There's guys on this forum that have over 400K miles on their 430's... Just do the basic maintenance and the 430 will last 500K miles plus.

Ask this question on the LS460 side of the house and I can guarantee you'll get a much different answer. I like both cars quite frankly, but here's my honest opinion on my 07 LS460, it's a great car and an outstanding value at this point in the used car market.

I'm an ASE certified Master Tech, and I'm an automotive instructor...that in no way means I know everything about cars, but I do know what is a good car. A good car isn't in the shop every other month because of check engine lights...the LS460 won't do that to you...you're BMW most certainly will. The LS460 has two "major" problems...the control arms and the brake actuator. As for the control arms - the top 4 in the front are prone to failure - however buying aftermarket, you can do this job yourself for around $300. If you want to replace all 8, it will run you around $650. The rears are not a problem. The brake actuator is a much much less frequent issue with these cars, but if it does fail, you can purchase them on eBay for $600. Other than that, there is not a lot to worry about, and there's no timing belt so you'll save $1000 bucks right there.

I have 118,000 on mine, the only repairs I've done outside of general maintenance is the control arms and a wheel bearing...total cost was $750. That's it, nothing else. Nothing. It gets 26mpg and it drives outstanding.

I should note that I own the LS460 base model - it doesn't have the air ride or the Mark Levinson amp - if it did (just like any car) the air suspension would probably fail. But for me - with the "base" model - all I do is put gas in it, change the synthetic oil every 6,000 miles, rotate the tires and drive it 600 miles a week. I did change the coolant (the Toyota Super Long Life coolant is great stuff by the way...looked brand new coming out at 80k miles). And I did do the tranny service...dropped the pan, changed the filter and gasket, did the temp check...great transmission in these cars (8 speed, flawless, the reason why you can get 31 mpg on the highway out of a 390 horse power car).

I don't really think you can go wrong with either car, keep in mind they're both not exactly new...bushings are going to need to be replaced on both cars...8-11 years of driving does that to all cars...so expect to replace things like...sway bar bushings, sway bar links, tie rod ends, wheel bearings, etc. Good luck!

Thx. This forum is awesome: many valuable comments. As I said in an early post, I tried one 460 yesterday. I can feel rough gear shiftings during 0-60mph, not even as smooth as my 2003 540i. That is a big surprise. How do you see this? Is it just a bad car?

Rough gear shifts? Like delays, then it kind of slams into the next gear, or does it slip? Either way I'd stay away from the car.

That transmission should feel so smooth that you can barely feel it shifting. Was it cold out when you took it for the test drive? Maybe that was it, but even then these transmissions are pretty smooth.

It sort of slamed into the next gear. Not very rough, but definitely very noticeable. I can feel gear shifting in my 540i, that is more like a roller coaster: linear acceleration. Will try a 430 tomorrow. Let us see.

If possible, I would go try another 460 somewhere else and see if you find this same shifting you experience. All the 430 and 460 I tested before getting my 430 all shifted quite well. I believe the choice for 430 or 460 will always come down to subjective points on the styling. For me, it was just the exterior I didn't like on the 460.
You'll enjoy both I believe, no matter which you choose. Just make sure the transmission is not an issue on the 460 you're looking at.

I'm not a fan on BMW's reliability, but when you mention how smooth and linear your acceleration is in your 540i, I believe you 100%. I've driven quite a few 540i's and I'm totally blown away with how smooth they are, in fact just about all the BMW's I've driven are just so smooth. So I think you're going to be a little disappointed with a lot of th cars you test drive because not many of them are going to feel like those cars...I'll hand it to BMW...they certainly know how to build a car that feels amazing. It's just that they are so disappointing in other departments. Still that 460 shouldn't drive the way you describe. And I was thinking about the price of both - you should be able to get a couple thousand off both those cars right now - this is the worst time of the year to sell cars, you have all the leverage.

, in fact, the 430 (at $13,800) owner is really firm on the price, has turned down two persons at $12,500. The car is hot commodity. Will try it this morning. You are 100% right on BMW. I will not sell it if it did not bring too many small troubles. Its metal is good, and can last very long as other quality cars. However, they got something very wrong at the same time: pathetic. I probably will only go to Lexus or Porsche after BMW.

Porche is a lot of fun and they keep mechanics happy too. Lots of expensive maintenance.

Reading through service history. What does "TIRES GREEN" mean? Just new tires? Thx.