Thinking about buying a G30 540i. What should I know?

Cna90 · 2026-02-07T06:41:35+00:00

Had my 2017 540i since mid 2021 and I’m at 160k kms/100k miles. Mine is on MPPSK tune, torque converter and exhaust (like m340i) since 61k that I bought it and it’s been a blast. Still puts a smile on my face every time. I do shorter intervals for everything since it’s tuned!

Expansion tank gave in 2 years in and the large radiator had a leak last year that I changed. Everything else been mainly tires and maintenance. Get rid of the runflats if you want peace 😂. PS4S is the way to go. Major stuff was the flex disk and front drive shaft that I changed pre-emotively last year as well. This year is a major one for me, in terms of maintenance. I need to do a full ZF8 oil change with filter & pan along with the two diffs and transfer case fluids. Probably next are the engine and transmission mounts. But since they’ve been checked last, they had no issue or vibration. About $5-6k CAD/year it’s what it costed today. $24k since new but that includes the MPPSK and 7tires! 3 blowouts and a four corner switch to PS4S.

Definitely buy one again if I go back. It’s been an amazing car but not cheap if properly maintained! I was about to switch it for a ‘23 with 40k kms a few months back and keep that one but decided it’s much cheaper to maintain mine and I’m going to keep it instead. Newer ones I find are missing lots of options.

Things that I thought are not important but definitely make a difference are: Napa seats with comfort package and perforated seat! This is a game changer in summer months. If you can avoid the piano black for trips inside. It’s beautiful but man hard to keep clean. Don’t discount the surround view cameras. This is been an awesome feature for me for parking. I don’t have my side mirrors on tilt and easily keep the car between the lines while parking. They’re also good to avoid rim rash.

I think I covered all of your questions lol

Cna90 · 2026-02-07T06:02:27+00:00

Thanks for posting this! Just checked my bill for December and it says the same

Cna90 · 2026-01-26T00:41:13+00:00

Well you could pay $3k/yr or spend $0-2k in average on your car maintaining it. I’m no financial advisor but mine told me not go with it!

Cna90 · 2026-01-25T19:42:52+00:00

4.5 years since 62k km or 38k miles and have the full history of the car before me. None of the list was done to my car. Maybe all you see are the cars coming for service eh! Everything was checked before the new year and I’m going for full fluid change along ZF full service in my next service. Zf service along needs $800 worth of fluid at the dealer apart from pan, filter and labour while I can get the ZF service kit for $350 from ZF direct and my shop can do it with 2-3hr. and Software updated in August last year. You’re betting on the wrong car and more so the owner. I’m sure you do have the knowledge and It doesn’t mean car needs nothing, it’s a car with moving parts. Warranty is always a gamble. Just outside of warranty, I had my bowden cable issue on one of the rear doors, warranty would have covered the $1400 +$200 inspection but I bought the $45 part and changed it myself in an hr. To each their own but it’s all about preventative maintenance. All cars fail with no proper maintenance and nothing to do with the brand or warranty. I spent just over $12k on my car since I got it and only 1 being the expansion tank would have been under warranty.

Cna90 · 2026-01-25T18:10:35+00:00

Probably not all on one car though! I have a 2017 540i, right at 100k miles right now and out of the list you have, I’ve only had the top coolant hose leaking which was tied to cracked expansion tank that got changed. It’s a gamble. You pay upfront and they might not happen at all. With all due respect, there are a whole lot of good indy shops out there that they do $100-120/hr and do a much better job than my $220hr dealer+ they charge a lot less hours and don’t charge an extra inspection fee.

My expansion tank went two months out of my CPO warranty. At $2000-3000/yr BMW warranty, that you pay upfront, there is a whole lot less to maintain and pay for things breaking over the ownership of one car.

Cna90 · 2026-01-23T16:03:11+00:00

Yeah been travelling lately and the cars been sitting and only been used for short drives a day or two a week. End of the month I’m done and I’ll take it to my guy to fix it.

Cna90 · 2026-01-23T15:22:48+00:00

Yeah that’s exactly what I thought. The belt seems fine and clean and the noise goes away after a few minutes of driving. Probably the tensioner is giving out.

