I had a 07 bmw 335, and 2 Audi S4's i like everything about the Maxima it is a great built car for the $$. My brother has an M car and the brakes and tune up will kill you.

 

Chio is absolutely right in that BMWs are expensive to maintain. But then all cars can sometimes be like that. I prefer the Maxima over any BMW. But if I were in doublea's most unfortunate situation ($45K for a Maxima in Canada), I think I would have to reluctantly consider Ammi's advice and go with the BMW, which is, after all, a very nice car.

 

Hey guys, unless my loan is decline, wich I'll know for sure this sunday, I'm definitely buying nothing but an M5. I want a clean 2003 and have narrowed my research to about 2-3 cars that I'd be ready to buy but for now I'll get a beer and wait until sunday...

CIAO

AA

 

I just found out my loan was APPROVED!!! but I have to wait until after my vacation to start shopping!! Now I'm trying to figure how to deal with my Xterra.

 

I'm gonna test drive the 2k9 max and may consider leasing one.

 

drakutis why not consider a e60 m5? They have come down alot recently in price. Check out ebay for them.

 

Those ebay prices are just bids, the nice ones still end up going for double or more of what a 03 m5 go for......

 

bmw cca magazine has the top $$ ones but probably the best ones

 

doublea,

Check out the for sale section on M5board.com. It's a board full of enthusiasts and some will lower their asking price in return for a quick transaction.

While you're at M5board.com, make sure to read up about the carbon build-up issues that have plagued some S62 engines. If you get an affected car, it can cost a lot of money to fix it. Of course, strict regular maintenance is a must as the BMW brand will certainly show in the premiums you'll pay for parts and service.

Aside from that, I've only heard wonderful things about the M5. Even in the winter, some good winter tires and careful throttle application will give you a workable M5. I hear the key is to turn off DSC. A search on m5board.com will give you all the answers you'll ever need when it comes to the E39 M5.

(if you haven't guessed yet, I'm a BIG fan of the E39 M5 and all things the same, I would choose the M5 without even thinking of anything else!)

Good luck on your search!

 

Hey guys, the last few days have been crazy, I've received dozen of offer and check something like over a 1000 cars. I finally made the transaction today, I've purchased a 2k1 M5, Black on black, fully loaded with navigation, the car has a clean title, one owner & only 51K on the odometer. The car has never been into an accident and is in pristine condition. i'm very happy with the deal I got, originally I was looking to get a 2k3, but in all the cars I've seen that was within my budget this 2k1 was one of the best car I could get for the money. I came some how close to get a 2k6 but I would have had to sell the max, so after 2 minutes of thinking I couldn't let it go, I have worked so much on this car that I just couldn't resign to see it leave my garage.

I'm trying to booked a flight for friday sept 19. My cousin who own a 2k6 M5 is coming with me, we're going to drive the car back to Montreal, wich I think should take about 12 hours. Man I cant wait for this journey to happend, we're going to take a lot of pics along the way and you guys will be the first to see it.

Got to go take a bite.

 

Congrats, doublea! I know you are excited. You didn't say where the car was located. Not in New Orleans, I hope. You also need to be aware there has been very serious flooding in many parts of the midwest (especially Indiana), Mississippi River area, Missouri River area, and the southwest this year, so look under the floor carpet (not just under the mat), under the trunk liner and mat, etc, etc. Any sign of rust warrants a much closer look.

I hope everything goes well. Black is a very nice color for northern (cooler) areas such as Montreal.

 

The car come from South Carolina but has been in Chicago for the last few months.

 

Congrats on the M5 brotha.

 

lightonthehill, the car dealer who sold me the car seem very secure when I asked him to have the car inspected by a BMW dealer, this coming monday they will drop the car to the dealer. When I spoke with the BMW technical director, I ask him to contact me first once the car is inspected and he agree, I've also agree with the car dealer that I'm buying a car that is in very good condition and doesn't need any repair. A defective dual vanos system would cost anything between 5-8000$ to fix at the dealership so hopefully everything should be ok, if not the car dealer will have to either pay for the repairs or refund me. I have good confidence that thing will be allright, I believe I have made my homework. Now I just need to wait until next friday to go get the car, my flight is already booked so it's going to be a loooooooonnnnnnnnggggg week.

