High mileage E60 5 Series touring - What to look out for?

[Piepiepie]

Have been looking at these for a while, and despite thinking that these may be a little big, i dont want a 3 series because we use them at work and im not a big fan.

The idrive system looks pretty good, and ive seen a lovely 2007 520d M Sport for a little over £9000 with 125k on the clock, full bmwsh.

Its half leather & manual, (which is ideal) and on the pictures, it looks pretty damn mint. Anything i should be cautious of on a car of this mileage? Im sure its probably good for another 100k, but any advice would be grand.

Edited by Piepiepie on Sunday 13th November 22:39

[juliann]

Check all rear lights / radio reception / rear demister / rear washer / remote locking from keyfob - together with visual inspection of the wiring conduits near the tailgate hinges. If one of these doesn't work, or the hinges look to have been 'opened', this is a sign of the not-uncommon rear wiring loom failure or may have been fixed - check whether fixed properly with a replacement loom rather than a temporary bodge.

Check condition of air hoses associated with rear self levelling - these can crack letting unfiltered air / grit into the pump.

If it has a panoramic roof, check for water ingress from blocked rear drain - this will be apparent in OSR cubby hole and under boot floor

I've now done 257k in my 535d Tourer - it's only now starting to get gremlins over and above those mentioned above.

[GR4]

That's good to hear Juliann. I recently asked for experiences of 100k+ E60's, with my 530d E61 getting close to that point. Yours makes it look positively low mileage! Have you had any significant powertrain costs on yours?

[juliann]

GR4 said:

That's good to hear Juliann. I recently asked for experiences of 100k+ E60's, with my 530d E61 getting close to that point. Yours makes it look positively low mileage! Have you had any significant powertrain costs on yours?

The autobox needed a good flush at 180k (I do a fair bit of towing. ZF Dortmund, who did the flush, suggests 'sealed for life' should read as flush every 60k) but no other issues. There's a few things that the dealer advises when it's serviced, but none which are critical / worth addressing. The heating fan has just packed up - suspect it's the brushes - not a big cost, just a big removal/refitting job - it has been working on 'auto' for about 4,500 running hours though so not unexpected.

I suspect it's not as quick / refined as it used to be, but I treat it a fair bit gentler now and having driven it for so many miles, you don't really notice gradual deterioration. It's probably not far off its end of useful life as something expensive is sure to give up as it heads towards 300k

Edited by juliann on Monday 14th November 14:42

[Piepiepie]

Cheers guys. Im still very undecided, went to the local bmw dealer during the early hours to see if i could see one similar, all i could find were saloons, and damn, are they a big car. I reckon the estate will be a total barge, maybe too big for a single guy with no family?

Although the figures seem to look respectable, in terms of performance, is the 520d any good? Im not buying it for economy, it just happens to be a decent model in the right price range.