M54, N52, N53 performance. Real Life.
 

Looking to purchase a 530I

Quick background:
Car for wife, she is a car/BMW enthusiast as well
No 3 series, No E39
This is replacing a M54 330ZHP
This will be a manual
I cannot find a 535 in our $10Kish price range
I will be doing 90% of the maintenance on this, preventative and "oh crap its broke", for this reason I am VERY hesitant on the N62 motors. My friend/BMW Master Tech agrees that he loves the N62 because he makes A LOT of $$ on them.


The wife stated that she wants the car to be near as fast as the 5.6 0-60/mid-ish 14's 330ZHP. I know these are not real world number, but more of a reference used for comparative purposes. This, frustratingly, is a hangup for her and she is at the point of not wanting a 530 at all because she feels it will be slow. She wont even go test drive the single manual 530i I found locally. To make matters worst she test drove a 545 the other day, this is now her baseline :( grrrr

From my few days of forum reading this is what I got for E60 530 numbers
2003<>2005 231hp, 214 tq 6.6/14.9
2005<>2007 258hp, 220tq 6.2/14.8
2007<>2010 272hp, 236tq ?????

Are these numbers a fair estimation? I am having trouble finding actual real life performance data for the N52-53 :( I want to convince her that it will be plenty fast enough. She, sadly, is an aggressive driver and mostly wants acceleration in the 50mph+ range for highway driving. She was scarred once while borrowing a friends car that was slow and was almost hit because it was not as fast as she is used to.

Does anyone have any real world or claimed comparisons from motor to motor? Is it worth it to buy a newer gen I-6? Any non-FI mods to increase acceleration, shorter diff, rocket boosters.....?

Thanks guys, I know its a vague question.... but i figured I would share my predicament.

I have an '04 530i, powered by M54B30. Your ZHP has 7bhp more than a standard M54 IIRC.

Asking a big car like the E60 to out drag a ZHP with an identical motor just isn't going to happen. I love my car, it's no slouch, but it's not going to do 0-60 in five and a half seconds. It just isn't going to happen. If that's a major hangup for her, she needs to get a V8 powered E60 or a 535i. Both can be serious money pits if you end up with the wrong car, which is why your buddy made the comment he did. Yes, those power figures are correct. Finding an E60, any E60 with a manual transmission is going to take some time; there's not a ton of them out there.

Any particular reason why you want to get rid of the ZHP? In my opinion it's one of the best 'all around' cars BMW has ever built in its entire history.

Thanks for the info! I know a 530 will never get close to the ZHP, my current thought is that if I tell her that "this year 530 is the fastest 530 available" she will settle a little easier.

We plan to start a family soon and both felt that the ZHP was on the small size. I agree that it was a great car, and will probably end up owning another one before I die, esp if BMW keeps heading in its current direction (4 series, 2 series, larger 3/5/7 series..... end rant).

I am going to give her a little time to soak in the "no V8" rule I have. I hope I can get her to at least test drive a manual 530i, I know she will find it to be more than fast enough. Although I bet she wont tell me that, women :)

No sweat, good luck with the car search.

I have a manual transmission 2006 530xi (N52). It is spec'ed at 255 HP. It is very very zippy. This one: Options Engines My2006 530i - BMW 530i Engine | 5Series.net

Thanks so much for the info.... especially the link, I couldnt find anything like that through google. Great resource!!! :)

I just noticed that the 2008+ 528 has a 3.0 N52B30.... but puts out less HP than the 2005<>2007 530 N52B30? Same engine, same displacement....... higher compression, should be same stroke/bore.......? Or is it a typo?

Not a typo. They messed around with the N52 output in various models and various years. In 2006, the 530 and 525 were both N52, with 530 at 255 HP. I think the 525 had a 2 stage intake manifold and 530 had a 3 stage intake manifold. Maybe the engine was also detuned via computer in the 525. I know they also messed with it in further years. Wife's 2009 X5 also has N52 and it has a different HP rating than my 2006 530.

I love my M54 in my e60 530i plenty of power and with a sprint booster to get rid of throttle lag your wife will have plenty of power and the M54 is one of the best engines made

I also went on a drive with Eurotopia last weekend and driving back on the 101 in socal with a group of a 550 whp porsche and a stock m3 the driver of the m3 couldn't keep. He came up to me after while our group was having lunch and was like pushing the v8 huh ? and I responded with no stock 6 he was shocked to say the least!!