New_Breadfruit8692

I agree about the ease of changing the coils on the BMW, I did it in about half an hour, but I cannot compare to any Asian car because I never owned one and never will.

I grew up north of Eureka, I hate Eureka. It was a dank dreary tiny town that had no real potential then, I used to get horrible headaches from the pulp mills that are now thankfully gone. And the imbecilic nuclear plant right on a fault line. The freeway overpass right near there collapsed at only a few years old in the November 1980 earthquake. Thank god it is decommissioned. But you would have a very hard time building a large city in the footprint of the Humboldt Bay region, there are mountains that would make that very limited. And a lot of really soft ground where liquefaction would be an issue. But OP I have thought along the same lines as you, especially out west which is so thinly populated for most of it. I think water is a big issue, but I believe that fusion energy is not far off now and when it is readily available then suddenly desalination is no longer prohibitively expensive. There are not many places along the coast where a large new city would be logical, it would require a pipeline inland to really do. I do think eastern Oregon would be viable. There really is nothing there and it would benefit from a large city in the Bly/Lakeview region. For that matter the Reno area could accommodate as well.

Hey nothing like misrepresenting what I said. Reddit is an amazing place.

No I won't because I have long legs and never once found one I was comfortable in. Had them as rentals a couple times, found them to be cheap, tinny, under powered, and uncomfortable.

I am going to disagree. The B58 inline six is one of the strongest motors ever put in a production car. Period. Maintain it and you are going to get a quarter million miles out of it. My 740i has been superb and reliable, but then I maintain it well.

I am on my fourth and knock wood because all four never gave me a problem above or beyond a normal experience, I have only had three repairs, one was covered by BMW because it was a known defect affecting the emissions so they had extended the warranty on that to 150k miles. Manufacturers are required to warranty emissions components to 8 years or 80k miles. So if a major component fails that affects the emissions they are required to warranty those. BMW doubled that warranty for the repair I had to have. Would any Asian company or American maker do this? Do not bet your ass on it because no they would not.

Yeah it is better to buy a cheap shitbox you KNOW is a pile of shit from the outset. I have had 4 BMWs and by far owning junk always let me down, but at least I knew I was driving a pile of shit when I bought them. Cars used to be fixable for anyone with a little ability and will to do it, nothing after about 2005 is really accessible to an average person with no place to work on them, few if any tools, and everything these days is computerized and sealed. I can't get under my car to change the oil, I have to pay someone to do it. I do not mind though because my oil lasts minimum 1 year or 10,000 miles, and it is more expensive than some NastyLube special because it takes 7 liters of full euro synthetic, but I also do not mind paying $100 bucks for an oil change because it is a good investment for the life of a car that was $100,000 new. Frankly $100 per year is not going to break me. I would be ashamed to admit it if it were the case.

The insurance industry has a broken business model, and while it is a concern for drivers it is not an automotive issue, but one of failed government regulating the business and of bent economics. I mean last year my house insurance went from $2,300 and change to this year $7,717 and and change, and just got the renewal for the coming year at $132 under $10,000, so there is going to come a time in the near future where the industry just collapses. My 2019 740i I pay about $170 per month, I am 68 with a clean driving record, and good credit, that is about $20 per month less than I was paying for my 2021 Chevy Silverado 5.3 liter that I unceremoniously dumped at 19,000 miles because it was such a piece of shit I was certain it was never getting to the end of the crappy warranty. But, just before I did dump the truck some old fucker in a Honda wagon sideswiped my pickup in a gas station, just about $800 in paintwork damage for me, his car had about $4k in damage. I took his information and called the insurance company and they said no such policy exists, so I then had to file the claim as a hit and run. The next day I was able to get the right information from him (he was a neighbor) and refiled the claim on his policy. Well, it was reported to Lexis Nexis as an at fault accident on me. Just a $790 in paint work and suddenly I was getting quoted of 4-5 thousand per six months. One quote was over $6k per half year, and a few refused to quote me at all. That is how bad insurance is getting. You are not alone, it is everyone, the day will come when none of us have insurance because it is now so F'ing expensive.

