Slow E60

@jasondomina Awesome to see 300k piled on one of these!

How many miles on it, and have you kept records of what had to be replaced over time? I feel like it would extremely informational for others to know what had gone wrong and at roughly what mileage.

jasondomina

Sure. Thanks. I itemized on another forum a while ago and I can't remember where.. I am the second owner. I have had it for about nine years. I believe I have every record from probably five different Service facilities. I think I calculated it once at about. I bought for 17000 I have put about 17000 In repairs in maintenance, mostly by independent shops. Some stuff had to be done by the dealer.. I'm on the original engine And manual transmission. The original clutch lasted up until about five thousand miles ago. I am on the third transfer case. The second transfer case was from LKQ and D third transfer case is from LK q, not very expensive.. I have broken each c v axle and one of them twice. I'm on my third water pump and. alternator. I'm on my second ghibo if that is spelled right. It is a link in the drive shift.. It was fun to diagnose, but it's a weird vibration you get.. Second or third, set of plugs and coils. Second PC V combo valve cover gasket. Third vanos motor and oring. My brakes seem to last forever, But I am a believer in down shifting. I'm on my third full stack with probably 40000 remaining all around. Oh almost forgot on painful one. I'm on my second evaporator. The itailed like ten thousand miles ago. It failed in the summer time. I noticed it because the windows Started foggy. Third, set of stress and shocks.. The second set was the yellow ones from bilstine and the third set on their knot back to OEM. The bill steins were just too rough on bad roads in the Midwest kept damaging wheels and breaking tires. I'm on my third front suspension rebuild.. I don't know too much recall of the moment. Opened the any questions? I'm definitely lived with this car.. Really? Just an amazing car when it is right.. The German quality shines through in all of the little things that just don't break and seem to last forever. Interior the switches, the bulbs, it's crazy.. There's often someone in my life saying get rid of that car.. And I said I will win the engine fails.. But that was two hundred thousand miles ago. And I just started following some. LS swaps on YouTube. And if my engine does fail, I'm still keeping it.
Unless something better comes around before Then I am going to do an l s swap. Something like five hundred horsepower six hundred pound feet of torque six speed manual all wheel drive. Never wrecked. No rust anywhere even on the exhaust I replaced the original muffler with one from borla. B b s wheels during the black wheel phase. I polished out the originals down to bare aluminum and use them as my winter wheels with bliźzak rfts. I'm starting to ramble. I hope this helps..

Slow E60

I love all this information, helps a LOT actually - hearing someones long journey with a car they love is ALWAYS interesting to hear about - or in this case (for this post), educational for those curious what common wear items are.

Being on the third transfer case is a bit of a bummer I'll bet, which hearing that makes me feel a little better about going the RWD route (no transfer case/front axles to worry about). Currently have Nokian Hakkapeliitta snow tires for Minnesota winters, seeking to upgrade to a Quaife LSD to lockup both rear tires when slippage occurs on ice/snow. Giubo, aka the driveshaft flex joint. Third VANOS motor, I'll wonder if perhaps the replacement ones weren't Genuine BMW? I do believe BMW Doctor on YouTube mentioned having bad luck on other brands ( ) and highly recommends OEM part for that piece. Also did you ever figure out what the deal is with the evaporator? Having to do that AGAIN is a bit of a shock with how time consuming replacement of one of those are.. let alone two. I'm new to the E60 world but looooove talking about cars and hearing peoples stories/experiences with them, can talk for hours with people when it comes to that.

As for the LS swap aspect, have you ever explored the fun idea of perhaps doing a 535d conversion? or 530d since it's single turbo and great with turbo upgrades as well. E90 335d came to the USA, so it's plenty possible to find a wrecked E90 335d donor car for a good chunk of the components - otherwise importing a wrecked 530d without the intend of driving, making easier to import and not needing to register (I would think?).

Slow E60

This actually helps a LOT, I appreciate the solid response man! As a fellow enthusiast that loves talking about cars, I don't see this as rambling at all IMO, love the in-depth details and hearing someones journey with a car they love.

The third transfer case is a bit of a surprise, I personally went the RWD route to avoid transfer case/axle drama for that reason ironically, relying on snow tires for deep snow in Minnesota winters. Currently debating on installing a Quaife LSD (limited slip differential) to lockup both rear tires, to makeup for not having AWD in the snow, even though I can make it through massive snow storms with the factory open diff.

Giubo being the driveshaft flex disc, I'll admit I had to Google that one. As for the VANOS motor, is it possible that maybe a non-OEM unit was being installed? I do believe I heard from BMW Doctor on YouTube that he's had bad experiences with non-OEM on specifically that component. The evaporator core is definitely a shock though.. huge job, did you ever find out what may have went wrong there? Even to do it once would be a bummer..

As for the LS swap aspect, I'll bet perhaps you may find doing a 530d swap interesting - those turbo diesels can make pretty insane power with a turbo upgrade, 535d with the twin turbo motor but I heard people prefer the single turbo M57 more for turbo upgrades. I'd suspect importing a wrecked 530d would be plenty doable given that it would be imported under the intent of not being driven. E90 335d guys are known for making 1000 lb ft of torque with original transmission - 6HP28 are apparently extremely stout.

bimmerdad74

238000 here. N54. Love this car.

Tetonfiber

The VANOS Variable Timing Solenoids are simple to replace! Two VVT solenoids are the same part number and located on the front of the N54 engine. Replaced my VVTs at 142,000 miles for $230.00 -US each. The difference was immediate and so noticeable that my wife noticed and complained about being thrown around in the car. These are wear items and the problem is that the windings in the solenoid degrade over time, heat and miles. This 535i breathes like an athlete now and is a lot more snappy to accelerate. The replacement only took forty-minutes and a 10mm socket. Just snug the bolt down given the fine threads. I wish I had replaced these on my N54 a long time ago. They come with the new O-Ring and you just pull the old VVT out and insert he new unit. Make sure the old O-Ring is not still in the hole. I didn't have that issue, but it could happen.

h2oskiphil

I'm at 113K on a 550i M Sport. Bought the car with about 80K on it. Previous owner replaced all the oil leaking gaskets, so I escaped that expense. I've replaced all the struts, done the 100K mile front end replacement, and just did front rotors, water pump, and thermostat.

Riggio71

238K on an ‘09 550i M sport. Bought it 8 years ago with 92K on it and still love the car. I only drive it 1 or 2 times a week now and it’s still in great shape.

slavikv89

I have a 2009 bmw 528i with 261877 miles on and it runs like new. It has the original trans and engine. Never had any majors issues with it. The best n52 engine ever.

jasondomina

pics?