E61 535D Maintenance recommendations

[mr sagman]

I have recently Purchased an 09 LCI 535D Sport Touring, Its been well maintained with loads of stamps in the book, however a lot of the recent work has been carried out by a small MOT type garage, It certainly hasn't been skimped with oil and filter changes / pads / discs etc, However I cant find any gearbox / diff / gearbox oil changes whatsoever, The car is fairly high on the miles at 167k, but she drives wonderfully and pulls like a train.

As a preventative measure what would be the recommendations in terms of priority ? It has had the tailgate wiring loom replaced, Are the swirl flaps an issue with the later LCI models ? Also I've noticed a bit of steering wheel wobble under hard braking (warped disc possibly) ?

Many many thanks in advance for any advice guys.

[d_a_n1979]

mr sagman said:

I have recently Purchased an 09 LCI 535D Sport Touring, Its been well maintained with loads of stamps in the book, however a lot of the recent work has been carried out by a small MOT type garage, It certainly hasn't been skimped with oil and filter changes / pads / discs etc, However I cant find any gearbox / diff / gearbox oil changes whatsoever, The car is fairly high on the miles at 167k, but she drives wonderfully and pulls like a train.

As a preventative measure what would be the recommendations in terms of priority ? It has had the tailgate wiring loom replaced, Are the swirl flaps an issue with the later LCI models ? Also I've noticed a bit of steering wheel wobble under hard braking (warped disc possibly) ?

Many many thanks in advance for any advice guys.

You'll want to find your local ZF specialist and get them to service the box (assuming its the auto, not sure they did these in manual). The boxes are 'sealed for life' via BMW, which to them is 100k...

To ZF (who make the boxes) its 60-80k! So a full ZF service with fluids, filters and possibly the seals; will do it a world of good. Budget c£400

As for wobbles; road going car brakes discs don't warp unless they're crap from factory. It can be as simple as brake pad deposits (brakes being held on when hot rather than using the handbrake/putting it into P etc); mating surfaces between discs/wheels/hub need cleaning or there are suspension issues (bushes/balljoints failing) and the play is being exaggerated when braking/driving etc. So the suspension all needs a really good looking over & the failing/failed parts replaced, both sides...

I had this in a recent F01 730D; the main thrust arm balljoints had failed and were causing a wobble when driving fast and when braking, but could only be seen when I'd removed them, as they'd passed the MOT a few weeks before with no issues!

[657]

I have an 07 E60 (saloon version) at a tad under 300k. All I will add to above is check your running temp after the car has warmed up. The thermostats fail on these which in turn means unless under an awful lot of load the engine will not get up to the correct running temp, which in turn means the DPF will not cycle. There are 3 thermostats but I have as yet not changed the gearbox one just the other 2. I’ve done it twice now at least. The only other thing being a nuisance was a couple of glow plugs and the controller.

Oh and nearly forgot …. my inlet manifold was leaking quite a bit of oil earlier this year. On inspection the swirl flaps looked a bit sorry for themselves. They got deleted … only other course was a new manifold.

[657]

Oh and check your rear hard brake lines just where they join the flexible ones

[helix402]

Swirl flaps leak with age on these. I tried a delete but found the dpf blocked without them. I replaced the manifold.

[bigdom]

mr sagman said:

I have recently Purchased an 09 LCI 535D Sport Touring, Its been well maintained with loads of stamps in the book, however a lot of the recent work has been carried out by a small MOT type garage, It certainly hasn't been skimped with oil and filter changes / pads / discs etc, However I cant find any gearbox / diff / gearbox oil changes whatsoever, The car is fairly high on the miles at 167k, but she drives wonderfully and pulls like a train.

As a preventative measure what would be the recommendations in terms of priority ? It has had the tailgate wiring loom replaced, Are the swirl flaps an issue with the later LCI models ? Also I've noticed a bit of steering wheel wobble under hard braking (warped disc possibly) ?

Many many thanks in advance for any advice guys.

I wouldn't worry with preventative maintenance, just do the jobs if they come up. I'd assume most of them would have been completed already at that mileage.

My rear diff started weeping probably 5 years ago, it's been topped up, now self healed! The sump can leak/warp, I had mine done around 80k, now on 144k, but only sees about 5k a year now it's down the pecking order.

As mentioned, it might just be too much soft braking as they appear to have been recently changed, or crap discs? As the box naturally assists, I go for last of the late brakers policy. It can also get shimmy if beyond the wear limit. It shares the brakes with the 550i.

Top and bottom arms on the front can cause the wobble, also top links on rear - the bags exert so much pressure, they can appear fine, and it then chews the inside of the tyres, similar to the fronts.

Inlet manifold can crack being plastic, vacuum hoses go brittle and pressure converter (sounds like a frog inside the car when on it's way out), but i'd assume they would have been done at that mileage. You'll know if there's a problem, as massive hole in power delivery. IBS battery lead can throw battery discharge warnings (only change with genuine BMW), pattern parts are prone to issues.

In general, it's pretty solid.

[mr sagman]

Thanks a million guys, really appreciate the advice from everyone.. Its certainly put my mind at rest and answered a load of questions.., I'm on my holidays from tomorrow but will go through all these recommendations upon my return.. Hopefully I've nothing to be concerned about... May even consider a cheeky remap upon my return