I have an 05 530i as well as a 06. The steering in my 05 is so hard to turn it is unbelievable. The 06 steering is butter smooth at low speeds and then builds up resistance as the vehicle speed increases. Is it normal that the 05 steering is so stiff. I would lie the steering to be the same as on my 06. I brought it into the dealer and upon initial drive, the service manager said that their was definitley somehting wrong and it should not be so hard to turn the wheel. Then a few days later he said he looked at it and everything looked ok and there was nothing he could do. Any ideas?

 

You may need a software update on your 05--to adjust its AS. My 05 behaves like your 06.

 

What is AS? It does not have active steer

 

From March 05, all E60s are built with Servotronic steering (at least for Europe it was an option before that). With servotronic, assistance is adapted to the speed of the car, ie. softer when stopped or at low speed and harder at high speeds.
(Don't confuse with Active Steering wich changes the steering ratio. BTW, Active Steering includes Servotronic).

Maybe this explains why your new car is softer.