BMW 530i (E60) | Shed of the Week
The Bangle-designed E60 is probably timeless. The car underneath not so much
Shed hasn't seen an E60 BMW for a while now. Where are they all? At one time you couldn't move for them. Now they're about as common as dukes in a pizza house. The 530i we're looking at here has been in the classifeds for three or four weeks, which in these days of super-expensive sheds makes you wonder what might be wrong with it.
After all, the E60 was the Bangle-designed BMW that first gave us the iDrive infotainment system, not to mention many other new electronic features such as head-up display, active cruise, active steering, adaptive headlights, night vision, lane departure warning and voice control. Hmm, maybe that's what has wiped our roads clear of E60s: failing electrickery that was too expensive to fix.
This is a very early E60 from September 2003, registered just a couple of months after they were launched in Europe. It's a 530i, which for this year means it had the naturally aspirated M54 3.0 straight six producing 228hp at 5,900rpm and 221lb ft at 3,500rpm. You could get it with a 6-speed manual in some markets, but our one has the more usual 6-speed auto.
Cars were still pretty light in those days. All the bodywork of the E60 ahead of the windscreen was made of aluminium, and with just 1,580kg to push the 530i hustled along very nicely even when the power was going through an old-school torque converter. We're talking 0-62mph in 7.1sec, and on from there to a serene 152mph, with an official combined fuel consumption figure of 28.5mpg.
Apart from the obvious blemishes (which we'll get into shortly), it's hard to see what this car's issues might be. Of course, difficulty in seeing problems is itself one of the problems. The issues that bring these vehicles to their knees are often invisible and, as indicated a paragraph ago, quite often electrical in the case of pre-2006 E60s. Some of these could lead to fires.
Owners experienced problems with lighting wiring, instrument clusters, heated seats, iDrive modules, seat weight sensors and adjustment mechanisms, airbags and active steering. Scuttle drains could get bunged up and blocked sunroof drains could allow water to get into the boot, where the battery lived, again potentially causing electrical problems.
Luckily, our shed doesn't have a leaky/rattly sunroof. It does have a few holes in the headlining where a telly used to be, but you could always pick something up off eBay to fill the gap - another telly, say. And if you get a good 'un, straight six E60s will rack up big mileages especially if they're equipped with the indirect injection M54 engine which is one of BMW's stronger and more reliable units.
The mileage on our shed is low at 107,000. It looks tidy down the flanks, with good shutlines, and the MOT runs to August with very little to concern you from the previous report other than the tester's suspicion that maybe the nearside rear coil spring had been installed upside down, plus the presence of nails in two of the tyres. If the tyres haven't already been replaced since last August - which by the sound of the ad they haven't - and they're 245/45 17s, mid-range replacements from a decent brand will come in at around £120 a corner fitted.
If you really don't want people to know that your posh BMW is only worth £1,500, you could get the wheels refurbed, the bootlid lacquer and headlamp condensation sorted, and the dent in the o/s rear door pushed out. If it were Shed buying it, he wouldn't be the slightest bit interested in doing any of that. Better to just buy this 530i and use it until you smell burning, at which point simply open the door and walk smartly away.
Ahm oooot!
so long as you don't count oil leaks, vacuum leaks, rattling Vanos, ccv issues, DISA issues and general high oil consumption as reliability issues, I guess that could be true.
At least most of the major issues are easy to diagnose and fix yourself if you have a socket set and a fairly logical mind. When they are running right, they are very sweet engines.
However, the e60 was I think the first generation of BMW to run their fibre based CAN Bus system. So electrical issues are much more widespread than the e46 or e39.
(Owner of a 325ti with a M54B25 that has had all of the above)
But for me it's about as appealing as a damp Thursday in Milton Keynes and a car to be bought because of a need, not a want.
Good shed.
I have had many E60s over the years - mainly 525d, 530d and 535d. My old man had a 550i and now has a B5. The iDrives are painfully slow, but easily upgraded to modern units. They don't feel as solid inside as the E39 before it. But they are a much better car to drive, in my opinion.
They drive nice and tight if they have been looked after properly. To my eyes, even a 2005 vintage E60 M Sport looks good these days. They have aged well, considering the reception they got at launch back in 2003.
If you knocked the price down a bit, that is a half decent Shed for the money.
I think the E60 is a decent car in its own right, and you can’t go wrong with a BMW straight-6 petrol. Good shed this week.
I reckon that I'd take a gamble on this purely for its engine. I really liked the 2009 E61 520d that I had...apart from the engine that was under the bonnet. That drove really nice I thought, and it was only the engine that let it down for me.
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