5 Series - Which Engine?

[Pickled Piper]

Hi I'm thinking about changing my much loved E39 528 for a newer 5 series, probably about three years old. I'm unsure as to which engine to go for. I enjoy the performance of my current 528 so don't want to be frustrated with something too underpowered. With the current cost of fuel something more economical than my 528 would be great. I only cover about 7 to 10K miles per year mixed urban and motorway. I'm not averse to a diesel.

I've heard the new 2.0d is superb. However, with a three year old car I'd be getting the old version. It has to be an automatic. Recommendations greatfully received.

Cheers pp

[noneedtolift]

2.0d is painstakingly slow and a no-go in my book, 3.0d with auto box suits the car perfectly fine and has good performance.
Regards,

Felix

[dcb]

Pickled Piper said:

Hi I'm thinking about changing my much loved E39 528 for a newer 5 series, probably about three years old. I'm unsure as to which engine to go for. I enjoy the performance of my current 528 so don't want to be frustrated with something too underpowered.

Where do you want to be on the price / performance curve ?

Diesels only worth it if you do lots of miles.

The new shape 525 would probably be fairly similar to the
old 528, with a little bit more power.

Get a new shape 523 if you want to save a few quid.
Still a 146 mph car that can return 33 mpg it says here.
Be prepared for a few silly comments, but still
a tidy chariot.

Get the 530 if you want 155 mph performance and aren't fussed
about getting 32 mpg or there abouts.

If your trousers are on fire on a regular basis and / or
you want to be on first name terms with staff at all
your local petrol stations and you want to personally
fund all Sad Gordon's silly plans, get a V8 new shape
540 or 550 and be prepared for 25 mpg or so.

Your choice - personally I'd go for a 325 Touring.

[Pickled Piper]

Thanks everyone. I think diesels are out as I don't do the miles per year to derive the benefit. So I'm homing in on a 523 or 525.

Can anyone give some background to these particular engines? Did one supercede the other? Were/are they both available at the same time? Anything in particular to look out for?

Cheers.

pp

[TonyF55]

Hi, the 525i came out with the new shape 53-reg onwards, the 523i is I think a replacement for the 520i, could be wrong though.

523i came out in '05/06 ??, this has 174hp only 4bhp more than the 520i @ 170bhp, but is more econmical, not by lots I would imagine

Edited by TonyF55 on Wednesday 7th May 20:14

[Pickled Piper]

Thanks

pp

[pgilc1]

noneedtolift said:

2.0d is painstakingly slow and a no-go in my book, 3.0d with auto box suits the car perfectly fine and has good performance.
Regards,

Felix

Have you ever driven the 520d?? Even the 163BHP version does 0-60 in 8.3s, top speed 139mph, and 340NM of torque and can average 48mpg. A tuning box from www.tuningbox.com or a remap will take this to 200BHP, and drop the 0-60 time under 8 secs.

The new 177BHP version drops the 0-60 time to 8.0s standard, and can average over 50mpg.

The e39 530d hit 0-60 in 8.9s and i dont recall anyone calling it 'painstakingly slow'

Edited by pgilc1 on Wednesday 7th May 20:42

[pgilc1]

buffly said:

The 3 litre diesel is a great engine, and the 3.5 litre diesels are outstanding, with regards to economy and performance,
The amount of torque you get tp play with is alot of fun, and outperforme many petrol driven cars....
Just don`t put petrol in them, because it can get expensive!

For info, the 535d is a 3.0litre twin turbo, not a 3.5 litre.

[eowen]

Dont rule out the diesels even on your mileage - they are a different drive, so give them a try.

Not only will they return better mpg, but they will have cheaper tax and better residuals - but you will spend more in the first place. All swings and roundabouts. Buy carelfully as the new tax chanegs at 06, and the co2 bands jump. so dont buy a lemon you cant sell on..

[sniff petrol]

TonyF55 said:

Hi, the 525i came out with the new shape 53-reg onwards, the 523i is I think a replacement for the 520i, could be wrong though.

523i came out in '05/06 ??, this has 174hp only 4bhp more than the 520i @ 170bhp, but is more econmical, not by lots I would imagine

Edited by TonyF55 on Wednesday 7th May 20:14

Didn't think they did a 523i E60? 525i has been re-available since the E39 2001 facelift.

[Road_Terrorist]

sniff petrol said:

TonyF55 said:

Hi, the 525i came out with the new shape 53-reg onwards, the 523i is I think a replacement for the 520i, could be wrong though.

523i came out in '05/06 ??, this has 174hp only 4bhp more than the 520i @ 170bhp, but is more econmical, not by lots I would imagine

Edited by TonyF55 on Wednesday 7th May 20:14

Didn't think they did a 523i E60? 525i has been re-available since the E39 2001 facelift.

The 520i lost it's old 2.2L six, and now has a 2.0L four pot, same power but not the right image for the UK market so they dropped it and now the 523i is the bottom rung.The 523i has a 2.5L six, but with reduced power (177bhp then 190bhp in the update). Meanwhile the 525i was also a 2.5L six, but with more power (218bhp) but post 2007 facelift has been updated to a low power 3.0L, also with 218bhp. To make things even simpler, there is a still a 530i with a 3.0L six with the same old 258bhp. The 545i has been upped to a 4.8L 550i and the 540i has made a return with a 4.0L V8. So all nice, very easy to understand German logic!

