What are the older BMW automatic boxes like?
Discussion
I'm looking to downgrade to a cheaper car and am looking at a BMW 5 series from 2003 to 2007 ish time.
530i or 530d is my car of choice, and loads of these come with auto boxes... Before 2007 the older auto boxes.
Anyone shed any light on what these are like to live with? And how reliable they are etc...?
Most of these cars have between 90k and 150k on clock. I'm trying to go as low as possible mileage wise.
530i or 530d is my car of choice, and loads of these come with auto boxes... Before 2007 the older auto boxes.
Anyone shed any light on what these are like to live with? And how reliable they are etc...?
Most of these cars have between 90k and 150k on clock. I'm trying to go as low as possible mileage wise.
I have a 2006 330d E91 so the same box your would end up with?
I like it, it's nice and relaxed through town, obviously not as sharp as the newer stuff , it can be caught out if you suddenly "boot it" , if you need to make progress you can knock it in to sport mode which picks the revs up and sharpens the response.
I like it, it's nice and relaxed through town, obviously not as sharp as the newer stuff , it can be caught out if you suddenly "boot it" , if you need to make progress you can knock it in to sport mode which picks the revs up and sharpens the response.
I've had a few of these pre-8sp ZF boxes and they were fine:
2 x E46 330Ci, 1 x E60 535d and 1 x E60 550i
IMO they were best left doing their own thing and not being hurried. If you did want to push on, best to use them in "Sport Tiptronic" mode and select the gears yourself. But even then, took a while to change up or sometimes wouldn't left you overrule them. But they were far from being poor. They might, however, feel quite low-tech now if you're used to any of the modern autos.
I have an F11 530d Auto and when I go from that to driving my 2005 Merc 616 Sprinter with autobox, I'm reminded the latter is the slushiest of slush boxes.
2 x E46 330Ci, 1 x E60 535d and 1 x E60 550i
IMO they were best left doing their own thing and not being hurried. If you did want to push on, best to use them in "Sport Tiptronic" mode and select the gears yourself. But even then, took a while to change up or sometimes wouldn't left you overrule them. But they were far from being poor. They might, however, feel quite low-tech now if you're used to any of the modern autos.
I have an F11 530d Auto and when I go from that to driving my 2005 Merc 616 Sprinter with autobox, I'm reminded the latter is the slushiest of slush boxes.
FWIW I know of a couple of E39s that were on auto boxes and drove both.
-an '01 525d with 535k on the clock; that was not a typo!
-an '02 520i with 230k.
The derv box was fine and apparently had no oil changes. At 500k it did begin to play up ; it would stick in 1st unless you pulled away gently.
The 520i was fine except its thirst for fuel and lack of low end torque. The 'box was fine and the car a nice drive for day to day driving bar the torque issue.
-an '01 525d with 535k on the clock; that was not a typo!
-an '02 520i with 230k.
The derv box was fine and apparently had no oil changes. At 500k it did begin to play up ; it would stick in 1st unless you pulled away gently.
The 520i was fine except its thirst for fuel and lack of low end torque. The 'box was fine and the car a nice drive for day to day driving bar the torque issue.
We have an e46 325ti with the 5 speed auto, probably the worst feature of the car, but my wife can only drive an auto and it's her car. It is fine if driven in a relaxed to moderate pace, the latter needs you to knock the lever over to sport on the approach to bends or it will change into the highest gear possible as you slow down and then kick down two or three gears as you mash the accelerator to the floor to get something to happen. You can use tiptronic mode, but subjectively it always seems sluggish compared to an auto change. It isn't terrible by any means, you just need work around it if you want to drive quickly.
Our e61 530i has the six speed with sport auto option, it is generally more reactive, even in normal mode it is more often in the right gear than the e46. Sport auto is nice if you can find one with it, my first did not, the steering wheel switches are a handy way to drop a ratio or three just prior to an overtake, I don't really use them for anything else though.
Overall the six speed is definitely worth having from a driving perspective over the five.
Our e61 530i has the six speed with sport auto option, it is generally more reactive, even in normal mode it is more often in the right gear than the e46. Sport auto is nice if you can find one with it, my first did not, the steering wheel switches are a handy way to drop a ratio or three just prior to an overtake, I don't really use them for anything else though.
Overall the six speed is definitely worth having from a driving perspective over the five.
I have an E39 530d Auto Touring facelift now done just under 80k and it's fine, not irritatingly slow, works fine in tiptronic mode, changes down going down hill off throttle, the only thing I don't like is that in sport mode it won't change up to 5th at lowish speeds but that is not the end of the world.
Spuffington said:
I've had a few of these pre-8sp ZF boxes and they were fine:
2 x E46 330Ci, 1 x E60 535d and 1 x E60 550i
IMO they were best left doing their own thing and not being hurried. If you did want to push on, best to use them in "Sport Tiptronic" mode and select the gears yourself. But even then, took a while to change up or sometimes wouldn't left you overrule them. But they were far from being poor. They might, however, feel quite low-tech now if you're used to any of the modern autos.
I have an F11 530d Auto and when I go from that to driving my 2005 Merc 616 Sprinter with autobox, I'm reminded the latter is the slushiest of slush boxes.
This is a really good sum up and I've had the ZF6 Auto in a E90 330d/330i and X5 4.8iS, and ZF8 Auto in a F13 640d, just don't expect too much from the ZF6 and just let it do it's thing, it doesn't like to be rushed and a steady Eddie approach works best. 2 x E46 330Ci, 1 x E60 535d and 1 x E60 550i
IMO they were best left doing their own thing and not being hurried. If you did want to push on, best to use them in "Sport Tiptronic" mode and select the gears yourself. But even then, took a while to change up or sometimes wouldn't left you overrule them. But they were far from being poor. They might, however, feel quite low-tech now if you're used to any of the modern autos.
I have an F11 530d Auto and when I go from that to driving my 2005 Merc 616 Sprinter with autobox, I'm reminded the latter is the slushiest of slush boxes.
The later ZF8 can be clumsy as well, but it deals with the pushing on approach far better.
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