E61 V8 Bearding
Discussion
No pics yet as after a 14hr run back from Provence to Oxshott, I'm on a plane to India!
545i Touring in SE spec is perfect for 1,000km runs, I've decided.
Car has developed a bit of a vibration at the front but I think that's wheel balance. Happened before I went when the car was very hot and doesn't feel like brakes etc but it was faultless on the run.
80+mph for 10hrs solid (plus a fuel stop) yesterday and about 2,000km the two weeks previously, swallowed Mrs9 and Bella the Lab with almost 3 weeks of stuff, no problem!
Just needs to good clean and a once over on the ramp. What a car!
545i Touring in SE spec is perfect for 1,000km runs, I've decided.
Car has developed a bit of a vibration at the front but I think that's wheel balance. Happened before I went when the car was very hot and doesn't feel like brakes etc but it was faultless on the run.
80+mph for 10hrs solid (plus a fuel stop) yesterday and about 2,000km the two weeks previously, swallowed Mrs9 and Bella the Lab with almost 3 weeks of stuff, no problem!
Just needs to good clean and a once over on the ramp. What a car!
dom9 said:
No pics yet as after a 14hr run back from Provence to Oxshott, I'm on a plane to India!
545i Touring in SE spec is perfect for 1,000km runs, I've decided.
Car has developed a bit of a vibration at the front but I think that's wheel balance. Happened before I went when the car was very hot and doesn't feel like brakes etc but it was faultless on the run.
80+mph for 10hrs solid (plus a fuel stop) yesterday and about 2,000km the two weeks previously, swallowed Mrs9 and Bella the Lab with almost 3 weeks of stuff, no problem!
Just needs to good clean and a once over on the ramp. What a car!
Im going to guess an average of 28.2mpg? For the run back from Provence that is!545i Touring in SE spec is perfect for 1,000km runs, I've decided.
Car has developed a bit of a vibration at the front but I think that's wheel balance. Happened before I went when the car was very hot and doesn't feel like brakes etc but it was faultless on the run.
80+mph for 10hrs solid (plus a fuel stop) yesterday and about 2,000km the two weeks previously, swallowed Mrs9 and Bella the Lab with almost 3 weeks of stuff, no problem!
Just needs to good clean and a once over on the ramp. What a car!
jboy72 said:
Im going to guess an average of 28.2mpg? For the run back from Provence that is!
Wow - That's specific 
It must be something like that as it was averaging 20mpg before I went and is now 21.5mpg.
I've never reset it since buying it about 10k miles ago.
A cursory glance at the mpg meter suggested it was generally hovering just below 30mpg.
Two tanks home is about 140 litres over 750-ish miles so that would be 25mpg but the tank wasn't on vapour and we were stationary for 2hrs at the train terminal.
Cracking car - Love it!
ATM said:
My colleague came to work in his 2006 Cayenne S today. We went for lunch in this car. I noticed a lot more v8 rumbling compared to my 550i. It is definitely the most muted v8 I have ever experienced. I can't decide if that is good or it needs a bit more bark.
Have you held open the exhaust valve?Edited by ATM on Wednesday 3rd August 19:21
Stainless steel zip ties and 5 minutes - make it much nicer.#
Also the 550i sounds much 'better' outside than in.
I was talking to TDI South about a potential remap and they suggested that its the breathing that really restricts these engines - I've not got the £££ for exhausts etc but running on LPG I could remove the Cat if I could figure out an easy de-cat solution.
Also remove CDV and.......it doesnt seem to have made that much difference!
dom9 said:
Wow - That's specific
It must be something like that as it was averaging 20mpg before I went and is now 21.5mpg.
I've never reset it since buying it about 10k miles ago.
A cursory glance at the mpg meter suggested it was generally hovering just below 30mpg.
Two tanks home is about 140 litres over 750-ish miles so that would be 25mpg but the tank wasn't on vapour and we were stationary for 2hrs at the train terminal.
Cracking car - Love it!
Ha yes it was a bit! That was just based on my experience driving to the south of France. By the way for what it's worth my new x5 40d doesn't seem to be significantly better mpg wise than the 550i, certainly not 50 per cent better which official figures would have you believe, more like 20 per cent! Not hugely impressive. It must be something like that as it was averaging 20mpg before I went and is now 21.5mpg.
I've never reset it since buying it about 10k miles ago.
A cursory glance at the mpg meter suggested it was generally hovering just below 30mpg.
Two tanks home is about 140 litres over 750-ish miles so that would be 25mpg but the tank wasn't on vapour and we were stationary for 2hrs at the train terminal.
Cracking car - Love it!
