Hi everyone.
I will be putting my 2004 BMW e60 530D with the 6 speed automatic gearbox up for sale soon. I have bitten the bullet and snapped up a good deal on a new car which is arriving end of March. I am also switching back to Petrol because we (Wife and I) do not drive enough to warrant a diesel and in the 3 years we have owned this car we have put on just 25k miles. I love my current car... I spent ages looking for an e60 with the spec this car has and my travels took me over to London to purchase it 3 years ago... I imported her myself and VRT is fully paid etc. The previous owner had the car professionally remapped by Ecotune in Scotland with a DPF, EGR and CAT delete performed at the same time (new exhaust with straight downpipe was fitted). The car runs at 265Bhp and 600nm of torque (stock is 218bhp/500nm) and pulls like a train. I have been offered to part exchange it against the new car but would much rather see if go to someone who will not be put off by the tax bill (€1494 annually) and will appreciate and look after it instead of it going straight to the trade network. It has a fantastic spec with almost every option ticked:
- Active steering
- Dynamic Drive
- Heated steering wheel
- Alarm
- Active Cruise Control (ACC - not working)
- Electric sunroof
- Electric rear sun-blind
- Heated folding mirrors
- 20 way heated, cooled (ventilated) and active (massage) front Comfort seats
- Heated rear seats
- Front and rear parking distance control (PDC)
- Adaptive Xenon headlights
- CCC Professional with Bluetooth
- HiFi system Professional (Logic 7 amplifier + 13 speakers)
- Split folding rear seats with ski-hatch (60/40)
- 19" Style 172 alloys (think they are replicas but good ones if they are)
In the 3 years since I have owned the car I have replaced the:
- Battery
- Turbo
- Exhaust manifold
- Both thermostats
- MAF sensor
- Front and rear shocks and springs (Sachs + Eibach pro kit)
- Upper and lower front control arms
- Rebuilt the iDrive and Bluetooth units (less than 6 months ago so they are good for years to come)
- Prop-shaft donut
- All belts and Crankshaft Pulley
- Starter motor
- Autobox serviced
OK so that is the good bits now I'm going to be completely honest with the bad bits:
- Active Cruise Control has never worked for me; previous owner mentioned the sensor in the front overheated and is €900 to replace + alignment which apparently only BMW can do.
- The Mrs caught the front bumper under a kerb in a car park so it needs to be removed and refitted properly also it could do with a respray due to stone chips
- Oil level sensor needs replacing next service (sensor at the bottom of the oil pan)
- Front brake service; wobble when breaking from 60mph; I suspect new discs are needed or current need to be skimmed
- It needs a new Alternator voltage regulator (more on this below)
On the Alternator voltage regulator the car from time to time exhibits the same issues as in this post (http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/67183-...rical-gremlin/) - now when it happens I have never been left stranded or unable to drive the car and simply switching off the car and back on again a minute later rectifies the issue. I do not think it is the Alternator itself as the issue would be happening constantly. The Alternator was replaced in 2010 but I am uncertain if the Voltage Regulator was also replaced at the same time however it is a cheap enough part to replace I just have not gotten around to replacing it.
Current mileage is 193k miles. Personally if I was buying or keeping this car I would discount the Active cruise control because it is just too expensive to fix and I would fix up the other bits. This is all she needs to give someone many more happy motoring miles. Taking into consideration the amount of money I have spent on this car in my 3 years of ownership I would say if she had the bits above rectified she is a €5k car and I reckon she needs €1k put into her to make it a great car again. I am willing to let her go for €4000.
I'm not going to try over sell the car it is a great car, sound system is amazing, the seats alone are a joy to sit in and the options are great. It drives very well for it's age and the engine and autobox are in very good shape. All work has been carried out by either Gary Doyle at Chelmsford motors and more recently Jamie @ Kenduff motors both of whom I am certain will be happy to recommend the car. Car is taxed until April 2017 and NCT'd until March 2018. She will be available for sale end of march I am putting this add up now to see if there is any genuine interest (please get in touch) otherwise she will be used as a trade in on our new car.
