[jkspoff]

Hi all, I am new to here so be gentle ! Here is my E61, its a great car and only owned it a few weeks.

I have a couple of problems that need sorting out though:

1. Diesel leak, not sure where from, anyone any ideas ?
2. Steering groans when manoevering ?
3. Quite low mpg when urban ?

Love the car and hope to put a heap of miles on it over the coming years, great forum.

[xyzbird]

Nice car. If I was you I would certainly take it for a safety check at a BMW dealer. I assume it's secondhand and wouldn't expect those sort of problems if it had come from a decent supplier.

I had my 545i E61 Sport 2nd hand from a non BMW dealer and whilst it looked good there were a number of problems which weren't obvious at first. I know it had one previous owner from a shoe manufacturer but it's what happened to it after it was sold on which I wonder. I have subsequently found that someone had a habit of grinding the near side alloys along the kirb and had grounded the lower lip of the front bumper and torn it a little underneath.

Had it a year now and it's been nursed back to full health hopefully. It's been a year where the rear hatch window spurious opening, suspension air pump failure, nearside tie rod bearing failure, nearside wheel bearing failure, have all been sorted. Plus new front bumper, under engine cover, new front side undercovers and replacement cracked offside front wing. Oh yes, and a new battery - was getting high discharge warnings. I repainted the alloy defects which don't look too bad from a distance - I may consider getting some replacements when it comes to tyre changing time.

Somewhat big lesson. Now I know why it was so cheap. I have more or less spent the difference between this one and one 2nd hand from BMW of similar specification. It might have been..... Anyway my BMW dealer (Sytner) surprisingly has been very good and not as expensive as everyone assumes. They offered me an aircon regas for around £57 - the price a BMW specialist charged. Sytners appears to be keen to get you in and as far as I am concerned they have got me for non generic work. They are good on loan cars too.

[trevorken]

When I bought mine, it was also leaking diesel.
In my case it was a faulty sealing on top of the fuel tank.
It is situated under the rear seats.

[narvselius]

- good to see a car with built in "entertainment system"!

[chim]

Welcome to the forum Enjoy your car. I will suggest you to take it to the dealer for a good check.
Chim

[jkspoff]

Had it into the garage and it just needs a new breather pipe fitting to it, apparently they are a common fault on the 5 series. £290 but it may be covered by my third party warranty hopefully.
Filled up max at the petrol station this morning and it just poured out of the bottom, must've been about £10 worth all over the floor, didn't realise it until walked back to the car.
Now I need to run the car and empty the tank to get my monies worth, or they say the'll have to scrap the fuel as it'll become contaminated once removed, so its off for a long drive this weekend !

Love the car, it goes like a storm, the poor mpg was down to the fuel leak and just needing a new air filter as the old once was totally clogged up with gunk.
The steering noise is just a lack of lubrication inside the steering column, so will live with it for now until I can be bothered to grease it.

All in all a good buy I think, its got good spec and not many others around with panoramic roof etc as far as I can tell.

Great forum, and good to see so many people from all over the world sharing their experiences and pride of joys !

[xyzbird]

Sorry about your fuel loss.

There are some though who might wish they did not have the panoramic sunroof from which there are other problems (sometimes severe from water leaks). With aircon it's not much use.

[jkspoff]

xyzbird, on 11 March 2010 - 07:24 PM, said:

Sorry about your fuel loss.

There are some though who might wish they did not have the panoramic sunroof from which there are other problems (sometimes severe from water leaks). With aircon it's not much use.

The panoramic roof is nice for the extra light in the interior, not had any leaks yet, even with jet wash on it, however it does tend to knock a bit when over bumpy roads, a bit of something in the rails might help.

[Janzet]

jkspoff, on 13 March 2010 - 04:36 AM, said:

The panoramic roof is nice for the extra light in the interior, not had any leaks yet, even with jet wash on it, however it does tend to knock a bit when over bumpy roads, a bit of something in the rails might help.

Hi
I'm also new, second post ;-)
I keep my panoramic roof closed; I consider it also just as an extra light.
To afraid to have leaks...:-))

Jan