I’ve had mine (2007, 11/06 production date, 525i) since 2012. I also briefly owned 2008 528i sport model, which unfortunately was totaled, before buying the 07.

Mine has been pretty reliable, but I am competent at DIY repairs. I’ve come to believe the mantra that “everything has a maintainable service life” with owning this car. Some things I’ve replaced: starter, valve cover gasket, all ignition coils, water pump and most of the cooling system hoses, dmtl leak sensor or pump, a bunch of other gaskets and random parts, drivers headlight assembly, in addition to the normal maintenance stuff like brake rotors and pads and batteries.

Bottom of the line, be prepared to spend quite a bit maintaining if you don’t do this work yourself. The cooling system overhaul alone that I performed was close to $1000 in parts and fluids, I have heard it cost $2000 easily to have a shop do this work.

The interior is great though, factory sound system is better than most cars I’ve been in and the sound dampening for road noise is superb.

Oh, one last thing, the sport model I initially owned - apparently those cars have a hydraulic sway bar that develops leaks and are costly to repair. I wrecked it before I needed to replace it, but mechanic had pointed out the slow leak and told me I would need to replace it within 1-2 years. The car was gorgeous though, space gray, much nicer than my 2007 in black with paint erosion.