BMW 5-Series Sedans

530ir1150r

I do not know how accurate the dealer measured. But all I do different is roll up off ramps, slowing gradually before braking.

cmybimmergo

"...300,000 miles on a set of pads is so far beyond my comprehension that I am kind of dumb struck."

I'm with you. I thought I did well getting 60,000 miles on the front brakes and 80,000 on the rear on my ES. I'm having a hard time believing that I even will duplicate my brake (non)wear, much less improve it that much; the 5er has so little engine drag that I find myself braking a whole lot more than I used to do...even uphill sometimes in order not to plow into the slowpoke in front of me. In spite of downshifting.

(I wonder whether they meant to say 85% gone instead of remaining...?)

div2

Find a good indie shop or DIY. The dealer will give you a line about how you are risking life, limb, and the future of the Free World if you put anything other than BMW OEM pads on.

hihomike

Yes, the owner of my dealership said he liked me better when I drove an Infiniti, and I responded, "...yeah, boss, you could have fooled me!" Actually, I drove the new M35 and M45, but because I have a very bad back, the seats were just uncomfortable for a long drive. When I test drove the 5 series BMW, it sold me. The ride, the handling and the comfort is what sold me. I wish I could have an M35 or M45 with the sport package, because that's the best of the available models, but the ride is just a little too stiff for me.

My new 06 530i is outstanding!

530ir1150r

I looked at my copy of the service record last night. At 37,893 miles, not 45,000, the front pads were 10.5 mm thick and the rear 10 mm thick. I do not know how thick they are new or how thin you should go before replacing. I plan to get new tires in June and will have the pads checked then.

Which brings up a question. I run tires with the recommended air pressure, 33 psi front and 41 psi rear; rotate and balance every 7500 miles and check air pressure once or twice between rotations. The original Michelin Pilot Primacys lasted 37,000 miles and still had tread life, but the Goodyear Eagle F-1s will be lucky to make 20,000 miles and are wearing on the edges. Do different tires require different pressures on an individual car?

shipo

Hmmm, alright, 10mm is about 2/5", and while I never measured the thickness of the friction material, it seems to me that it was ~3/4", meaning your pads were roughly half gone. That said, this can at best be called a SWAG (Sophisticated Wild [non-permissible content removed] Guess). ;-)

Regarding how thin, well that's a tough call. On both of my BMWs, I've found one pad (of a total of 8 per car) that wore unevenly, and in the case of my 328i, the bottom of the pad probably had an easy 2-3mm of material remaining while the top of the pad was completely gone, allowing the metal backing to score the rotor. The weird thing about this was that due to the thickness of the remaining pad, the brake sensor hadn't been tripped yet, I changed the brakes because of the grinding. So, how thin? Me personally, I think 5mm is my personal minimum, as for what BMW says, "Wait until the sensor illuminates", which is probably 1-2mm.

Regarding tires, I remember reading my E39 manual and being a little surprised at the recommendations, which are 29/33 (f/r) for normal loading and 33/41 (f/r) for fully loaded (five passengers and/or luggage). Personally, I didn't like the front tire wear at 29 (the shoulders seemed to go away too quickly), and I didn't like the skittishness of the car with 41 in the rear, so I ultimately settled upon 33/35 (f/r), which served me quite well. Regarding different tire pressures for different tires, yes, I've heard that as well, however, there should only be a pound or two max difference between how any given tire handles the best or gets its best longevity.

Regarding the difference in tire wear, in theory at least, the F-1s should last longer than the Primacys. Given the tire pressures that you are running, my bet is that you have a front end problem, either alignment and/or worn out components.

Best Regards,
Shipo

kyfdx

I think it could just be more of a variance between tires, not attributable to the pressure.. the Eagle F-1 is a much stiffer, performance oriented tire than the Primacys... More of a max-performance tire, geared to ultimate handling, perhaps at the expense of treadwear...

That is my best guess...

regards,
kyfdx

shipo

You could very well be correct. My comment about "in theory..." was based upon the somewhat dubious "Treadwear Indicator", which is 280 on the F-1s and 240 on the Primacys. That and the user rating (also a somewhat dubious measurement) on TireRack.com shows the F-1s have a MUCH higher user rating for longevity, which is 8 for the F-1s and only 5.4 for the Primacys. What is the real truth of the matter? I have no idea at this point. Having said that, I seriously doubt that the Primacys are capable of lasting twice as long as the F-1s, assuming an identical driving environment, hence my comment about an alignment.

Best Regards,
Shipo

kyfdx

Here is an amazing fact..

