RogerE61

Ive owned a 2000 528iT for about 5 years, and BMW cars, generally, for 15 years. I?m very close pulling the trigger on a 2010 535xiT with 10k miles.

Over the years, I?ve done a lot of work on my E39 (Vanos seals, gasket for the large metal piece which connects the oil filter housing to the block, ABS module and ABS sensors, shocks, air springs, rear ball joints, front control arms, sway bar links etc., water pump, radiator, plastic headlight gears, Conforti programming and cold air intake, arm rest storage, iPod integration, and of course, the usual maintenance ? brakes, fluids (rear end and transmission fluid replacement).

It?s been a great car, although it?s never gone long without needing some sort of attention. Currently it has 120,000 miles.

So, on the assumption that it?s only going to become more needy (and I find I?m becoming less enthusiastic about having to repair it regularly), I?ve found a nice E61, with 2.5 years of warranty remaining.

But I have mixed feelings. The 2010 wagon appears to be the last BMW wagon we?re going to see in North America. If the F10 were coming here, I?d likely hold off replacing the E39, as I think it still has some life left (particularly the engine). However, the F10 apparently isn?t going to make it here, and E61?s are only going to get older.

Aside from my attachment to my E39, there is another issue. My sense (in part, but not only, from Mike Miller?s column in Roundel) is the E61 isn?t terribly reliable; I?m reluctant to drop a substantial sum of $ on a car that may prove to be less than headache-free, or which is going to cost me a small fortune to own once the warranty is done. Perhaps the E61?s issues are overblown.

I want to continue to own a wagon (not an SUV) and frankly, I can?t think of a competitor?s wagon I?d prefer to drive/own.

I?d very much welcome comments/thoughts/experiences.

Thanks very much.

vanos

I have just changed to the E61 from an Audi allroad because of upcoming maintenance costs and high fuel comsumption. I opted for the E61, I'm hoping for cheaper maintenance and already have noticed much better fuel consumption. I purchased a 2007 530xiT CPO, can you send me the link to Mike Miller's article on the E61? I would like to read about the weak points of the E61. On a personal note, I did not want the turbo engine for fear of the same issues as the early 335i E90's.

I agree with you on the maintenance costs of the cars, the same applies to Audi.

I myself shopped long and hard for a wagon, I just don't like SUV's.

norsecarnut

Well, I don't know the answers but I share your love of wagons. We currently have two of my favorites, the 2008 535xiT/6 bought cpo last fall as well as a 2008 Audi S4 Avant mt6 bought new. In 2.5 years the audi has 47,000 miles and since January I have put over 20,000 miles on the bmw.

About fuel economy, the Audi Allroad v6 turbo is supposed to be able to hit mid 20's no problem, the bmw straight 6 is about the same on the 5 series. We had an 07 328it6 that got close to 30 on the highway but it was lighter and lower wind drag and rear wheel drive so I imagine those are the reasons.

It sucks that bmw and audi think the wagons could be replaced by the q7 and x5.

vanos

Unfortunately, I never achieved the claimed fuel consumption with the allroad. After 4 years of ownership, the combined fuel consumption was 13.9L/100km straight into SUV territory. The allroad is a very heavy car with a twin turbo V6. So far, the straight 6 bummer does much much better.

We also considered the A4 wagon but it was too cramped for us. Picked the 5 series touring in the end.
Also looked at the A6 Avant 3.1L but the handling was subpar compared to the 5 and fuel consumption was higher.

RogerE61

Thanks Jwestpro. Sounds as though you have two terrific cars.

Has your 2008 535XiT given you any trouble at all?

norsecarnut

Yes, I love these cars and am fortunate to have them both. Thanks.

Issues - Only a couple things:
The well known HPFP (high pressure fuel pump) which was replaced in the spring while on a road trip at a very helpful dealer in southern-middle PA. This pump issue is covered by bmw for 10 yrs/120,000 miles just so you know. (In the US anyway)

At one point my nav system wouldn't read the other dvd for the other half of the country, so they replaced the disks and reset the system or something, then on my return east, it wouldn't take to the east dvd. Figuring it was just me not knowing how to switch them properly, I let the dealer try, they couldn't either, did some more tests and found the dvd reader to be faulty, so this required replacement of that whole unit section....this was at Baron BMW in Kansas City, they did a great job, etc, but then on the way to NC, the cd portion made the annoying "searching for a cd sound" continually and when you gave it one, it would spin it forever, even when the car was shut off (there is a dv reader as well as a separate cd reader). So, Leith BMW in Raleigh NC fixed that portion somehow.

Aside from that, which was very annoying and used up a lot of my time while at the dealer, it has been fine. Had I not been the type to travel cross country so much, nobody would have ever known the dvd/cd unit was bad.

