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[Taxi_Driver]

Just my 2p worth.....imo

For the same size of the omega....you will to go for a 7 series.

I had a 735SE for about a year or so......built quality was good and it never let me down......what i got fed up with it was......the 15mpg it used to do   ...... i was doing a reasonable commute in it.....and it was using £70 of petrol every 4 days   ......in the end i swapped it for a vectra v6  

[Markjay]

A colleague at work had the 535 Sport (it has some M-Power bits from the M5), and yes it was a V8. He wrote it off a couple of weeks ago and bought a 05 plate 7-series (haven't seen it yet, not sure about the engine size).

The 535 was on S Plates, and was a (relatively) high-miler when he bought it second-hand some 5 years ago. It was not a good one in my opinion... he had various problems with it including having the auto box reconditioned as well as some other problems with the cooling system (the BMW dealer couldn't figure it out so short-circuit the thermoswitch which made the fans run at al times and the car was very noisy at idle), and the airbag light was constantly on (something to do with the passenger's side seat connectors which were apparently very costly to replace).

So based on his experience I wouldn't buy one, though to be fair he did buy it with a 70k or so and no history.

Also, there were some problems with the Nikasil cylinder coating on some early V8 engines, this is well documented on the internet if you look at Wikipedia or google it.

 

[Martin_1962]

The 5 series is a little cramped inside, good car though, age for age and engine size I'd say no better than the equivalent Vauxhall, which means that around 3 litres the old GSI3000 Carlton was not worse nor were the same sized Omegas.

The old 535 12v 6 had similar performance to the 24v 6s from GM, but a bit torquier.

My boss has had 2

[JiMbOb789]

my dad owns a black 525i sport. it has all the m-tek kit on it and goes like the wind!
Jamie

[cem_devecioglu]

Yes, yes i swore...... but hang on...

Been looking at these.... if i sell the project lpg i fancy a change.

I have been looking at 535's

It looks like they have a V8 engine? - Also been looking at 528's

Few questions, are the engines belt or chains, any major problems? Anyone had some experiance of them??

Btw looking at the previous shape, not current ones. 1996-1999 cars....

Although a bit weaker inline 6    530 is best in 5 series ...Have no problem

528 is the most problemmatic.  540 is thirsty and have cooling system issues..

my preference is 330 if I can afford next century..

[Admin]

Tunnie... BMW??  

If you want the extra power and "zip" have you thought about a Saab Aero (9000 or 9-5 in 2.3 form)?
A LOT faster than the Omega with superb high speed cruising ability
Oh and a heck of a lot cheaper than a BMW and the rest of the road users won't despise you.

[ians]

Tunnie... BMW??  

If you want the extra power and "zip" have you thought about a Saab Aero (9000 or 9-5 in 2.3 form)?
A LOT faster than the Omega with superb high speed cruising ability
Oh and a heck of a lot cheaper than a BMW and the rest of the road users won't despise you.

I was fortunate to have a 9-5 Aero estate for a while (called HOT here I believe - I was in Sweden at the time).  Great combination of performance when you want it and relaxed cruising.  Also very economical.

and as LB says people won't automatically think your a pr@t

[miggy]

Yes, yes i swore...... but hang on...

Been looking at these.... if i sell the project lpg i fancy a change.

I have been looking at 535's

It looks like they have a V8 engine? - Also been looking at 528's

Few questions, are the engines belt or chains, any major problems? Anyone had some experiance of them??

Btw looking at the previous shape, not current ones. 1996-1999 cars....

Down with you, traitor, turn coat, off with his head.

 

[TheBoy]

Be aware with the Beemers, they have woeful reliability (know someone who work for their warranty), and as we've began to discover recently, sensor faults are not flagged up on dash.

Not sure why you think my MV6 is slow, but not your Senator? We proved which was the quickest.  I also seem to recall you blatting it at high speed down A43 when it was running rough...

Your poorly V6 is quicker than your 2.2 (I was ragging the nuts off it to keep up with you when we picked it up).

There are quicker cars around, but I think you need to be looking at smaller engined, lighter cars if thats what you want...

[mantahatch]

Hi Guys
Last year I bought my first Omega, previous to that I had a Vectra and belonged to a Vectra forum.
And this was a post I made in 2006.

"I have just had my summer holiday in France, taking my ageing and high mileage 1996 Omega with me on the ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo.
Whilst queing for the ferry to leave good old blighty all of us saw the broken down BMW 4x4 X5 I think you call them being loaded on to a recovery truck, many of us chuckled.
 
