e60 530D

It is powered by the new N55 which has a single turbo but the same power and torque as the old twin turbo n54.

On paper.

In the real world the n54s always made over book power yet the n55 is about spot on.

Curiously the N54 lives on in the 330ish bhp iS versions of the Z4 and 335i.....
 
[TW]Fox;17597853 said:
It is powered by the new N55 which has a single turbo but the same power and torque as the old twin turbo n54.

On paper.

In the real world the n54s always made over book power yet the n55 is about spot on.

Curiously the N54 lives on in the 330ish bhp iS versions of the Z4 and 335i.....
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How on earth do you remember it all, i cant remember what i had for dinner last night ;)
 
He's one of those agents from the Matrix, he can distort reality to make his facts true.... Or he's a diehard BMW fan has read lots of info about them which he can still remember due to being young and his brain not yet being affected by age.

Personally i perfer the former answer, its more interesting :p
 
Cool, I was pretty sure it was a turbo unit, I knew it wasn't a twin. That's reserved for 550i and 535d. So the 535d is down on power compared to teh 535i but is quicker to 60 but costs £5k more.. Petrol it is then, although I'll be tempted by a 550i if anyone ever buys one in MSport trim. I think I've seen two E60 550i in MSport trim in the 5-7 years they've been around. :(
 
My E60 530D M Sport is 5 years old now and so far have had to replace - Wiring loom on power steering (under warranty), then since no warranty- Central control unit (£750 - not under warranty), 2 rear bushes (£120) and usual servicing/oil changes/tyres.

Touch wood (large piece) - nothing more major than that, 55 plate with 68k on clock.
 
Dad's pre-LCI (55 plate) 530d Msport is a nice place to be, but having driven it for almost a year there are some annoying traits:

Interior

As Fox says, the plastic on the steering wheel is peeling off. The whole centre console looks like it came out of my old Laguna. When the drive's cup holder is extended you can't get to the aircon direction control knob. The 'leather' trim on the door cards rub and rattle unless you treat them with dash cleaner every couple of weeks and the Msport 'metal' door-sil strips are bubbling and discolouring quite badly.

Exterior
The rear light clusters are designed to allow water to run down behind them in a channel which just gets blocked with crap and I'm sure would lead to rust if I didn't keep a careful eye on it. The fact that you have to remove the clusters to get rid of it all is a pain. The boot lid is a real pain to close unless you slam it because it's got so much spring in it, this makes closing it with your hands full very difficult. the brakes are so dusty it's hard to keep your alloys clean.

Now the above points are really just nitpicking from living with the car for nearly a year. It wouldn't put me off getting an E60 myself if I was in a position to. However, they are all things which detract from the 'BMW experience' that I think most people would expect to get from owning such a car.
 
Panzerbjorn said:
As Fox says, the plastic on the steering wheel is peeling off. The whole centre console looks like it came out of my old Laguna. When the drive's cup holder is extended you can't get to the aircon direction control knob. The 'leather' trim on the door cards rub and rattle unless you treat them with dash cleaner every couple of weeks and the Msport 'metal' door-sil strips are bubbling and discolouring quite badly.
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My door sill strips also corroded, I replaced them all for about £200. The alloy centre caps too. The cup holders are terribly designed, very flimsy and often take about 20 presses of the button to get them to come out. As you say, the one nearest the driver blocks the air con controls and is right in the way of the fan vent too.

Haven't noticed any issue with the door cards, maybe I've still got that little easter egg to come ;)
 
You're right about the alloy centre caps, they're on their way out too. :(

It's really weird with the door cards. I thought it was something in the door itself rattling until I had a look around Bimmer forums. It seems the 'leather' on the door cards rubs against itself and makes a creaking/rattling sound.

The only way to rescue it is to keep it 'lubed up' with trim-cleaner/leather restorer.
 
Panzerbjorn said:
You're right about the alloy centre caps, they're on their way out too. :(
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If you buy new ones from BMW, they will be a slightly different design which is apparently less prone to corrosion. IIRC they're not particularly expensive and they look a bit nicer than the old ones too.
 