I bought this one without doing any of my normal research! I have wanted this model in this exact color combo since it came out in brochures in late 2007 so when I saw it, I just smelled it to be sure it was clean, checked the options list, and put the deposit down.

Had I known that the 2010 was available with the cool M-trim kit and these cars sometimes got ordered with ventilated seats, I might have waited for those and night vision. For some reason mine was ordered loaded otherwise except for the upgraded sound system, which I find odd, but it sounds fine for my needs.

I've since upgraded the car myself with a reverse camera, 3500 lb rated hitch, 9500ci inside the ash tray, Dinan ecu2, Dinan exhaust, very cool window screens for all 6 rear windows, tint, and extra wheels.

The Audi though, is considerably tighter in the handling department as well as having a more "planted" feeling under any conditions except maybe at over 140 mph on straights. The longer wheelbase aids the bmw in higher straight speeds but on a track the audi was flawless considering it's weight, no brake fade, exact steering, and most beautiful soundtrack coming from the v8

The bmw is quieter though for long trips, has better ventilation possible with the split sunroof, and the solid panel sunroof cover keeps the cold, sun, and sound out better than cars having only a silly screen up there (Audi, VW, Porsche panorama sunroofs now only have stupid screens rather than a real panel. Screens let in heat even if they block uv, they let in cold and don't help at all with the roof/wind noise. Even the x6 now only has a screen but the x5 retains a solid panel too.)

The bmw has some other features I really like over the Audi:
-rear hatch glass opening separately - very nice for when you just need to grab something quick or if there is a hitch mounted bike rack in the way.

-I like how the rear windows go all the way down into the door instead of leaving 4-6" above the door. It makes for cleaner looking design but is also nicer for passengers wanting to see the world.

-the seats are far more adjustable when you get the 20 way "comfort" seats, so they are my favorite seats but the Audi seats are more "snug", less wide, and they are quite good too but for long long drives, the bmw has the best and for me the ergonomics of where the elbows can rest and knees, etc, is important when your nav says "1800 miles...." to the half way point!

I really, really love that with the Dinan software, I can rocket when needed but otherwise it seems to actually assist in higher mpg if you are careful. The other day I did a loop drive including 1500' mini-mountain pass climb and otherwise rolling terrain at 60-70 mph speeds and got 28.2 mpg. To me that's awesome for a 4200 lb car. Now, if you say the distance reading is off on these cars, meaning I got less mpg, that's fine, because I roll on 245/45x18 tires which are 3% larger, giving me a 3% buffer on that above mpg computer reading. So the computer reading of 28.2+3% = 29. I just have to remember that aside from any reduction in actual speed, I have to ad back in 2mph if I'm going 70mph on the dial.

mmitev

The E61 has a few niggles that can be terribly annoying and can get very expensive if unattended (sunroof drains, rear suspension compressor, tailgate wiring harness, diversity amplifier in the rear spoiler, and a few other smaller things), HOWEVER if you browse throught this forum and read the relevant info, and with your DIY skills, I think you can easily prevent 90% of the issues and fix the remaining 10% without much cost. That leaves the warranty for the engine and other unexpected issues. I think this is a pretty good summary. And don't forget, the E61 will bring you a huge amount of joy as well

fletchedpair

RogerE61,

I had the same dilemma, I ran a E39 for 10 years but eventually pouring money into it to keep it going was not the most economical thing to do.
I bought my E61 last year and have cover 15k miles since then. It has cost me $0 in repair costs from a garage, only my time and some materials to fix the tailgate hinge wiring issue. I also did the preventive fix on the sun roof drains, sun roof seal and air compressor line which was all small money in BMW parts and not much of my time.

I've had one oil service and brake fluid change and I had my local BMW dealer (really nice guys, non-franchise so not a stealer) do it as i was shocked to find they were cheaper than my time or any other independant garage around where I live.
In my opinion only, the E61 is a far superior driving machine to the E39.

vanos

The first thing to check are the drains. It happened to me, purchased a CPO this year to realize the drains were clogged after a car wash. Thankfully, no major damage. Got them cleaned, and now all is ok!

The E61 is a large car and as others have said it fun to drive. Good luck!

Lotus99

Can you pls. elaborate on this issue? From what little I've read on it, I thought that in very dusty environments, there's some sort of seal that fails and lets dust into the compressor for the rear suspension, and then the compressor fails. Is that right?

Does it affect cars with a certain mileage? Any particular year of cars that are affected / not affected (I believe the Pano sunroof seals for example got changed on LCI cars). Is there a way to check the condition?

Thanks for any info on this topic.