That is fine if you are a motorhead, with a young healthy body and lots of time. I used to have to fix my own and do maintenance, but now older and just not into it. The oil changes on my 740i are way too complex and really you just can't do them in a suburban garage, I do not mind that the oil changes are higher than say JiffyLube $49.99 special. Especially after I had one of those on my 2000 Deranged-Go and they forgot to put the oil filler cap back on so the entire engine bay was soaked with oil by the time the low oil light came on on the freeway. Also the oil capacity in the 740i is a tad over 7 liters. Nowhere is that going to be cheap with full euro synthetic, but the upside is it is good for at least a year or 10k miles. I am retired so not hitting 10k a year anymore. I went to BMW in 2009 and bought a new 328i hardtop convertible. Never had a problem in 72,000 miles. The run flats were the only real expense worth mentioning, but you do not have to use those. You can buy standard tires with much longer tread life. They try to convince you it is risky because without a spare what do you do? If you ever had a rear flat with run flats you will find out they are not all they are claimed to be so you still need roadside assistance. But the thing about that is, I have 3 or 4 different roadside assistance methods. People don't realize their credits cards often cover it, my extended warranty covers it, my insurance covers it. And by the way, when I bought this BMW (740i 2019, got it used at $32k with only 30,100 miles on it, not bad for a $100,000 car and it is still the cleanest car I ever saw) I opted for the 100,000 mile no time limit warranty. I only have 60,000 miles to go, I doubt I will live that long. The car is safe, reliable, has performance and just obscene comfort. I feel like I am barely moving on the Parkway at 90 mph. They are not the cheapest car on the road but there is just no end of cheap POSs out there to choose from if money is your first or only concern.

My 2021 Chevy Silverado new was more insurance than my 2019 740i. I dumped that truck at 19,000 miles because it was just total garbage that was not getting to 100k and maybe not to the end of the warranty. It had active fuel management, when you were stuck in traffic behind a slowpoke and they finally get out of the way and you hit the accelerator NOTHING, it tried to restart the deactivated cylinders and yeah, eventually they did reactivate with a loud BANG! Sounded like it just dropped the transmission on the highway. How many people had to replace collapsed lifters, bent push rods, had to live with excessive oil consumption? Just garbage. I am in a 740i now and while BMWs may not be the cheapest cars on the road, you get a really good low mileage used one that someone ate the depreciation on and you will be happy. Of course there are BMW haters, you encounter them on the roads some days, fuck'em, they drive their shitboxes and you drive what you like. It's just jealousy. Ignore it.

I had 3 328i HT convertibles without any problems other than a hall sensor in the top going out in my last one. Now I have a 740i and this time I bought used, a 2019 with 30,100 miles on it, and clearly it had been taken very good care of, one of the cleanest cars I ever saw, it was showroom (or better) condition inside and out, clean carfax and under the hood was so clean I wondered if all 30,000 miles were going into and out of the guys garage. Just into the driveway to wash it. And the best part was it was only $32k for a car that was pennies under $100,000 new. It has only had two problems, which is now technically double what all my other BMWs combined had. Had to replace the thrust arm bushings (welcome to air suspension) and the radiator shutters that get and keep the car at operating temperature on start up and in cold weather failed, but BMW fixed that for free because as a known defect that affects emissions they extended the warranty to 150,000 miles. I sort of look forward to the era where ICE engines are a thing of the past, electrics are sealed needing pretty much no maintenance for the power train, they have great specs for things like torque, the problems with range anxiety and infrastructure are ending, have you seen the video for the Chinese Maextro S800? It is billed as ultra premium and the video is jaw dropping, over 800 miles of range, you can go from a flat battery to 80% charged in 12 minutes, it is so hyper high end the interior is alleged to make Rolls Royce look dodgy, has front and 12 degrees of rear wheel steering, has noise cancelling tech in the cabin, the list is endless. And the car is not sold in the US yet, but retails for about the same cost as a 7 series. Even the styling is superb. Have a look at the video, it is not really here yet, not in the US, but when you see the features and technology you will understand where cars of the future will be. Not the ultra cheap interiors and Meh range of the Tesla, it makes Tesla look just sad. [https://youtu.be/84v77F5enIo](https://youtu.be/84v77F5enIo)

