d1noo

Hey guys, I dont know if I made a proper intro yet but I recently sold my 05 C230 Mercedes (w203) and bought a e60 with the M54 engine for just a bit over a month now. The previous owner did not really do much preventive maintenance on this car but I did get it for a decent deal. It is an 04 530i with 112k miles on it. Orientblue exterior with beige leather, heated seats steering wheel, navigation, hids etc. Btw this is my fav E60 site so far .

Here is what I have done to the car so far, all oem parts or equivalent

Oil change with oil filter
New Bosch OEM sparkplugs
Valve cover gasket/vc nut seals
Air filter
Cabin filters
AC Belt
Accessory Belt
Front rotors/pads
Rear rotors/pads
Front lower control arms with ball joints (Febi Bilstein - seems like good quality)
Front Sway bar bushings

It seems like a lot but I have few more things to do before I feel good about the car. There is an oil leak it seems to be coming from the Oil filter housing gasket (pretty common right?) And since I got the belts done it seems like there is a rattle coming from the Accessory tensioner (seems to be mechanical..cheaper to replace than hydraulic)

The sway bar link bushings are torn and the front upper control arms have lots of play when I checked them out so that's next.

My question to you E60 pros is about the oil leak what are other common areas it leaks from. I have the M54 engine and to me it seems like the oil filter housing gasket. I find little small puddles of oil in the garage after leaving the car there all night. Oil level still checks out so its not losing much.

Also the little coolant expansion tank level stick broke off when I was checking it, POS just crumbled in my hand, seems that's normal too? Can I just take the tank out flush it with distilled water and do a coolant flush. I don't feel like replacing the whole thing since its not leaking. What do you guys think?


Here is my parts list for next things

Sway bar links
Front upper control arms
oil filter housing gasket
Dipstick (bottom plastic is all cracked)
Rear window seal trim (wtf bmw?)
expansion tank????
water pump and coolant flush?

Is there anything you guys would add or suggest I do with this mileage? Thanks

BimmerFan52

I would add the following:
1. Transmission pan replacement (filter in pan) and fill and then second drain and fill
2. Power steering fluid flush
3. Rear diff. fluid drain and fill

d1noo

Forgot to mention the trans (automatic) was replaced at around 70k by BMW due to some issues so the trans should be good for a little longer right? And good call on the diff and power steering fluids I'll check to see if I can diy the power steering at least.

AchtungE60

hey welcome. as far as oil leak it could be the oil filter housing but you have to clean engine then re-inspect. the rattle may be coming from the belt tensioner indeed there is a bearing in there. I had to replace one on another car. It seemed fine but after degreasing the engine down it became rattly/squealy so I picked one up from pep boys for about $58 ... I assume your talking about the serpentine tensioner by the alternator.
as far as tranny i would wait until you hit about 130K or so then drain/fill based on what you stated.
forget differential fluid. waste of time and money. probably the only thing i agree with bmw on. i changed differential fluid on my 323 back in the day when it hit 125k and it was still good and probably not even half its life. up to you though
for the coolant expansion stick this is normal. bmw's finest plastic. lol. chances are when you try to drain from drain plug at bottom that's going to break too.
good luck

pradden

Also check and maybe replace the sunroof seal. They get noisy with age and can let in more water than the drains can handle causing wet spots on your headliner. Congrats on your new-to-you E60!