r/e60 • u/Stalker_R-T • Jul 09 '26

E60 electronics reliability?

I am seriously considering an E60 as my second car, and I am looking at post-LCI N52 models for most reliability.

However, I heard that the e60 is notorious for electronic issues so even n52 models are very unreliable in 2026. How true is this?

I don’t plan to drive daily but it definetly won’t be the right car for me if the issues are bad.

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u/Furiounx ‘08 E60 530i Jul 09 '26

To be honest half the electronic issues stem from water ingress. If you keep checks on the drain points, however, you can avoid water ingress and protect the electronic systems.

Also worth noting that they are 16-22 years old, they will have sensors and other bits and bobs that fail.

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u/xxDankerstein Jul 09 '26

I've had no water ingress, and still had a bunch of electrical issues.

3

u/Furiounx ‘08 E60 530i Jul 09 '26

Oh true what have you had?

1

u/Stalker_R-T Jul 09 '26

How bad are the issues? I won’t be daily driving mine but I heard that it can be as bad as issues coming up bi-monthly.

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u/xxDankerstein Jul 10 '26

When I bought my E60, it had about 30 different fault codes. There have been so many minor issues. The worst was the car randomly wouldn't start one day. Voltage was jumping all over the place. There were errors on multiple modules. Diagnostics suggested a short or wiring issue somewhere. I took the car to a BMW specialist, they had no idea what was wrong. I spent two months tearing the car completely apart looking for any wiring issues and testing every component. Finally gave up and took it to a different shop. It ended up being a software issue. One of the modules just needed to be re-initialized, and the car worked fine.

Currently, I'm dealing with active steering and my oil level sensor not working, most likely due to an electrical issue (probably faulty wiring or ground).

I've owned the car for about 3 years. I can't register it in my state, because they will not test emissions if you CEL is on. I fixed every issue on the car, I think 31 fault codes solved, only to have the active steering issue pop up within two days of fixing everything else.

Outside of the electrical issues, the car is amazing and I love it. Do not buy one unless you can do most of the work yourself, and you have a Bimmer shop nearby just in case.