Have we had this:
Reg Date 17/03/2009
130,850 Miles
£12,995.00
Carbon Black Metallic Paint,
Black Dakota Leather,
Sports Auto Transmission,
Detachable Towbar,
Rear Side Airbags,
USB Audio,
Media Pack with Professional Navigation and Bluetooth Telephone,
Logic 7 Hi-Fi System,
Visibility Pack with Adaptive Xenon Headlamps,
Sports Seats with Electric Adjustment and Memory Function,
Heated Seats,
Electric Folding Mirrors,
Lane departure Warning System,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262587990706
Reg Date 17/03/2009
130,850 Miles
£12,995.00
Carbon Black Metallic Paint,
Black Dakota Leather,
Sports Auto Transmission,
Detachable Towbar,
Rear Side Airbags,
USB Audio,
Media Pack with Professional Navigation and Bluetooth Telephone,
Logic 7 Hi-Fi System,
Visibility Pack with Adaptive Xenon Headlamps,
Sports Seats with Electric Adjustment and Memory Function,
Heated Seats,
Electric Folding Mirrors,
Lane departure Warning System,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262587990706
Quite a lot of changes. Check them out here:
http://5series.net/info/2008_LCI_Detailed_Changes....
Interesting empeegees are improved and 0-60 is quite a lot quicker - down by 0.3 to 5.3s. Given the power output is the same it must be down to gearbox changes.
Re: the gearbox - quote from the bumf:
– 6-speed sports automatic gearbox with steering wheel paddles and faster shift
times* (option for 530i/550i/530d/535d)
From March 2007 the automatic transmission with be enhanced with a
redesigned selector lever (electrical connection to transmission rather than
mechanical). The internal gear selection / activation will now be electronic with
enhanced shift patterns – this design change has resulted in a decrease in fuel
consumption and in many cases now positions the automatic transmission with
advantageous fuel consumption vs. its manual transmission counter-part.
http://5series.net/info/2008_LCI_Detailed_Changes....
Interesting empeegees are improved and 0-60 is quite a lot quicker - down by 0.3 to 5.3s. Given the power output is the same it must be down to gearbox changes.
Re: the gearbox - quote from the bumf:
– 6-speed sports automatic gearbox with steering wheel paddles and faster shift
times* (option for 530i/550i/530d/535d)
- Available from June 2007 production (further details will be published via the
From March 2007 the automatic transmission with be enhanced with a
redesigned selector lever (electrical connection to transmission rather than
mechanical). The internal gear selection / activation will now be electronic with
enhanced shift patterns – this design change has resulted in a decrease in fuel
consumption and in many cases now positions the automatic transmission with
advantageous fuel consumption vs. its manual transmission counter-part.
I think there are only 1 or 2 LCIs, from what I can tell from this.
https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&...
https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&...
scz4 said:
Surely that's ridiculously over-priced?
I sold my 2007 550i M Sport touring (Manual!!) 4 years ago with 45k on the clock for £18500.
I think the perennial answer to this is... find another I sold my 2007 550i M Sport touring (Manual!!) 4 years ago with 45k on the clock for £18500.
These cars, whilst depreciating, are certainly on the good side of the curve. I got 9k for my similar miles pre-LCI 2006 car, private sale a few months back. 4 years ago perhaps we didn't have quite the landscape we do now of a definite lack of large capacity petrol NA barges. It's certainly helping to hold values.
While we're on this subject, if you want to talk about lack of depreciation, F10s/11s in petrol guise are still ludicrously expensive.
scz4 said:
Surely that's ridiculously over-priced?
I sold my 57 plate 550i M Sport touring (Manual!!) 4 years ago with 45k on the clock for £18500.
Absolutely fantastic car and effectively what I am sure what most of us wanted (I'd love the paddle auto) when we started looking but I am with scz4 here... That's a lot of money for the miles, IMHO. I'd honestly expect that to be sub-100k for that money.I sold my 57 plate 550i M Sport touring (Manual!!) 4 years ago with 45k on the clock for £18500.
Buy on condition and all that but 130k is a fair amount of wear! A large capacity barge with say 170k on the clocks in 3 years is unlikely to be worth much trade or private and you'll be lucky to do another 40k without changing a few bits, I'd have thought.
Fantastic thing but I think I'd rather a low mileage 545i at half the money, with a war chest.
We're moving house in February and I doubt I'll have so much space for cars/ projects so I am tempted to 'reduce' my collection but go a bit 'nicer' on the Touring so I am starting to keep an eye out for a low miles 550i, which I can then keep for a long time and chop the 545i in.
Though, it's been so good to me and is performing beautifully at the moment.... Hmmmm...
Then there are the Audi S6 V10s... M5 V10s...
I do fear bork though
For the record my 550i has had the following problems in the 15 months I have owned it:
Air Con
This does not work. Had it re-gassed but only worked for a day.