 

what's the import procedure into canada? dont you have to certify it for emissions and safety?

 

You have to fax the car title to the US customs center you intend to exit the country with the car, this has to be done at least 72 hrs before you show at the gate. Then I'll have to cross the canadian border in Sarnia. At this point I will need to show them the invoice from the dealer, the car title and my proof of insurance, anyone also need a transit from the US dealer you are buying the car from, for person to person sale I dont know where you would get the transit tough. Then the ripp off start, I'll have to pay 5% GST on the car value in converted currency, then it's the 6.1% import tax. I believe there might be other bogus fee like administration or what not. Once this is done, I have to take an appointment with a BMW dealer and have the car worked out.

As far as the 2k1 M5 is concerned there is only the daytime light saving that need to be program and probably few others things but all in all it's only a matter of 4-5 hours of programming and they charge you like 500$ once this is done BMW will issue a letter that will confirm that the car is conform to the canadian regulations. After that I need to have the car inspected at the SAAQ and once I pass the emission and what not, I can have the car registered and pay the 6% TVQ sale tax. After the government has ripp me off for the next few years I can finally enjoy my ride.

 

doublea - Wow! You really get squeezed at every turn in bringing a car into Canada. I would probably have just given up and bought a motor scooter from a nearby dealer.

I hope you can get through all this red tape.

 

lightonthehill - Even with all the tax & charge it still worth it as I'm probably saving close to 10K. Yesterday I've check the local classified and there was only 4 M5 for sales in Qc,
a 2000 with 130 000km still sell for 30K so all in all I got a pretty good deal considering the car I bought is a one owner car that to have been babied for all that time. I'm only 5 days away from picking her up, I'll post some pics over the next week-end.

P.S: After I conclude the purchase of the M5, I wasn't too sure if I'd kept my 2k1 maxima but with all the work and money I've spend so far it would be insane to give-up, so I'm keeping my max as well but it's only going to take longer to finish the project, probably one more year.

 

Hey guys, my worst nightmare happend yesterday when the car was at a BMW dealer in Chicago for a full inspection, to make a long story short this car is a piece of crap.

I was in shock since the carfax showed a clean title with no accident, but it end up that this car had severe damage on the frame and has not been repaired properly, the technician was really not happy saying you cant drive this car for 1500 km. The is a bunch of stuff to be repaired, anyway I called the dealer back and they agree to refund me today. So for now I'm going to wait and see what happend.

 

Bummer. REAL bummer. What a let-down. There are some real low-lifes in this world. I am so glad you found out the truth about this car before it was too late to get your money back.

In a way, I am not totally surprised, as there have been floods and tornadoes and hurricanes and every sort of natural disaster all across the U.S. in recent years, and traffic has gotten so bad one takes his life in hand every time he ventures outside his garage. We have a mixture of poorly marked roads and speeding semis and learners and old folks and fast drivers and slow drivers and drunks and drugged-out crackheads and - worst of all - folks on cell phones and even folks text-messaging while they drive. It is almost a miracle to have a car totally undamaged after five years.

I know it has got to be discouraging to work so hard on this, then find yourself back to square one. Such a disappointment. Maybe it was just meant for you to look for a Maxima?

I am truly sorry that you have to endure this disappointment, and certainly hope you have better luck in the near future.

 

Wow, holy crap. Better you find out now and be disappointed than after signing the paperwork.

 

Let me say that I just learned another life lesson, it's probably going to take a week or two to get my money back, so for now I'm putting this project on hold, I'm going to finish putting my max together and dring that car on the road asap. I made 2 mistake on this, first alway go in person check the car and have a road test, and second never money before the final inspection, a lot of car seller are thief and doesn't care about destroying the life of other.

So for now I think it's time to put an end to this thread so mod you can go ahead and lock this thread.

Thank you all.

AA

 

Locked as per your request.