Differences between PRE LCI & LCI E61 and which one I recommend buying.

It is hard to recommend a car without explaining technical differences. Here's my version of "Which E61 you should buy."
Timecodes:
00:00 - 00:31 Introduction
00:32 - 00: 41 European vs North American engines options
00:42 - 01:03 When was E61 launched?
01:04 - 01:09 When North America started getting E61?
01:10 - 01:38 Options that were standard on all E61
01:19 - 04:35 Differences between PRE-LCI and LCI E61
04:36 - 04:51 Why it's important to know pre-lci/lci differences?
04:52 - 06:04 My recommendation which E61 get
06:05 - 06:47 E61 unicorns to consider: E61 M5, Alpina B5, Alpina B5 S
06:48 - 07:09 Conclusion
Images sources:
realoem.com
Edmunds.com
alpina-automobiles.com
123rf.com/profile_phonlamaiphoto
#bmwe61, #bmwtouring, #elitebimmers

[@drifter2090]

Thanks for the video! Just picked up a 2010 535xi wagon with 200k miles! No leaks, everything works, super well maintained 👍

[@EliteBimmers]

Nice! Congratulations! They are very unique and super comfortable cars.

[@sli-fox]

Thanks for the video. Very informative.

[@riejuhub7520]

Thanks, this helps with my purchase

[@jwestpro]

Great enthusiasm on your videos! Good work. In 2010 I bought a low miles 2008 e61 MT6 NAS N54 which is the inline 6 twin turbo and it’s been my favorite car of all. Dinan ECU tune and a few things to make it better for 3000 mile road trips coast to coast in USA. I actually use slightly larger tires for example and only 18” for a much better overall driving experience and durability. 245/45-18 on M3 wheels 18x8.5 plus a matching full size spare. No lowering but the tire size and wheel offset fills the fender perfectly while being the most functional as well. Wish I could post a photo here for you. Deep Sea blue, natural brown leather, light poplar trim, fully optioned-so sport, nav, HUD, 20 way comfort seats, everything. Did I say I love it ?! ;) Bought at 20k miles, 170k now.

[@EliteBimmers]

Nice! I would like to to see your car! If you have an Instagram page you can share with us/me:)

[@eddiemichael4333]

E 60 s owner here,from Europe, i have a 2004 nfl 525d M57 and a weard 530d M57 2006 one,the late 2006 one have full adoptive LCI headlights, LCI tail lights, LCI key and keyless ztart and entry,but the lower part of dash board is like nfl one and the the door cards th same nfl ones,the trunk lid (boot trunk) it's the LCI oneq and the engine is from the nfl one .

[@nattadam4171]

I have a 06 e61 I believe the build date is 12/05. Third owner, well taken care of.

[@Ladiesman55190]

You’re legendary my friend!

[@EliteBimmers]

:)

[@firstlast4874]

Best E61 resource in YT. Period!

[@EliteBimmers]

Thank you kindly:)

[@firstlast4874]

@@EliteBimmers No worries. Hey, I'm wondering - since you have / have had so many E61s, if you ever had to repair the Hydraulic Cylinder that opens the rear hatch - the strut on the left side? Mine broke 2 days ago. It looks like a monster repair - some people appear to even downgrade to a gas strut and manual opening to avoid it.

[@EliteBimmers]

I haven’t had issues with those yet. I’m planning to delete mine and use a gas strut - trying to reduce the overall weight. If you want I can sell you mine, I will give you a great price. Mine is in great working condition.

[@firstlast4874]

@@EliteBimmers That might be an option. I haven't decided which solution yet, but I think I'll be letting my independent shop handle it. I just have a very full plate right now, and not sure I would want to mess with this even if I did not. So it really comes down to either doing an R&R of the Hydraulic or a refit with gas strut. How much would you be asking for your unit, if I did decide to stick with the hydraulic system?

[@firstlast4874]

BTW, you know the best way to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle is to get a treadmill for the driver! ;-)

[@joaomatosgraca1013]

This video is awesome and better than 90% of "journalist" articles. Thank you and congratulations!