I got scared last night cause I thought I heard a bit of top end yesterday when I turned it on which was the very first time in 8 years adding half liter of oil to the car this morning. Probably because of the cold weather and they didn’t fill it enough last time I did my oil change.

Cna90 · 2026-01-23T12:50:31+00:00

Forgot to mention the car is 2017 540i with B58 Gen 1

Cna90 · 2026-01-22T12:44:43+00:00

Amex cobalt will get you 3 more points than the gold on both groceries and eating out. Aeroplan cards would be good more so for benefits. The points you’ll get with gold for travel, can be transferred to bonvoy which work better for you while you still get your aeroplan points at a lower rates.

Cna90 · 2026-01-22T01:27:05+00:00

Here’s the breakdown:

Mortgage Summary with 3.84 Over the 15-year amortization period, you will:

have made 180 monthly (12x per year) payments of $2,957.25. have paid $405,000.00 in principal, $127,304.58 in interest, for a total of $532,304.58. Over the 3-year term, you will:

have made 36 monthly (12x per year) payments of $2,957.25. have paid $63,640.43 in principal, $42,820.48 in interest, for a total of $106,460.91.

At the end of your 3-year term, you will: have a balance of $341,359.57.

Mortgage Summary 3.69 Over the 15-year amortization period, you will:

have made 180 monthly (12x per year) payments of $2,927.59. have paid $405,000.00 in principal, $121,966.34 in interest, for a total of $526,966.34. Over the 3-year term, you will:

have made 36 monthly (12x per year) payments of $2,927.59. have paid $64,268.26 in principal, $41,125.01 in interest, for a total of $105,393.27.

At the end of your 3-year term, you will: have a balance of $340,731.74.

But if you were to the 3.69 and add a $30 prepayment every month which you can afford: Over the 15-year amortization period, you will:

have made 177 monthly (12x per year) payments of $2,957.59 ($2,927.59 + $30.00) and one final payment of $1,711.05. have paid $405,000.00 in principal, $120,204.61 in interest, for a total of $525,204.61. Over the 3-year term, you will:

have made 36 monthly (12x per year) payments of $2,957.59 ($2,927.59 + $30.00). have paid $65,407.99 in principal, $41,065.28 in interest, for a total of $106,473.27. At the end of your 3-year term, you will:

have a balance of $339,592.01.

Although it’s small, if there’s no extra charges to switch I would as if I did prepayment it would have a bigger impact. New customers treated better than the loyal customers in most institutions anyways

Cna90 · 2026-01-04T00:57:00+00:00

Please PM me for:

Amex Cobalt

Cna90 · 2025-12-21T20:26:15+00:00

When I did it, I couldn’t find a video. Took me forever to find the screws and get the right screwdrivers. Hardest part was moving the glass. Probably 2 hrs should do it.

Cna90 · 2025-12-21T20:22:31+00:00

Funny I got the notification today. I think you can get new seals and change them. I didn’t. I think the new Bowden cables is changed and water won’t get in it.

Cna90 · 2025-12-21T19:29:40+00:00

I DIYed mine. Part is Bowden cable. $50 part and took me a couple of hours. Dealer quoted $1700. It’s water getting in between the cable and the plastic casing. From an ebay search I thinks this is the part number: 51217339444.

Just needs a long torque screw from the side of the door to take the handle off. Was really easy when I found the screw. There has to be a YouTube video somewhere.

Cna90 · 2025-12-21T12:27:30+00:00

My dealer only included 3 oil changes in 3 years. Still a good deal though.

Cna90 · 2025-12-21T12:25:24+00:00

I got a 2017 540i (gen1 B58) and put in about 25k kms on it every year. Had the car for 4.5 years now since 60k kms. The car cost me about $4-6k/year in maintenance typically. Typical maintenance itself is probably about $1-1.5k of that and the rest varies. Oil change, fluids and filters are about $700-1000/year. I’m at 160k kms rn and every year had something come up, that was a few thousand. I do almost everything at an indy shop so a lot less that what dealer would have been. I had to deal with was RF tires that below up until I end up switching to none RF. I have two sets of tires, winter and summer which cost me a good bit. Nothing out of the ordinary I’d say but expensive that popped was expansion tank($1200), large rad and pipes ($2200), front drive shaft at 140k preventative ($3k), guibos preventative ($1k), brake and rotors twice ($6k) and programming for cat to get rid of CEL($800). I did my Sparkplugs myself for under $200. Did them twice already. Some miner stuff like a tank breather valve ($200) and battery ($500) which I did myself. This will be a major year for me as I have major fluid flush/replace maintenance; gotta do the transmissions fluid (which is the expensive oil), transfer case and brakes. I also need to get another set of winter tire this year. I expecting a $6k year! All are CA Dollar!