So current UK E60 petrol lineup goes

523i - 2.5L
525i - 3.0L
530i - 3.0L
540i - 4.0L
550i - 4.8L
M5 - 5.0L

Some other markets also call the 530i the 528i, and there is also a 535i available, as the name suggests, with the 3.0L Twin Turbo from the 335i, but no word on that appearing in the UK as yet.

[Pickled Piper]

Thanks.

It's all very clear now.

Sort of

pp

[noneedtolift]

pgilc1 said:

noneedtolift said:

2.0d is painstakingly slow and a no-go in my book, 3.0d with auto box suits the car perfectly fine and has good performance.
Regards,

Felix

Have you ever driven the 520d?? Even the 163BHP version does 0-60 in 8.3s, top speed 139mph, and 340NM of torque and can average 48mpg. A tuning box from www.tuningbox.com or a remap will take this to 200BHP, and drop the 0-60 time under 8 secs.

The new 177BHP version drops the 0-60 time to 8.0s standard, and can average over 50mpg.

The e39 530d hit 0-60 in 8.9s and i dont recall anyone calling it 'painstakingly slow'

Edited by pgilc1 on Wednesday 7th May 20:42

Yes I have - both in the 5 and the X3. I agree that the quoted figures aren't "bad" and am not saying it's a bad engine. I just thought that it felt "painstakingly slow" and the engine didn't particular suit either car (especially weak taking off).
As with so many things down to personal taste I'd say!

[BillericayDickie]

Personally I wouldn't go for the new shape (E60). I think they're much less handsome than the E39 and the interior is awful (although you do get more gadgets to play with..)

My E39 530i (petrol) is a dream to drive. 231 bhp, tops out at 155 mph and still returns an average 32mpg according to the computer (when checked manually it's actually nearer to 34!) This superceded the 528i and the same engine is in the first generation E60s.

If you loved your E39 528i then the 530i might be worth a look. They ran to late 2003 and you can pick them up for between £5,000 and £9,000 depending on year and mileage.

[Pickled Piper]

hi Billericay,

Don't say that. I've had my E39 for seven years. I'm having a hard enough time thinking about parting with it. They really are fine cars.

I'm going to take a look around. If I can't find anything that appeals I'll just stick with the E39. It's no great hardship.

pp

ps used to drive to work past Hanningfield Reservoir and Wickford many years back.

[pgilc1]

BillericayDickie said:

Personally I wouldn't go for the new shape (E60). I think they're much less handsome than the E39 and the interior is awful (although you do get more gadgets to play with..)

My E39 530i (petrol) is a dream to drive. 231 bhp, tops out at 155 mph and still returns an average 32mpg according to the computer (when checked manually it's actually nearer to 34!) This superceded the 528i and the same engine is in the first generation E60s.

If you loved your E39 528i then the 530i might be worth a look. They ran to late 2003 and you can pick them up for between £5,000 and £9,000 depending on year and mileage.

Coming at it from the other side, whilst the e39 was a good car in its time, i think its starting to look very dated, and the interior a bit old fashioned.

[sniff petrol]

Road_Terrorist said:

The 520i lost it's old 2.2L six, and now has a 2.0L four pot, same power but not the right image for the UK market so they dropped it and now the 523i is the bottom rung.The 523i has a 2.5L six, but with reduced power (177bhp then 190bhp in the update). Meanwhile the 525i was also a 2.5L six, but with more power (218bhp) but post 2007 facelift has been updated to a low power 3.0L, also with 218bhp. To make things even simpler, there is a still a 530i with a 3.0L six with the same old 258bhp. The 545i has been upped to a 4.8L 550i and the 540i has made a return with a 4.0L V8. So all nice, very easy to understand German logic!

So current UK E60 petrol lineup goes

523i - 2.5L
525i - 3.0L
530i - 3.0L
540i - 4.0L
550i - 4.8L
M5 - 5.0L

Some other markets also call the 530i the 528i, and there is also a 535i available, as the name suggests, with the 3.0L Twin Turbo from the 335i, but no word on that appearing in the UK as yet.

That'll make it nice and easy when buying parts for them in a few years time.

[noumenon]

Was in a 2.0d auto as a passenger. I have to say, I was expecting it to be underpowered. I was quite surprised by the pickup, which I felt was good enough. If it really does 50mpg, that's quite astonishing.

[Zod]

had a 520i hire car. It felt very slow, but then I suppose it would to me.

[istoo]

i know its a bit of thread resurrection but what did the chap go for in the end?

I am sitting between a 525/530 p or d mostly budget based. the 520d's seem later and actually holding value well.
Tested a 525i and was really impressed coming from years of audi ownership. its dare i say it much better than the A6 we have, which is a great car. the E60 is superb. love the whole idrive setup.

economy mileage, well 15-20k per anum, plannign keeping this for 3-4 years.

Is the sport/ Msport radically better/different than the SE?
In audi terms the sport is usually lower, bigger brakes, sports seats, bigger wheels, much the same for the Bimmers? It certainly looks much nicer IMHO. Sets of the lines, and its a grower, i was disgusted when it came out not i think it looks fab. Will age very well.

i would like to hear what 525i/ 530i owners get mpg wise versus what 525d owners get. My driving is rural quick but not lead foot. i can hit the claimed MPG figures for my current and past Audi fleet. but often sit 2-3 below the stated.

Personally i would prefer a manual, but i wouldn't rule out an auto in a BMW. does this nail economy by a few MPG as i suspect, or are the modern auto boxes a lot better? have tiptronic, step type boxes...

and btw this has nohting to do with being a c*ck in an Audi! Niether wife or i are taken with either the new A4 or A6, lost it for me...