\#1, #2, and #3 are pretty basic for all cars. I have had 4 BMWs and I find the reliability to be better than any other badge I ever owned. So, you do the maintenance and relax, with comfort, performance, safety, and reliability. I have friends that went from a BMW to a new Kia Sorento, they got their money back at 12,000 miles because of the Oregon lemon law. I had a new 2021 Chevy truck with the 5.3 liter and AFM, I dumped it at 19,000 miles because the AFM was so bad you could not step on the accelerator and expect it to just go because it was trying to activate the deactivated cylinders, there is no way that rig is getting to the end of the warranty no less 100k miles. So, I am back in a BMW 740i with the B58 engine, one of the best engines ever put on the road!

I don't like paying for maintenance anymore than you do, but also find that to be somewhat exaggerated. My first BMW, a 2009 hardtop convertible 328i I drove 72,000 miles with nothing but new tires and oil changes, and back then they were saying the full synthetic would last 15k miles, well that number has dropped but I just don't mind paying for oil changes. It is true you can buy some Korean shitbox and pay less for oil changes, but since those are not going to break me even for my BMW I do not mind paying it. A well maintained BMW in the long run is going to go minimum 250k miles with just a brake fluid change every 40k miles and oil once a year. The inline 6 is one of the strongest motors ever built. Particularly the B58. My second BMW was another 328i convertible and I can't really say if it would have gone on trouble free for years because some guy rear ended it before it even had license plates on it from the DMV. My third one was also a 2013 328i and this one I got used with only 20 k miles on it while someone else ate the depreciation. It did have one repair, out of only two I have ever had to pay for. One of the hall sensors went out in the hard top, it was $1,998.27 for a $20 part, there are like seven of them to make sure the parts of the top are perfectly aligned, and 6 of them are cheap and easy to repair. Of course the one that went out for me was the one that is integrated in the hydraulic ramp that raises and lowers the top, so the entire ram had to be replaced. I now have a 2019 740i and the only problem it ever had was the trust arm bushings needed replacement. It also had a problem with the shutters that open and close to keep the engine at proper running temps in cold weather but that was fixed for free because BMW has extended the warranty to 150k miles for it, it is a known defect and they are not losing customers because of it, so they just don't charge for repairing this. When was the last time Ford or GM did that? All I pay for is tires and oil, I did have the brake fluid flushed and rear pads changed and that was around $400, that was around Christmas. If you are seriously going to say that this is an outrageous amount of money then maybe look into a bicycle or horse? Well not a horse, have you seen what veterinarians charge these days? I have owned about 40 cars, and while individual repairs are more for a BMW they need so few of them compared to other brands that I have spent less in BMW shops than in other makers shops. I think people are romanticizing the "good old days" when parts were cheap and if you had one molecule more testosterone than Don Knotts you could just fix most things yourself. But with the advent of computerization and sealed engines, and environmental laws you really can't do a lot yourself with recent model cars. I did have a pickup before this 740i, a 2021 Chevy Silverado, 5.3 liter with AFM that was so bad I dumped it at 19,000 miles because I was convinced it would not even make it to the end of the warranty, so people can claim BMW is expensive, but at least my car made it to the 5 year mark and I am pretty sure that it will get me to the 10 year mark with decent maintenance, I probably can't live long enough to get it to 100,000 miles but someone will inherit it and they may get it to 250k. In the meantime I am something most of reddit is not, genuinely happy with my car. And as my 4th BMW this one is the best. I have never been more comfortable, never felt safer, it has performance, and at least so far has been remarkably reliable. I can see that BMW is changing now so this may bring unwanted changes with the changeover to electrics. They only way they have to differentiate the brand in a market where electric motors power the vehicles is in styling and flexibility, gone are the ultra high end interiors, and the exterior styling. I had to have a loaner last year when I had the thrust arm bushing replaced, and the 2025 2 series loaner was abysmal. Almost undrivable really. So, I am not making recommendations for future iterations of the brand, but as it is now, I love my BMW and it cost me less than my Chevy truck did.

