Winter comfy car: BMW 525d
Discussion
Although I buy and sell a lot of cars (some professionally, some just for my own amusement) I rarely (as in never) post about them here. However, inspired by some others I regularly follow who buy things even I’m not brave enough to buy (e.g. Citroen C6s – although I did go through a phase of Citroen C5 Exclusives – great cars – and glad they’re getting recognition here) I thought I’d tell the story of my winter purchase.
I say winter purchase because I tend to buy some old smoker around November just to get me through to March which doesn’t cost too much and move it on come spring. Last year was a 155k mile Jaguar XF 3.0d (bought for just £2350) which, whilst a little worn in places, I happily did 4 months and 5k in with zero expenditure.
Over the summer I’d been driving a BMW F11 520d which, on the whole, I absolutely hated. Nothing specifically wrong with it, I just didn’t like it. Main reason was that it was a manual which really didn’t suit the car and I wasn’t a big fan of the vague steering and rather lumbering feel. Basically, it drove like a Volvo used to – which is fine, I love Volvos and the way they drive, I just don’t want a BMW to drive like one.
So, with the F11 gone (for a small profit) I’ve been keeping an eye open for something cheap to run around in over winter. Only real requirements for a winter car for me are decent tyres, comfy (ideally heated) seats, good headlamps (xenon or better) and a chance it might get to March without it exploding.
For while it looked like it was going to be a Skoda Superb (which, on the whole are, umm, superb) but I accidently sold it before I got as far as taxing it and putting it on the road. A Jaguar XF turned out to have an oil leak so wasn’t purchased.
Anyway, I always keep an eye on what is coming through the auctions and spotted a 57-reg BMW 525d at Manheim. Obviously, nothing comes through an auction as such these days as they are all on line. This had no mechanical report either so buying blind. It also had no MOT. What appealed was a quick look at the pictures revealed it had the heated comfort seats option, active xenons and hifi sound (the standard E60 setup is so bad you just have to laugh). It even had soft close doors, obviously essential. I’d had a similar age and spec one about 3 years ago which was a nice car. I only got shot when it started dumping coolant into the EGR (common issue) and turned a multistory in Norwich into a sauna one afternoon. I fixed it and sold it on because it had disgraced its self.
I reckoned the Beemer worth a punt at £2k but no more. It had 118k and some vague history. Obviously, I ended up buying the thing for £2250.
So, last week, I find myself in a desolate car park staring at an overpriced BMW with no MOT. There was, it turned out, a reason why it had no MOT. The back tyres were bald. Not low, bald. Even the treadwear indicator had worn away. The condition report had highlighted them as low but what a lunatic the last owner much have been to drive on slick tyres. Sadly, this is not uncommon. On the upside, it started, ran smoothly and went into first and reverse.
Reckon you could get the back end out in the wet with these:
An examination of the paperwork revealed classic BMW pattern. There are two types of BMW owner and this had been in both hands. The first owner had diligently taken it to the BMW dealer every single year for nearly 12 years and handed over what appeared to be £800-£1000 every time for them to vacuum it out or something and it had been their pride and joy until no doubt part exchanging it around 100k. 18 months ago it had been purchased by the second type. They’d covered 18k miles and spent literally zero on it and sold it on once the tyres were so worn they could barely hold air and they’d grown tired of the myriad of messages announcing no washer fluid, a wide array of blown bulbs plus many missed services.
Now, whilst when moving a car I am happy to take a holistic approach to things such as tax and MOT (simply book one with friendly regular garage) I do draw the line at completely bald rear tyres. Fortunately, the E60 from 3 years ago had come with a second set of wheels and winter tyres. I’d been meaning to sell them but never got around to it. I find them in the garage at home still holding air so off we set again with two wheels and tyres and swap them in the car park.
So, now I can at least take to the road slightly less illegally. First impressions are OK – gearchanges are fine (always a big worry with blind auction cars) although whatever tyres are on the front tramline a bit. Seats comfy and work OK. It even has working Bluetooth. Nav doesn’t work and no disc but I subsequently discover the disc in the CD drive (no wonder it won’t work) and swap to the DVD drive has it working (rare on an old E60). Not sure it matters, if you look up the definition of “completely useless” in a dictionary somewhere I’m sure it shows a navigation system built into a 2007 car.
