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Thanks for the reply. I finally found a link that takes you through the step-by-step process of moving the electrics out of the wheel-well. The clip is about 13mins long, but the last half is all about other issues the E61 which he bought has, so the relevant part is only about 6.30mins long and well worth a look. Cheers, Paul

Cheers for this, most helpful. I will see if I can get a pressure test, and hopefully repair, done this week as we're meant to be taking it to New Plymouth this coming weekend. Thanks to all for the replies.

Hello all, Well, one week into owning my 2006 E61 525i, I noticed a small puddle on the ground underneath the driver's side front. Furthermore, the coolant light came on and when I checked the level, it was below minimum. ? I bought a 1.5l bottle of the appropriate coolant from Winger BMW here in Wellington, diluted it into required the 50:50 mix and went through the 3l over the next two weeks. Upon getting the car over a pit and removing the splash panel, I could immediately see that the coolant pump was messy. There did not appear to be any leaks coming down from above, all the messiness was around the pump itself. Providing the coolant level is kept topped up, there are no bells and whistles going off, and the stain underneath the car seems to be larger on some days, and smaller on others, with no correlation to the amount or type of driving I have done. In addition, I noticed on the other side a dirty area underneath the oil filter housing, which is not visible from above, but has caused a very small amount of splash when viewing the engine bay. The fourth photo shows that area and it doesn't appear to have contaminated the belt. I would appreciate knowing how serious these points are as I am a newbie to the E60/E61 series and if I need to stop driving right now, then I will do so. My understanding is that if the coolant pump needs replacing, the thermostat should be done at the same time, and that unfortunately it is not cheap. ? I love the car, but it is disappointing that it's soiled itself after such a short time. It has done 110,000kms. Any help will be most welcome. Regards, Paul

Good morning all, Having just purchased an 2006 E61, and been supplied with a full-sized spare wheel as well, I would like to know if it is possible to move the foam tray containing some electrics out of the wheel-well. Aside from a seemingly poor design choice of putting electrical components in a place that can potentially fill with water, I would like to put the full-sized spare into a place that funnily enough is designed to contain a wheel rather than having it clutter up the boot space. I've read that it is possible, but I've not found anywhere that actually tells you how to do it for an E61. If it is possible, to where should I move them, how difficult is it to do so, and will I need to reset anything in order to avoid having a bunch of bells and whistles go off? Any help will be much appreciated. Kind regards, Paul

Sounds good, I'm looking forward to catching up as well. When is the first New Year event?

? Cheers, looking forward to getting involved in the New Year!

Thanks for the website. As soon as I went on it I remembered it from when I had my E34. The only other model besides the E60/61 that has the same space saver is the X3. Go figure! Cheers. P.

Thanks; the car isn't bad either!! ?

Hello everyone, I may have joined ages ago when I was looking for an E34 Touring, in order to replace the one I sadly had to leave behind in the UK, but now I have finally come back to owning a BMW after digressing into Audi territory (Sorry about that, but good E34 Tourings are rather hard to come by here). On Friday I picked up a 2006 525i E61. I had studied the available options on Trademe, learned as much as I could about E60/61s, test drove a number of cars and eventually settled on the car I brought back from Auckland yesterday. The ex-Japan car has 109,000kms, (of which I have already put on just over 750kms), was imported in 2017 with one previous owner here in NZ, metallic blue (which makes the wife happy ?), has a black, full-leather interior and my preferred choice of walnut veneer finish and five-spoke alloys, as well as non-runflats. The previous owner also purchased a full-sized, five-spoke spare wheel, but strangely no jack or wheel-brace. (Since rectified by a visit to Euro1). It doesn't have a moon-roof, which I am ambivalent about as my E34 had one and, apart from it leaking a couple of times in torrential downpours over six year's of ownership, it never gave me any trouble. It was, however, wonderful on the English summer evenings (when there weren't torrential downpours that is). Although it is ex-Japan, the radio has been fully converted to NZ stations, and not just by fitting a band expander, as well as having full NZ/Aust navigation. It also still has the original Japanese owner's books and manuals, and although I can't read any of them, there is enough info to show it was serviced from new at a BMW dealership. Overall it is an excellent condition and I'm looking forward to trying to keep it that way. Attached are a few images from my trip back home yesterday. Looking forward to being part of this community and thanks to those who answered my earlier query about spare-wheel kits.

Wow! Thanks for the swift and comprehensive responses! It it really appreciated. ? FYI, I picked up a 2006 525i on Friday 20th and drove it back from Auckland yesterday. Excellent drive and now I must get to know the foibles of owning an E61. It did come with a full-sized, matching five-spoke, 17in alloy which the previous owner had bought, but had strangely neglected to get a wheel brace and jack at the same time. As such my first 'official' stop was Euro1 in Auckland to rectify that oversight. Attached is a photo of my car by the Makohine Viaduct just south of Mangaweka. A long day, but GOOD!!!

Good morning all, I am likely to be buying an E61 525i today, my first Bimmer since I left the UK in 2011. It is a Japanese import and I would like to get a spare wheel kit for it. Do other model's spare wheel kits work on an E61? I've searched the Net and am still a bit unsure. Any help will be much appreciated.