I speak for nobody else when I say I am on my fourth BMW and would never own another badge. Well, who knows what the future brings? But my experience with all four of the BMWs I have had is a car with extraordinary performance, comfort, safety, and reliability. Since 2009 I only had to have 3 repairs, two of which BMW covered because they extended the warranty for parts known to have issues. The last time was last fall when my 740i threw a check engine light, turned out to be the radiator louvers, a shutter that opens and closes to allow the car to warm to operating temperature quicker and keep it there in very cold climates. It turns out the motors for that system were faulty and the repair very expensive because they pretty much have to take apart the front fascia of the car. So, they extended the warranty on that repair to 150,000 miles. No cost for me. I can see why run flat tires would be an annoying and expensive maintenance item for some drivers, so don't get them. They use run flats to save weight and increase cargo space, particularly in the hard top convertibles, which I don't even think they are building anymore. But, you do not have to use run flats. I just got new tires for my 740i last fall and I put on regular tires. I got a good 45,000 mile tire, and the argument against it is "what if you have a flat and now no spare?" Well, I had a flat once with run flats, I find the claim that you can still drive them for up to 50 miles albeit at a lower speed is plain bullshit. It was a driver rear tire and I could barely control it at 30 mph, I only had to go about 1.5 miles to the dealership and it was so thoroughly shredded by the time I got there it was almost driving on the rim. Run flats do suck, with tariffs they are now well over $600 per and you are lucky to get 13,000 miles from them, that is a legitimate complaint. They are ruinously expensive. Without adding anything to handling or performance. So, just do not use them, if you are like me you don't worry about getting a flat, you probably have about three different roadside services, I do. My insurance has it, the credit card has it, my extended warranty has it, so getting a flat is never convenient, but it also is not a bank breaking event either.

There is no reason to consult a third party appraiser because they have no ability to enforce their supposition on values. I had a brand New BMW 328i hardtop convertible, over $60,000 with extended warranty, did not even have the permanent plates for it yet when it was hit from behind. We both had the same company that shall remain nameless but rhymes with Snake Farm. They were going to end up paying no matter what so they got really shitty about it, a high value new car and all, and to top it off the state of Oregon had just passed a new law that said in such cases you could get diminished value. The guy that hit me was the son of the owner, and she only had state minimum coverages. The damage to my car was well over $20,000 and they paid for the repair, about $24k, and for two months of rental. But, I think had the car appraised and while the insurer claimed it had the same value as the day before it was hit common sense tell you that it was not. Especially with the advent of about 10 car accident reporting companies. The appraiser put the value at $20-23k. I should have been able to collect the difference but the insurer said there was no such thing as diminished value. And, it had to go to mediation but there was nobody in the state according to the insurer that was qualified to do it. So, they made sure a lawyer up in Eugene was trained and it took 2 years to get a date for mediation. The insurer produced no witnesses while I had the appraiser testify. In the end the corrupt mediator gave me zero because there was an Oregon supreme court case in 1955 which a boat owner sued for diminished value after an accident and got zero because the court claimed he had not sold the boat after the accident and therefore could not state with certainty how much the loss was. Well, I was not going to continue to pay $879 per month on a $23,000 car for 6 years so drove to BMW and handed it back to them. I had asked them to refi they refused as it now did not have the loan to value ratio sufficient. And yep, they sold it at a dealer auction for $20,000 - the $3,000 bill to clean it, even though it was spotless. And this is exactly what happens when you have contact with the legal system and the person responsible for damage does not have deep pockets, or is crooked enough to game the system. I had been with that insurance company from 1973 when I first started driving. This was on a new 2013 BMW. I would walk before I would ever use them for insurance again.

I doubt a lawyer is going to take the case, there is not enough in it even if you got the full $10 grand you paid. This is a bad place for you and I am sorry it is happening to you. But normally with insurance a car is considered totaled when the cost to repair is going to be 80% or more of its book value. Book value being lower than you would probably believe, and cars that are no longer in the bluebooks you pretty much cannot get comprehensive/collision on anyway, I mean you could with some companies but you are probably going to pay more for it than it is worth, especially when you consider the deductibles. What you will probably have to do is take the $2,300 and apply that to a down payment on a solid used car. Some new car places are doing promotions also that include low interest rates and low downs.

The ability to drive a road, particularly one you know well, fast. I grew up in the mountains of northern California where it is mountainous and very low population, the roads are up and down and winding with many curves market at 20, 25, or 30. In my first BMW I could take them all at 50 to 60. You were in control but like being in control of a roller coaster. My second BMW did not have the M Sport option like the first one had, so not quite as fast and grippy, but still a ball to drive. Now, I have a limo sized 7 series and it is still more fun than most cars, but I am in Florida, a 650 mile long sandbar. No hills, no curves. And always the driving dead in front of you making the only thing that is enjoyable about driving the car is its luxury. I will say this though, I had a VW bug back when I was living back home and that also was fun, it didn't have the performance of my BMW, it could not corner as well, but it was more open, less ensconced in luxury, so it was like taking those curves on a big roller skate. The trees there were so big they built the roads to go around them.

Do you need to adopt a son by any chance? I am 68 but like a classic German engineered car I have a few miles left in me... :)

TESLA

OP if it is luxury you want this is way more than Rolls offers for 1/5 the price. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84v77F5enIo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84v77F5enIo) This sells in the range of a 7 series BMW but is so advanced, so luxurious, people will say how can this be? It is an EV with range of 800 miles, and charging that takes 11 minutes to get to 80% battery filled. It takes me 11 minutes to fill up my BMW. I watched the longer version video and was just stunned. I am too old to get one short of winning the lottery tomorrow, but I would get one if I did.

That was discontinued in 2021. Now as I posted I hate the later models of my car, I drive a 2019, but is this because they changed something you do not like? I am asking because usually guys in LCs are HOT!

Already have it, a 2019 BMW 740i. At my age and only 41,000 miles on it I am pretty sure it will be my last car. Good thing too because I do not like the ones that are newer, at least not the ones I have seen. I saw a 2025 new 750i in the showroom when I got my last service, it is FUGLY with that weird not quite a grill, the interiors are not as good, and the tech is ridiculous. I want a car not a computer. I had to take a 2025 2 series for a loaner overnight, it was just about on par with a Toyota. But the dash was really just a plug in touch screen in which everything you could want to do is buried in a computer menu system, change radio stations go to the entertainment menu, radio submenu, sirius submenu, list of hundreds of stations to pick from. By now you are wrapped around a tree or in a head on collision. So the bottom line is no changing stations while driving. Need to change the temperature, go to CLIMATE menu, use touch screen to move the BLUE/RED bar till you find a comfortable air flow but WHAM, under the front of a semi truck. Want to shut off the auto start stop? I am not sure you can because I was unable to find that option, however I did accidentally shut off the car at one of the longest lights in the county and then could not get it to start again and did not know what I was doing wrong, I had people honking at me and was able to go on a late yellow leaving about 40 very pissed off drivers behind me.

Be ready to replace leather upholstery if you do though. You can use ozone in a leather trimmed car, but condition the leather, before and after, and only run the ozone generator for an hour max, once max. Other parts of rubber and plastic can also be degraded by ozone, but leather will be destroyed by it if over exposed. In late 2024 I bought a 2019 BMW 740i (was $100,000 new) and it had the smoker's package, but it was the cleanest car I have ever seen in my life, with only 30,100 miles on it, I paid only $32k for it because of the super funky odor. It was like overpowering smell of rotting hay. It was because they just pounded the car with ozone to get rid of the cigarette smell. I am surprised the leather did not rot right off. Leather does not like ozone. The smell dissipated over the course of a few weeks though, so I got a pretty steep discount for the smell and I am a smoker anyway. I will say going into a room that had long term smoke exposure will stink for many years. I do not mind smoke smells but stale cars and rooms that were smokes in can really stink.

Also if you have leather seats treat the leather generously with a leather conditioner, before and after. Ozone can just ruin leather upholstery. Never run a generator for more than an hour.

That is probably what OP is smelling. My car was owned by a smoker and they treated it with ozone, for weeks it smelled terrible. More like wet rotting hay than vomit, but smells are subjective, people will use whatever word to describe a bad smell they think is the worst smelling thing they ever encountered. I was kind of worried because it was otherwise the cleanest car I have ever seen, and it is all leather interior, manufacturers advise against treating leather with ozone. It is a powerful oxidant that can rapidly age and destroy leather. They say if you use it only do so for 1-2 hours at most.

Mine does, I just hit the navigation button and the screen changes to map format, usually split screen but with another touch I can make it full screen. But you bring up something I was just thinking about yesterday when I was stuck behind a complete asshole going 50 in a 55 in the passing lane passing nobody. I looked at the speedometer and noticed the GPS claimed the speed limit was 45, even though the posted limit was 55, and being Florida that means 55+10 so traffic was piling up behind the guy and you could see some drivers in back considering passing in the grassy median. That stretch of road was under construction for years, like 14 years, so nobody thought to correct the construction limit to 55 once the road construction was finally finished. I think he must have had the car in self driving mode and it was depending on the GPS for the limit. There is a similar situation on the parkway where they extended it, they never upped the limit in the GPS so while the speed limit is posted at 70 and people set their cruise to 80 the cars think it is 50. That creates a dangerous situation for the place where the merge onto the parkway happens. The car can't see the posted limit sign because it is about half a mile further on, so it relies on the GPS. You get a car trying to merge in 80 and even 90 mile per hour traffic at 50.

A center console that does not block road head.

Illegal in California, unless there is proper secured seats and seat belts, and not on public highways. Though I am old enough to remember when it was legal.

Nearly all affordable EVs like in the $40k and less price point are garbage, shoddy materials and build. I have been in them, not a myth but fact. But for me the reason not own one is that my income as a disabled veteran is tax exempt, I never could take the tax credits because they are not refundable, and, I am never paying 30% more for a car than others because of this. Last, Tesla seems to still own the market for them though other makers are making inroads, but FUCK ELON MUSK.

The owner's manual says every 10 years or 120,000 miles. Then every 5 years or 60,000 after that. So you are pretty grossly overdue.

Gasoline here is $73.8 cents US per liter, that is 57 pence per liter. Electricity here is average in home 14 cents per kWh, to completely fill my 20.6 gallon tank with premium fuel (just over 84 cents per liter for the higher octane the car requires) would be about $85 from empty to 525 miles of range. That is 62.57 pounds sterling. I do not know what your going home electric rates are, I know when I lived in Ireland though they had a day rate of about .51 euro when I was there (2017) and a night rate that was really cheap but I am not sure what it was. I asked AI but it can't be right: "As of early 2026, the average British household electricity rate is approximately **22.36 pence per kWh** for direct debit customers, with a daily standing charge of around 60p. Typical consumption is estimated at 2,700 kWh per year." 2,700 kWh per year? My high bill last August (air condition in Florida) was 1,800 kWh on a 30 day cycle. It sounds like the charging station near your house is just literal highway robbery.

90 pence is about $1.23. How high is electricity in homes there? That just sounds absolutely excessive. US electric rates are about $0.13 per kWh, and small to standard EV batteries take 40-60 to fully charge, a larger battery between 75 and 100. So you would be paying at least the equivalent of $50 and maybe as much as over $120 which would be nearly 100 pounds. Per Charge. I know they have to be profitable, but that is insane. Level 2 EV charging here is usually between 20 and 26 cents per kWh. That is about 18.5 pence currently.