The lacquer coming off the plastic on the steering wheel isn't just a BMW thing. A lot of modern cars have the plastic coated in that lacquer to give a better quality look to it. I had the start button surround replaced under warranty because of the same thing, although someone before me scratched it which started it peeling. I don't rest my fingers on that part of the wheel so havent noticed any wear and I think once your aware of it your more carefull. Our old Audis plastics were covered in the same stuff and that was suffering where I used to place my phone in the car.
 
[TW]Fox;17601346 said:
It's not, no, but its indictative of the slip in quality levels.
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My 328ci centre console suffered from the same thing, I don't think it's something new to be honest.
 
DiamondMark said:
How on earth do you remember it all, i cant remember what i had for dinner last night ;)
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Can you remember the names of your parents? Fox has the 5 Series information stored one level above that (this is maximum memory level, where ability to breath and digest chemicals are also stored).
 
My Nov 2004 E60 has 120,000 on the clock now, I've had it for just over 3.5 years now - firstly regarding build quality, there is not a rattle out of mine, the car is as tight as it's ever been. No peeling, corrosion, squeaking etc. Each one is obviously different judging by what I'm reading above. The only thing is that one of my cup holders won't open - can't remember if it's the left or right one since I never use them anyway. But that wasn't working when I bought the car at 65k miles.

Electrically, I've needed a new slip ring in the steering column and a new wiring loom in the boot lid after the old one corroded. I consider that lucky given the age and complexity of the thing.

Mechanically it's been grand for the past 20k miles approx and has really settled down, but up until then the car was a disaster.
Turbo replaced twice (first one blew, second one started squealing when cold a year later which was replaced under 2-yr warranty on dealer-fitted parts).
Inlet manifold replaced twice (second time after me complaining to BMW themselves about dealer incompetencies, had a couple of other things changed as part of a goodwill gesture).
Exhaust manifold.
Sump gasket.

I've had a few bits like control arms and track rod ends replaced around 110k there. I asked my mechanic to replace 4 glow plugs (they were all faulty apparently) and clean the EGR valve at that time too, which didn't seem to make any difference to the car's startup or smooth it out any more but at least I know it's done. Injectors are still fine.

I think it's a great car, I love it to bits and in a way don't mind putting money into it since nobody else is going to be getting the benefit of owning it after me. I like the interior. In the back it's a nice place to be, in the front it's fine, I'm just that used to it I guess. The sports steering wheel greatly helps though because as Fox says the SE one is dire, the extended interior lighting is nice but not a necessity. On the outside, mine in Sport guise is still a very fresh looking car, the SE (particularly pre-LCI) is definitely getting on now.
 
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[TW]Fox;17602381 said:
Do you think its acceptable?

No interior peel on my car or the E39 we've just flogged.
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I guess it depends on use, my 325i has done 50,000 more miles than my 328ci had and there is no sign of the same thing. Anyway my point was that those type of finishes aren't new in BMWs and they do sometimes peel.
 
5tephen said:
My Nov 2004 E60 has 120,000 on the clock now, I've had it for just over 3.5 years now
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Have you had the swirl flaps removed on yours? They seem particularly prone to failure on early (03/04) e60s before the stronger flaps were introduced.

Having said that, you might have later flaps if you've had the intake manifold replaced.
 
DannyDan said:
Have you had the swirl flaps removed on yours? They seem particularly prone to failure on early (03/04) e60s before the stronger flaps were introduced.

Having said that, you might have later flaps if you've had the intake manifold replaced.
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Haven't asked for them to be done and haven't been told by anyone that they've been done as part of another job. So I'm not sure. All this work was done by dealers up until about a year ago before I wised up, and I guess a dealer isn't ever going to say "and yeah, replacing that inlet manifold should help that problem with the weak swirl flaps that's a common fault on these cars..." :p
To be honest I haven't seen many/any reports of swirl flaps causing issues on the E60, I haven't really looked for that issue specifically in my searches though.
 
The E60 swirl-flaps are a strange one.

I've heard lots and lots of worrying about it but found few first-hand accounts of people who've actually suffered from it.

I suppose the question is: would you want to risk it?

I've told Dad about it and the potential risks but he doesn't seem too bothered. :shrugs:

If it were my car I'd get it sorted just for peace of mind.
 
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