stasek

The time has come to turn loose the ole’ Mazda CX9. It has served us pretty well since Jan ‘12, but the law of diminishing returns finally kicked in. Sadly, it took about 1 year/$3k too late.
After breaking down last year (alternator and ultimately rebuilt transmission), I “desperately” wanted to keep it running due to the youngest daughter getting her DL. I figured - it’s survived 2 older daughters’ early driving days and 5 years on college campus, it should be able to survive “the baby”. Unfortunately, the car’s condition deteriorated quickly since dropping couple thousand $ on rebuilding the transmission. Final straw came on Mother’s Day, when we needed a large(er) car to visit our daughters downtown Chicago. We took the Mazda on the expressway and I was legitimately scared to drive it . The suspension was definitely shot, handling - non existent (one of the reasons I got it instead of, ie Highlander, back in the day, was the somewhat sportier behavior), and now there was noticeable noise coming from (most likely) rear differential.
I immediately knew the days of the CX9 were numbered - I could not possibly allow my16yo to drive it, even short distances around town.
As the “luck” goes, a friend is a gsm at the local Autonation BMW dealer. Their used car inventory is still lacking, but they did have couple 3 and 5 series I was interested in. Test drove both, and one of the 5 series was a clear winner. If we weren’t pressed on time, I would have preferred the B58 variant, but at this time the “lowly” b48 will have to do.
Long story, short…. wife gets a new(er) ‘’21 BMW 530i, and “the baby” gets to drive the LS460, at least until the ole’ girl meets Mazda’s fate (the LS has over 200k miles on, and drinks oil like it’s going out of style).
Plot twist - wife had no idea what I was doing 😀. Her reaction was priceless (in a good way).

RE Bimmer - pretty well optioned, with Premium Package (includes HUD). Not too fond of the 19” RFTs, but considering the lack of spare tire , and our wonderful highways, maybe they’re not such a bad idea.

Margate330

Congrats friend.🤓

Dam, don't be greedy, where's the pics?
(Scratch that, took a while for pics to load on my phone for some reason. Lol)

Ps, how many miles on the Mazda when the transmission died?

stasek

Around 140k.

geko29

Not terrible. Also more than reasonable to be needing suspension work (bushings, balljoints and such) at that mileage. But congrats on the 5er!

LexBob2

Congrats on the 5 Series. I have one in the same Bluestone Metallic (same wheels too). It's been a great car.

stasek

thanks! I’m hoping the improved reliability is not just a myth😀.

LexBob2

Mine has been good so far with no major issues just routine maintenance. Good luck with yours. Is yours a CPO?

stasek

Unfortunately not a CPO. Still has a year and 5k miles of original warranty. I might scour the interwebs for good aftermarket warranty, though. What the FM was offering me was “little” too expensive - almost $5k for (iirc) 4 year/100k coverage.

FrankReynoldsCPA

Nice bimmer. Love my G30 540i. Your wife is going to enjoy driving this thing, and the B48 should be more than enough.

SC300Es

Congrats! We had a CX-9 that served us well too

SW17LS

Congrats!!

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

congrats! nice looking car. thankfully not a part of recent styling disasters like this one i saw today



if that included maintenance, maybe not so bad?

SW17LS

More respecting of other people's opinions I see lol

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

again? respecting people's right to have opinions is not the same as somehow being required to agree with those opinions or not being able to express a different opinion.

we're all allowed to have opinions and allowed to express them. no opinions expressed are going to be universally agreed with. nothing to do with respect.

SW17LS

You love to pick at people who like things you don’t like lol.