Which 5 series BMW to buy - petrol or diesel?

[Mattyo76]

Hi there,

I need a large estate for work and home life and have been offered 2 BMW's from a friends garage.
Both are the same price of £2750 (cheap as I cant afford much), both have good service history and both have 12 month MOT and 6 month warrantee. By and large, both are same spec: automatic, leather, pan roof, sat nave etc.

The first is a 2005, 525i - 2.5 petrol with 141000 miles
The second is 2004, 530d - 3.0 diesel with 136000 miles
Both are roughly the same on tax and insurance.

I'm just wondering which would be best for me, I don't need it for towing, but will put bike/skis on the roof.
I do around 10-15000 miles per year, but not all of that will be motorway millage, a lot will be local/town as well as in and out of Central London.

So I'm just wondering which would be best - 2.5 Petrol, or 3.0 Diesel
and what should I look out for?

Many thanks

[Charlie Michael]

I've never had a 5 series but looking at your requirements, I would be leaning more towards the petrol version. I did have an E39 525i that i borrowed from a friend for a weekend and the engine was perfectly pokey enough, so a generation newer version of the engine would be even better!

[Bumblebee7]

If going into central London it will have to be the petrol as the ULEZ kicks in next year which would affect the diesel. Just check the reg to ensure the petrol is Euro 4 compliant, though as a 2005 model it should be.

[Mattyo76]

Thank you guys, really appreciate it!
I think petrol too, but did forget to say I'll be taking it over to Europe a lot n the Alps for skiing etc.
So motorway there, but country/mountain roads once there.
Thanks again

[ZX10R NIN]

If you're going to be going into Central London it has to be the Petrol.

[MajorMantra]

Depending on exactly when the petrol car was built (they changed around 2005) it may have the N52 engine, which is much liked round these parts.

See wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_5_Series_(E60)#P...

Personally I'd go petrol on principle, but the diesel will doubtless feel faster in normal driving as it's got twice as much torque.

[Jiebo]

ZX10R NIN said:

If you're going to be going into Central London it has to be the Petrol.

ULEZ extends to massive area inside the south and north circular from 2021. So yes, if you go into London, petrol.

[SWoll]

MajorMantra said:

Depending on exactly when the petrol car was built (they changed around 2005) it may have the N52 engine, which is much liked round these parts.

See wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_5_Series_(E60)#P...

Personally I'd go petrol on principle, but the diesel will doubtless feel faster in normal driving as it's got twice as much torque.

I've had both and E60 530i and 530D over the years and can confirm that the diesel certainly feels faster in 90% of driving and suits the auto gearbox very well so will be significantly quicker than the 525i which will need a lot of revs to really get going.

Not much in it economy wise I found and the petrol certainly made a much nicer noise once on the move and handled better due to the weight reduction compared to the diesel.

[DoubleD]

MajorMantra said:

Personally I'd go petrol on principle, but the diesel will doubtless feel faster in normal driving as it's got twice as much torque.

The diesel will do more than feel faster, it will be faster.

[MajorMantra]

DoubleD said:

The diesel will do more than feel faster, it will be faster.

Not disputing that, but my point was that while the power figures on paper are similar (identical, I think, for the years in question), the two cars will drive quite differently.

I have an N52 engined 3-series and I like it a lot, but it's not what everyone's after.

[DoubleD]

MajorMantra said:

DoubleD said:

The diesel will do more than feel faster, it will be faster.

Not disputing that, but my point was that while the power figures on paper are similar (identical, I think, for the years in question), the two cars will drive quite differently.

I have an N52 engined 3-series and I like it a lot, but it's not what everyone's after.

The 530d has more bhp and torque than the 525i.

Edit

Twice as much torque and an extra 26 bhp

Edited by DoubleD on Saturday 2nd February 18:07

[MajorMantra]

DoubleD said:

The 530d has more bhp and torque than the 525i.

Edit

Twice as much torque and an extra 26 bhp

Edited by DoubleD on Saturday 2nd February 18:07

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_5_Series_(E60)

If it's the N52/N53 petrol (which it may be, as it's a 2005 the OP is talking about), it's 215hp. An earlier 2005 car could be the 188hp M54 however.

The 2004 530d (again, per the OP) is also 215hp.

[DoubleD]

Yep I stand corrected. But the diesel still accelerates faster. So its more than just a feel that its faster. Or real world....what ever that is. It just is faster, if that matters to the OP.

[Big GT]

Both engines are great. I've had a 2.5 petrol and 3.0d at similar mileages before and both engines feel smooth and just run in.

The 3.0 is quicker. Based on your travel description you would will probably get around 35mpg

The 2.5 sounds better, smoother and you will get mid to late 20's. But considering petrol is around and over 10p cheaper than diesel this wont be a big gap.

Go for the 2.5, it will be better for city driving and maintenance cost. Its also one of the all time great engines that we cant get anymore.