Turn in a few aluminum cans for a quick $2 grand more and you could get what I did. A 2019 BMW 740i with just 30,100 miles on it and clean Carfax, in fact cleanest car I have ever seen including on any showroom floor. Was $32k. And that is what I call letting someone else take the depreciation.

I am hoping this one is my last one. It only has 45k miles on it, and I am going to be 68 in a few weeks. The BMW inline 6 B58 motor it has is considered one of the most reliable ever built, and I live in a warm area so cold is not a stress for it, with excellent maintenance it could easily go 200k miles. And then I did start smoking when Johnson was president (Lyndon not Andrew).

I found one on Auto [trader.com](http://trader.com) 2019 versa S 5 speed manual with 31,864 miles and claims to have no accidents, $11,500 and if I did not already have a great car I would probably go for it. [https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/771166676?allListingType=all-cars&city=Homosassa&makeCode=NISSAN&maxPrice=80000&modelCode=VERSA&searchRadius=0&startYear=2018&state=FL&transmissionCode=MAN&clickType=spotlight](https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicle/771166676?allListingType=all-cars&city=Homosassa&makeCode=NISSAN&maxPrice=80000&modelCode=VERSA&searchRadius=0&startYear=2018&state=FL&transmissionCode=MAN&clickType=spotlight)

If you have no dignity at all it might be a great deal.

Heck, I had a 2021 new Chevy Silverado with 19k miles on it but just hated it, so I traded it for a 2019 BMW 740i that was the cleanest car I have ever seen, including cars on showroom floors. It was only $32,000 and had just 30,100 miles on it, so what was a near $100,000 car was 66% depreciated. You can get lesser vehicles more in your range, but a B58 engine in BMW with 30,100 miles means it will most likely be the last car I own at age 68. I probably will not have 100k on the clock when I leave it to my estate. Well cared for that is one of the strongest motors on any road.

My stepfather was a mechanic and always said never mix new parts on an old car, if you are going to get a replacement transmission for a POS you are trying to squeeze another 5 years out of go to a junk yard and get a transmission from a vehicle that ran but was written off, and that is just an example relevant to your example. My problem with doing what you suggest is that if you pay $6,000 for a part to get a $5,000 car running again and 2 thousand miles later the engine needs a rebuild, or a new engine you are now stuck into making that car basically last that extra several years and then some to justify the new transmission+engine. By the way, my experience of driving since 1973 says stepdad was right. He was a good enough mechanic he bought $400 or $500 cars and kept them working till something really expensive went wrong then just got rid of it and got another. But, he once gave me a VW bug that someone had rolled into the river, he towed it out with his pick up and rebuilt the engine in a few days, he actually too the motor out without a chain lift, they are light enough he could pick it up. That was the single worst car I ever owned, every part of it was damaged, gauges did not work, electrics were mostly shot, but he had the engine running like a sewing machine. I got older and no longer want the work or potential stranding of a junker. I want a warranty and roadside assistance.

Most cars come to the consumer already "broken in" which means it was run for the equivalent of about 100 miles running time, but that is while the car is stationary. It is using fuel but stationary. The rest of the miles put on it are moving on and off of ships and trucks and around the dealership, being test driven etc.

OP should look at late model cars on the road, he will see that black might look stunning the moment it it washed, but by the time it is two miles down the road he will be dismayed by the dirt it already shows. The bad news is this will happen, the good news is the fact he has not already noticed it means that people in general do not care and don't notice other people's dirty cars. But will notice it on theirs. Still, I recommend you do take the time to notice before buying one. Because every black car owner is saying the same thing, the way it shows dirt is stressful.

I have found metallic paints in general hide dirt better, then comes white. My BMW is a metallic white, it really hides dirt. I had a black car, my first new car in 1978. NEVER AGAIN! You could not keep it clean, by the time you dried it and got done at the back you wanted to wash the front again. But not only that, where it was parked in the sun (on the air force base where I was stationed not too far from Palm Springs) the interior got so hot that the dash melted in places, dumped the stereo, dangling by the wires.

