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chris525i

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Hey everyone.

Chris here, been a member for quite some time now, however haven't really been active. 

Have recently purchased a 2005 530i.

 

Interested to find out what can really be done using I drive. And how to get Bluetooth and/or a bigger screen.

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Looks good, just joined and bought an 04 E60 too. i drive just looks like a fancy way of doing stuff all other cars do in some way or another. Although with the DVD I think it has Sat Nav. Is getting Sat Nav DVD off trademe all that's required to get up and running on I drive.

Keen to try and get Aux and or Blue tooth too, will be keeping an eye on here to see how you go.

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Hey fellow E60 owners and congrats on your purchases :)

Chris - like the aftermarket alloys and understated body kit.

  • I-Drive - if your car is a jap import and you want NZ Nav then typically you will need a conversion job done (with hardware changes) by someone like EuroSurgeon - it's not just a case of getting the local DVD. I got my radio localised by recoding (cheap) and had the Nav done and all up it cost $750 from memory. The Nav is Ok but won't be as up to date as your phone. Not long after I had mine done the whole computer died - it looks like the cooling unit on the back of it had not be refitted - either by EuroSurgeon or by the muppet (previous owner/car yard presumably) who tried to fit a band expander. Luckily I had AutoSure Extreme cover and the failure was covered - otherwise it would have been best part of $2K for replacement and fitting/recoding. So - just be careful and if you don't need the Nav then maybe don't worry about it. After getting the unit replaced by Autosure via Jeff Gray BMW I only had the radio re-code done and left the Nav as I didn't want anything more to go wrong. A replacement I-Drive will match the car original spec - Japanese!!!
  • OEM Bluetooth kits work well but are ~$1K so I've never bothered with that - have a Bluetooth visor unit that I can switch between my 2 BMWs :) Much cheaper and works fine.
  • If you don't have a service history showing coolant and oil seal stuff being sorted then be prepared for a bunch of stuff possibly. Don't know how different this is for a 530i. Usually no expensive parts involved but can be a lot of labour changing oil seals in difficult places. The cars might be solid but the plastic and rubber in them just doesn't last more than 10 years.
  • Highly recommend having a Mechanical Breakdown Insurance policy on your vehicles -  I have them on both and they have easily paid for themselves within the first year of ownership- which is good (and bad). You can buy policies for vehicles you already own from MTA Mount Victoria - Jono.White@mtf.co.nz or 027 22 44 295.
  • I do wish the V8 had a better exhaust note but sorting that properly with a performance exhaust would be an investment I don't want to make after what I've spent on the car. Sam - glad I've warned you off the muffler delete - I'm sure it could be done with better results using a dual pipe approach rather than the dumb basic single pipe PitStop did for me but overall it was just *horrible*.

Overall I love my E60 - the lines, the cabin quality, stereo quality, space and the performance when you give it some welly. After driving @treone's M5 (wow!) I seriously intend to get an M5 but need to own my 545i for a while longer to make sense of what I've spent in getting it sorted.

Anyway - enjoy your E60s!

Pete

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