Buying 523i M Sport E60

howyegettinon1

Hi,

Looking on some advise on buying this car, what to look out for and what to stay away from.

My budget is around 8-9k and I will be doing roughly 20-30k km a year.
How well do they handle the high mileage and the common issues with them.

From reading a few threads most common seem to go are the coolant system, thermostat and water pump is there anything else to add to that list??

Also there is a lot of bad feedback about BMW's and don't how many times I heard "They are great if you are lucky to get a good one" - I know the diesel engines (which Ireland is flooded with) tend to give more trouble than the petrol ones and usually come back with a higher bill from the garage so I can see that being something to complain about.
On the other hand from reading forums a lot of people praise them once they are maintained and serviced regularly.

So is this negative feedback just down to the negligence of the drivers wanting to own a BMW but not putting the money in to maintain it or are they something to stay away from?

Idbatterim

A few things, as the 523 if a 2.5L engine, I would be going for the 525, which is the same CC engine, i.e. same tax, but throws out good bit more horsepower. They will be harder to come by though...

At 20-30k, I would have thought you would be in diesel territory? The late 07+ diesel engine gave trouble, but the one before that, was fine if looked after properly.

Also there is a lot of bad feedback about BMW's and don't how many times I heard "They are great if you are lucky to get a good one" -

There is always an aspect of luck involved, but you can usually tell a lot from a good look at it, the seller, service history, but most importantly, having a specialist check it out prior to purchase...

I know the mileage isnt off the wall, but when you are driving a heavy 6 pot bm around the place, its not your run of the mill "sure da 1.6 petrol waz killin me, Im savin €2 a week on da daysul" you would want to do your numbers for sure...

fmcg_scribe

On older BMWs, thermostat, coolant, and water pump problems were not uncommon. Things have moved on somewhat in recent years. Electrical and electronic gremlins and wear and tear issues and particular problems with certain diesel engines would be a more accurate picture of the E60.

The E60 has its own strengths and weaknesses. In some ways, the E39 was a better built car. There are lots of buyers guides for the E60 available in both car magazines and online, especially in BMW discussion forums.

You are correct that certain used BMWs can be a nightmare because one or more previous owners were not able to afford the running costs and cut corners with servicing and repair costs. With BMW and other premium and luxury brands, never forget the price of the car when new because that will you a good idea of the overall running costs, especially if you have to replace any parts.

Don't get me wrong - I've owned six BMWs from across the model range and from across the last 20 years and my current car is an E60 535d, so I'm keen on the brand but I'm also realistic.

If you're very keen to own an E60 and nothing else will do, narrow down your search, focus on general condition, service history, and spec and perhaps test drive two or three cars. Your annual mileage does sound like diesel mileage but if you want to go for petrol, make sure that you go for a 6 cylinder engine.

However, if you have any nerves about buying a bad used BMW or you are not sure that you could afford to run one, suggest that you buy a Lexus or a Jaguar or something bog standard.

Hachiko

I got a is250 lexus, its far more reliable than the BMW, import a F-Sport model or the like from the UK with the ML Multimedia and you wont go wrong. It is pretty economical too, easily gets high into the 400mile+ category on long runs. The engine is very quiet, i had to put a typhoon CAI onto mine to make me realise i had actually a v6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SURV5rV3GLA

howyegettinon1

Not mad about the Lexus, I sat in an m-sport yesterday (didn’t have time to drive it, will have to come back on a weekend) and very impressed. I am tall and would usually have the seat jammed as far back as possible. Had to pull this forward slightly to sit comfortably and great amount of space above my head left too, I am not commuting at the moment so comfort is at the top of the list with the next car when I start.


I calculated the cost on running a petrol vs. diesel, correct me if I got the MPG wrong ( will be commuting part back roads, part city, part motorway with traffic )
With the TAX in mind would be a saving of about 1500 a year, so thanks for pointing that out Idbatterim, but as I don’t pay for petrol for the time being I think I will stick to the petrol until this changes

520d average MPG 40 30k @ 143cent = 3029
523i average mpg 30 30k @ 150cent = 4237

Also buying from dealer or going private? What are your thoughts? Is the lack of service history something to walk away from?

This looks right, the dealer is only offering 3 months gear and engine warranty, from buying cars previously this is the standard, or should there be a longer warranty? He said I could have the MAPFRE warranty if I wanted but from a few searches they are not worth the money apparently and do everything to get out of repairing the car, and no doubt this is not included in the car price.

cant get around posting a link!! google this "BMW 5 Series 523I M SPORT Automatic wilcox motors" its the first result on google and about 4-5 cars down on carzone

I will have a mechanic check the car if I buy it. Anyone have previous dealing with this garage?

howyegettinon1

carzone ie/search/BMW/5-Series/523I-M-S/93914133759890370/advert?channel=CARS - got around it

wersal gummage

I have one. Would agree with what has been said about trying to get a 525i but this wasn't possible for me. I watched the websites for six months when I bought and nothing turned up. So I went for the 523i m sport.

Have it nearly two years now. No major issues.

