Talk to me about E60's

wonder_lander

wonder_lander

wonder_lander

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Stone, Staffordshire
The Alfa is knocking on 50k miles now and is just 2 years old (06 Reg) so has 1 year warranty remaining.

I've always thought that I'd like to replace the car with an E60 so am after some info.

I need a diesel for the economy, what are the combined mpg figures for the 520d 525d and 530d respectively and is there much performance difference, remembering I just do 100 miles a day up and and down the M6 (50 mils takes about 60 - 75 mins)

Annual running costs (exlcuding fuel and Insurance) on the Alfa are:
2 x 12'000 mile services = £350 x 2 = £700
2 x Front Tyres = £250
Tax = £145

How ill the BMW fair in this regard?

What Spec do I want, SE or Sport? Sport looks better but SE sounds like it would be a better ride on the motorway. What does it take to make an SE look like a Sport in terms of parts?

What options should I be looking for? Ideally I'd like bluetooth, Nav, Dual Climate, Heated Seats, Front and Rear Parking Sensors. Which of these are standard or came as part of a "pack"? Also what about wheel choices?

Any opinions on interior choices?

Pictures, can people post some sexy looking E60's? I know a lot people don't like the style so please no spam! Looking for a black one!

Onto the last question and that is regarding budget.

I suppose I could sell my car for around £11-12k so what should I be looking to spend on a decent E60? With the mileage that I do would I be better off considering a newer, higher mileage car and shift it on after a year? If I do how much of hit will I take on this?

Anyone who takes time to read and respond, thanks! :D
 
If you're after a diesel for economy, for heaven's sake don't get the auto box!

Had a E60 525d as a hire car a few months ago. Had the 6-spd tiptronic gearbox and even with a lot of motorway journies, I only averaged 35-37mpg. Generally I don't tend to drive cars hard, so this was an unpleasant surprise. When I did push it (well, you have to, don't you!) it was reasonably nimble, tho a bit twitchy on the run-flat tyres. The engine didnt seem to lack performance, engine very smooth. Steering had absolutely no feel to it.

Mine was the SE spec. Had loads of toys, very comfortable inside, just ate up the distance. 200mile drive on the motorway and I was as fresh as a daisy. Because of the size of the car, I'd say front and rear PDC is essential, plus you get a nice diagram on the i-Drive (read i-Distract) showing how close you are to stuff. The boot is enormous and 4 people could sit in it all day long with ease.

If you're after a motorway cruiser, I'd say it takes a bit of beating, just don't get the auto, will cost you a fortune to run it, besides, it had loads of torque so you wouldnt have to change gears much...
 
i have to back up the dont get an autobox, ive got a 320D atm which shares the same engine, and atm i'm averaging over the last 1500 miles 29.3mpg....which is me treating it like a hire car but i only got 41mpg on a 300 mile run to london at 1am with cruise set at 85.....my V6 would do 30 odd in the same situation!

That's all i can add with regards to the 5 series though, but Nav seems to be a very common option. Having looked at prices for the 530i m sports the other day they still seem to be hovering around 30k used on auc

Tom.
 
rG-tom said:
i have to back up the dont get an autobox, ive got a 320D atm which shares the same engine, and atm i'm averaging over the last 1500 miles 29.3mpg....which is me treating it like a hire car but i only got 41mpg on a 300 mile run to london at 1am with cruise set at 85.....my V6 would do 30 odd in the same situation!
Click to expand...

That's nothing to do with the autobox then, on the motorway the torque convertor will be locked so the economy should be no worse than a manual. On the new BMW's the autos often post better CO2 and economy figures than the manuals.

Anyway...

wonder_lander said:
I need a diesel for the economy, what are the combined mpg figures for the 520d 525d and 530d respectively and is there much performance difference, remembering I just do 100 miles a day up and and down the M6 (50 mils takes about 60 - 75 mins)
Click to expand...

Depends if you go for an EfficientDynamics model or not, but personally I'd avoid the 520d if only because it's a 4 cylinder - the 525 and 530d's are 6 cylinder units and are relatively speaking a lot smoother. I'd go for a 530d if you can afford it, the economy difference isn't very big between it and the 525d and you gain a reasonable amount of extra performance.

Annual running costs (exlcuding fuel and Insurance) on the Alfa are:
2 x 12'000 mile services = £350 x 2 = £700
2 x Front Tyres = £250
Tax = £145

How ill the BMW fair in this regard?
Click to expand...

Servicing costs aren't too bad, the schedule basically goes Oil Service, Inspection 1, Oil Service, Inspection 2, then back to Oil Service. Only the Inspection 2 will be reasonably pricey. If you're doing lots of motorway driving you may not need to service it very often at all - it's done intelligently and can go 20k between services I think.

What Spec do I want, SE or Sport? Sport looks better but SE sounds like it would be a better ride on the motorway. What does it take to make an SE look like a Sport in terms of parts?
Click to expand...

I'd definitely go for M Sport spec, the ride isn't too bad, but the car looks a lot better and the Sports seats are a lot more supportive.

What options should I be looking for? Ideally I'd like bluetooth, Nav, Dual Climate, Heated Seats, Front and Rear Parking Sensors. Which of these are standard or came as part of a "pack"? Also what about wheel choices?
Click to expand...

