BMW 530d Touring (E61) | Shed of the Week
A frugal family wagon on the one hand, a straight-six, manual BMW on the other - is a 530d a Shed win-win?
Who's up for a BMW estate to load up with all the Christmas presents that you think you'll be buying for your loved ones until you remember with an unpleasant start that you're skint? Your answer doesn't matter, because Shed doesn't believe in democracy and that means you're getting this BMW 5 Series Touring. You should think yourselves lucky actually because you could have ended up with this interesting Focus CC instead.
Our Touring is an E60, or if you're feeling pedantic about the estate designation, an E61. It's fair to say that when this fifth-generation 5 went on sale in 2003 it was about as warmly received as the proverbial fart in a spacesuit. That could have been to do with the fact that this was the last Five to bear the distinctive design hallmarks of beardy disruptor Chris Bangle. Many have slagged off Bangle products in the past, but few have had the dignity to apologise when it turned out that he was most likely a genius who just happened to be ahead of his time. A lot of his designs now look good. Admittedly, the E60 probably still isn't one of them, but credit where it's due and who knows what we might think about them five years from now?
Today, at the end of 2025, we're three generations further down the 5 Series line with the G60/61 that launched in 2024 with a selection of petrol, plug-in hybrid or full electric powertrains. Shed can't remember seeing a single G60 Five on British roads. Not massively surprising perhaps when you see that the starting price for a new 208hp 520i is nearly £55k. The other killer for the 5 Series in the UK, of course, has been the big decrease in saloon sales over the years.
It's not just us either: after a brief spurt of interest in 2011 when the gen-six F10/11 began to hit its straps, the 5 Series's part in total BMW production has been steadily falling from a 1982 high of 38 percent to a 2024 low of just over 11 per cent - and you suspect the percentage would be a lot smaller than that if you were just looking at Britain.
Shed reckons the E61 estate still has plenty going for it though, especially in 530d guise as here. The horsepower number for the M57D30TU2 3.0 straight six turbodiesel that Shed thinks this car should have is sound enough at 228hp/4,000rpm, although it's the torque of 369lb ft from below 2,000rpm that will really put a smirk on your face. With around 1,750kg to move that translates into a 0-62mph time of 7.4 seconds and a top speed pushing close to 150mph. Combined fuel consumption is 35mpg, with low 40s easily achievable. A stage 1 tune, ideally with a swirl flap delete, will take the M57 to 295hp and 520lb ft, but with bigger turbochargers (and bigger pockets) you can go to 550hp.
Annoyingly, our E61 was first registered on 27 March 2006, four days after the cutoff for Band K cars that pay £415 a year instead of the £710 it leaps to in Band L. Less annoyingly, if Shed is reading his moth-eaten old chart right anyway, the emissions of 213g/km qualify it for band K as of right now. The ad copy is a jumble suggesting that a whole eco-culture of trees and cows might have supplied the wood and leather for the interior, but by ignoring that and simply relying on our eyesight we can see black Dakota leather in reasonable shape and the always welcome sight (for the postmistress anyway) of a manual knob.
Bonnet and boot struts give out on these, but according to the MOT history that is now generously provided for free by PH on its classified ads the ones on our car seem to have been replaced in either 2021 or 2022. The rest of the MOT paperwork gives no major causes for concern, the current pass being clean and most of the past advisories being for consumables.
Of course that might mean it's about to give you some long overdue causes for concern, which in the case of one of these could include stuff like the cooling system (water pumps, radiators, thermostats), air suspension, and electrics, usually dash lights, central locking and window regulators. Mechanically, there have been top end oil leaks and turbo failures, but any transmission issues you might have with a 530d are more likely to be found on automatics.
The three most valuable words in the ad are Full Service History, the last stamp in the book being 4,000 miles ago. With any luck that will mean the suspension has been refreshed at some point. If the documentation backs that up, this wagon could make someone's Christmas at £1,995.
Pleasing to see it has escaped the indignity of black wheels, Halfords tints, and Vape Vents.
The timing chains in the back of the engine and the reputation of some of the engine reliability would be only concern (I think that is the N47?)
I don t need the space and thought the estate was ugly tbh.
I would also have the 550/545 as have zero love for a three litre diesel.
The timing chains in the back of the engine and the reputation of some of the engine reliability would be only concern (I think that is the N47?)
I think peak 5 series is actually the F10 F11 that followed this, which was just modern enough without being too modern (real buttons etc) and had more restrained and elegant looks. Not as good as an M car, but as a regular 5 series that one felt closer to the older 5 series models.
The early E60 530D was the first model of BMW to be fitted with DPFs. When mine failed there was no prior warning because I don't think they were fitted with pressure sensors to indicate that the DPF was starting to block. Either that or the logic built into the ECU wasn't sophisticated enough to warn of the onset of failure.Whatever the reason was the DPF catastrophically failed and, prior to failure, I suspect the increased back pressure took its toll on the turbocharger so both the DPF and turbocharger had to be replaced by BMW under warranty.
Within less than a year the replacement turbocharger seemed to be breathing hard / struggling, so had to be replaced again by BMW. The car was completely standard, so I have no idea what the cause was, but i sold it soon afterwards because I had lost confidence in the car. Prior to selling it I compared the sound of the turbocharger spooling up with a friend's 330D and it sounded different. It's hard to explain, but it sounded like it was working harder when revving the engine whilst the car was stationary. A blockage in the exhaust downstream of the DPF perhaps?
To sum up, I thought it was a great car but I'd go for a later model that has benefitted from all the modifications that manufacturers incorporate.
I do agree that the ZF6 auto isn't up to much though for sure.
I thought it looked wonderful at the time, and I still think that.
I’d have another for sure.
I don t need the space and thought the estate was ugly tbh.
I would also have the 550/545 as have zero love for a three litre diesel.
Saloons are a waste of space for me(literally because you can't get anything big in them), and I've been a fan of BMW's 6 cylinder diesel since back in 2006 when we had the 2006 E90 330d for example. We're also currently rattling around(again literally because at low revs diesels aren't great!) in a 2024 X5 40d now as well.
It was replaced in late 2008 by a fully loaded 525i Saloon, that incidentally was my only company car. My E60’s were the most unreliable BMW’s I have ever owned, with the 520 needing a gearbox replacement and the 525 suffering various electrical issues that required the car to be recovered. The interior quality wasn’t the greatest and the 525i with its lighter trim looked very worn after only 12 months.
I missed the next generation of 5 Series and bought an E class returning to the BMW fold in 2019 with a G30 530d that was a superb car.
At the price point of this shed, I would be very concerned about buying any 5 series.
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