Bmw 530d 2001
 

hi guys.

Due to extreme brodem of waiting for my impreza to be back on the road.. ive decided for my next car i fancy a 530d around a 2001ish model. Never been a big fan of beemers but i really do like the older 5 series. Im not looking to buy just yet but hopefully by end of the year.

If possible i would like to keep my wagon (if it ever gets finished that is)

Now i havent had a proper look at the bmw's as i tend to get over eager and rush in all guns balzing and... well... buy on impulse... Not this time.

So a few questions how much should i be looking to spend? and what are the cars like to own ie running costs, performance reliability etc etc

thanks in advance for any info:thumb:

seen a y reg one today,body and interior looks immaculate very clean looking car so i was shocked to find it had 165k on the clock, what are these like with high milage? Ive never had a bmw so its a different ball game to what im used to.

Il find out more tommorow history etc, but imagine it will be available cheap as chips as the car in question has been taken in part ex, where i work. As i could see it was an se with the m sport pack on, with 11 months mot and tax untill end of month, just curious of anyones thoughts on this? As my first post got a massive response ;)

Dont the old ones have a bit of turbbo trouble????

i heard they can let go at 100k?? Dont know how accurate it is but if that was the case i imagine the turbos wont be cheap

Not really, usually by 100K, the filter on the cam cover breather clogs up and presurises the crankcase. What this does is pressurise the oil return pipe from the turbo, which causes oil to be forced past the seal on the turbo, making it appear that the turbo has failed (lots of oil usage, lots of smoke etc.)

In most cases, replacing the filter and a degrease of the inlet pipework is all thats needed. But many garages mistakenly replace the turbo in the belief it has failed (and the new one soon goes the same way if they don't replace the filter). Sometimes it does finish off the turbo seals though.

Other issues is suspension bushings go sloppy and the shocks lose thier damping ability, making the thing drive and wallow like a barge. Wheel wobble at 50ish mph is a dead giveaway of very tired suspension. Now that is an expensive job if one wants the car to drive/handle like new again. Although you can just do the front tension arm bushings, which is not that expensive and often the main cause of the wheel wobble and any brake weave/vibration.

If its an automatic, I would advise on getting a specialist to change the oil on the transmission if it hasn't already been done. Its sealed for life, but "life" in ZF/BMW terms seems to mean around 10years/150K.

ok thanks for the advice, its a manual by the way, i had a little drive and gave it all a once over and first impressions were all good, however as i said ill get the full low down tommorow, price history(if any) and have a good pick at it, fingers crossed could be a bargain, its about 4th one we've had 2 were totally f***ed one was a nice example m sport but still had a nice price and the other was an older 530d but was snapped up before i had a chance to stick my oar in.

This man speaks total sense. Nearly all the bases covered there.

The only other things i might add are....

The a/c can be irratic due to a faulty heater resistor pack,

The early type headlights tended to condensate after a heavy downpour, usually fixed with a new gasket for the front lens cover,

plus the lights have adjuster arms internally which hold the headlight innards to the corrct heights.
These get brittle and can break over heavy bumps. The little plastic arms can be ordered through BMW to remedy that issue.

Oh and the hand brake can be poo, but clean and adjustment by a mechanic can sort that.

Thats all i can think of right now. :D

Ahh, I forgot about the headlamps; I repaired the adjusters on one headlamp with some trimmed down nails and lots of araldite :D

New adjusters aren't available for the angel eye type lights from BMW (well, I couldn't get them), and later replacement angel eye lights can't be baked open either.

They also get dust inside the optics which makes the beam very dull. Fine if you can bake open the headlamp in the oven to give the innards a clean and polish, not fine if its a later type that won't bake open (seems I had one of each).

And yes handbrake...that reminds I need to do ours one day. Somewhat annoying to do DIY if the handbrake shoes seize as the rear disks need to come off. I would strongly advise to always park it in gear which wheels turned into the curb if its a manual. ;)

Other niggles; Cam sensors, water pump (noisy), aircon condensor fins getting filled with crud causing the auxillary fan on high speed alot and poor a/c operation (despite a re-gas), rear doors raining in (membrane came adrift). All simple things to sort in the grand scheme of things though.

Chris - owned 5 bm's before moving into my current Hawkeye. Out of the 5 all of them were very good with the exception of the 525 petrol I had which gave me a good bit of grief. However, all the others especially the 3 litre diesel gave me no probs which so ever except when it came to the snow and my 70 mile daily drive was rather challenging to say the least with the rear wheel drive. Owned 328i, 330d, 525, 330i & M5. The diesel had a lot of miles on it and ran like clockwork epsecially when you go for larger engine which you are.