Hi everyone!
I'm planning on buying a E60 530d or 535d as my second car, i'm 18.
Can anyone tell me the weak points and what I'll have to check for sure on this model?

Updated: 09 Dec 2024

E60

Comments

It is an E60, so the usual fluid leaks (make sure to look inside the splash guards, as they have a habit of taking leaked fluids. Also look do cracks in the front stabilizer brace. If you can, get Carly for BMW for your phone and the Carly adapter. It has a nice used car check function in the full version. Also find a good BMW vin decoder. It will tell you all of the options the car was shipped with, build date and a few other things.

Cooling system leaks, most often coming from the thermostat. Water pump fail. If it has active steering drive the car for a while to see if it behaves normally. If it’s an auto, warm the car and the gearbox really good to see if there’s no kicking between gear change, everything should be smooth. If it has xDrive, make sure there is no noise coming from the the center glove box, if there is a whining, the transfer case is gone.

Thanks a lot guys! And you know anything about electronical issues? I heard about them too

Yup, my interior lights for some reason stopped working, inside the trunk too. Also I had problems with battery draining overnight from time to time. Replacing IBS sensor worked quite well (sometimes it still happens, but very rarely). Also wiper motor stopped working, but that was an easy and cheap fix, I just bought used one and replaced it myself.

Make sure you find a Fairly low milage one or go for a higher one but make sure it has had a torque converter replacement. Also if you want to keep it at the higher mark, (160,000-230000), make sure it has had a swirl flap removal, egr delete and dpf removal. Maybe one with a naughty remap… anyway, it would be more expensive to maintain, but maybe go for a 525i-530i and you will have the m54 engine capable of 300,000, and no engine problems.

I couldn’t remember the swirl flaps, but then again, I have a 550. Now, off to replace the crossover pipe!

If you are looking at a touring, the diversity antenna has a habit of going bad where it passes through the hinge. Low battery issues are kind of odd. You will get strange codes instead of a battery code (Power Distribution Module). If you really want an E60, if recommend a 2010, as it had CIC instead of CCC for the I Drive system