BMW 5 Series advice
Discussion
Disagree on the must haves - Nav is a £1200 option, iirc, how much is a Garmin/Tom Tom?
Must haves would be:
comfort (or at minimum) sport seats, pref heated.
xenons - adaptive if your journeys involve windy roads at night/during Winter
Advanced climate control
Factory fit Bluetooth
Any other colour but black leather for comfortable summer driving
As for engine - depends on mileage, but you could throw in LPG (Prinz or BRC only) on the 530i for £1800 ish which would repay its cost in around 20K miles.
Must haves would be:
comfort (or at minimum) sport seats, pref heated.
xenons - adaptive if your journeys involve windy roads at night/during Winter
Advanced climate control
Factory fit Bluetooth
Any other colour but black leather for comfortable summer driving
As for engine - depends on mileage, but you could throw in LPG (Prinz or BRC only) on the 530i for £1800 ish which would repay its cost in around 20K miles.
jomcvelia said:
Looking for owners or previous owners to give there opinions on a 5 series. Budget will be 20/25k, whats the better engine (Diesel) to go for. Must haves are leather,and nav.
What are they like for an everyday car.
I had a 535d with all the extras and loved it. Don't make the mistake of thinking it will be fast though. It's no slouch but it's not fast. What are they like for an everyday car.
It's a great everyday car - very comfy, very nice cabin etc. What do you want to know?
D5M said:
That's a very old car though and is a different car completely to what the OP wants.
Maybe the OP doesnt know what he wants? 
you cant fight the draw of the V8. I went out to buy an E60, was treated so badly by BMW local to me, I bought an E39 M5 from an Indy, a Ducati 999, a Triumph Street triple and KX250 with the savings instead.
Weeeeeeee!
humpbackmaniac said:
D5M said:
That's a very old car though and is a different car completely to what the OP wants.
Maybe the OP doesnt know what he wants? you cant fight the draw of the V8. I went out to buy an E60, was treated so badly by BMW local to me, I bought an E39 M5 from an Indy, a Ducati 999, a Triumph Street triple and KX250 with the savings instead.
Weeeeeeee!
I looked long and hard at a 5 before plumping for a 7 so here's what I found out when I was doing my 5 Series homework.
The choice depends what you want and how long you intend to keep it. Petrols are cheaper to acquire in the first instance but everybody seems to want the diesel models so you'll also be selling for less when it's time to move it on, although you also need to consider that there is arguably more to go wrong with the diesel models at higher mileages, swirl flaps, turbos etc.
520 petrol is rare and somewhat underpowered in this car, I'd want at least a 525 if I was going down the petrol route. Don't bother with a 525d. It's only marginally more economical than a 530d and feels a fair bit slower. 530d is probably all the car you'll ever need. 535d will put a smile on your face. M5 will bankrupt you with fuel costs.
You definitely want an auto, black leather is fine although I prefer cream as it brightens the cabin but less child friendly if that's an issue for you. Media and visibility package very helpful for resale (agree that a Tom Tom is £100 but I hate all the wires and crap stuck to the windscreen), comfort seats a nice plus, head up display is very cool, 19" alloys look the part. Stereo upgrade to I think 'Business' is worth having too. My wish list was:
530d
Auto
Visibility package
Media Package
19" Alloys
Oyster/Black leather
Piano Black trim
I didn't find one and ended up with an E65! Happy hunting.....
ETA
This kind of thing would do, although the miles are a bit higher than I'd want:
http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/bmwauc/details/0,,1156_...
The choice depends what you want and how long you intend to keep it. Petrols are cheaper to acquire in the first instance but everybody seems to want the diesel models so you'll also be selling for less when it's time to move it on, although you also need to consider that there is arguably more to go wrong with the diesel models at higher mileages, swirl flaps, turbos etc.
520 petrol is rare and somewhat underpowered in this car, I'd want at least a 525 if I was going down the petrol route. Don't bother with a 525d. It's only marginally more economical than a 530d and feels a fair bit slower. 530d is probably all the car you'll ever need. 535d will put a smile on your face. M5 will bankrupt you with fuel costs.
You definitely want an auto, black leather is fine although I prefer cream as it brightens the cabin but less child friendly if that's an issue for you. Media and visibility package very helpful for resale (agree that a Tom Tom is £100 but I hate all the wires and crap stuck to the windscreen), comfort seats a nice plus, head up display is very cool, 19" alloys look the part. Stereo upgrade to I think 'Business' is worth having too. My wish list was:
530d
Auto
Visibility package
Media Package
19" Alloys
Oyster/Black leather
Piano Black trim
I didn't find one and ended up with an E65! Happy hunting.....
ETA
This kind of thing would do, although the miles are a bit higher than I'd want:
http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/bmwauc/details/0,,1156_...
Edited by bennyboydurham on Wednesday 1st June 10:41
D5M said:
I had a 535d with all the extras and loved it. Don't make the mistake of thinking it will be fast though. It's no slouch but it's not fast.
It's a great everyday car - very comfy, very nice cabin etc. What do you want to know?
I'd like to know where you would use the missing fastness?It's a great everyday car - very comfy, very nice cabin etc. What do you want to know?
Deva Link said:
D5M said:
I had a 535d with all the extras and loved it. Don't make the mistake of thinking it will be fast though. It's no slouch but it's not fast.
It's a great everyday car - very comfy, very nice cabin etc. What do you want to know?
