En route from the land of the rising sun!

[Chillipepper]

Just got confirmation from JDM that the car is bought and now the process of it coming to Ireland has begun.

Always loved the look of the e61 and I think it has aged extremely well.

Nice spec 2007 M Sport (note the cup holders lol) and panorama glass roof, shadow line trim. I was hoping to snag a le mans blue but after a few weeks of looking nothing popped up.

Carbon black was my second choice and this one looked very good, it has been graded 4.5 (excellent condition) with two minor scratches noted on the bonnet and passenger door. Low mileage of 45000.

So 3 or so months and should be with me.

I will have to look into changing the infotainment and nav system as it is in Japanese, if anyone has any advice im all ears.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[Andy]

Congrats and delighted it worked out. You are giving me ideas now. The car is fantastic.


https://www.donedeal.ie/caraccessori...rsion/35440673

[dergside]

Nice one Tony. Looking forward to seeing that, and picking your brains about how you went about it!

Is it the N52 525i? That's a great grade to get and hardly run in with that mileage. LCI is a brucey bonus.

[Dave]

Being an LCI N52 is a big win. Pretty sure that was limited to a handful of countries.

Re the infotainment, just do the CIC retrofit, it'll be the most cost effective route, same as I documented on the M5.

[Alanmcgrath40]

Congrats Tony and fair play for taking the plunge. You won't regret it and I don't think you'd get a cleaner car here or the UK. It looks stunning, the E61 has aged so well. Did you go through an auction or was it a dealer car?

Hopefully the VRT Gods are kind to you. Keep us updated on it and well wear.

Sent from my SM-G780G using Tapatalk

[Big H]

Being an LCI N52 is a big win

Being an N52, is it the 2.5 or 3.0 one - not that it matters - a lovely car indeed ?

Agree on the E61's having aged very well indeed (only really in M Sport trim imho though)

[Ketron]

Lovely car, wear well! As Dave said, CiC retrofit is what I'd be looking at rather than messing about with the CCC system.

[Big H]

I see a couple of Jap import E60's (non-lci) for sale at the moment but they have been hanging around for a long time now - maybe priced too high and people don't see the value in them....
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sal...w-kms/35576303
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sal...sport/35567688

An E61 M Sport imported for personal use is a different proposition of course and a worthwhile purchase for sure....

[dergside]

.....- maybe priced too high and people don't see the value in them....

.....An E61 M Sport imported for personal use is a different proposition of course and a worthwhile purchase for sure....

Agreed. Having had the 530i e60 for 7 years, and plenty of miles, I reckon that they are as good a drive as the newer generations (but relatively a little bit primitive in electronic sophistication). They have a bit more character and one thing that I find advantageous is that they're quite a bit more compact externally, without pinching internally. I find F10's and G30's just a smidge too big for parking spaces and the country roads around our neck of the woods (I couldn't buy either without curly-wurly door mirrors). Sourcing cars like this one Tony has that defy their age and will deliver good service for years and miles makes them a bit of a bargain in a €/mile calculation. I replaced an F10 520d (nice car, but didn't stir the soul to any real extent) with a one owner e63 630i (50k miles) and the 1 owner 530i for the same money, and got a lot more combined driving fun and service. The e63 is still here and I do miss the e60. Finding time-warp cars like one's at this grade are sounds like a good investment. I still keep an eye out for them, in the right spec and miles. Wouldn't rule out going there again.

As regards N52 vs N53, I may have been lucky with the N53, but never had a HPFP, injector or other significant issue that they were notorious for. It went through rocker cover, oil filter housing and other gaskets at an alarming rate, but I don't think that's unique to the N53 in relatively recent BMW engine terms. It was noticeably peppier than the N52 in the 630i, but the sound of the N52 (in this and the Z4) was a big win for it. The N53 is smooth, but noticeably less characterful in terms of aural appeal. Not sure whether the N52 got the equivalent of Euro4 upgrades in the markets that it was sold that the N53 had, so there might be a slight g/km CO2 penalty, but at the value these are at for VRT it won't be significant.

[Chillipepper]

Nice one Tony. Looking forward to seeing that, and picking your brains about how you went about it!

Is it the N52 525i? That's a great grade to get and hardly run in with that mileage. LCI is a brucey bonus.

It was very straightforward for me, I used Patrick JDM auctionwatch he has a huge network established over there.

This particular car was sourced before going to auction direct from his dealer network.

LCI was what rubber stamped it for me as I think the subtle changes really lift the car cosmetically from an exterior point of view.

The E46 is pressed into daily duty for a while as I sold the Golf over the weekend.

Looking forward to getting it landed.


Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk