Used 2003 BMW 5 Series Consumer Reviews
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The First Four Months
Remarkably fun to drive (5 speed manual). Responsive steering and handling. Interior comforts are amazing. I had a Jeep before, they are fun to drive, but in a different way. The Jeep is amazing fun in an off-road way as where the 5-Series is just as much fun in an Autobahn kinda way.
Solid performer
Wonderful car with a strong luxury feel. I've owned the car about a year and driven it about 7,000 miles. I did have to replace the thermostat since I kept getting a service engine light. Another problem is missing pixels in my instrument display and radio display. This required replacing the instrument cluster and the MID display. Electronic parts are very expensive ($1600). Since the car was out of warranty, I wrote to BMW to see if they would assist with the repairs and they said they would. Put me in the BMW good will program and agreed to pay for the parts if I paid the labor. Good deal for me, nearly $2000 worth of repairs for less than $175.
- 540i SedanMSRP: $7,500110 mi away
- 540i SedanMSRP: $10,477225 mi away
- 530i SedanMSRP: $4,995253 mi away
2003 BMW 540i
How can I say this... I finally understand the true meaning of, "The Ultimate Driving Machine!" I brought a CPO 2003 540i with the sport package in 2006. This is my personal sports car, family car, golfing car (room for foursome and 4 sets of golf clubs - they even give you a picture of how to best store the clubs in the trunk). I have so much fun driving this car. Sometimes I even take the longer but winding road home just to feel the acceleration and handling of the 540. Even with the automatic, I can either put the transmission in "S - Sports" mode or just shift it manually. It's FUN either way. My 9 year old son is already counting the days until his 17th birthday.
BMW 530i 2003
This car is the perfect balance between sport & luxury. Purchased new in 2003. Now have 95,000 trouble free miles. Have owned many cars from a cobra mustang 500hp to a honda crx and everything in between. I now also have a mazda speed 3 also nice. BMW makes some of the best cars for the money out there. Smooth, quiet, peppy, comfortable, reliable and nice looking. Runs better now than when I purchased it. Most of my miles have been highway. I get about 24 mpg with 70% hwy 30 local. I also enjoy driving the new and old 3 series.
The Jury Is Out
Just bought the 530i. Currently, dealer's are offering heavy discounts due to factory incentives to make room for the newly designed 5 series coming in October. I'm happy so far. I agree with many of the reviews that the car has both sport and touring car characteristics. More sport than touring, however. Time will tell if it turns out as reliable as the Lexus whos' place it took.