tomstin

I have a 2004 E60 M54 with 65k miles. I'm more worried about the age versus mileage. The overflow tank hoses feel pretty brittle and I don't believe the coolant has ever been changed.

My plan was to replace the expansion tank, hoses, water pump and thermostat. While I have all that apart, I'm thinking about replacing the belts, idler pulleys and tensioners.

I've found several DIYs on the hoses, thermostat and water pump. Any thing special I need to be aware of with removing the idler pulleys and tensioners?

And yes, 65k original miles. Two years ago I bought it from a retired gentlemen who split his time between here in NC and Italy. The car was not getting used so he decided to sell. And I think he was getting tired of the manual transmission.

Howitzer

First off, you have yourself a rare car in that it's a manual! Not only is the M54 engine a legend but it is very reliable and if you take care of this BMW you'll put 250k+ miles on it easily.

As for all of the things you plan to do? I think it's a wise decision. All of those things need to be replaced at that many years. I've kept a close eye on the xpan tank hoses as well. I have a 2004 530i M54 like you and I've had the following issues so far since owning it:

1) Oil filter housing gasket leak.
2) Oil level sensor leak.
3) Valve cover gasket leak (that was at about 55k miles)
4) Belt replacements.
5) 2X spark plug replacements ( I suggest getting NGK iridium sparks instead of Bosch)
6) Side passenger restraint system malfunction error. Warranty defect.
7) Recall defect on battery grounding wire that can cause fire.
8) Water in the battery housing compartment under heavy rains (fixed that)
9) Secondary air pump check valve and hose replacement. I chose not to replace the pump until it actually fails. It just makes a whine at startup when it's very cold out for about 10 seconds. Has no affect on the vehicle at all except for emissions if it fails. No biggie.
10) Power steering issue at about 50k miles. Had to flush the OEM fluid out as there was some "issue" with it from factory.

All in all just random maintenance "stuff" in general. I recommend you change the oil every 7,000 miles with BMW full synthetic 5W-30 from the dealer. I buy the oil and filter there and just change it myself. The car runs amazingly well and I love it to death. Always a pleasure to drive.

Transmission is another thing to look out for. Now after 50k miles I flush the trans fluid every 30k miles. I do NOT do that myself. I take it to a BMW dealer and shell out a $100 tip to the mechanic who does it for me on the 'down-low' when he's doing other maintenance stuff. Otherwise it's about $450 to flush the trans at the dealer *cough* stealership.

Lastly, I recommend you buy MAF cleaner and clean that every 20k miles or so with the spray bottle. It's important that that stays clean. I bought a BMC air filter from Trinity a while back and love it. Very good product. http://www.trinityautosport.com/intake-c-1_2_3_49.html (I also recommend dealing with Joe, he's great). The other company I like to work with is Mironics aka Bruce from the UK for your lighting mods. I was able to retrofit the newer BMW rear brake lights with his kit. It's quite amazing the difference it has on your car's looks with the LED version (one of the best mods I've done besides M5 mirrors). I also like John at Motorcepts for any and all lighting mods. He is very trustworthy and great to work with. His site is www.motorcepts.com. I got really nice MTec V3 LED halo rings from him as well as all of my 6K Xenon bulb replacements for the headlights and plug and play 6k matching XENON HID kit for the fogs. All worth their weight in gold in how beautiful and up-to-date it makes your E60 look. People still ask me what year the car is because they think it's a 2010, etc. Hahaa!

I'm at 127,000 glorious miles now and I STILL look back at my car when I park sometimes and admire it. It's a wonderful vehicle.

tomstin

Howitzer, thanks for the kind words and suggestions. The indy I take it to always compliments the car, an engine they have a lot of experience with and a 5 series with a manual is indeed rare.

Got the cooling system maintenance done on the weekend. Expansion tank, cap and hoses. Upper and lower radiator hoses, belts, idlers and tensioners. Water pump and thermostat. $1,100 in parts in the end. I decided to go with the EMP/Steward water pump. A really stout piece. The only problem I ran into was the temperature sensor on the lower radiator hose. I tried to use the old one, when I reinstalled it, it seemed to fit a little loose...sure enough after installing the cap and the system building pressure it began to leak. Had to have my wife go by the BMW dealer and pick up a new one. Boy, BMW is proud of that part!

One of the pearls of wisdom my dad left me with "As soon as you have to run out for parts / supplies, the day is shot!" Sure enough, that little episode cost me the better part of 2 hours. But I did manage to get everything cleaned up while I waited.

One other little discovery. About two inches of crud between the radiator and AC condenser at the bottom. Not sure how that got there, but the power steering cooler was probably not getting much air thru it.

So, my little tip for anyone replacing the lower radiator hose...get the temperature sensor when you get the hose. They guy at the parts counter's comment "yep, that o-ring has a tendency to leak once removed."

lcc014

Thanks for the tip. I have plan to replace thermostat, water pump and upper/lower radiator hoses at 100k miles. Current mileage is about 97k miles. I did the transmission fluid drain/fill back at 50k miles and differential fluid drain/fill, belts (AC & serpentine) at 60k miles. I will replace transmission fluid and pan at 100k miles too.