2009 BMW 530D

moosahb

New member
Hi

I know many a times the question has been asked about the reliability and maintenance costs of the e60 530d. I have read through many posts and not sure if I missed one that speaks specific to the 2009 model with the LCI Motor? If so, can someone please post a link for me, if not here are my questions:
1. Love the car but need to know if the gearbox is also a problem item on the 530d?
2. Was chatting to a friend and told him of the car - he says if I am only using it on weekends and for long trips, I shouldn't buy the car as it will suffer from injector leaks due to not being driven
3. I will never work on the car myself and was wondering what the major services could costs
4. Anything I need to specifically worry about?
5. Does the e60 suffer from the e46 and some e90 door locking/not opening issue

Thanks and appreciate any assistance
 

zaleonardz

Well-known member
Read my countless reviews on this forum with regards to the x30d motor.

In my view, the finest engine BMW ever built, even though its the fuel of satan.

They are bullet proof if maintained, and with a bit of fiddling, good for over 600Nm.

Yes, you run the risk of gearbox going poof, but that is any car with over 400Nm torque, torque kills gearboxes, fact.

The LCI is even better.

I took my 530d to well over 250k, and I drove the living shit out of it every day.

Look after your turbo, meaning proper heat buildup, cooling of turbo, service it every 7,500k, recon the cooling system, such as the waterpump ect, and you CANNOT go wrong.

1. See above, yes, but no more then the equiv Merc

2. Utter crap, the other way around, if you do short trips where you do not let enough heat into the engine, say you live 3km away from work daily, thats not healthy, but if your only doing long distances, motor will last.

3. I did a major service, cost me about 9k with labour myself, but that was OEM, waterpump, pulleys, tensioner, drive belts, service gearbox(manual) oil, filters, oil seperator ect....

4. Suspenion, its a heavy car, so control arms and stuff like that, but no more risk again then the equiv Merc or Audi,

5. No, completly differant system,

Fantastic car, if looked after, you CANNOT go wrong, I miss mine daily...
 

sash

///Member
have my LCI for over 18 months, have done control arms and normal servicing. It is due for thermostat which I have purchased but just need to make some time to get it fitted. I use cetane boosters and cleaner regularly to ensure my injectors are clean.

Its been remapped for over a year and have had no issues but i do not drive the car hard all the time, but i definitely use the available power.

I do believe at 145k kms my car is due for gearbox oil change, will be planning that in the near future with ZF.

If you want to find out more about the LCI motor i would suggest you look at international forums as the E60 does not have a massive following in SA. Theres one or two good ones including Bimmerforums and BMW5.
 

moosahb

New member
Thanks guys. I am more and more convinced and will be making the purchase...waiting for my cash to come in. Wish me luck :rollsmile:


Got a call from a buddy to test drive a 550i e60....WHAT A CAR!!!!!!! Oooh if only it had the updated look (this one is a 2007 model).
 

sash

///Member
the lci's came out in 2007, so the 550i must be a late reg. Those v8s sound awesome with the right exhaust.
 

moosahb

New member
Yep the 550i I drove is not a LCI and older interior is not as snazzy as the later model. I will take the 530D whoop whoop....Friday everything should be sorted
:joy:
 

moosahb

New member
So I got a full report on the 530D from my BMW Mech and he says that the car is a dog. Too much work required and not worth the asking price
:argh: :bangdesk:

So hard to find one...guess I will be waiting for the right one to come my way
 

sash

///Member
thats sucks.., out of curiosity what type of issues were there and what was the asking price?
 

moosahb

New member
sash said:
thats sucks.., out of curiosity what type of issues were there and what was the asking price?

Sure. The issues were:
1. Turbo needed a recon (making a noise)
2. If you hit kickdown the car goes into limp mode
3. The differential was also noisy

The guy was asking for R180 000 for a 2009 model with 112 000km and didnt want to budge on the price. I also thought for a car with that mileage with those problems is probably due to a driver that didn't care for the car much or drove it like it was stolen all the time.
 

sash

///Member
that car should still be on MP? or just out of MP? Makes one wonder why the owner didnt sort it out on MP...

Best the owner go and trade it in and get somewhere around R100k for it.. maybe he will come to his senses.
 

Rory

Member
I was offered 150k trade sight unseen for my 2008 with slightly more mileage. I paid 240 a year and a half ago, added a warranty and spent about 30k replacing shocks, tyres, pulleys, belts so it should be good for the next 100k km. There were cheaper ones avaliable when I was looking but this one was in excellent condition, had *just* come out of plan (100100km) and has some nice extras like nav.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
 

spawn616

New member
best car iv ever owned,but e 39, as len said,auto box still pushing over 400nm will always suffer, swell as suspension been ,take your time many ppl get scared to service them after motor plan because of the "high prices"



so far my most expensive service for my car at 240k km is 5k inspection 2 plus wheel bearings cheapest is 900, well maintained car is great car:thumbs:
 
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