So, after topping up the washers and replacing a few bulbs which drastically reduces the scrolling error messages on the dash it is off for a MOT. Where it promptly fails. Nothing drastic, leaking front shock (which may explain the odd tramline feel) and a wiper blade.
Two days later new shock and wiper blades ordered and ready for retest, albeit with winter tyres on the back and summer on the front. If I get massively enthusiastic, I may swap the other two. I'm even going to go a bit mad and do an oil and filter change to reward the poor old thing. I’m currently just waiting for the garage to get the new MOT issued then I might even tax it.
Several of these calmed the dashboard messages down:
To drive it is odd to be reminded just how old school BMW a E60 is these days and quite different to most current Beemers. Direct steering, hard ride (even on a SE) and they feel small to drive. If you used to think of a E60 as a big car they feel like a Panda in comparison to today’s cars. This is the minor facelift example (LCI to anoraks) so has the 3.0 litre engine with 197bhp. It is no 535d but pulls well and these things are surprisingly good on fuel for their era. They won’t do 50-60mpg like a modern day 520 but can easily top 40mpg and 45ish on a run realistic. As an added bonus, unlike the engine which replaced these the timing chain and tensioner isn’t made of chocolate.
Fault wise I wouldn’t say it drives like new but drives OK (from the limited amount of driving no MOT has allowed). It does have an annoying clonk sometimes when you start it (not always but sometimes). I’ve come across this before and is the gearbox self check. It is a known issue and there is a TSB and software update somewhere to cure it. I suspect it has been there since new but unless the customer complained about it BMW did not apply it.
A mad treat for the poor old thing:
It could also, frankly, do with a decent valet. I haven’t even washed it yet and it still has auction compound mud on it. The cream interior is slightly less cream than when new. Overall condition doesn’t seem so bad, it could really do with a proper polish which I suspect would bring it up nicely. Probably something for the spring.
The lights are excellent, the seats heat very fast and the heater comes on promptly. The stereo is decent and although no USB (it was an option this car does not have) it will at least read MP3s. The phone works too and (incredibly important) the doors pull themselves closed with a satisfying hiss.
It needs a long journey to test properly really but current lockdown means that is not on the horizon so it will be poodling around locally. I’ll keep an eye on the levels and wait patiently for the gearbox to go clonk or something and stop but until it does I’ll run it up to Christmas and maybe through the new year depending on how it goes and whether I get quickly tired of it.
It was, frankly, too much money for a completely blind gamble with no MOT but we seem in a “new normal” at the moment of old cars costing a lot more than they used to. A quick look on Autotrader reveals very little similar for under £4500 and most equivalents have a measly spec so maybe it wasn’t such a bad price after all. After fees, MOT and a bit of work it probably stands me about £2600-2700, it just seems a lot for a 13 year old BMW. I doubt I’ll make on it but if I get my money back in March I’ll be pleased.
The car, as at auction house:
Moderately beige comfy seats:
I say winter purchase because I tend to buy some old smoker around November just to get me through to March which doesn’t cost too much and move it on come spring. Last year was a 155k mile Jaguar XF 3.0d (bought for just £2350) which, whilst a little worn in places, I happily did 4 months and 5k in with zero expenditure.
Over the summer I’d been driving a BMW F11 520d which, on the whole, I absolutely hated. Nothing specifically wrong with it, I just didn’t like it. Main reason was that it was a manual which really didn’t suit the car and I wasn’t a big fan of the vague steering and rather lumbering feel. Basically, it drove like a Volvo used to – which is fine, I love Volvos and the way they drive, I just don’t want a BMW to drive like one.
So, with the F11 gone (for a small profit) I’ve been keeping an eye open for something cheap to run around in over winter. Only real requirements for a winter car for me are decent tyres, comfy (ideally heated) seats, good headlamps (xenon or better) and a chance it might get to March without it exploding.
