Why shouldn't I buy an F10 535d?

[Bincenzo]

Chaps,
Excuse the rather obvious question, but looking for a very comfortable estate, and frankly all the reviews would point me in the direction of the above vehicle. I'm yet to test drive, but essentially the car would be a weekly commute to Wales from the Midlands, equalling about 20k mile pa. I need a >reasonable< amount of economy, extreme comfort and reliability. Any current or past owners have any stories to share on the 535d Touring? I'd be looking for the M-Sport version, but any views very welcome. Equally any comparisons of 535, 530, 525 and 520 would be useful. Very grateful for your time, ta

[apotts]

I spent a lot of time test driving different F10's to replace my XF. I do 25k and needed extreme comfort and performance (I know...)

The F10 that stood out head and shoulders above the others was any with Adaptive Drive. The decoupling of the ARBs when not cornering is what gives the comfort, and the stiffening of the dampers and reverse torque on the ARBs allows it to go round a corner. It's really very good. With conventional suspension I prefer the XF. 17" winter tyres with non-run-flats give a sublime ride, 18" RFTs are a bit bumpy (the huge unsprung weight can't help) and the 19" are worse again.

I also discovered that the 35d was mandatory. The 30d felt like a big diesel Golf - all the grunt in the mid range. The 35d has a wall of grunt all the way from idle.

The 2 reasons not to buy an F10 are numb EPS and run flat tyres. Only one of which you can fix.

Edited by apotts on Friday 29th May 11:10

[Bincenzo]

Excellent response, thank you. I'm not familiar with the Active Drive, what year was that a feature from? I assume it's nothing to do with the adjustable suspension?

[anonymous-user]

Bincenzo said:

Excellent response, thank you. I'm not familiar with the Active Drive, what year was that a feature from? I assume it's nothing to do with the adjustable suspension?

Adaptive, not active drive. It's a fully adaptive suspension that gives a very good compromise between ride and handling, especially given the size of the car. There is also Variable Damper Control as a cheaper option, a sort of half way house.

I haven't driven a car with VDC but have driven SE and Sports suspension cars and neither is even close to the AD, which would be a must for me unless BMW make some serious improvements in their regular set ups.

I have 18" summer and 17" winter RFTs and can't say I notice much difference between them; nor do I think the ride is at all bad on either set up. Certainly not enough for me to consider non RFTs.

My car is a 30D and the performance is fine for me. I use this car as a very comfortable runabout and long distance cruiser and it does all I ask of it.

If you want comfort I would also recommend the comfort package and seats. The seats are excellent and make long drives very easy to accomplish.

[drmark]

Cracking car.

[Fox-]

Adaptive Drive is excellent, but:

a) Is ultra rare
b) Is, or was initially at least (ruling out a significant number of cars) only available on the SE not the M Sport. I think this was the case until at least 2012.

[anonymous-user]

Fox- said:

Adaptive Drive is excellent, but:

a) Is ultra rare
b) Is, or was initially at least (ruling out a significant number of cars) only available on the SE not the M Sport. I think this was the case until at least 2012.

I thought it was only available on the bigger engined cars but you may well be correct.

[smashy]

apotts said:

I spent a lot of time test driving different F10's to replace my XF. I do 25k and needed extreme comfort and performance (I know...)

The F10 that stood out head and shoulders above the others was any with Adaptive Drive. The decoupling of the ARBs when not cornering is what gives the comfort, and the stiffening of the dampers and reverse torque on the ARBs allows it to go round a corner. It's really very good. With conventional suspension I prefer the XF. 17" winter tyres with non-run-flats give a sublime ride, 18" RFTs are a bit bumpy (the huge unsprung weight can't help) and the 19" are worse again.

I also discovered that the 35d was mandatory. The 30d felt like a big diesel Golf - all the grunt in the mid range. The 35d has a wall of grunt all the way from idle.

The 2 reasons not to buy an F10 are numb EPS and run flat tyres. Only one of which you can fix.

Edited by apotts on Friday 29th May 11:10

I was behind a new XF recently ,the facelift has done wonders ie the back end looks great now.Really impressed

[Bincenzo]

Excellent info chaps, thank you. I've been struggling with predictive txt on my phone all day, now back to a decent keyboard, hence my active vs adaptive misspelling.

I think you're right, the AD seem to be rare and normally attached to the SE version. My concern is that I'm reasonably superficial when it comes to looks, and despite the form over function of the M Sport, that's what I'm leaning toward, purely based in external features. I'm also likely to spend 95% of my time on motorways or major A roads, such that I'm not going to get wrapped around the axle about the Adaptive drive. If I were looking to have this as a focussed drivers car, then I'd be looking elsewhere I think, as I'm not sure a 2 tonne plus estate would be my first choice. A reasonable amount of power, safe handling and genuine comfort is where I'd like to be. I think I'm sold on the 35.

[shim]

Because the F11 looks so much bettter

[Jobbo]

REALIST123 said:

Fox- said:

Adaptive Drive is excellent, but:

a) Is ultra rare
b) Is, or was initially at least (ruling out a significant number of cars) only available on the SE not the M Sport. I think this was the case until at least 2012.

