information
You don't buy a BMW for reliability (--that's what Lexus is for): you buy it fir performance and some prestige (if it's new).
Many people that buy or lease a BMW, trade it or return it before the major expenses arise, unless they already addressed them while the car was still under warranty. I suspect with the low mileage, it hasn't reached the maintenance and repairs that occur after 100k miles. Expect to take on that expense at some point in the future.
The 645's have been a persistent maintenance hog, with consumables being rather pricey to keep the car running. IF you drive one of these out of warranty, expect to budget a significant cost per mile to drive it, even it you don't drive it anywhere near it's capabilities. The electronics on these cars have been problematic, and you don't want to use anything except OE parts ... right down to the battery in these cars. Following BMW's service guidelines is very important; for example, you do not want to jump start or give a jump to another vehicle with this one as they are extremely sensitive to any voltage spikes.
You didn't mention what you thought was a "reasonable price". Out of warranty, I wouldn't give more than 25% of the original purchase price ... given the expenses ahead to get the useable remaining service life from the car, no matter how low the mileage appears to be now at 10,000 mile/year use.
Location: Butler County Ohio and Winters in Florida
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Is there a BMW repair facility in your area? It doesn't need to be a dealership. If you have a good tech in your area that specializes in BMW, seek him out and have him inspect that car.
If he likes it, you like him and the car....buy it.
BMW are better cars then average but usually are more expensive than a Toyota, Ford, Dodge, etc. to repair when needed.
BTW, if you seek out a speciality indepedant garage, most of these guys were orginally trained by the manufactor at the dealerships and usually are best working on the vehicles from that time period ( I hope that makes sense). Sorry about spelling!
Is there a BMW repair facility in your area? It doesn't need to be a dealership. If you have a good tech in your area that specializes in BMW, seek him out and have him inspect that car.
If he likes it, you like him and the car....buy it.
BMW are better cars then average but usually are more expensive than a Toyota, Ford, Dodge, etc. to repair when needed.
BTW, if you seek out a speciality indepedant garage, most of these guys were orginally trained by the manufactor at the dealerships and usually are best working on the vehicles from that time period ( I hope that makes sense). Sorry about spelling!
I can't speak for your area of the country re: independent shops ... but
in the region of the country where I call upon independent shops every day, very few of the techs working on BMW's ever set foot in a dealership service department. They've all learned their expertise the hard way, with vendor seminars, aftermarket service literature, and by working on the cars as part of the mix of vehicles that came into the shops where they worked.
BMW's product of the last few years has focused on many aspects of the car building craft which don't necessarily deliver a "better car than average" unless your priorities are a lot of fluff which don't provide transportation value. For example, BMW specified "run-flat" tires on these upline cars ... for this series, it's not uncommon to spend around $300 per tire for the standard size 18" wheel, with optional upsized tires running around $400 per tire, and generally a dry road performance tire. An aftermarket "all-season" tire, which could deliver seasonal inclement weather driving use would still be around $300. From my perspective, there's few places in the USA to (legally) drive anywhere to the level of performance that the OE tires can deliver, let alone require "run-flat" benefits. FWIW, I live in a portion of the USA where there's many hours and miles of driving where you'll not encounter more than a few vehicles in your travels; on Thursday of this week, I drove over 100 miles of back country rolling hills in Colorado and encountered a total of 3 other vehicles in either direction ... which would have been as good an opportunity as any in the USA to have been running substantially over a posted speed limit (which I didn't, I was driving to a trade show with my Dodge van at 60 mph, a speed where the 318 V-8 is reasonably happy).
FWIW, the lower line BMW cars deliver much more value and reliability than the upline vehicles because they lack a lot of the performance and features. The _45 series can deliver a lot more performance than the lesser powered vehicles, but one must be prepared to pay for the option of having that performance on tap at your command.
Incidentally ... IIRC, the last year for a USA 645ci was 2005, 2006 models were 650's.
The 645's have been a persistent maintenance hog, with consumables being rather pricey to keep the car running. IF you drive one of these out of warranty, expect to budget a significant cost per mile to drive it, even it you don't drive it anywhere near it's capabilities. The electronics on these cars have been problematic, and you don't want to use anything except OE parts ... right down to the battery in these cars. Following BMW's service guidelines is very important; for example, you do not want to jump start or give a jump to another vehicle with this one as they are extremely sensitive to any voltage spikes.
You didn't mention what you thought was a "reasonable price". Out of warranty, I wouldn't give more than 25% of the original purchase price ... given the expenses ahead to get the useable remaining service life from the car, no matter how low the mileage appears to be now at 10,000 mile/year use.
+1......remember that even at 25% of new MSRP the car will still depreciate. 10 yr old 745's are 10K cars now even running/good condition. They get 2 hours shop time just to update the computers on these cars (tech hooks it up, walks away and customer pays $360 in labor). Yes local dealer charges $180 an hour......
FWIW, the lower line BMW cars deliver much more value and reliability than the upline vehicles because they lack a lot of the performance and features. The _45 series can deliver a lot more performance than the lesser powered vehicles, but one must be prepared to pay for the option of having that performance on tap at your command.
Incidentally ... IIRC, the last year for a USA 645ci was 2005, 2006 models were 650's.
Great post! The parts are still expensive even if you work on these cars at home. $90,000 cars are engineered with expensive parts!
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