Bluetooth, Navigation comes as part of the Media pack which also includes a CD changer. I'd recommend finding one with the USB/iPod prep if you can. Heated seats are an option so you'll just have to hope the first owner added them. Front and rear parking sensors are standard on the M Sport and include a funky display on the iDrive :D

The M Sport comes with 18" wheels as standard which look nice, you can now get 19" wheels as an option too but they'll probably harm the ride too much and tyres will cost even more.
 
see if you can get one with the comfort seats
i think they're almost a £2000 option but they're so comfortable, more so than the sports seats, and they are electric/memory, which includes the mirrors and the steering wheel

make sure it's got the 16:9 satnav screen, not the 4:3, which has less options
ideally you'd want the upgraded speaker system too, with 13 speakers
my dad's got a 525d auto and i didn't think the economy was that bad, but i can't remember what it does to a tank off the top of my head
the auto box is very smooth, but i can't see a reason to have one unless you specifically want an auto 'box
the 525d is powerful enough, although if you can stretch to a 530d, go for it, but avoid the early models with down-turned exhausts
 
OllyM said:
That's nothing to do with the autobox then, on the motorway the torque convertor will be locked so the economy should be no worse than a manual. On the new BMW's the autos often post better CO2 and economy figures than the manuals.
Click to expand...

The book figure for the 320D auto is 41mpg the book for the 320D manual is 51mpg...and i was getting 41mpg so this leads me to believe that perhaps it does make a difference/ even with the torque converter locked it's surely still less efficient than having a proper clutch etc
 
The economy on an auto at fixed high speed *should* be no worse than the manual, but a 2.5litre diesel with a 6 speed box like the 525d ought to be in its element at 75-80mph on the motorway. This is what a car like this is designed for. But 35mpg is apalling, Tom's experience with a 320d would suggest that there wasn't a problem with the car. Anyone got a manual E60 diesel for comparison?

Oh, the auto box is *very* smooth, but took a while to change gears on occasion. Was the SE spec, so no 'sport' mode. Had tiptronic tho. I reckoned the 0-60 would be a second less if the 'box got a move on.

Oh, and the cruise control lever is WAY to easy to catch instead of the indicator stalk!

rG-tom said:
The book figure for the 320D auto is 41mpg the book for the 320D manual is 51mpg
Click to expand...

there's about a 10mpg difference on diesel mondeos between the manual and auto too...
 
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i have been driving it very hard to get to 29.3mpg, but the 41mpg was shocking for a diesel on a cruise.
 
rG-tom said:
The book figure for the 320D auto is 41mpg the book for the 320D manual is 51mpg...and i was getting 41mpg so this leads me to believe that perhaps it does make a difference/ even with the torque converter locked it's surely still less efficient than having a proper clutch etc
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No it isn't.

320d M Sport £28,340 Diesel 18% (18%) 128 (144) 58.9 (52.3) 177 7.9 (8.0)

Book figure is 52.3mpg, 58.9mpg for the manual. Admittedly there is a difference there, but on the E60 the difference is less than 2mpg between auto and manual.

With the torque convertor locked it's not going to be any less efficient than a manual?
 
OllyM said:
No it isn't.

320d M Sport £28,340 Diesel 18% (18%) 128 (144) 58.9 (52.3) 177 7.9 (8.0)

Book figure is 52.3mpg, 58.9mpg for the manual. Admittedly there is a difference there, but on the E60 the difference is less than 2mpg between auto and manual.

With the torque convertor locked it's not going to be any less efficient than a manual?
Click to expand...

Gear ratios would seem to be the only way the figures would be different. Is it a 5 or 6spd auto?
 
I have an 07 LCI 530d Msport and on the last big run I did to Chester 140 miles of motorway and 60 miles of B-roads with some traffic it returned 39mpg with a motorway cruising speed between 90-100mph. I drive pretty hard though and the car only had 4k miles so hasn't really loosened up yet. The 525ds with the 2.5l engine don't seem to be any better on fuel that the 530ds which is probably why BMW now use a 3l unit in the the 525d. My day to day driving im getting about 27mpg on my work runs which are only 7 miles and not really giving the car a chance to get in its stride. If I ever get struck in traffic the figures go up by quite a bit once my right foot is limited.

Get over to http://www.e60.net/ there loads of useful info there. Dont get a car with BMW ipod connections as it deletes the multichanger. Just get a car with the media pack and add a dension gateway 500 for the ipod connection. Also one of the main I had on my spec list with the media pack was the viability pack, which adds adaptive xenon lights.
 
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Not quite the same, but a chap at work here, has the 08 model 335d, and the fuel economy figures on his are no less than astounding, his is the only Diesel car in recent years, that i have driven, that has given me anywhere near the reported figures.Pity it looks fugly:p
 
PDC comes as standard.

I have an auto box on my E61 530i M Sport, it is very smooth, has a sport option and a manual mode, a great gear box.

The M Sport option gives the car a more aggressive look and a firmer ride than on the standard model. It has a different body kit, interior, wheels and suspension then the standard model.

The two best packages are the media pack (Professional Navigation System, Bluetooth preparation with telematics, BMW Assist and CD changer for six CDs) and the visibility pack (Headlight wash, Xenon headlights and Adaptive headlights).

The Logic 7 surround system and the HUD are the icing on the cake.
 
Dandle said:
Dont get a car with BMW ipod connections as it deletes the multichanger. Just get a car with the media pack and add a dension gateway 500 for the ipod connection.
Click to expand...

Who wants a CD changer when you have an iPod? :p
 
Don't rule out the 520d - it's the poor relation of the 5 Series family and as a result it's terrific value, you can buy 06 plate 520d Sports for under £20k. A 525d or a 530d, whilst of course much smoother, are much more expensive.

520d Sport has 177bhp so is no slouch.
 
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