Treadwear ratings are only valid when comparing tires from the same manufacturer..

I always thought they were absolute ratings, but they aren't.. Connor from Tirerack went over this quite awhile ago.. Of course, that makes no rational sense, but it is indeed the case..

IOW, 320 vs. 220 might be valid if both tires are Michelins, but it means nothing if the tires are different brands..

regards,
kyfdx

EDIT.. also, the surveys are only accurate within the same tire type on tirerack.. So, a Grand Touring Summer tire survey numbers, don't correlate with a Max Performance Summer tire numbers.. IOW, more useless information.

shipo

Hehe, it wasn't by accident that I happened to use the word "dubious" when referring to the various rankings. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

turnbowm

Shipo,

Any reason why the recommended tire pressure in the rear is so much higher than the front?

The manual on my 2005 530i (non-SP), for example, indicates 29/35 (f/r) for 4 passengers (max.) and 36/44 for 5 passengers + luggage. On a car close to the ideal 50-50 front-rear weight distribution, the pressure difference (6-8 psi) doesn't make sense. Any explanation?

Martin

530ir1150r

Last summer I did hit a pot hole that bent the right front wheel. I got a new wheel when I changed tires and had all 4 wheels aligned. But there has never been any hint of vibration or running to the left or right. Also all 4 tires are wearing the same.

I think lowering the pressures I am using will increase the edge wearing. In any case I intend to order Michelins PS2s in June. Hopefully they will wear like the Primacys without the noise.

hpowders

Just curious-did you order the comfort seats?
Thanks.
hpowders

shipo

I think that the 29/35 setting is optimized for safe handling as it seems to me that with such low pressure in the front tires, your car would automatically understeer at the limit. Understeer is considered to be preferrable for average drivers because if you are pushing the limit and the car starts to slide, all you have to do is back off a little, and the front tires will bite. With more balanced front/rear pressures, your car will be more likely to either slide all four wheel at the same time, or even to have the back break away first and come around on you. Better handling up to the limit, however, potentially more dangerous for the average driver.

Best Regards,
Shipo

hihomike

No I didn't order the comfort seats, hpowders. The only options I got on the 530i was premium package, premium sound package and Sirius Radio, factory installed. I sat in an 05 530i with comfort seats, and didn't notice sufficient difference over the the standard seats. What I did notice in the 06 was that the surround system logic7 premium sound package was worth the extra bucks. On the long round trip drive to Orlando from Ft. Lauderdale Sunday, I was comfortable and relaxed with the standard seats.

jim53

Is there a way to adjust the sound on the Satellite Radio. I picked up my car last week and notice that the sound quality isn't as good as the regular radio. Some talk shows sound like the person is in a cave and the music doesnt quite sound right either (hard to explain but it sounds more digital and not enough bass). I adjusted the treble down and the bass up but it still doesnt sound right (and messes up the regular radio. Has anyone had this same problem and if so was there a solution?

bmwguywithford

um maybe the i fell off? DID IT HAVE SHINY STUBBY CHROME BUMBERS? MAYBE A EURO? When I paint my nice real true BMWs (up to 87-88-89 depending on what model) I usually don't put the add back on the back but if the trunk has holes I just put in the numbers, the i,is,e,es,csi,td is usually taped/stickered in.

nyccarguy

My Mom has an '05 E60 530iA. She's having trouble regulating the Air Conditioning (for a woman going on 57, AC comfort is a must whenever the temp is over 50 degrees). Now I don't live at home and I've only been in the car twice so I'm not familiar with the dash layout. I told her to turn the temperature knob to the desired setting, make sure the AUTO button is lit up green, and make sure to press the snowflake. She says "it blows too hard." I explained to her that the climate control will automatically lower itself when the desired cabin temperature is reached. She says it just keeps blowing. Is there a way to adjust the fan without using i-Drive?

turnbowm

Blower speed is set with the center dial (between the driver and passenger temp controls). If MAX mode is set (light ON in center of driver temp control), however, blower speed is at the maximum. To take it out of MAX mode, depress the center button of the driver temp control.

Don't care for the AUTO mode in the 530i or in my wife's '98 Lexus ES300, so they are always in the OFF position. I like being in control.

Martin

jlbl

nyccarguy,

Well, I assume i-Drive works similarly in 05 and 04 E60s here, there and everywhere.

Apart from that said by turnbdown, there is a way for regulating the intensity of the fan-blowing if you Mom likes to keep the AC system switched into AUTO mode. But she needs to preset i-Drive.

