E61 535d M Sport 05 Pre LCi 272ps

[Goodsteed]

Needed a second car for the growing family to compliment the E91 2006 320d (162ps).

I can throughly recommend these things.

Mine is an 05 with 105K, bought through dealer for 5.5K, we just missed a slightly higher mileage one go for £4,800 - private sale 10 miles from home! As is the way...

They have real guts over motorway cruising speed, will be taking her to Italy next year on the annual skiing holiday and weather permitting (still on RFTs not all seasons) up to Orkney to see the brother in law over the Easter break.

For those that aren't familiar - pre LCI (2007) versions come with. 270 bhp & 413 ft lbs @ can't remember rpm. Red line (and pulling well) at 5Krpm. They feel happiest from a rolling start - 30mph + pull. 60mph in 6.5seconds ish - claimed 155 top end, don't doubt it. Revs higher than later 282 bhp units. Very impressive (and good sounding for a derv) 6 pot twin turbo. Excellent throttle response.

No LSD.

Traction good, DSC vey good for the year - not too intrusive when rears loose grip. This thing will one tyre fire and drift with DSC off without too much fuss. Slightly less boaty handling than my non m-sport 320d but still quite boaty - new front ARB drop links getting put in tomoorw so that may change in it's favour. Very flat. M Sport seats (elec with memory) are good but have too much adjustment for my liking.

Gearbox is OK - clunky into 1st when coming to a stop. Same(ish) box they put in the early aston DB9s I believe. 34mpg is possible on a run near NSL in the UK. Mixed driving I'm averaging closer to 26mpg currently. 19mpg city driving. 29 mpg for 3 figure cruising. Post LCIs apparently do much better than this.

Things to look out for:

I didn't realise E60s have rear air suspension - they do. Mine is probably leaking a bit, but it's pumping back up OK for now.

Can't think of anything else.

Edited by Goodsteed on Sunday 18th March 20:33

[captain_beaky]

Like these a LOT. A ridiculous amount of refined performance mixed with practicality for that money. Still an eye catching design that will continue to look 'modern' for a while.

had a manual E61 530d M-Sport and although I loved the idea of the extra grunt of the 535d, I bought it at a stage in my life when a manual gearbox was the 'be-all-and-end-all' so the 535d was strictly off-limits.

I've now come to realise an auto 'box in my daily driver is actually not something to feel guilty about and in fact serves to make weekend pleasure drives in a manual car more special experiences.

What plans are afoot for her??? Gotta be thinking re-map???

[Eddieslofart]

Change all the vacuum hoses. Especially the ones that run over the big turbo.

[Cliff J]

Anymore photos? This is the exact model, colour etc that I’m looking at to run alongside my M3 when I lose my company car soon.

[CornedBeef]

Thats lovely! I've got a 335D as my daily and love it to bits, its looking a bit tatty these days but we're knocking on 170k. I can echo above about the vacuum lines, one of mine perished and I lost the small turbo (the wastegate was held open as a result). The lines were replaced with silicone ones and all is well again. Thermostats too - there are two, they're pretty inexpensive and having them functional means you won't run into DPF woes.

Enjoy OP, they're great engines as you already know!

[pointedstarman]

CornedBeef said:

Thats lovely! I've got a 335D as my daily and love it to bits, its looking a bit tatty these days but we're knocking on 170k. I can echo above about the vacuum lines, one of mine perished and I lost the small turbo (the wastegate was held open as a result). The lines were replaced with silicone ones and all is well again. Thermostats too - there are two, they're pretty inexpensive and having them functional means you won't run into DPF woes.

Enjoy OP, they're great engines as you already know!

x2 for the thermostats. Use the hidden menu (YouTube how to get into it) to get the exact engine temperature. Anything below 90° means they need changing. EGR thermostat is easy, main thermostat a bit more involved due to access. You'll see a noticeable improvement in mpg also.

[daemon]

Fantastic cars - i'd two - a pre LCI, and an LCI car. Both saloons.

They respond incredibly well to remapping too - 340 / 350BHP is easily achievable.

[Goodsteed]

Thanks chaps. Will have a look at the thermostats and vacuum hoses as they sound like fun DIY jobs. I suspect mine is running under 90deg C as the moveable redline (like the lights on the tach of an e46 m3 - disappearing as the engine warms), never go above 4600ish rpm.

Will post some more pics when I get a chance to clean her up hopefully at the weekend.

Not bothered with a remap currently - although avon tuning are just up the road are tempting, it's already quite capable. Aside from acting on recommendations on this thread the list just looks like:

• NSF Headlight Fogging on the inside - fix/replace - will a heat gun fix this anyone?
• Sort out the miss matched headlight bulbs (I'm fairly sure it's a halogen bulb car)
• Buy and get a second key coded by main dealer (anyone knows of another route please do share) - it's a proper key in ignition and twist jobbie BMW fob and button keys fix something that wasn't broken IMO.
• Whilst I'm there get the puncture warning sensor reset - I'm told another main dealer job? Holding the (surprisingly high) recommended pressures just fine, no cracked rims thankfully.

I'm very pleased with the sub £200 bill to get it through it's MOT today. Just usual handbrake drum woes and a front ARB drop links.

[CornedBeef]

I've not had to get a key, but I've heard BMKeys are good if you're near the London area? Give them a google for the location/site if so!

Is that just the tyre pressure warning light? This should help - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tisQkrqe7Hg

Mines then E92 with no iDrive so its different, but resetting the system is a 30 second job.

[D4MJT]

The clunk into 1st gear will likely not be the gearbox, but a result of the rubber "guibo" / "donut" bushes on the driveshaft being worn. Replace these and you'll probably be very suprised how tight the drivetrain feels in comparison. At 105k miles I'd imagine yours won't have been changed and will be very ready for replacement.

There is one at the rear of the gearbox between the gearbox output shaft and the propshaft, and one at the back of the propshaft between it and the differential.

There is also an intermediate propshaft bearing which you may choose to replace while you're doing the job.

[Goodsteed]

Thanks for the advice gents. The prop shaft bearing and rubbers will need sorting so going on the list.

Found the sub within a sub menu to reset tyre pressure sensor.

Cleaned the 3 series today as the weather forecast is looking like we’ll need the goodsteed on winter tyres for our easter expedition to the Orkney isles. 😢

Here are some details





Every child wants a car with a TV! This one has full free view with DVD drive.




Past month of salt and grime



Big improvement on the below



A lot more space than the E91 boot.



Not sure if many were fitted with this?






Prefer the leather to more modern BMWs