Oil level
iDrive reports this as needing oil. If I put oil in it smokes. Suspect dodgy oil level sensor in sump and probably tired valve stem oil seals too.
MOT
Failed on a rear bush and a rear shocker. I had the bushes on both sides changed and a full Bilstein suspension kit fitted.
Air Con
This does not work. Had it re-gassed but only worked for a day.
Oil level
iDrive reports this as needing oil. If I put oil in it smokes. Suspect dodgy oil level sensor in sump and probably tired valve stem oil seals too.
MOT
Failed on a rear bush and a rear shocker. I had the bushes on both sides changed and a full Bilstein suspension kit fitted.
Man, have you had yours 15 months already?
That must mean I've had mine over 18 months or so. How time flies!
Other than the plastic sump/ 'box oil change and the water pipe on top of the rad, mine has been pretty good. No advisories on the last MOT and the winter tyres seem to have no wear (annoyingly). I do feel like the handbrake may need adjusting and is creaking a bit now.
Still have 8 x plugs and 8 x coils in the garage to fit at some point. I did pull the engine covers off the night before driving to Italy, in the belief it would be an easy job... Gave up within 5mins!
Need to find a friendly garage who'll fit for me, or my mobile mechanic. I could probably get it done but I don't really want to risk it being off the road for any duration as it's the only car the dog is allowed in!
That must mean I've had mine over 18 months or so. How time flies!
Other than the plastic sump/ 'box oil change and the water pipe on top of the rad, mine has been pretty good. No advisories on the last MOT and the winter tyres seem to have no wear (annoyingly). I do feel like the handbrake may need adjusting and is creaking a bit now.
Still have 8 x plugs and 8 x coils in the garage to fit at some point. I did pull the engine covers off the night before driving to Italy, in the belief it would be an easy job... Gave up within 5mins!
Need to find a friendly garage who'll fit for me, or my mobile mechanic. I could probably get it done but I don't really want to risk it being off the road for any duration as it's the only car the dog is allowed in!
Wow that one linked above is a nice car. Think I've seen a couple of facelifts for sale, but I don't think I've seen a 550iT with the CIC navigation. There's a few saloons around, but very few tourings. I would wager that this is rarer than an M5 of the same year. I think I'd rather have one of these too. Much prefer the torque converter auto to an SMG.
dom9 said:
Man, have you had yours 15 months already?
That must mean I've had mine over 18 months or so. How time flies!
Other than the plastic sump/ 'box oil change and the water pipe on top of the rad, mine has been pretty good. No advisories on the last MOT and the winter tyres seem to have no wear (annoyingly). I do feel like the handbrake may need adjusting and is creaking a bit now.
Still have 8 x plugs and 8 x coils in the garage to fit at some point. I did pull the engine covers off the night before driving to Italy, in the belief it would be an easy job... Gave up within 5mins!
Need to find a friendly garage who'll fit for me, or my mobile mechanic. I could probably get it done but I don't really want to risk it being off the road for any duration as it's the only car the dog is allowed in!
Well I started this thread just after I bought it.That must mean I've had mine over 18 months or so. How time flies!
Other than the plastic sump/ 'box oil change and the water pipe on top of the rad, mine has been pretty good. No advisories on the last MOT and the winter tyres seem to have no wear (annoyingly). I do feel like the handbrake may need adjusting and is creaking a bit now.
Still have 8 x plugs and 8 x coils in the garage to fit at some point. I did pull the engine covers off the night before driving to Italy, in the belief it would be an easy job... Gave up within 5mins!
Need to find a friendly garage who'll fit for me, or my mobile mechanic. I could probably get it done but I don't really want to risk it being off the road for any duration as it's the only car the dog is allowed in!
I picked up a 2006 550i SE Touring a couple of months ago having lusted after one for a few years now. Circumstances changed recently and I no longer commute to work, so the maths now make sense. 138,000 miles, one previous owner, widescreen nav and it looked (and indeed is) in excellent condition. Picked it up for just £5k. It needed an oil service immediately (although not overdue by a long way) and one of the rear suspension dampers (or something like that) is leaking fluid a little. It's also a non-smoking car (so far!).
chrisgeary said:
I picked up a 2006 550i SE Touring a couple of months ago having lusted after one for a few years now. Circumstances changed recently and I no longer commute to work, so the maths now make sense. 138,000 miles, one previous owner, widescreen nav and it looked (and indeed is) in excellent condition. Picked it up for just £5k. It needed an oil service immediately (although not overdue by a long way) and one of the rear suspension dampers (or something like that) is leaking fluid a little. It's also a non-smoking car (so far!).
Did you get the very cheap full service from BMW with Plugs etc for £250?Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff