Time for frugality: E60 530d

Time for frugality: E60 530d

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Discussion

joropug

2,547 posts

188 months

Tuesday 27th October 2020
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CarPrintGuy said:
Interesting, if I floor it at pretty much any speed, the revs rise more than the road speed, eventually the revs match the road speed.

Can you remember what yours was like on fuel?

Will look into Carly BT, thanks.
When working correctly it behaves not dissimilar to a manual, it feels 'connected' . There's definitely something up .

Mine got 45 easily on the motorway, push 50 if I tried. Averaged 32.

The gearbox and temperatures are key - I know loads of people who have had a 530d and all report widely varying mpg, most were lower than mine.

Don Roque

17,990 posts

158 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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CarPrintGuy said:
Ok thanks I might have a go at getting it sorted next year at some point. Once sorted did you notice an improvement in fuel economy?
I didn't fix it, I flogged the car for scrap as it was getting on. I discovered that the front V-mount on the subframe was fked, which was the deciding factor in getting rid of it.

hman

7,487 posts

193 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
quotequote all

I had a 525d e60 and anything that you can google as a common fault happened on mine, and it was an SE so was worth substantially less than a MSport trim one come trade in time.

turbo, swirl flap, egr, manifold, thermostats, abs sensor, parking sensor, auto box not locking up, battery sensor, lower pulley disintegrated, front drop links, seat foam fell apart, radio volume knob stopped working, in dash computer started failing, injector failure, dpf failure.

A FSO polonez would have been more reliable, I really should have got a 540i instead at least I would have missed off half of the faults, but its the same for every BMW i have had once they are past 3 years they have fallen apart.

Rowe

311 posts

121 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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Your mpg seems typical to what i'm getting - it was even worse prior to replacing both thermostats. I try not to worry about the mpg any more, it is what it is. If you want something better on fuel, sell up and get the facelift one

Mines been on the most part reliable. Brake lines have been its crux, but i managed to get a mechanic friend to change mine for a really good price.
since my ownership it's required nothing which i'd deem beyond normal maintenance.


There is definitely something amiss with your gearbox if it isn't locking until 6th. They do have their weaknesses, and if yours is still the standard box and TC, it's done very well.
You can/should feel every gear engage in a smooth manor. Mine will generally sit in 5th at 60mph unless there is barely any load on the engine. I've also the maximum pressure on the clutch readings when i last checked after servicing it.


anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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“Mpg = freedom” - love it biggrin

It is true though, I think. Midlands to Edinburgh and back on a tank is easy.

joropug

2,547 posts

188 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
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Another thing to do, check your scuttle panels for water - leaves get in, block up the drain plugs, overflows and kills I drive. It takes minutes to check.

Think the same is said about the spare wheel well h check for water there, although might be thininking of another car

Huskyman

653 posts

126 months

Wednesday 28th October 2020
quotequote all
I had an E61 530d for a while and really liked it. Unicorn SE manual with a locking diff and sports front seats. Other than the obvs ones like the swirl flaps check the connection for the rear window washer jet doesn’t come off as this can cause problems, fairly simple to check, and sometimes the ribbon cable fails there as well.
Another problem that might rear its head is you can’t get the manual change to work on the gearbox when you push the lever to the right, and this is the first symptom of the wiring harness on the shifter failing, the wiring harness wears through and the cables start to break. I repaired mine and lengthened the harness.
To give you an idea on how much I liked that car I’m still in a 5 series.
Excellent cars, and other than a few gearbox gremlins you look to have a nice one there.

CarPrintGuy

Original Poster:

1,340 posts

99 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
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mstrbkr said:
“Mpg = freedom” - love it biggrin

It is true though, I think. Midlands to Edinburgh and back on a tank is easy.
That would be handy, I think I could just do it in the 5er. I've considered getting a Golf Mk4 TDI to get closer to your 55.8 mpg but I love having the 160 mph performance of the BM. Is it worth using double the fuel though? Definitely not.

Is your Civic's 55.8 mpg combined? Truly brilliant. Also looked at A2 1.4 TDIs recently, insane economy buy zero refinement and susceptible to sidewinds.

CarPrintGuy

Original Poster:

1,340 posts

99 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
joropug said:
Another thing to do, check your scuttle panels for water - leaves get in, block up the drain plugs, overflows and kills I drive. It takes minutes to check.

Think the same is said about the spare wheel well h check for water there, although might be thininking of another car
Thanks will do, when I bought it there were tonnes of leaves in there so they're out, will give it a proper hoover and clean and check the wheel well.

CarPrintGuy

Original Poster:

1,340 posts

99 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
Huskyman said:
I had an E61 530d for a while and really liked it. Unicorn SE manual with a locking diff and sports front seats. Other than the obvs ones like the swirl flaps check the connection for the rear window washer jet doesn’t come off as this can cause problems, fairly simple to check, and sometimes the ribbon cable fails there as well.
Another problem that might rear its head is you can’t get the manual change to work on the gearbox when you push the lever to the right, and this is the first symptom of the wiring harness on the shifter failing, the wiring harness wears through and the cables start to break. I repaired mine and lengthened the harness.
To give you an idea on how much I liked that car I’m still in a 5 series.
Excellent cars, and other than a few gearbox gremlins you look to have a nice one there.
Thanks for the tips. Like you I believe it's worth saving. The car owes me nothing and I did consider selling and buying a newer version, but imagine if I did and then had the same or similar issues? Wild goose chase! If I can get the gearbox sussed and electrical gremlins, thanks to the new turbo in March by the previous owner, I'd like to take her up to 300k miles, all the better if I can get an extra 10 mpg out of it combined. Currently averaging 27 mpg just pootling round on short and medium journeys, I would like to think 37 mpg is realistic once I sort the gearbox out.

Took it to RGA in Nottingham yesterday and they took it for a drive. It most likely needs a new solenoid on the gearbox and couple of other bits, which including a gearbox service is around £950. The other alternative is to just find a low mileage gearbox and torque converter and hope that its solenoid is in good condition, but that including a gearbox service would still be around the same cost.

Buying all the right stuff, it should be around £400 + labour.
Solenoid: £299 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Automatic-Transmiss...
Gearbox oil: £48.49 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202900743375?fbclid=IwA...
Gearbox filter with oil pan: £39.99 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303081771282
Labour: Anyone know how long it'd typically take to do the above?

CarPrintGuy

Original Poster:

1,340 posts

99 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
Rowe said:
Your mpg seems typical to what i'm getting - it was even worse prior to replacing both thermostats. I try not to worry about the mpg any more, it is what it is. If you want something better on fuel, sell up and get the facelift one

Mines been on the most part reliable. Brake lines have been its crux, but i managed to get a mechanic friend to change mine for a really good price.
since my ownership it's required nothing which i'd deem beyond normal maintenance.


There is definitely something amiss with your gearbox if it isn't locking until 6th. They do have their weaknesses, and if yours is still the standard box and TC, it's done very well.
You can/should feel every gear engage in a smooth manor. Mine will generally sit in 5th at 60mph unless there is barely any load on the engine. I've also the maximum pressure on the clutch readings when i last checked after servicing it.
In terms of the gearbox, if I can get the average from 27 to 38 mpg after sorting that's a saving of £2000 in 30,000 miles, so I reckon spending no more than £1000 to sort will pay dividends. It'll also force me to stop selling cars and have 1 for the long haul once and for all!

Huskyman

653 posts

126 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
CarPrintGuy said:
Huskyman said:
I had an E61 530d for a while and really liked it. Unicorn SE manual with a locking diff and sports front seats. Other than the obvs ones like the swirl flaps check the connection for the rear window washer jet doesn’t come off as this can cause problems, fairly simple to check, and sometimes the ribbon cable fails there as well.
Another problem that might rear its head is you can’t get the manual change to work on the gearbox when you push the lever to the right, and this is the first symptom of the wiring harness on the shifter failing, the wiring harness wears through and the cables start to break. I repaired mine and lengthened the harness.
To give you an idea on how much I liked that car I’m still in a 5 series.
Excellent cars, and other than a few gearbox gremlins you look to have a nice one there.
Thanks for the tips. Like you I believe it's worth saving. The car owes me nothing and I did consider selling and buying a newer version, but imagine if I did and then had the same or similar issues? Wild goose chase! If I can get the gearbox sussed and electrical gremlins, thanks to the new turbo in March by the previous owner, I'd like to take her up to 300k miles, all the better if I can get an extra 10 mpg out of it combined. Currently averaging 27 mpg just pootling round on short and medium journeys, I would like to think 37 mpg is realistic once I sort the gearbox out.

Took it to RGA in Nottingham yesterday and they took it for a drive. It most likely needs a new solenoid on the gearbox and couple of other bits, which including a gearbox service is around £950. The other alternative is to just find a low mileage gearbox and torque converter and hope that its solenoid is in good condition, but that including a gearbox service would still be around the same cost.

Buying all the right stuff, it should be around £400 + labour.
Solenoid: £299 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Automatic-Transmiss...
Gearbox oil: £48.49 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202900743375?fbclid=IwA...
Gearbox filter with oil pan: £39.99 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303081771282
Labour: Anyone know how long it'd typically take to do the above?
A decent garage should be able to do that lot in a day without any snags, I got charged £100 labour when they did the Life fluid in my ZF8 and that was just an oil change at a local garage. It’s quite involved to do the work properly, so £950 all in isn’t that bad. Have you changed both of the engine thermostats yet? Put the instrument panel into diagnostic mode

https://youtu.be/RAXno0aPumc

and select water temp. Go for a 30 minute drive to see what temp it gets to, and if it fails to reach 90 degrees one or both stats are fubar. Not a bad job to diy, and add to mpg quite a bit.

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
CarPrintGuy said:
mstrbkr said:
“Mpg = freedom” - love it biggrin

It is true though, I think. Midlands to Edinburgh and back on a tank is easy.
That would be handy, I think I could just do it in the 5er. I've considered getting a Golf Mk4 TDI to get closer to your 55.8 mpg but I love having the 160 mph performance of the BM. Is it worth using double the fuel though? Definitely not.

Is your Civic's 55.8 mpg combined? Truly brilliant. Also looked at A2 1.4 TDIs recently, insane economy buy zero refinement and susceptible to sidewinds.
Yeah it’s a genuine 55.8mpg combined over 17 months - and it’s on all season tyres with a C fuel economy rating. My last fill up was 40.9 litres after covering 513 miles. Still 9.1 litres left in the tank there! I’ve never tried a full-on economy “run” (think clarkson in the A8 from London to Edinburgh and back) but I really want to. With a full tank and cruise set to 70, the predicted range will go up above 700 miles. 60-70mpg on the motorway is the norm and that’s without any tricks like drafting lorries!

It’s a stunning engine - world record of 100mpg over 8300 miles eek
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/honda/civic/92127/ho...

Rowe

311 posts

121 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
CarPrintGuy said:
In terms of the gearbox, if I can get the average from 27 to 38 mpg after sorting that's a saving of £2000 in 30,000 miles, so I reckon spending no more than £1000 to sort will pay dividends. It'll also force me to stop selling cars and have 1 for the long haul once and for all!
That's fair if you want to look at it like that, but I really do think it'll be a bit of a waste of money.
38mpg is massively ambitious unless you're doing cruising speeds.