I'd like to know where you would use the missing fastness?It's a great everyday car - very comfy, very nice cabin etc. What do you want to know?
D5M said:
humpbackmaniac said:
D5M said:
That's a very old car though and is a different car completely to what the OP wants.
Maybe the OP doesnt know what he wants? you cant fight the draw of the V8. I went out to buy an E60, was treated so badly by BMW local to me, I bought an E39 M5 from an Indy, a Ducati 999, a Triumph Street triple and KX250 with the savings instead.
Weeeeeeee!
Whats wrong with buying the older version, as long as it has a good service history etc, will last for years, and is a lot of fun at a fraction of the cost !
Geoffers said:
D5M said:
humpbackmaniac said:
D5M said:
That's a very old car though and is a different car completely to what the OP wants.
Maybe the OP doesnt know what he wants? you cant fight the draw of the V8. I went out to buy an E60, was treated so badly by BMW local to me, I bought an E39 M5 from an Indy, a Ducati 999, a Triumph Street triple and KX250 with the savings instead.
Weeeeeeee!
Whats wrong with buying the older version, as long as it has a good service history etc, will last for years, and is a lot of fun at a fraction of the cost !
Strange suggesting a e39 M5s+Ducatis when the chap was asking about diesel E60s don't you think?
D5M said:
For his budget, if he wanted a fast 5 if could get a E60 M5 though. Why get a cheap and old one?
So he could afford to run it as well? E60 M5 is all well and good but is a lot dearer to run than the v8. So for the price of buying and running a diesel 5, he could buy and run and fuel the E39 M5 or buy an e60 M5 and sit and look at it not driving anywhere?
Why not get the older one, which is also starting to go up in value.
I have had 530d Touring versions, both the E39 and E61 and have just changed to an F10. The E39 and E61 were both Sport versions, manual (by choice) for the E39 and auto for the E61.
The F10 is an SE auto. Each model change has been a significant step forward in refinement and ride of the previous version in my opinion.
The 2002 E39 was bought new and covered 125,000 miles in my ownership over five and a half years. Turbo failed at 70,000 which seemed to be a fairly common issue around that time. The only other parts changed were what I would consider consumables. Front suspension bushes and a propshaft rubber coupling at about 80,000, but no real issues apart from the turbo which cost £650 to buy; no other damage was caused by the failure. The car was remapped at about 80,000.
The 2007 LCI E61 was bought as an ex-demo with 2000 miles. This was sold recently with 125,000 miles covered in less than three and a half years. The only non service replacements were one sidelight bulb, a rear window switch (which opens the glass), three windscreens and a front windscreen washer pump. Overall mpg for the life of the car was 35.3. Rear brakes lasted around 65K and fronts 80K. This car was remapped at 4000 miles.
The F10 was bought as an ex demo with 2000 miles, very well specced. I chose the SE because my annual mileage is around 40K and the ride in the sport versions was just too hard for this usage.
Must haves for me are nav/bluetooth, xenon lights, auto. Nice to have because they were on the F10 are panoramic roof, soft close doors, automatic tailgate, rear camera, surround view, adaptive ride, sports auto (this makes a big difference, always in the right gear, no lag etc), privacy glass.
The fuel consumption on the F10 is probably around 10% better than the E61. Often trips now average over 40 mpg even with mixed 'fast' motorway, A/B roads and town work.
The F10 is an SE auto. Each model change has been a significant step forward in refinement and ride of the previous version in my opinion.
The 2002 E39 was bought new and covered 125,000 miles in my ownership over five and a half years. Turbo failed at 70,000 which seemed to be a fairly common issue around that time. The only other parts changed were what I would consider consumables. Front suspension bushes and a propshaft rubber coupling at about 80,000, but no real issues apart from the turbo which cost £650 to buy; no other damage was caused by the failure. The car was remapped at about 80,000.
The 2007 LCI E61 was bought as an ex-demo with 2000 miles. This was sold recently with 125,000 miles covered in less than three and a half years. The only non service replacements were one sidelight bulb, a rear window switch (which opens the glass), three windscreens and a front windscreen washer pump. Overall mpg for the life of the car was 35.3. Rear brakes lasted around 65K and fronts 80K. This car was remapped at 4000 miles.
The F10 was bought as an ex demo with 2000 miles, very well specced. I chose the SE because my annual mileage is around 40K and the ride in the sport versions was just too hard for this usage.
Must haves for me are nav/bluetooth, xenon lights, auto. Nice to have because they were on the F10 are panoramic roof, soft close doors, automatic tailgate, rear camera, surround view, adaptive ride, sports auto (this makes a big difference, always in the right gear, no lag etc), privacy glass.
The fuel consumption on the F10 is probably around 10% better than the E61. Often trips now average over 40 mpg even with mixed 'fast' motorway, A/B roads and town work.
Edited by 530dTPhil on Friday 3rd June 06:29
humpbackmaniac said:
Maybe the OP doesnt know what he wants? you cant fight the draw of the V8.
I went out to buy an E60, was treated so badly by BMW local to me, I bought an E39 M5 from an Indy, a Ducati 999, a Triumph Street triple and KX250 with the savings instead.
Weeeeeeee!
Your style I like you cant fight the draw of the V8. I went out to buy an E60, was treated so badly by BMW local to me, I bought an E39 M5 from an Indy, a Ducati 999, a Triumph Street triple and KX250 with the savings instead.
Weeeeeeee!
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