Plenty of warning bongs come up on I drive. I bought from a dealer and he reset the warnings before selling it (only one in particular is an issue - restraint systems failure). When googling, that seems to be a very common issue. It's often the passenger occupancy sensor that's broken but that's not the case on my car.

Anyway, not sure if there's anything you can do about that, but I'd recommend having the car plugged in before buying and looking at any error codes and check, if possible, whether anything obvious has been disabled to get around an error code. Would removal of fuses get around some issues?? You can check under both front seats, at the back, to make sure the relevant cables are still plugged in (restraint systems issues) . I wouldn't bother with th cheap obd jobs, I have one and it doesn't show up certain issues.

I find that my car also uses a fair bit of oil. It had no dip stick so that's a nuisance.

On mpg, I get 40 on a long drive when driving at or under the limits (manual). Get about 24 driving around Dublin. I think 28/30 mpg is probably a reasonable enough overall expectation for you.

MuppetCheck

I'd imagine the 520d should be returning much more than 40mpg if it is healthy.

fmcg_scribe

Hachiko wrote: »

I got a is250 lexus, its far more reliable than the BMW, import a F-Sport model or the like from the UK with the ML Multimedia and you wont go wrong. It is pretty economical too, easily gets high into the 400mile+ category on long runs. The engine is very quiet, i had to put a typhoon CAI onto mine to make me realise i had actually a v6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SURV5rV3GLA

I ran a Lexus IS 300 for two years. Was a reliable car and reasonably entertaining to drive.

However, performance and mpg were not strengths. IS 250 has similar bhp and mpg to IS/GS 300 engine, so it would not benchmark well against a 6 cylinder BMW petrol engine.

That said, the IS 250 engine and gear box would be bulletproof.

Therefore, there are trade offs between the two brands.

Lexus made a big mistake by retaining the IS 250 engine when it launched the third generation IS last year. German rivals, notably BMW, usually refresh engines every two to three years.

Lexus made a second mistake by not bringing the second and third generation IS 350 to Europe. I think that Lexus was concerned that the engine would not meet EU standards (Lexus has tended to put different engines in cars intended for different markets but bhp is usually the same). Not having something to compete against the likes of the BMW 335i and Audi S4 has left a big gap between the standard IS and the IS-F.

Idbatterim

that wilcox 523 is just down the road from me, looks like it has a small dent, facelift gear stick and I'm not the biggest fan of the half leather, but its not bad. Gary Doyle in chelmsford motors is just down the road in ranelagh, he has ramp and diagnostic etc, geographically he would probably be your best best for a check over...

the chance of getting a decent 525 m sport for your budget is remote and god knows how long you could be waiting...

stephenmarr

Hi i have a 530i 2005 M-Sport with the N52 engine
Its Silver with silver leather

I bought mine from a guy who had if for 7 years

No major issues apart from a oil leak around the Oil filter housing
pretty common leak and easy fix.

I get around 35mpg combined

Its pretty comfortable plenty quick with around 260bhp.

Tax is high.

I may be willing to sell if the offer was right.

Summer wind

I get 54 mpg from my 520d.

rocky

Idbatterim wrote: »

that wilcox 523 is just down the road from me, looks like it has a small dent, facelift gear stick and I'm not the biggest fan of the half leather, but its not bad. Gary Doyle in chelmsford motors is just down the road in ranelagh, he has ramp and diagnostic etc, geographically he would probably be your best best for a check over...

the chance of getting a decent 525 m sport for your budget is remote and god knows how long you could be waiting...

What's up with that gear stick? doesn't fit on that car, I wonder if the lights work on it...

Foxhole Norman

rocky wrote: »

What's up with that gear stick? doesn't fit on that car, I wonder if the lights work on it...

Looks like he took off the old gear knob from the auto that's been there since the e39 and replaced it with the LCI auto gear knob.

rocky

I know, looks dodgy imo.

Foxhole Norman

rocky wrote: »

I know, looks dodgy imo.

It does look very odd, better off sticking with the old one there.

Idbatterim

yeah as foxhole norman says, original one was replaced, looks crap IMO...

howyegettinon1

Thanks for spotting that, really does look out of place. Yeah I was thinking of getting it checked on the diagnostics before buying it, would it be worth it bringing it to BMW or would majority of garages have the right diagnostics to check all the faults?

Yeah the dealer knocking of the warnings I have heard of that a few times, even juist disconecting the bulb for the warning light on older cars, it's more dodgy buying from dealer sometimes as they would have alot more tricks up their sleve than an average Joe to hide faults.

daRobot

If you're primarily after comfort, I'd step up a level and go for the e66 730d, as it's well within your budget, and a very nice place to be.

Idbatterim

Thanks for spotting that, really does look out of place. Yeah I was thinking of getting it checked on the diagnostics before buying it, would it be worth it bringing it to BMW or would majority of garages have the right diagnostics to check all the faults?

Yeah the dealer knocking of the warnings I have heard of that a few times, even juist disconecting the bulb for the warning light on older cars, it's more dodgy buying from dealer sometimes as they would have alot more tricks up their sleve than an average Joe to hide faults.

you would want the mechanic to have a ramp also. Murphy and Gunn BMW are also just down the road from where that car is located. Maybe give them a call and see if they offer that service and what price they charge... BMW specialists will all have the diagnostic tools...

fmcg_scribe

daRobot wrote: »

If you're primarily after comfort, I'd step up a level and go for the e66 730d, as it's well within your budget, and a very nice place to be.