After my holiday on the ferry back, I am driving down the ferrys loading ramp to be met by another BMW 4x4 being pushed off the ferry by 4 burly dock workers, another chuckle from my group in the car. and to end the story there are 2 lines of traffic coming off the ferry and I am driving slowly to go through customs alongside a 5 series BMW which breaks down alongside me, and as we slowly move off the driver is getting out and opening the bonnet.
In a 2 week holiday to France I saw 3 broken down cars all 3 of them BMW's.
Moral: is the german car any better, I don't think so.
I have posted this here because I have seen a posts in the past knocking Vauxhall and people saying "I have had enough of Vauxhall" and "I'm off to buy a german car".
Maybe those people should think twice, many many people witnessed these events, also strange how other people in bmw's suddenly had tunnel vision and would not look at the broken down bmw's, bet they would have looked and sneered if it had been another make of car."

BMW are nowhere near as reliable as people think, has anyone on here still in the trade heard about the new (last 4 years ish)BMW auto gearbox problem, that once again BMW are denying that they have a problem with.

We have an auto specialist down the road who I visited not long ago for a price for another car and it was full of BMW autos all with the same problem.

Oh and for those people who still compare Omega and BMW please remember the massive price difference in buying and running each car. And if you think Vauxhall dealers can be expensive, I once had to collect a new distributor cap for a 6 cylinder BMW, price £86.00, price in halfords about £10.00. Idiot owner insisted on BMW only parts and this was back in about 1998.

Sorry guys winge over.

All the best

Mike

[sounds2k]

If you want the extra power and "zip" have you thought about a Saab Aero (9000 or 9-5 in 2.3 form)?
A LOT faster than the Omega with superb high speed cruising ability
Oh and a heck of a lot cheaper than a BMW and the rest of the road users won't despise you.

well ... my 9000 Aero is a 2.3 FPT auto (200 BHP) and even before the rebuild with head skim it left the 3.2 omega for dead from 60 or so ... only thing is they're FWD and the turning circle is poor compared to the omega. But the seats are superb ... and it's more economical than the omega, especially on a run !!!

So much so that I'm having a previous bodge job on the radiator fan corrected and then shortly afterwards the omega will be up for sale ...

You can pick up 9000 Aero's for about £1500, I got lucky and bought mine for under £700 from fleabay ... the manual models have a different turbo (higher output as well) so are quicker than the auto models again - the 2.3 is detuned in an auto as the gearbox can't handle the torque!!

[Paul M]

Tunnie... BMW??  

If you want the extra power and "zip" have you thought about a Saab Aero (9000 or 9-5 in 2.3 form)?
A LOT faster than the Omega with superb high speed cruising ability
Oh and a heck of a lot cheaper than a BMW and the rest of the road users won't despise you.

Saab 9-5 Aero is all well and good on a cruise and in a straight line, but they don't do corners very well, and as mentioned elsewhere they drive the wrong end. 230 BHP through the front wheels is not what I call entertaining. Cracking car otherwise, but that's a killer failing for me.

[Paul M]

BMW are nowhere near as reliable as people think, has anyone on here still in the trade heard about the new (last 4 years ish)BMW auto gearbox problem, that once again BMW are denying that they have a problem with.

There's a very easy solution to this one: don't buy an auto. BMW's autos are just as much a pile of junk as the next manufacturers, they're almost guaranteed to fail once the miles start racking up. If you're lazy and have a warranty then feel free, but don't expect it to be reliable on any make -- you only need to spend 5 minutes browsing this forum to see the number of Omega auto gearboxes that fall to bits, BMW are no different. Funnily enough the 6-speed manual in my 840 remains totally reliable when you add two turbos to a V12 and put 600 BHP through it.... go figure

[Paul M]

Moral: is the german car any better, I don't think so.

The German car better than what, the Omega (which happens to be German)? That's where they're all built by Opel, the Vauxhall ones are simply RHD models re-badged.

[TheBoy]

Moral: is the german car any better, I don't think so.

The German car better than what, the Omega (which happens to be German)? That's where they're all built by Opel, the Vauxhall ones are simply RHD models re-badged.

I think the comment was that the 'German Marques' - BMW, Audi/VW, Merc are no better than anything else.  I would go one step further and say that these marques have rested on their laurels and fallen behind. Merc were the first to do this, but it seems the first to notice and try to drag themselves back on track.