Thread: looking at a 2004 545 I

Anyone have any experience or hear anything about BMW'S 4.4l V-8's or the transmissions. Thanks

2004 BMW 545 i, $16,500 - Cars.com

2004 BMW 545 i, $21,998 - Cars.com

or maybe this one since its 6 speed manual

i tend to not look for cars that have no pictures, so id op on the first one plus its cheaper and not to bad mileage either

POS motor, My friend is a master mechanic for BMW & tells me the horror stories... The prior E39 4.4L is miles & miles more reliable. Unless you got lots of cash to spend on cars, don't bother with a BMW 5,6,7+ series. An E60 528 would be ok, but still some things haunt the E60. Have a serious look at an 02-03 540i - they are a very good choice.

2007 BMW 335 i, $22,995 - Cars.com 335i's are a tad cheaper. Might check them out

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...nal&listType=1 Manual one. I hear alot of complaints on the autos shifting like **** and failing

The 4.4 liter in the 545i is a problematic engine. Valve seals, fail and need to be drillled out to be replaced. Oil leaks are very common and expensive to repair. the n54 535i and 335i are far better options and more mod friendly if you chose to go that route.

Probably never blow up on you but they will dollar you to the poor house. Or in the case of these cars $500 or $1000 you to the poor house. I had two BMWs and loved both. Once the 540i got close to the end of the extended warrenty I had to get rid of it.

BMW + LSx swap =

after reading the forums it seems the 335's the 545 are all plagued with expensive issues ranging from transmission, head, and turbo failures all in the 4Kplus range. Hell even the water pump is 1700 at the dealer. the only ones I can afford are just coming off of warranty. Maybe ill just get a 11-12 maxima or something

As for the VQ35 engine be careful of anything near 100k miles on the odometer. The VQ35 has a nylon timing tensioner that needs replacing at about that mileage and it is also an expensive repair.

Other than that it is a solid engine.