john banks

Is this a good 5 series colour? Is a manual on a 540i a no-no for resale if it isn't a Sport model?

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Standard 5 series suspension handles superb as it is...I found the sports spec suspension a bit on the jiggly side.

A set of 17's on normal suspension makes a good compromise

Personal taste in the end of the day, do you want stiff suspension or do want a lux-o-cruiser.

Dark matellic red is always a good colour on any car- greens and whites are the bad colours to watch out for. Most BMs are silver so anything not silver is a good thing IMO as in the future it'll probably be an unpopular colour.

Manual on a 540 I would say would make it tough to re-sell with or without the sports kit. Most people buy them as executive cruisers and have autoboxes. I think the auto is a £1500 extra when new (well, on the 535 it was). So that will always make it worth less than the auto.

Another very important factor is interior...it has to be leather. There are a few cheapskates out there who ordered these things new with cloth, and now suffer as the people who usually want this type of car want to have a decent interior too.

Hope that helps

TopBanana

I'd imagine a manual would be a no-no for resale even on a sport model

john banks

540i comes with leather, telly/sat nav seems to be the big option, Auto or 6 speed manual are no cost options on the 540.

Manual does seem quite quick, well standard UK Classic Impreza quick anyway.... And it is quite a good price.

Andrew Dixon

V8 cars use a different steering rack don't they? Not supposed to be quite as sharp as the lesser engined variety.

Mark Miwurdz

True.

One's rack and pinion and the other's recirculating ball - can't remember which but the 6 cylinder variant (528 or 530 and below) has always been acknowledged as the better handler. The weight of the V8 affects this as well but this engine is very popular for its grunt.

Oddly enough, manual seems to be less of an issue on the 540 than its V8 counterparts as far as resale goes although this choice will be less attractive than a steptronic setup.

Cheers
Kav

Senior_AP

The manuals ARE sort after as they are rare. Steptronics are ten to the dozen, eleven to the dozen in fact.


Sienna red, as nice as "I" think it looks is not the best for re-sale but, atleast it's a bit different though. Eveyone has Silver with black leather. Zzzz Zzzz Zzzz

matt85

Apparently any 'executive' type car will always be worth slightly more in a classic colour i.e black, silver etc etc as there is a slightly higher demand for them because more people would consider buying them; whereas with a car that has a slightly more 'individual' colour i.e bright blue would mean a prospective buyer *really* has to like it to consider buying it, therefore creating a reduction in the demand for that particular car and therefore a *slightly* lower price.

Although as long as it isnt bright pink i cant really see it making a massive diference to be honest.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

That is a nice colour, does make a change from the black or silver.

As for a manual, just go for it, from selling cars over the years I have always found that theres a punter out there that wants it second hand, some dont get on with Autos very well.

Worried about selling my T5 without A/C, the guy who bought it asked before I mentioned it, he said 'it hasnt got that horrible Air Conditioning has it'.

Somebody bought it new as a manual so it figure somebody will want it second hand.

Petem95

540 is really pretty pointless next to the 528 TBH - theres minimal extra performance from the 540 unless you plan on doing very high speeds (which u wont assuming u live in the the police-state that is the UK), also as has been said the steering is better on the 528 as its rack-and-pinion, and running costs for the 540 will be significantly higher, and will suffer a greater loss in value.

Lust4Life

Having had both and currently driving an M5 I find it hard to agree with the above comment.

Phil

john banks

Please tell me more about how they all compare. Write as much as you have time for

LG John

Well if that's the case john would be better off buying an old 406 v6 again because I pushed a 528 out the way with relative ease (in his old 406 btw). It was a good run but ultimately I had the power to come past from behind! Against a 540i I'd be amazed if I managed to keep the damage to less than 5 car lengths in his favour. I'd be very surprised if a petrolhead like john would be content with a 528 in place of the 540 and we haven't even mentioned in-gear performance yet!

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

IMO the 528 pulls it's weight well, but it struggles and needs far more cog swapping to get anywhere near the performance of the 540.

Very noticeble if say your at 60mph on the motorway and drop 2 gears and floor it - seems to take forever to hit 90. Auto 528 (I've driven both manual and auto) spends alot of time at the redline if you try anything more than modest accelaration whilst a 540 just cruises with no need to rev above 4000rpm

In short 528 needs to be worked whilst the 540 is effortless (although I've only ever driven a 540 auto).