I thought it was only available on the bigger engined cars but you may well be correct.

It's never been available on the 4-cyl variants of the F10/F11. I've tried it on two early dealer demo 530d saloons (both heavily optioned up generally) but simply couldn't find adaptive on a used car when I got round to buying one. My F11 has the standard M Sport suspension which is comfy enough, and controlled, so I don't think adaptive is an absolute necessity. Finding it is so difficult that is probably a good thing.

[northpolar]

I had a 530d estate with the adaptive suspension and now have a 535d estate with m sport set up.

With regards to the suspension, I have to say that the adaptive is superb. It seems to convert the big bus into a limo especially for motorway journeys where, with the multitude of speed cameras around in UK, there seems little reward for press on driving. It is a bit 'wallowy' but sometimes that's just perfect! Equally around town with pot holes and 'traffic calming' ramps, the comfort+ setting kills off alot of the shudders which I felt couldn't be doing any good. With the sport setting, the suspension really firms up and the handling characteristics change and it feels much more connected when pressing on.

Where I wasn't convinced (rightly or wrongly) was a slight concern about the complexity of the adaptive kit and longer term reliability potential; and a feeling that I was driving two or three different cars, never really having a 100% feeling of on limit behaviour should I ever get into a tricky situation on an unfamiliar road. I had the 530d for over three years and nothing went wrong with it and in truth, I drive like a grandad so the chances of scenario 2 happening are somewhat remote!!

The 535d is a different beast in my opinion. The 530 is superb all round however, for the size of car, the extra grunt from the twin turbos provide a sense of immediate pick up from stand still and low speeds which is missing from the 530. You might not miss it if you stick with the 530 and don't try the 535. Having driven both, the 535 is near perfect. I'd still love to try out a big petrol engined version but the reality of fuel economy would really test my theory - not sure if you can even get the 550i in touring form. I found the economy very similar in both 530 and 535 - on a very gentle cruise you can nudge towards 50mpg which for such a heavy vehicle is incredible. 40+mpg is more realistic for me.

If you are buying used, adaptive would be great to have - when launched it was only available in SE spec (I happen to think that the SE body treatment is a lot classier looking than the m sport on 5 series). Other things I would suggest having - auto with flappy paddles and sun roof. There are many many options available but those are the two key ones I would miss. Strangely soft close doors were on my last car and I really miss them - didn't think I would!

Hope this is of some help.

Peter

[Bincenzo]

Very useful indeed Peter, thank you. I've no doubt the Adaptive Drive is an attractive option, but it won't be a deal breaker for me. I will, however, be fairly hardover on a few key options, Pano roof being one, I think all 535s come with the 8 speed auto, so I'd guess paddles are standard? In lieu of Adaptive Drive, the selectable suspension should be fine but again not a deal breaker. Very keen on Oyster interior. The search begins.

[drmark]

shim said:

Because the F11 looks so much bettter

+1
And paddles were extra and part of sport auto box on mine.

[Bincenzo]

Please excuse my ignorance, from what year did the model become F11?

[northpolar]

Be very careful re flappy paddles!!

They don't come standard with the auto box and they aren't possible to retro fit either. You must specify them with the car when buying. Seems bizarre and it's not an expensive option but you must make sure they are fitted before buying. Hence I flagged it up as a key option.

Peter

[northpolar]

Bincenzo said:

Please excuse my ignorance, from what year did the model become F11?

The F11 tag is associated with the estate version, the saloon is F10 - I discovered this when I bought a set of BMW roof bars on fleabay and thankfully the seller pointed out when I turned up to collect them that the fittings are model specific!

F10 and F11 are the same 2010 launch.

Peter

[Jobbo]

Bincenzo said:

Please excuse my ignorance, from what year did the model become F11?

F11 is Touring, F10 is saloon. First Tourings were registered in 2010. Think there are some late 2009 saloons.

ETA: now I've checked, there weren't any saloons registered here in 2009 but there are some 2010/59 plates. The Touring was introduced later in 2010 so while I've seen 10 plate F11s in press shots, you probably won't find any earlier than 60 plate in practice.

Edited by Jobbo on Saturday 30th May 08:01

[Bincenzo]

northpolar said:

Be very careful re flappy paddles!!

They don't come standard with the auto box and they aren't possible to retro fit either. You must specify them with the car when buying. Seems bizarre and it's not an expensive option but you must make sure they are fitted before buying. Hence I flagged it up as a key option.

Peter

Thanks again, I'll be buying a used car so will be looking to ensure the correct boxes are ticked.

[Bincenzo]

northpolar said:

The F11 tag is associated with the estate version, the saloon is F10 - I discovered this when I bought a set of BMW roof bars on fleabay and thankfully the seller pointed out when I turned up to collect them that the fittings are model specific!

F10 and F11 are the same 2010 launch.

Peter

Ahh, in which case my topic title was incorrect. It is the F11 I'm looking for, I'd agree that the the touring version looks significantly better than the saloon, IMO.