Cost of ownership for my e34

[Elekta]

I'm keeping this (paid $13.5k 2 years ago and have $8k more in it, but nothing over $300 in the last year - not incl $1k stereo upgrade)


until this comes out


and even then, I might warehouse it still for my 2 year old

[ryan roopnarine]

it would be nice if all of my failures didn't seem to be hoses falling off, or screwdrivers in the transmission, or other crap that i might be able to figure out. first failure was headgasket, once back on the road, repair every 2 months, now its been almost 4 months and 8,000 miles since my last necessary repair (alt brushes) before this last failure (heat core).... so i think things are actually tapering off. Most of the "repairs" that my car needs now are things that don't require parts per se, so I plan on entertaining myself in that manner.....annoying little crap, like the head liner (its florida, was expecting it), the seat cables, preventatively changing out all of the american diameter hoses under the hood, shimming the starter so it doesn't chirp anymore, replacing the differential fluid with the oil i've had sitting aorund for 18 months now.....it might have been in unseen (rough condition) when i bought it, buuuutttt, it looks like its just minor annoyances from now on (crossing fingers)

Numbers CAN lie, that's what it comes down to. What I mean is that numbers can be twisted quite easily to show exactly what the user wants to support.

Looking back on the .......Frankly, the 535 I owned beat me up so much I got tired of, as Ryan said so well, waiting for the repairs to "taper off." I tapered them off myself, and said buh-bye!


As with all things, YMMV.

[Dan in NZ]

I thought my car was costing me a FORTUNE, but I just updated my spreadsheet, and over the 1yr and 15,000km I've had the car, I've spent about $2,300. Only NZD$0.16 per km, and about the same in Petrol. I use cons2 as a lifetime average of fuel consumption, and that's sitting at 13.2L/100km, with petrol $1.21 per Liter.

I suppose when you're a student, $2300 a year is a HUGE expense, but over 15,000Km it's not so bad.

[JR'Z 525]

Even though I keep receipts, log all maintenance etc, I'd be afraid to find out what my E34 has cost me total for the 3 + years of ownership. It ain't no Toyota but it's a heck of alot more fun when I take the back road home!
JR

[Kamil]

why was the head gasket replaced twice? (previous owner and u)

[billb]

6.4 cents/mile fuel
10.7 cents/mile maintenance (everything, including tires, PM, inspections, fluids, services, the whole shebang
8.1 cents/mile insurance
15.2 cents/mile depreciation (bought for 20k in 1999, might be worth 10k now, 61k miles in that time)

At 10k miles/year, that's $4040 in annual vehicle cost. Divided by 12, that's $336/month. Almost the cost of a car payment, which doesn't include insurance, depreciation, fuel, maintenance, etc.

Guess we'll have to cross that bridge when the tranny goes south (or put in a 5-speed...)

Gonna go get some BG44K tomorrow and pamper Ginger over the weekend.

Good lil E34...good girl.

Bill B.

[winfred]

man some of you have gotten the short end of the stick, i don't spend dick on my two besides gas upgrades and oil changes, i pretty much don't touch anything between oil changes except to check the air in the tires

[Matt P]

I have you all beat... :-)

Take a guess at how much my M5 Touring has cost me per mile. Hint: I've put 20,000 km on it in 2 years.

(actually, I'm taking this time to go and add up what I've spent on it)

[JoeS]

Yeah, I have probably spent way too much on my e34 in comparison to having a newer car with less maintenance. I shutter to think of my cost per mile or my yearly maintence fees. So, I stopped counting. I categorize my e34 mods and upkeep expenses as entertainent. Cause i know it is cheaper than drinkin' , chasin' trouser trout, concert tickets, and weekend getaways ( with the netted trout).

[Scott E]

I would guess about $3.50 per km