She should first press the AUTO button but no more buttons at the dash. Next, she should press down the main i-Drive button at the center console. Then the "settings & service screen" comes up. She should select there "vehicle adjustments", then "AC adjustments" and next the blowing intensity of the fans among "slow" "middle" and "high" steps (I guess she will be happy with the "slow" one, as I am). After that, only the heating/cooling intensity is left to be controlled by the dash buttons when the AC system is switched into AUTO mode.

Nonetheless, she might have more fan intensity anytime she needs only by rolling the AC center dash button. This simultaneously switches off the AUTO mode. By pressing again the AUTO button at the dash, everything falls back into which is preset.

Best regards,

José

cmybimmergo

Second tank of gas post-flash: 359.3 miles; 15.564 gallons; 23.085 mpg. I believe I did a bit more stop and go this time.

shipo

It definitely sounds like things are looking up. ;-)

Now, how about your twitchy suspension and excess tire wear? :sick:

Best Regards,
Shipo

cmybimmergo

Excellent question. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer...but I have been thinking about it. The tires were not new when I bought the car. What if the previous owner (lessee) ran on underinflated tires and a poor alignment? Wouldn't that produce the symptoms I am seeing--ie, uneven overly fast wear on the shoulders? If, sometime before I bought the car, someone aligned it and inflated and maybe rotated the tires, the only residual evidence would be the lousy tire wear. Since no one can find anything wrong with the suspension or alignment, do you have a better explanation?

shipo

Hmmm, I guess it all depends upon what the tire wear was like when you bought the car. Just because tires have been mistreated in the past doesn't mean that they will wear faster than normal once the problems have been corrected. So, if all of the tires looked good when you bought it, you shouldn't have seen any problem with tire wear. As a thought, when I had my car inspected by BMW-FS prior to the lease end, one of the things that they measured and documented was the tread depth for all four tires. I wonder if it's possible to obtain that information from BMW.

Best Regards,
Shipo

cmybimmergo

The dealer from whom I bought the car told me that there hasn't been excessive wear. But they were measuring the center of the tire, and that tread is deep enough. If I remember correctly, they said it lost 1/32 of an inch (does that sound right?). I can't get anyone to address the shoulder tread.

nyccarguy

I'll be going to Mom & Dad's house for dinner for the holidays this Saturday night. I'll try out what you suggested. Thank-you.

juniorbmw

Took my ‘05 530i into BMW of Manhattan for some minor service the other day, and while I was there I told the service technician that something was wrong with the radio (entertainment system) as it would not turn off.

The manual states that all one has to do is press the button and the entertainment system would turn off.

The technician stated that radio was not defective and that BMW was aware of the “bug” in the software.

The tech went on to state that BMW was aware of this bug and a fix would be out by Fall or end of the year; he went on to warn that the downloading of the new software into the car’s system would take approx. 2 days.

So for any of your other owners/lessees having this similar problem with your radio, be on the look out between the Fall and end of this year to query the dealership about the fix for the radio.

cmybimmergo

"Just because tires have been mistreated in the past doesn't mean that they will wear faster than normal once the problems have been corrected."

No, of course not, but if they start with uneven wear patterns and thereafter wear evenly, they will remain uneven.

(PS--nyccarguy: Happy Pesach. I hope your mom cooks as well my mom does [and bakes as well as I do].)

shipo

Okay, next question; do you have any idea of how many miles are on your current set of tires? On second thought, I don't suppose that's too relevant.

Okay, next question (Take II); do you have any idea of what brand and model of tire you are going to spring for next? I was nearly faced with that problem before my lease was up, and after doing some research, I ended up more unsure of 'which set next' than I was before I started.

Wait, wait! Okay, next question (Take III); what's the condition of your spare tire? When I turned my car in, the spare had never been out of the trunk, so if I had decided to opt for another set of OEM tires (Michelin Pilot Primacys), then all I would have had to do was buy three and take the best of the four used tires and swap it into the trunk.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. :confuse:

Best Regards,
Shipo

lovemyclk

I replaced my Dunlop SP Sport 2000's on my '03 530 SP with Pirelli P Zero Nero's at 21K. Kept the unused Dunlop spare. BTW, 4K miles so far on the Pirelli's and I'm very pleased.

cmybimmergo

Take I: I just turned over 50K this last tank of gas (I missed it, too [bummer]; so much for the original factory warranty), so I figure there ought to be some 20-30,000 miles (fewer?) on them, depending on the previous driver's habits. I sure hope I can manage better mileage with whatever I buy--I much prefer to spend my money on baseball than on my car. gasp! Who said that?