CornedBeef

509 posts

187 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
For balance, I had a 335d with the M57N engine (so basically the same as this) for 3 years and around 70k. Slightly lighter body, and my lifetime average MPG was 39. Best I ever got was 45 going from Hampshire to Scotland, sat at around 80mph. So you're probably not far off what's normal, it's a heavy car which will especially kill the MPGs around town.
My Merc 3 litre diesel is around the same, generally high 30s - if I sit on the motorway for 30 minutes it'll get to 42-43mpg. If I'm knocking around town it'll be low 30s, which isn't bad for a heavy car with a 3 litre engine.
How many miles do you do a year/will you do in this OP?

CarPrintGuy

Original Poster:

1,340 posts

99 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
CornedBeef said:
For balance, I had a 335d with the M57N engine (so basically the same as this) for 3 years and around 70k. Slightly lighter body, and my lifetime average MPG was 39. Best I ever got was 45 going from Hampshire to Scotland, sat at around 80mph. So you're probably not far off what's normal, it's a heavy car which will especially kill the MPGs around town.
My Merc 3 litre diesel is around the same, generally high 30s - if I sit on the motorway for 30 minutes it'll get to 42-43mpg. If I'm knocking around town it'll be low 30s, which isn't bad for a heavy car with a 3 litre engine.
How many miles do you do a year/will you do in this OP?
I guess if you got 39 mpg average with a lighter car (a positive) and twin turbos (a negative), a heavier single turbo car should be around the same. My average right now is 25 mpg, so massively down on 39 mpg so I still think it's worth sorting the gearbox. In terms of mileage, about 15,000 miles/year. All engine thermostats are fine, quickly get upto and beyond 90 Celcius.

Budleigh

128 posts

162 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
Nice one. I think E60s are criminally underappreciated, as 5 Series models go. Such a timeless design. I ran a 550i for 4 relatively pain-free years, despite all the nay-saying about valve stem seals and so on. Always wondered what a 530d would be like, since the engine/box combo was highly praised when new.

CarPrintGuy

Original Poster:

1,340 posts

99 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
Budleigh said:
Nice one. I think E60s are criminally underappreciated, as 5 Series models go. Such a timeless design. I ran a 550i for 4 relatively pain-free years, despite all the nay-saying about valve stem seals and so on. Always wondered what a 530d would be like, since the engine/box combo was highly praised when new.
I bet the 550i was a right hoot. There was 1 in the garage I visited yesterday, not sure what work it was having done. The chap there delivered an E61 550i to London and averaged 36 mpg. Incredibly efficient for a V8, and considering on the same drive my car wouldn't fare any different is why I need to get my car sorted! It's great fun to be fair having moved from a V8, it's a very lazy engine the straight-six diesel and always has power on tap, but never has the assault on your senses, afterburner effect of the E55 or warp factor of my 9000 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc_CvBCLCfc

StuntmanMike

11,671 posts

150 months

Thursday 29th October 2020
quotequote all
CarPrintGuy said:
Budleigh said:
Nice one. I think E60s are criminally underappreciated, as 5 Series models go. Such a timeless design. I ran a 550i for 4 relatively pain-free years, despite all the nay-saying about valve stem seals and so on. Always wondered what a 530d would be like, since the engine/box combo was highly praised when new.
I bet the 550i was a right hoot. There was 1 in the garage I visited yesterday, not sure what work it was having done. The chap there delivered an E61 550i to London and averaged 36 mpg. Incredibly efficient for a V8, and considering on the same drive my car wouldn't fare any different is why I need to get my car sorted! It's great fun to be fair having moved from a V8, it's a very lazy engine the straight-six diesel and always has power on tap, but never has the assault on your senses, afterburner effect of the E55 or warp factor of my 9000 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc_CvBCLCfc
They are. Mine averages 22.6 and does no motorway or dual carriageway driving.

Just A roads and town driving.

I briefly considered a 530 but I thought the bork factor to much compared.

Everything that goes wrong on a 550 is time consuming so the bills are for labour. Mine also had the valve stem seals done and a new gearbox fitted which was a big part of my decision to buy it.

I have a readers car thread on it, but nothing really goes wrong with it.