The E6x 7 series is not great for reliability and its exterior styling is challenging for most people.

I had an E38 and would be interested in owning the current 7 series but the E6x car is probably not going to hold its value and it won't be easy to sell on.

An E60 would be a better bet.

tom_tarbucket

Hi,

I bought a 2006 BMW 523i, Automatic transmission, SE spec, N52 engine. bought about 7 months ago.
63,000 miles on the clock and 7 services done before I bouught it.

Just a note. its very hard to get a decent 525i, you could be months waiting for a decent one. I looked high and low but couldn't find a decent one.

ill give you my real world experince.

tax is a fecker at 1080 Euro, but I picked up the car for a good price. Yes I know, will be harder to sell on again......

My car is automatic, if im in around Dublin city centre in constant start / stop traffic with lots of lights, I will get 250 miles or so out of the tank. which is only 16 mpg which is not great, but then again its a big beast of a yoke and auatomatic and lets be honest, not many cars are great in this type of scenario.

If im on the motorway constantly doing a steady 70mph, I can get 530 miles out of a tank. which is about 35 mpg.

It's a 70 litre tank.

I do a mixture of motorway and city driving and get combined about 28 mpg.

also, I have a light foot, so if you have a heavy foot, will be worse.

as regards poke, its a heavy machine, so not that quick to be honest. you need to rev it hard to get going, like any petrol I suppose. but it is a quiet car and a nice hum off the engine

Iva taken up cycling now and tend to cycle to work more now so it gets more tim eon the motorways.

Another thing, they use a bit of feckin oil, ive had to top up with 1 litre of oil after 1900 miles and then again after another 1400 miles, never had this before on any other cars.

But other than that, no real isssues yet after 7 months.

I did get a lad to check it before hand that knew his stuff so that kinda put me mind at ease.

howyegettinon1

thanks to everyone for the advice, I have ended up buying the car, although I have checked out everything that I could and stated above I ran into issues the next day.

Ended up buying 2006 523i M Sport with 98K miles on the clock form premiercars.ie , it came with full service history which I rang around and checked out with previous garages.
Before buying I had an indy mechanic come out to check it out and run the diagostics on it. It has some small common issues that these car have, the rocker slightly seaping oil, some water buildup in battery compartment and was slightly pulling to the left. Appart from that ran smooth and no errors on the diag. Also the water pump had been done about 6-8 months ago which is a great thng as these all go eventually and cost in and around 600 quid for part and labour.

So the issue I am having now is that the engine light has came on 2-3 time after accelerating hard, and the engine seemed to misfire/chug/stutter but the engine light would knock off after 40-50 seconds and it would drive perfectly again. Now the light has knocked on permanatly and wont go off, also what i noticed was it burned nearly half the engines oil in 1.5 days/(150-180miles). I am bringing the car into my mechanic to get checked out first before i bring it back to the dealer, but any advice on what the issue might be?

Any idea what could be the issue? Was it a mistake going with 98k milieage? How long do these engines last?

Hachiko

So the issue I am having now is that the engine light has came on 2-3 time after accelerating hard, and the engine seemed to misfire/chug/stutter but the engine light would knock off after 40-50 seconds and it would drive perfectly again. Now the light has knocked on permanatly and wont go off, also what i noticed was it burned nearly half the engines oil in 1.5 days/(150-180miles). I am bringing the car into my mechanic to get checked out first before i bring it back to the dealer, but any advice on what the issue might be?

thats not good, one of the reasons i got a lexus rather than a 6 pot BMW.

Sobanek

If the engine light has been on, now is the time to plug in diagnostics again.

But use proper stuff like INPA / DIS, not an elm327.

visual

Hachiko wrote: »

thats not good, one of the reasons i got a lexus rather than a 6 pot BMW.

Toyota. Lexus. Ah sure they never go faulty


OP. Faulty ignition coil could give the waring light but the oil loss is a bit of worry might be oil breather ut also could be worn piston ring or valve seal. You need the oil issue checked out.

howyegettinon1

So got it diagnosed and checked out, the problem was with the Thermostat and a coil causing a misfire. happy days, nothing major and fixed under warranty

Sobanek

Great to hear how you got on :pac:

Comhrá

but the oil loss is a bit of worry

Glad to hear you got sorted reasonably easily, but did you solve the mystery of the vanishing oil?

howyegettinon1

tippman1 wrote: »

Glad to hear you got sorted reasonably easily, but did you solve the mystery of the vanishing oil?

I think the oil was my mistake. I remember finding the oil level in idrive and at a quick glace it looked all green and MAYBE full. Once engine light came on i seen it at half level so thought it was definatly full before.

Anyways ive been keeping an eye on the level and it hasnt dropped from half level, so moslikely thats all the oil that was in it all along.

Ill stick a picture up once i get a good one, its a great car to drive.

howyegettinon1

finally got some pictures