Porch

So I just bought a 2006 530xi wagon with a stick. I'm new to bmw ownership but I've driven a lot of them during my former valet career years ago. I'm excited to finally own a stick bmw. Only a porsche 911 stick felt better out of the cars I drove, but I digress... I just have a few questions-
-what kind of oil?
-what brand of scan tool?
-can I get an aluminum skid plate for the engine?
-brand of suspension for stock ride height and stock or slightly stiffer feel?
I've looked at some other forums, but I like that this one has a page just for the e61s. Thanks y'all!

seanjordan20

-what kind of oil? Honestly it's your preference. You can run 0w40, 0W30, 5w30 or 5w40. A lot of people use 5w40. Brand wise you can go with Mobil 1 or Liqui Moly but honestly it's what you prefer and as long as it's BMW LL-01 certified.

-what brand of scan tool? Depends on what you want to spend. Foxwell NT510 Elite is what a lot of people choose because of the price. You also have Mikes BMW software tools you can download for free and install on a laptop with a K + DCAN cable (BMW proprietary software) that you can find by googling. Basically and BMW specific OBD2 reader will do.

-can I get an aluminum skid plate for the engine? You should already have an aluminum skid plate which was installed from factory.

-brand of suspension for stock ride height and stock or slightly stiffer feel? A lot of people go with Bilstein shocks/struts which should be OEM for your model. For coil springs OE is the main way to go to get back to stock height.

Porch

Thank you! I don't pick up the car for another week but just wanted to get a head start. How about transmission and differential oil?

kd7iwp

Lots of options for transmission and diff oil. I have simply used Redline fluids for years. I believe they recommend their D4 automatic fluid (yes, for manuals, I have done the same). They also make differential oils and I use those also. Most people say that just about the only place to get transfer case fluid is from the dealer and that’s what I did. There is a procedure to go through to tell the car when the transfer case fluid is replaced.

seanjordan20

I used redline for my Differential since that's what a lot of plotter people use. It's funny because I never thought about changing my diff fluid until around 180k so it was the original fluid in the car when I changed it. It didn't look bad at all.

Porch

Alright, love the suggestions. 2 more questions- engine computer tune suggestions? Not trying to make it a sports car, but maybe a bump in power/fuel efficiency?
And, is the iCarly scan thing any good? My vw scan tool requires hooking up to my battery-less old laptop, so I like the idea of Bluetooth to the phone or something like the foxwell thing, if they're any good.

seanjordan20

If you want an app I would go with bimmergeeks Protool. It has the ability to do everything needed that the BMW software has and only available on Android. Carly is not the best thing out there and gives you issues.

I can't speak on tunes for the E series.

habbyguy

Another alternative for 2-way scanners is the Autophix 7910 (IIRC). Seems to do what the other tools do, but can be had for around $100. I agree that having more comprehensive tools (like a laptop loaded with INPA / ISTA) is really great to have, I found that the much easier to use scan tool would do what I needed without having to hassle with so much hardware, booting up (and remembering how to get it working).

Porch

SO, the previous owner of my new to me 530xi wagon had to ship the car up to NC instead of me driving it up, because water got in the trunk, soaked the modules, and the rear air suspension dropped to the ground. I had him ship it to a bmw shop up here, where I met it on Saturday. The car starts, runs, goes, and stops. But it's filthy. Food, dog hair, toys, mold, none of which showed on the pictures in his listing. Opened the rear hatch, left strut falls off when hatch is opened all the way. Lame. Struts on the 2 trunk floor doors don't work, and I couldn't figure out how to open them both at the same time to get the spare wheel out, so I took the front one off(probably forever), took the spare wheel out, and found gallons of water. He said he had dried it out, clearly not. He also said he washed the car...
took the modules out of the lake, bailed the water, taped the sunroof shut, and that's where it stands. Should hear from the shop tomorrow, but suffice it to say, I'm SUPER disappointed with the condition of the car vs how it was represented, and I'm worried about the mechanical condition since it looks so bad outwardly. This guy only owned it for a year and 10k, so hopefully the previous owner's stewardship made the car robust enough to handle this guy and his kids for a year...
fingers crossed!

Porch

$2350 parts and labor to replace relays, modules, one air strut, rear hatch strut and tailgate alignment.