Shlooky

I had posted in the E60 forum that I need to replace my 545i to either an E60 528i or a 328 for gas consumption issues i am now having.
After looking at the F10, I am now considering an F10 528 or 535 say a 2011 or 2012.
Any surprises with the new 5 series?
I know the gas consumption is very good and the power/torque has been upgraded, but I heard that there are alignment issues?
Any issues with the 535's?

Thanks!

Skibum

Hi Shlooky, they aren't alignment issues per se, they are issues primarily stemming from the electric power steering units (EPS) in the 535i and 550i. xDrive cars were not impacted, as they did not use EPS. This mainly involved 2011 models, though there are (were?) a few 2012 owners voicing similar complaints about their tracking and pulling to the right. AFAIK, the issue is not present on 2013, 2014 and presumably on the new 2015s.

For a ton of info (pulling to the right/tracking), see these threads on the F10 and Bimmerfest forums:

F10 Pulling to the right FIXED! - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums

F10 pulling to the right...

Based upon this, the #1 thing to do, is do a fair amount of on highway driving of any 2011 or 2012 you're serious about purchasing. Drive on a variety of roads, but especially drive at speed on the highway (ie the 401, MCF, etc). If the car doesn't drift to the right, and seems to track like a BMW should, then you're more than likely in a car that never had the issue, or one where it got fixed. Hope this helps, and good luck.
Skibum - Cincinnati

Gilgorm

I tend to agree with skibum. Posts about alignment issues have basically dried up as the initial problems were addressed. BTW, 2012 535s only came as X-drive here in Canada so the issue was never mentioned. A first year model of any type of car tends to have more issues since the car buying public become long-term testers. The second year cars have a ton of issues ironed out.
The 535 will more closely resemble your 545i. Moving from 2004 to 2012 is a huge move.
Good luck with your search.
I loved my E60 but love my F10 even more.

turboawd

reminder, 2011 528i comes with a 6 cylinder from e60
2012 528i comes with turbo 4 cylinder

hurst01

If you are looking for fuel economy and had a 550 before I would suggest the 535i. We have had a 2011 535i X-Drive since Sept 24th and the fuel consumption is MUCH better than I had expected. I just did a write-up about it