Why the e60 sucks as a bmw

[spyderg0d]

Well. I thoaght I was getting a deal on a e60 with 149k. A simple clutch job (even though it racked near $1000) seemed as a mere formality.
I approached the job, found some obvious engineering failures in the car, ignored them in hopes, and ended up exactly where I knew I was going to.
Let's start on why this cat sux with the most obvious and work our way down. (Comparitively to past bmw that are relatively bulletproof and finely engineered driving machines).
1. Driveline
The e60 gearing is so much garbage that even with a brand new clutch it's possible to accurately rev match expecting the Duel mass flywheel to work smoothly. The flywheel is sprung so loosely that it's trash without complete 1.5k-2.5k shifts with near perfect throttle. .. skipping gears for city driving is undoubtedly going to lead to harsh gear changes. And the absolute need to bang every gear on the way leads to an extreme horrible city driving that demands 2000002629r6 shifts to be smooth and low easy rev.
3. Maintenence
I have to unlock a secret menu on the cluster to read the coolant temp. Are you kidding me!?!?.. wtf monkey circus show is this? That's not refined. That's just stupid idiot that owns a tow truck making money off of you eventually when this hunk inevitably loses a quick connect o ring seal and develops an air bubble.
4. Also maintenance costs
It cost me $1224 to put a clutch in this pos.
The flywheel is designed to ve junk out of the box vs the old style that has quality main bearing section and a real pilot bearing vs the new shite needle bearing. Aluminum stretch bolts in the steel flywheel, why? Stupidity for an engineer, maybe. I get having to use aluminum bolts for an aluminum angina. But.. you didn't have to say they needed to be changed every use, when actually they don't even stretch when torqued fully in the first place.
I can probably find more issues il just get mad and scream about on why this platform is garbage. And I prolly eventually will. Until then. I encourage you all to sell your e60 junk, find something less garbage inspired by Hyundai, and be happier.

[JPR10]

Lots of happy e60 owners. Not sure what kind of response you’re expecting on an e60 forum.

[GimmieSumMo72]

I bought mine for $6500 because it ran like a dream. Had to spend $7k to install a tranny to pass inspection.


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[spyderg0d]

Not looking for responses. Unfortunatly the reality is exactly what it is. Will I probably drive this car, yes. Will I be mad about the probs while I drive it, also yes.
Will I be selling this for a different bmw model that I drive extensively before I make the call, yes.

What gets my panties in the bubble isn't that the car sucks. It's that bmw could have had an awsome car IF they didn't screw these simple things up. Like why make a crappy flywheel when they already had better tried and true flywheel designs? Why not make a more accessible coolant guage than the disappearing tach lines?
I guess the gearing wouldn't be so bad with a better sprung flywheel.

[spyderg0d]

Alright. I'm over it. 😒 I've come to accept the e60.
The engine is so smooth and seamless in power up the range that I honestly can overlook the other stuff. However I'm going to have to do somthing about the "floaty" feeling. It's so weird how the car feels like it's floating, yet you still feel all the stuff n the road. Maybe it's the bilstiens on it. Ill have to lower it an inch too so it doesn't look so dopey. And a nice set of wheels.

[Jake Reed]

I have a E60 630i with an auto. Love it. Maybe upgrade yours to the sports suspension & 18" wheels. I bought mine to be just a daily back and forth to work. It is the perfect car for that. At least to me.

Jake

[ross1]

Well. I thoaght I was getting a deal on a e60 with 149k. A simple clutch job (even though it racked near $1000) seemed as a mere formality.
I approached the job, found some obvious engineering failures in the car, ignored them in hopes, and ended up exactly where I knew I was going to.
Let's start on why this cat sux with the most obvious and work our way down. (Comparitively to past bmw that are relatively bulletproof and finely engineered driving machines).
1. Driveline
The e60 gearing is so much garbage that even with a brand new clutch it's possible to accurately rev match expecting the Duel mass flywheel to work smoothly. The flywheel is sprung so loosely that it's trash without complete 1.5k-2.5k shifts with near perfect throttle. .. skipping gears for city driving is undoubtedly going to lead to harsh gear changes. And the absolute need to bang every gear on the way leads to an extreme horrible city driving that demands 2000002629r6 shifts to be smooth and low easy rev.
3. Maintenence
I have to unlock a secret menu on the cluster to read the coolant temp. Are you kidding me!?!?.. wtf monkey circus show is this? That's not refined. That's just stupid idiot that owns a tow truck making money off of you eventually when this hunk inevitably loses a quick connect o ring seal and develops an air bubble.
4. Also maintenance costs
It cost me $1224 to put a clutch in this pos.
The flywheel is designed to ve junk out of the box vs the old style that has quality main bearing section and a real pilot bearing vs the new shite needle bearing. Aluminum stretch bolts in the steel flywheel, why? Stupidity for an engineer, maybe. I get having to use aluminum bolts for an aluminum angina. But.. you didn't have to say they needed to be changed every use, when actually they don't even stretch when torqued fully in the first place.
I can probably find more issues il just get mad and scream about on why this platform is garbage. And I prolly eventually will. Until then. I encourage you all to sell your e60 junk, find something less garbage inspired by Hyundai, and be happier.

Yeah, but its beautiful

[pbonsalb]

A 535i or 535xi can be even more trouble, but a lot more fun. Stay on top of the maintenance and they are great cars. Had our E61 535xi for 10 years and liked it a lot.

[spyderg0d]

Yeah, but its beautiful

Anesthetics, the only thing I don't like is the clear on red taillights. Super cheap looking to me. And the dash is seemingly a desk.

[spyderg0d]

... after new tires. Up to a 225/55/17, adds some squish, and fills out the fender gap a bit. After driving through 4" of snow today for about 20 miles, and the 6" of plow Banks with ease, I've completely changed mind about the e60. Does it drive sporty and handle like a e36 or e46, still no. But is it a 6 speed awd bmw that runs seamlessly? Why yes, yes it is. Do I have utmost confidence that I won't ever get stuck in snow because of awd and the "shitty gearing"? Also yes, I do.

It needs more power, less body roll, and lowered an inch. That's about it.

[pbonsalb]

I ran 225/55/17 as snow wheels on my 08 E61 535xi for 10 years. Summers were stock 18s with stock size 245/40/18 — those wheels were really heavy. Ours did pretty good in NH snow but I did get hung up a couple of times trying to drive over plow truck snow banks at the end of the driveway. Not enough ground clearance.

[spyderg0d]

Yea. I like the current tire specs I have a set of 18" style 37 m pars that I might try on, but they currently have oddball tire sizes to fit the e36. *debating*

[psychrunner]

I just purchased a 2008 535i Sport/Manual with 71k miles. I owned a 2008 Sport/Auto a few years ago for about 8 years, and the transmission started throwing the fault codes at about 140k miles. I also own a 2009 535xi sedan with only 39k miles, and it is a great car, but I told myself after owning the 2008, that if I ever found an e60 Sport/manual I would buy. Probably paid too much, but where will I ever find an e60 Sport/manual (Sapphire Black on beige - prefer black leather though) with these miles again? I know many co-members of the BMW CCA can't stand the design, but quite frankly, the car is so perfectly balanced and a great driving machine that I hope to have this one for many miles.

[pbonsalb]

535xi is a great car if you can maintain it yourself. We bought a wagon in 2011 with 30k miles and gave it to a friend in 2021 with 150k miles but I am still maintaining it. Only mod was a JB4. I did put a few thousand in parts into it — brakes, ignition coils, some suspension parts, turbos, coolant pump, etc. and a bunch of my time.