e60 530D

DM · 18 Oct 2010 at 10:47

paradigm said:
I'm just getting to that age I guess

I got to that age 20 years ago in London, for city driving whats the point in changing gear, plus autos are good now.

Skidder · 18 Oct 2010 at 11:16

paradigm said:
........ the doorcards just don't look right.............

don't disagree with that but I also don't care and it would indeed be an odd thing to dismiss a possible purchase for

[TW]Fox · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:12

Skidder said:
don't disagree with that but I also don't care and it would indeed be an odd thing to dismiss a possible purchase for

It just adds to the list of negatives around pre LCI E60's. If you dont care at all about the interior then why spend a load of cash on an executive saloon anyway?

It was just such a shame. They just cheaped out in SO many areas with the early E60's. They removed the LED lights from the E39, no projector headlights, poor quality interior plastics, stupid doorcards, crappy non-advanced climate on most of the models, just what were they playing at?

The latest is that almost all pre LCI M-Sports are now having problems with the finish PEELING OFF the plastics on the steering wheel and all pre LCI models around the window switchgear. I mean what the hell? Peeling off? It doesnt even do that on an E36!

mejinks clearly gets it.

paradigm · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:14

The main thing that puts me off is the stupid twisty knob climate and the lack of projectors.

LED's can be re-fitted, and I don't find the fit and finish any worse than the E46 (but then I expect 3-series to 5-series to be a step up, rather than a step sideways like E39 > E60 would be).

[TW]Fox · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:19

I'd suggest just buying an LCI but the prices a decent LCI M Sport command are ridiculous. You need over £18,000 really for a 3.5 year old, last generation car. I mean what? It's got to represent a massive depreciation risk at that price surely.

Wicksta · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:20

What is 'stupid' about the twisty knob climate? It's far quicker to use than the crap system in the e46 and looks much more modern too.

Do you prefer up and down volume buttons rather than knobs on car stereos too?

paradigm · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:21

Wicksta said:
What is 'stupid' about the twisty knob climate? It's far quicker to use than the crap system in the e46 and looks much more modern too.

I just found it awful to use, it looks cheap, it feels cheap, and it's nowhere near as precise. And so much more modern that my 1992 E36 had twisty knob climate (yes I know it wasn't digital, but still, we're talking about LOOKS right?).

Do you prefer up and down volume buttons rather than knobs on car stereos too?

Given I use the wheel controls... yes.

[TW]Fox;17596510 said:
I'd suggest just buying an LCI but the prices a decent LCI M Sport command are ridiculous. You need over £18,000 really for a 3.5 year old, last generation car. I mean what? It's got to represent a massive depreciation risk at that price surely.

That's my reasoning. I can't justify spending that much on a previous generation car, knowing that as F10's filter down into the used market, the E60 LCIs will plummet.

Wicksta · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:24

It's only nowhere near as precise if you're blind and/or cackhanded.

I don't use the steering wheel volume controls as I find it a lot quicker to use the knob.

[TW]Fox · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:25

Wicksta said:
What is 'stupid' about the twisty knob climate? It's far quicker to use than the crap system in the e46 and looks much more modern too.

E60 defence squad out in force it seems

It's not so much the twirly knob thing more the crappy printed temperature display etc. We know its crap, and BMW know its crap which is why on the F10 and the F01, it's back to a proper display.

Skidder · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:34

[TW]Fox;17596466 said:
If you dont care at all about the interior then why spend a load of cash on an executive saloon anyway?

.

I didn't say I didn't care at all about it - I said up above that it was a nice place to be and I am content with it.

For what I paid for my car with 40k on the clock people are walking out of dealers with new bog standard hatchbacks and rubbish engines. You make compromises and a slightly less exciting interior, albeit 1000 times better than the car it replaced, was OK by me.

Wicksta · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:35

Maybe the mistake was going back to unecessary 70s style LCD displays, but I guess they have to think of the future chav market.

Django x2 · 18 Oct 2010 at 12:58

With all this in mind. I look at the F10 and think, Hmm, pretty much spot on, and will be changing for an M-Sport when they are more readily available. I'm going petrol this time though, but the question stands, what can they do to it when it comes to LCI? The interior is pretty much perfect.

Work around for those moaning about the CC sensor being near the cup holders. Choose a car with the deleted smokers pack. This moves the cup holders to the centre armrest

(talking F10 here too)

Westyfield2 · 18 Oct 2010 at 13:13

[TW]Fox;17593222 said:
I would not buy an E60 without a warranty, and you wont get a warranty on a 100k mile car.

[TW]Fox;17593425 said:
It's a technical nightmare in ways the E39 isn't. That said, even running an E39 530d without warranty is brave.

This. Get a LCI car with warranty.

We got our E60 LCI two years ago, and on the second day I could see it starting to fail. "SOS Call System Failure" randomly while driving along. Satnav crashing. Bluetooth being weird. The whole iDrive locking up. All this on a two day old car!

The dealer was a ****, despite the problems being obvious. Then I got them the fault codes readout

. TCU (Telematics Control Unit) and the main MOST Bus ECU (fibre-optic transport system for transmitting audio/video/control data) were gonners. All replaced under warranty obviously (and a poverty spec 3 series for a few days

), but if that happens on a two day old car with 10 miles then God Knows what's gonna happen on one six years and 100,000 mies old!

[TW]Fox · 18 Oct 2010 at 13:15

Ordering it with a proper gearbox does it as well

I really want a 535i M Sport but I just can't afford one until they are 3 to 4 years old and hiring one doesn't appeal

Westyfield2 · 18 Oct 2010 at 13:32

[TW]Fox;17596903 said:
I really want a 535i M Sport but I just can't afford one until they are 3 to 4 years old and hiring one doesn't appeal

I saw an F10 Touring M Sport this morning. God it looked nice :cool:

! No doubt it was a diseasel, but meh

. Only two years until our E60 has had it's years/miles....

[TW]Fox · 18 Oct 2010 at 13:34

I thought you had a Saxo

Westyfield2 · 18 Oct 2010 at 13:41

[TW]Fox;17597068 said:
I thought you had a Saxo

I do

.

My choice of what car to take wherever I go is usually based on what's nearest the exit of the drive (well given that the BMWs an estate

), and which has the most fuel in ...... Funny how once I got insured on the E60 my use of my Saxo suddenly dropped....

Django x2 · 18 Oct 2010 at 14:38

I had my telematics control system replaced too. There was a host of faults on 57 plate cars which really should have been recalled, but weren't. BMW tried to fob a lot of customers off with the SOS call system failure error by saying that this was because their subscription had ended.

Django x2 · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:22

Is the new 535i a turbo unit? I only ask because BMWs site doesn't say, yet every other car with a turbo does (550i, 530d, for example).

paradigm · 18 Oct 2010 at 15:23

IIRC it's still a "Twin-Power" turbo, yes.