E60 545I Satnav upgrade

Hi guys. Just bought a 53 plate 545 with "Business" satnav, ie no map. Anyone out there know if I can upgrade this to the "professional" which has the map function? Also, I cannot for the life of me get the system to tell me how much engine oil I have, it just says 6000 miles till the oil change. Any ideas?
Thanks, Ken.

Hi Andrew, good to hear there's someone else as daft as me! I got the car from a company called Evolution in Leicester, and they were very fair. I'll get some photos when I find out how to post them. This is my first E60, my previous have been 540, 540 touring and two M5s, all E39. I hate the fact I don't know how much oil is in the engine...there must be a way to check. The last service bill says it has Mobil 1 synthetic. Great car, fantastic engine, and not all that slower than the M5. So far, so good!
Ken.

The only problem with Castrol is the horrific cost. The 10w60 I was using in the M5 was about 80quid per 5 ltr. I switched to Miller competition oil, at £49 for 5 litres and had no trouble. No-one knows them in the UK, but they are huge in the US. I have been recommended George Morrison for servicing...any comments? 

My 545 is very nice. It is not, however, an M5, nor ever will be. Do I sound bitter? Regretful? Hmmmmmm

Ken,

Let me know what you decide on the SatNav.  I acquired a 2004 545i SE yesterday which has 'business SatNav' and it is frankly rubbish - in fact a major downgrade from the map-based system in the E39 540i Sport I traded in.

The only option I'm aware of is a £1,200 upgrade to 'professional' - an absurd cost.  I have the impression that the 'business SatNav' spec has been improved to include maps at some point since 2004, because I also read that dealers were recently offering an upgrade on new models from no SatNav to Business SatNav + 6-CD changer for £350, and that this came with maps, if not the full widescreen professional edition.

Tomorrow I'm going to call the dealer who sold it to me to see whether they would offer me a similar deal (except I already have the 6-CD changer).  I'd pay £200-£300, but not £1,200.  I really don't want the security hassle of a portable (Tom Tom or equivalent) but I simply can't live with the pathetic no-maps version so it is a dilemma.

Otherwise I'm pretty pleased with the 545, the only other gripes being excessive wind noise at motorway speeds, which seems to come from the sun-roof area, and the Logic 7 hifi upgrade, though that may just need some tweaking.

Stuart.

 

 

 

No news from the dealer, but I'm not hopeful.  To quote from my post on BMWLand, I've concluded that maps = professional satnav = widescreen = hardware upgrade = £1,200, so I'll just have to live with the useless no-maps version.

Satnav gripes apart I've been fairly pleased so far, especially the excellent bluetooth integration.

I'd be interested if anyone else has auto cruise (detects distance to car in front and brakes automatically) and would actually trust it!

I also have Dynamic Stability Control which is supposed to maintain a flatter attitude in bends, but have only done 150 miles so haven't really noticed. Does it work?

And does anyone else get too much wind noise at motorway speeds?  The quietness of the engine accentuates this, but I can't figure out whether it is normal or there is something amiss with the electric sunroof mechanism not sealing completely.

Re fuel consumption, I used to average 24mpg dead in my E39 540i sport, and was hoping for at least 10% improvement given the same driving style (mostly restrained, occasional bursts of acceleration for the hell of it.)  So far the 545i seems no better.  I didn't buy it to save fuel, but was hoping for a bit more nonetheless (newer engine etc).  Is this naive?

Things I'm less thrilled with:

Auto headlights - what's the point? Even the manual says they are no substitute for human judgement.
Indicators - the electronic self-cancel seems fiddly compared with the manual E39, especially when just changing lanes.
Logic 7 hifi upgrade - good, but not awesome.
I-drive - I could write a book.  Just awful.

Also, having gone from a Sport to the ES model, I'm not in love with all the chrome trim - a bit pipe and slippers.  Might get the windows de-chromed if it can be done at reasonable cost.

Hmm no suprise there from the dealer!

I don't have auto cruise so can't help.

DSC, one statement of advice, don't switch it off!  Rear tyres will be turned into smoke after a few miles in the dry or the car pointing out of a hedge in the wet.

Sounds like your sunroof mibbie isn't closing properly.  Mine is a whisper on the motorway.  It would be even quieter if it weren't for the low profile tyres.

My 545i will return on average 28-29 mpg.  Worst recorded was just over 25 mpg.  Motorway runs low 30's.  Derby to Glasgow I got 33 mpg including stop start traffic in Derby.

Auto headlights, never used them.  I always drive with my sidelights on.  I have found that some road users find it difficult to see an oncoming silver car so to help them out I drive with the sidelights on.

Go into the iDrive and you can switch off the annoying indicator 3 clicks.  The cancel is difficult yes but you will get used to it coming from the E39 as I did.

Standard radio/CD is way way better than the standard radio from my E39.

I really can't see what the problem is with the Idrive.  Once you know where everything is it is o.k.  All I use it for is the heating, turning from the red/hot to blue/cold distribution.  The vents, I have set once so there is no need to mess around with them.  Switching between CD and radio is straight forward.  Most other things you do not need to change once you are moving.

There are toys that I just do not use.  I wanted the big thumping V8, anything else I got was a bonus. 

I wouldn't describe a 545i as being a bit pipe and slippers.  Yes it looks like a cheapskate 520d but it does not go like one!  That is the best bit.  It looks ordinary but it most definately does not go like an ordinary car.  The vital stats put it within 0.7 seconds of the 0-60 time of a M3.  Like you are going to notice 0.7 seconds. 333bhp 450Nm 0-60 5.9secs it does make impressive reading.  You can get 4 adults in the car plus luggage with no effort.  It has ISO fix kiddie seat holding points and it will tow my trailer without breaking sweat.

Saying that, I'm just used to it now.  I have been driving various E60's for nearly a year now.  Just give yourself time to learn its wee things and you'll be rightly.

It's a tremendous V8 and it is the mutts nutts.  Overtaking acceleration is brisk shall we say.  Best car I have ever owned.

Just don't take it here for servicing!

All the best with it

Andrew

I Mis-spoke when I said Dynamic Stability Control (though it does have that.) I meant Dynamic Drive, which gives active steering (fewer wheel turns at low speed) and on-the-fly rollbar adjustment in bends.  Jury still out on this one.

On the other points, I came across this quote on Evo, which is actually about a 645i but sums up my thoughts on the 545i quite neatly:

"It seemed that when BMW's undoubtedly brilliant engineers designed the car they became obsessed with re-inventing things that worked perfectly well in the first place. Before the 645 arrived I never knew how much I liked conventional steering and suspension, or a stalk that clicks into position when you put the indicators on, or a row of buttons and knobs to control the radio. These things have all been honed over time and didn't really need meddling with in the first place."

On mpg, I've been pretty gentle but haven't seen better than 26, so if you can get 28-29 it can only be the thin, pure Scottish air.

I've given up on the satnav maps, as detailed in my post here:

http://www.bmwland.co.uk/talker/viewtopic.php?p=646554#64655 4

No marks for BMW on this one.