[@sergeygr]

03:54 upper one is LCI

[@usurper762]

I have a 2007 pre LCI 550i Motorsport edition. I’ve removed the rear mufflers, and had it serviced. It runs 19” wheels with 275 on the rear and 245 on the front. Ready to roll.

[@EliteBimmers]

275! Wow! For USA models it’s not possible without cutting out fenders:)

[@matteoficarra7640]

I've a 530d...i'm in love with my diesel boat

[@jakubluszczak2748]

I have 535d lci e61 no cat, no dpf, stage 1 standard suspension 183kmiles beautiful car so much joy

[@M5JamesE39]

I think you need to switch the HVAC control images around...ours is LCI and I don't recall the buttons having hard edges.

[@mrk09988]

I would love to put the post facelift tail lights in my 06 e61, would you happen to know if it would be possible ?

[@user-so1rg8hy9l]

I have a 2009 520d e61 with manual gearbox, love it 🥰

[@aapaap8595]

Haha gay

[@user-so1rg8hy9l]

@@aapaap8595 ur driving a vw golf mk1 tdi shut up

[@garrettgiuffre5653]

Us people interested in the e61 just remember that you are buying the car for a used depreciated value but for your ownership you will be paying the full price of the vehicle and current time for service and you will be buying a vehicle which needs whatever years of used it is a back service most likely because it hasn't been done so if you buy the vehicle for 10 grand expect to have a good $5,000 in maintenance if you are taking it to a shop or much less if you're doing it yourself but nonetheless it's going to be needed it's a must or it will end up at Pick-n-Pull because of some issue

[@EliteBimmers]

Exactly! Like with almost everything in life: If You Can’t Buy It Twice, Don’t Buy It. (Not sure who said that, but it’s especially true when buying a 12-year-old plus vehicle).

[@carlcanimo]

Quickest way to tell a 2010 model is with their own style of exterior mirrors.

[@mrstorm8700]

Alpina B5 (or B5 S) is on my list of "dream cars" :)

[@EliteBimmers]

I wish to own any Alpina, E61 B5 is still out of reach both legally and financially.

[@ensilagebal]

Hmm, my 04 e61 (eu) has both pre lci and lci parts, like the ac controls are lci and the lower half (seat heaters) is pre lci, it has lci steering wheel, pre lci front and lights but lci rear bumper an many other things. And its never been in an accident

[@juggnautbitch]

Not such thing as an lci steering wheel. There's standard, sport and m sport which could be had on all years.

[@inerttt]

There is a 2010 535xi LCI with high kms but a six speed manual for sale near me…bmw individual package and a beautiful blue. I think this is a rare spec and am tempted to buy it…but how much am I going to regret that?

[@EliteBimmers]

It depends on the maintenance history. But I would be preparing a couple of thousands just in case.

[@lotus72e]

My car is a 525Xi which has a production date of 29.9.2006. Is it then a 2007 or 2006 model year? I find this to be confusing since many has told me that cars produced in september or later that year is a 2007 year car. However it says 2006 in the Norwegian vehicle database.

[@EliteBimmers]

Yes, sir, it is very confusing indeed. It all depends on the country you are registering your car. Like you said Norwegian vehicle authorities decided to grant your car with a 2006 year model. If your car would be here in the US I’m sure paperwork here would say 2007 year model. Several years ago I owned a 2010 E60 and everyone from Russia was saying it is not possible to have ‘10 E60 because they stopped making them in 2009. But my paperwork said 2010 and official BMW dealerships treated it as a 2010 model.

[@murokinto]

Mine is a september 2009 and its a 2010 model i think that 2007 models start after june of 2006

[@razzy530]

I have the 2007 e60 530i 6 speed manual with 193000 miles. Owned since new

[@EliteBimmers]

Wow! Nice!

[@caliwator]

Is that the n53?

[@Mike-vs3dv]

I live in Finland. I found a mint condition 530d m57 e61 Msport, low mileage. 2006. It has all options that were ever available. Panoramic roof, electric tailgate, adaptive cruise, adaptive xenon with high beam assist, HUD etc etc, should i buy it?