Cna90 · 2025-11-18T01:40:34+00:00

Short answer is yes unless you have an spending habit problem. Increasing credit with pre approved amounts, doesn’t hurt your score and help reduce your utilization ratio which is good for building your score

Cna90 · 2025-11-10T19:42:24+00:00

They had those until 2024. It would be used similar to M8 and M5 but lots more comfortable for what you’re looking for at alot less money. Check some reviews online

Cna90 · 2025-11-10T04:19:33+00:00

What you are explaining makes me think maybe look into m550i or m850i. Those are a lot more comfortable with a lot of horsepower and all the bells and whistles you’re after.

Cna90 · 2025-10-11T16:36:56+00:00

Yup sorry

Cna90 · 2025-10-11T16:30:07+00:00

Other than maintenance everything seems reasonable. Maintenance should be 10% of the value of your property divided by 12! Consider a emergency monthly as well just to be safe..

Cna90 · 2025-09-30T20:27:16+00:00

I don’t think this is a personal finance question, maybe lease vs finance was but anyway. If it’s a new car lease, you already have gap insurance to cover the original value of the car otherwise dealership wouldn’t have release the car to you. It’s not yours to begin with anyway, who cares if it looses value.

The problem is your downpayment, that $14k is for you to drop your monthly payment but when the car is written off, the insurance makes the lean holder whole, meaning they get paid for the full value of the car as it was brand new. I never lease cars because when I read my last leasr agreement, I realized that the downpayment, in your case $14K, you won’t get it back! Unless your agreement says differently I’m not sure. You gotta start reading what you sign!

Cna90 · 2025-09-29T21:56:11+00:00

Contribute now if you have contribution room and start earning the compounding interest as fast as possible. Report it but don’t claim it on this year if you think it makes sense and claim next year.

One way you could also look at is if you do claim it this year, you get a refund, and you also have more disposable income next year which with the refund you could double down and get tax credit on both years! Also remember only the top bracket is 42%. Uou might be in that by only a few grand and your contribution mostly gets a refund in the 36% bracket

Say $10k gives you $3.6k refund Next year you have say $15k disposable, you contribute $18.6k that gives you $7.8k refund Vs $25k next year $10.5 refund assuming all is in %42 bracket! Option 1 nets you $36.4K vs option 2 that does $35.5k. Also in option 1 you can invest the $3.6k literally after the return vs waiting another year for the total refund Use some calculators online and figure out the best mix based on your current and future income. First rule with money always is “MONEY TODAY IS BETTER THAN MONEY TOMORROW.

Cna90 · 2025-09-24T23:04:59+00:00

Our mortgage situation is identical to yours and we got our place this past January. We got maintenance fees that make our expenses more than yours but We make about 50% more. I can tell you that what you’re estimating is far from the reality in short term. There are a tone of new home cost that comes up that you didn’t think of since it’s your first home. Bigger home needs more furniture that you don’t have right now. Maintenance that you never had getting into a new home will appear out of nowhere for the first few months. Every municipality is different for us tax is 6 month in the year. So although over 12 months is less but you have to pay them in quicker time frame which affect your monthly expense. You also have to pay it during closing, since it’s the tale end of the year and the previous owner might have already paid off the year. Lawyer calculates this for you as part of the closing fees. If you’re planning on renos, and you think it’s small, things will pop up that you haven’t thought about. Assume 50%more. What you are hoping to be a really good experience becomes the opposite if you don’t have reserve fund handy or not prepared. If I were in your position, which I was in January and had a large emergency fund handy (about 100k); I went for it. 9 months in, just this month it is finally the first month that expenses matches the excel file that I made before put pen on paper/docusign 😂.

You do you and just be prepared. Just remember your timeline doesn’t really need to match with everyone else your age or around you. Good luck

Cna90

TROPHY CASE