Skip to main content

Used 2008 BMW 5 Series Consumer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
221 reviews
1...

See Edmunds pricing data

Has Your Car's Value Changed?

Used car values are constantly changing. Edmunds lets you track your vehicle's value over time so you can decide when to sell or trade in.

Price history graph example

Trending topics in reviews

Pros
Cons
5 out of 5 stars

Great Performance Sport Sedan

Tomas Olivo, 12/16/2015
2008 BMW 5 Series 550i 4dr Sedan (4.8L 8cyl 6M)
40 of 40 people found this review helpful

This car performs amazingly well given the facts that is a heavy midsize sedan. The look is great! Definitely a head turner with the Sport package. If you are looking for gas mileage stay away from the V8 but if you are mostly looking for performance and power, this is definitely the car for you. I have owned different cars, but this car is very special. You feel in control and you feel like you own the road when you are driving it. It is definitely a joy. I have owned the car for about 2 years now and I bought it with 73,000 miles. Currently at 104,000 miles and no major problems so far. The only major issues was resolved under warranty after a few days I bought the car at the BMW dealer it had an oil leak and a rattle in the engine but they fixed it. Also the car's transmission would malfunction sometimes but they reprogrammed the computer and the problem was gone. Other little things that I have done myself are the angel lights that went out, fog lights, brakes, etc. Something that does bother me is the transmission at low speed, it is a bit jerky especially when you drive it first time during the day. I've been thinking about upgrading to the F10 version but reading about all the mechanical issues they have, I think I'm sticking with this one for now since it has been such a great car so far.

Safety
5 out of 5 stars
Technology
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Interior
4 out of 5 stars
Comfort
4 out of 5 stars
Reliability
4 out of 5 stars
Value
5 out of 5 stars
Report Abuse

2 out of 5 stars

The Dream Wedding of Vehicles...

Blondeinabmw, 05/27/2016
2008 BMW 5 Series 535i 4dr Sedan (3.0L 6cyl Turbo 6M)
104 of 107 people found this review helpful

Every time you take this car in for service, it costs $1,000...except for when it costs far more than $1,000. Bought my gorgeous 535i (with the sport package and premium sound) as a special order, and it arrived with 3 miles on the odometer. Since I bought it, I have been plagued with problems. Admittedly, the first 4+ years were pretty much covered under free maintenance with the warranty, but since it went off the maintenance agreement, it has more than made up for the savings. My car is 8 years old and has 107K miles. During the time I've owned it, it has required: - Three complete sets of tires plus two sets of rear tires (roughly every 20-30K miles) - A valve replaced in the engine (towed) - All six fuel injectors (limped in to the shop) - Walnut blasting of the intakes - A water pump (towed) - Computer software reinstalled (twice, took more than a week each time at the dealership for the reinstall to "stick") (towed) - Three fuel pumps (towed) - And now, the CCC is bad. This is a fancy acronym for the iDrive computer system that includes navigation, radio, bluetooth and all the car's controls. It also needs the hydraulics in the hood replaced, the xenon headlight has a malfunction (which requires the entire headlight assembly to be removed from the body of the car to change a LIGHTBULB, and if god forbid the ballast is bad, the bumper must be removed as well). For a change, it is actually driving fairly well, but this repair is gonna cost more than all the others yet! I've not added it up, but I think this car has cost me at least $1,800 a year in maintenance costs since it went off warranty in 2012, sometimes more. I will say that the cupholders in this car are the stupidest thing ever designed. It also does not hold car seats very well - infant carriers have to go in the middle back seat or the passenger seat will have to be on the dash, and convertible front-facing seats don't leave a ton of room either. It drives beautifully. Handles like a dream. Is so comfortable. Feels like a beast when you want it to. Rides gracefully. Looks pretty. Has an amazing sound system. Gets pretty good gas mileage all things considered. SUCKS THE LIFE OUT OF ME.

Safety
5 out of 5 stars
Technology
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Interior
5 out of 5 stars
Comfort
5 out of 5 stars
Reliability
1 out of 5 stars
Value
1 out of 5 stars
Report Abuse
4.25 out of 5 stars

A Great Car-Almost

gruderian, 06/17/2011
2008 BMW 5 Series 550i 4dr Sedan (4.8L 8cyl 6M)
25 of 25 people found this review helpful

Great all around highway cruiser. Curves do not exist at practically any speed. Brakes are first class in every respect. Gas mileage averages around 12.5, all city driving; 15.5 combined; and 22.7 highway at any speed below 100 mph ( I know what you are thinking but that is how it works out ). Easy to live with and drive under any conditions. Front seats are very comfortable on long drives. Rough ride over road imperfestions. Extremely large and useful trunk. Not a single problem of any kind for the three years I had it. Some repetetive adjustments on the I drive are ridiculous. Heater will not warm your feet no matter how you adjust it. Throttle control is managed by computer.

Report Abuse

4 out of 5 stars

No issues . . . maybe I'm lucky?

nitch, 08/02/2016
2008 BMW 5 Series 528xi 4dr Sedan AWD (3.0L 6cyl 6M)
39 of 40 people found this review helpful

I seem to have gotten the opposite of lemon. Got the car as a CPO and drive it about 15k miles a year combined city and hwy driving. I have done zero maintenance other than brakes (once), tires (three t8es) and oil changes (every 10k miles). The only caveat is this car will chew through tires - you'll get about 30k out of a set no matter what you buy - and because of the AWD, you have to replace all 4 at once. It drives like a dream - especially on the back roads. After a snowstorm once the seal around the rear window got dislodged and water got in the trunk and down into the well under the spare. BMW stupidly put some electronics there and the TPM monitor control until got wet and shorted out. I dug it out of there, dried it off and let it et in a bag of rice of for a day or two. plugged it back in and it worked fine.

Safety
4 out of 5 stars
Technology
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Interior
5 out of 5 stars
Comfort
5 out of 5 stars
Reliability
5 out of 5 stars
Value
4 out of 5 stars
Report Abuse

3.13 out of 5 stars

Fun to drive, poor reliability & expensive to fix

mqc99, 02/09/2014
2008 BMW 5 Series 535i 4dr Sedan (3.0L 6cyl Turbo 6M)
68 of 71 people found this review helpful

This was my 1st and last BMW. Bought the car new, in the 6 years and 34K miles I've owned the car, I had a faulty battery, bad fuel pump, dead oxygen sensor, and a failed water pump. I was stranded 3 times (car completely died) and almost stranded twice. So, multiple trips to the shops and over 2 grand of repair bills later, I have finally gave up on this "ultimate driving machine". It was a fun car to drive while it worked. But, for a $60K car, I'd expect BMW to deliver something better. The worst part is that I totally lost my confidence in it and can no longer feel comfortable taking this car on any extended trips. This will be the LAST BMW I ever spend my money on.

Report Abuse
1...
Items per page:
5