Take II: Great question; I've already started pondering this. I was planning to post a question about it, because the Pilots I have rate well at Tire Rack, but the Pirellis rate higher. BOTOH, I have always put Michelins on my cars, and if I remember correctly, my only experience with Pirellis was when I bought my Lexus. Those would be the tires that wore out so fast that Lexus paid for half the cost of a new set.

Take III: Another excellent question, which I cannot answer tonight because the house alarm is on and I don't feel like turning it off to go out to the garage. But if the spare turns out to be something good that's brand new or close to it, I suspect I'll just buy three of the same...unless someone gives me a compelling reason to do otherwise.

kyfdx

Michelin Pilot Sport PS2..

Everyone that gets them, seems to think they are the best thing going... 3-series or 5-series... Great all-around performance, with an acceptable ride...

I have regular Michelin Pilot Sports.. and while I like them, I'm not wild enough about them to recommend them to others (they came with the wheels I bought).

regards,
kyfdx

cmybimmergo

What's the difference between the PS2 and the Pilot Sport? Are they both all seasons?

kyfdx

Nope... you have sport package, don't you? They are both summer tires.. They do make a Pilot Sport A/S...

The PS2 is a new tire.. they only keep the old Pilots around, because a lot of BMW drivers wear out the rears first, and want to keep a matched set...

cmybimmergo

Yup, sport was a must for me (that and 5 spd). My Pilots are A/S. So...what to do...what to do...

kyfdx

Well... now we are getting somewhere... I'd dump those unevenly worn all-seasons ASAP.. You won't believe the way your car will handle with new summer tires...

Of course, you'll need a winter tire/wheel package next fall..

cmybimmergo

"But I don't want to be bothered with snow tires," she protested plaintively.

kyfdx

Ahhh... well.. there you go..

kyfdx

Umm... I'm just not that persuasive...

I know it is a pain... but, it is worth it...

cmybimmergo

sigh Guess I'll never know.

In the meantime, if anyone has any (other) bright ideas, I'm all ears (eyes?).

530ir1150r

What not to do is get Michelin Pilot Sport Primacys. That is probably what you have for a spare tire.

cmybimmergo

"What not to do is get Michelin Pilot Sport Primacys."

Because of treadwear and noise issues, or something(s) else?

"That is probably what you have for a spare tire."

Two points for you! (I was going to give you a cigar but that would be politically incorrect.) The spare looks like it hasn't ever left the trunk. Which brings up a new question: Tires get old and brittle from disuse. At what point would it be prudent to replace the spare with something newer?

manilla

Will be picking up my new 06 530i this week........first time BMW owner....any problems I should look for? Thanks

530ir1150r

Noise. Mine lasted 37,000 miles. You do not have to worry about the spare disintegrating for a long time. Buying three tires to match the spare is an idea that gets worse with time due to the age differences.

Mine has never left the trunk, also.

jlbl

cmybimmergo,

I am using the Pirelli P7 A/S (tread wear 260, traction AA, temperature A) that came with my 2004 5-Series. I am happy with them after 20,000 miles. Good grip & traction and few noise until now. I had to drive on snow only two times this past winter. One of them the snow was little and very humid and I could manage well on it. The other was after a storm and then I put one pair of those Scandinavian tyre covers made of fabric. Easy to install, 30 miles of driving and everything was perfect. However, as others do (my friends who live at the mountains included) I rather put snow tyres on my car if I had to drive more times/miles on snow.

Best regards,
José

hihomike

Just picked up my new 06 530i last Friday. No problems as of yet. Great acceleration over the 05 530i. Better fuel economy as well, after 650 miles driven. Better than my 05.

I wish you lots of luck in your new 5 series. Definitely one of the best cars I've ever owned, and that's only after a week of driving. Enjoy

shipo

"Better fuel economy as well..."

Interesting. A week or two ago I opined that BMW hadn't posted their new fuel economy numbers for the 2006 engines as they were an exact match for the 2005 numbers. I was then confronted with overwhelming evidence that suggests that the claimed 12% improvement in fuel efficiency was not realized in the new line of engines. Now you come along and suggest that after only a tank or two that you are getting better mileage after all. Any specifics? ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

ecloud

Does anyone know why Active Steering is not available on the xi models? I have it on my 04 530i and really like it, but was told it was not available when I ordered the xi.

juniorbmw

On the site below, the BMW 5 series is #10 on the ugliest cars of 2005.

Check out the site:

Ugliest Cars of 2005

kdshapiro

It's a good thing the people who are buying these gorgeous looking cars haven't come across that site.