[@EliteBimmers]

Nice find! My personal opinion: if I would be looking for a car, I would get it. I read on forums that in Finland BMWs are overpriced. Is it true?

[@Mike-vs3dv]

@@EliteBimmers They usually are, especially diesel ones, ESPECIALLY the 3.0 diesel ones. You can get a 61 530i / e39 530i with low mileage for around 5.5k$ but when looking for a diesel (diesels are way more common in Finland since diesel price is way lower than gas, gas in finland is around 8.5$ a gallon) same car with the same options and miles can be worth around 10k. They’re very common amongst teenagers since they’re cheap to maintain, reliable as hell and also easy to modify. Every 1 of 3 Finnish teens has a 530/330d chiptuned and straight piped making casually around 350-400hp.

[@Mike-vs3dv]

@@EliteBimmers Ditched the e61, had some issues. Currently looking at an e39 530d with sand beige interior and some pretty sweet options. Mystic blau also 🥰

[@erixlast6020]

​@@Mike-vs3dv m57 is dizel jz, it make sense

[@Mike-vs3dv]

@@erixlast6020 I know. One of the best diesels ever made among Mercedes’ OM606, OM648.

[@eddiemichael4333]

Quick question, can you find in US spec ones the LCI with out the enoyng xDrive sistem ?Please don't get me wrong, but a real BMW is rear wheel drive ,that xDrive on e60/e61 is not nice at all.

[@EliteBimmers]

US E61s came all with xDrive :( If you google Evan’s E61 build, you will that he “deleted” his xDrive system. And I think he swapped it to manual transmission. But that’s pretty much it. Someone at BMW HQ thought that wagons would be used by skiers or snowboarders 99% of the time 😊

[@patrikdavid95]

I have an LCI model, automatic, but the gear shifter is like on the pre LCI model, other than that, everything is the same as in the LCI

[@EliteBimmers]

Interesting… in the USA I never saw one optioned like yours. So many ways these cars used to be configured!

[@patrikdavid95]

Yeah, I guess in the UK and rest of Europe is different

[@Sebastian-xd1ru]

@@patrikdavid95 someone probably tried to "retrofit" the lci package. Seen that a million times..

[@wheelieschulz1204]

Sometimes close to or close after lci you get mixed models

[@bogdanmarcu6915]

Hi there, min 3:54 you`ve mixed them up. that is vice-versa

[@EliteBimmers]

Thank you

[@wheelieschulz1204]

In Germany more than 50% are Diesel and i can't get why Americans didn't won't them because they are so mutch better than the gas ones in nearly every aspect

[@EliteBimmers]

I was born in Eastern Europe and in my home country, it is the same thing - diesel cars are very popular. I’m sure there are some economic and political reasons North America is slow to adopt diesel cars.

[@garrettgiuffre5653]

In Europe general motors has a 1.4 l turbo diesel and ironically it would fit in the Chevrolet volt just perfectly without issue diesel runs at a lower RPM and is more torque which would produce more energy for the electric motors for the volt thus giving you a cheaper charge than gasoline engine doing the same job running it higher RPMs to produce the electricity to be stored in the batteries for the Chevrolet volt why they don't put it in the US models they're trying to kill the diesel California it's $7 a gallon right now it's ridiculous I personally have a TDI and I love it I would buy a BMW diesel if I could but they're very seldom and expensive here very expensive to maintain as well not many mechanics in the US work on European diesels

[@kennybmx7215]

My e61 is 10.2007 and has a joystick

[@FreezyTv]

Found a 2008 lci with all the lci parts exept the gearknob? How is that possible

[@EliteBimmers]

Is that a European market E61?

[@FreezyTv]

@@EliteBimmers Yes. It still had the old m47 engine. Maybe thats why

[@curtssallee9807]

PRE

[@wheelieschulz1204]

The Pre lci door panel looks much better , the lci looks like a e90 door

[@aapaap8595]

You must have no taste.

[@jaymum23]

LCI door looks far better (as does the E90 door). It got rid of the nasty cheap plastic surround for the window switches and added more wood/aluminum trim.