Not only that but nearly all car washes now are recycled water, it is filtered for stuff like sand but it is not clean water. The darker the car the more visible the spots are going to be after a wash. Black will show everything, so unless you are using your own hose this is what you will go through. Get the softest chamois you can buy because you will need it.

I would be drying mine and see a sheen of iridescence from gasoline in the air. At first I wondered if there was some kind of oil on my drying towels. But it was unburned gasoline in the polluted air. That was the seventies east of LA, before pollution laws and catalytic converters, now unburned gasoline gets burned in the converter, back then it just came out the tailpipe. But the point is, you are right that if you make a black car shine you can stand there and watch it getting dirty. Go inside to fetch a beer and come out to see a layer of dust that is clearly visible. People like me who had black cars just give up after a few months if that long, drive it dirty. Because you can't keep it clean. But the real reason I would never have another is how hot it got when the sun was out.

So true, I was stationed at March AFB near Riverside, on the road out to Palm Springs, there were a lot days over 100 degrees, a few over 110, and a few over 120. My black car got so hot that parts of the dash melted. Drooped and the aftermarket Pioneer stereo fell out.

Those micro scratches will show up on a black car where they are there on other cars but you do not see them. People think this cannot be true, if you ask people "Is a black car really that much harder to keep clean?" the real answer is they are IMPOSSIBLE to keep clean. But after a month or two you will give up, trust me on this.

And speaking of swirls, the black with a high shine glass like finish is going to show every even microscopic scratch even if you are just hand washing with a soft cloth. I have had a black car and it looked great for WEEKS! not after that though and I was so bummed about it. The other things was I was stationed east of LA out not too far from Palm Springs. When the air temps were over 100℉ or even 110, a few days over 120F the car got so hot inside that plastic parts of the dash melted. That is a consideration for black cars, you basically have to park them in shade or deal with surfaces you can't touch.

I had a new black car in 1978, lived in southern California east of LA, the pollution was really bad back then before really tough laws changed that. I would wash the car and go to dry it and it would clearly have visible iridescent slicks all over it from all the unburned gasoline in the air settling on it. Every speck shows up. Dust, bird poop, everything. You would think stuff would show up on a white care better but white actually hides it better. Same with a white stove verses a black glass cook top.

Don't, they have different formulations but are not all that different. Some hydraulic components use regular engine oil. In motors the oil has detergents and generally a flexible viscosity, hydraulic oil is geared to stable viscosity and anti foaming water shedding properties. But, traces of is diluted with engine oil should be fine. And I like the suggestion to run the motor up to temp and then drain that again right away just to be certain.

Hourly shop rates at BMW are now $200 but they are $175 at the Chevy dealer, so that is not a huge difference. My oil change is $150, 7 quarts of that Euro synth oil. And that strange filter set up. But, the B58 3 liter inline six is one of the best motors ever built. Well, damn good anyway. I do worry about the turbo sometimes. A used on off of Ebay is about $800, and new at BMW could be nearly $3k. I baby that thing when the engine is cold till it reaches running temps. But as I say it is a widely acclaimed engine for durability. Take care of it and you will probably get at least a quarter million miles out of it. It only has 41,000 on it now and it is a 2019, I probably can't live long enough to get it to 100k unless I start driving more.

Yes, my BMW 740i is $150 for an oil change, but it is Euro synthetic oil and it takes 7 quarts. I do not pinch pennies when it comes to a well maintained car. I have had 3 BMWs before this one and know that they are not cheap to fix, when I had M sport package and run flats tires were outrageous. You were lucky to get 13,000 miles out of a $2,000 set of them. I do like PBGOD's term German Luxobarge though, never heard that one before. But now on my fourth BMW, this one is the only one that ever needed a repair, so while those are more than American vehicles they are also a lot rarer. The only repairs mine has had was the thrust arm bushings had to be replaced, and the radiator louver motors failed, which would have been an expensive repair but BMW knew they were a defective part and extended the factory warranty on them to 150,000 miles, so that repair was comped.