For while it looked like it was going to be a Skoda Superb (which, on the whole are, umm, superb) but I accidently sold it before I got as far as taxing it and putting it on the road. A Jaguar XF turned out to have an oil leak so wasn’t purchased.
Anyway, I always keep an eye on what is coming through the auctions and spotted a 57-reg BMW 525d at Manheim. Obviously, nothing comes through an auction as such these days as they are all on line. This had no mechanical report either so buying blind. It also had no MOT. What appealed was a quick look at the pictures revealed it had the heated comfort seats option, active xenons and hifi sound (the standard E60 setup is so bad you just have to laugh). It even had soft close doors, obviously essential. I’d had a similar age and spec one about 3 years ago which was a nice car. I only got shot when it started dumping coolant into the EGR (common issue) and turned a multistory in Norwich into a sauna one afternoon. I fixed it and sold it on because it had disgraced its self.
I reckoned the Beemer worth a punt at £2k but no more. It had 118k and some vague history. Obviously, I ended up buying the thing for £2250.
So, last week, I find myself in a desolate car park staring at an overpriced BMW with no MOT. There was, it turned out, a reason why it had no MOT. The back tyres were bald. Not low, bald. Even the treadwear indicator had worn away. The condition report had highlighted them as low but what a lunatic the last owner much have been to drive on slick tyres. Sadly, this is not uncommon. On the upside, it started, ran smoothly and went into first and reverse.
Reckon you could get the back end out in the wet with these:
An examination of the paperwork revealed classic BMW pattern. There are two types of BMW owner and this had been in both hands. The first owner had diligently taken it to the BMW dealer every single year for nearly 12 years and handed over what appeared to be £800-£1000 every time for them to vacuum it out or something and it had been their pride and joy until no doubt part exchanging it around 100k. 18 months ago it had been purchased by the second type. They’d covered 18k miles and spent literally zero on it and sold it on once the tyres were so worn they could barely hold air and they’d grown tired of the myriad of messages announcing no washer fluid, a wide array of blown bulbs plus many missed services.
Now, whilst when moving a car I am happy to take a holistic approach to things such as tax and MOT (simply book one with friendly regular garage) I do draw the line at completely bald rear tyres. Fortunately, the E60 from 3 years ago had come with a second set of wheels and winter tyres. I’d been meaning to sell them but never got around to it. I find them in the garage at home still holding air so off we set again with two wheels and tyres and swap them in the car park.
So, now I can at least take to the road slightly less illegally. First impressions are OK – gearchanges are fine (always a big worry with blind auction cars) although whatever tyres are on the front tramline a bit. Seats comfy and work OK. It even has working Bluetooth. Nav doesn’t work and no disc but I subsequently discover the disc in the CD drive (no wonder it won’t work) and swap to the DVD drive has it working (rare on an old E60). Not sure it matters, if you look up the definition of “completely useless” in a dictionary somewhere I’m sure it shows a navigation system built into a 2007 car.
So, after topping up the washers and replacing a few bulbs which drastically reduces the scrolling error messages on the dash it is off for a MOT. Where it promptly fails. Nothing drastic, leaking front shock (which may explain the odd tramline feel) and a wiper blade.
Two days later new shock and wiper blades ordered and ready for retest, albeit with winter tyres on the back and summer on the front. If I get massively enthusiastic, I may swap the other two. I'm even going to go a bit mad and do an oil and filter change to reward the poor old thing. I’m currently just waiting for the garage to get the new MOT issued then I might even tax it.
Several of these calmed the dashboard messages down:
To drive it is odd to be reminded just how old school BMW a E60 is these days and quite different to most current Beemers. Direct steering, hard ride (even on a SE) and they feel small to drive. If you used to think of a E60 as a big car they feel like a Panda in comparison to today’s cars. This is the minor facelift example (LCI to anoraks) so has the 3.0 litre engine with 197bhp. It is no 535d but pulls well and these things are surprisingly good on fuel for their era. They won’t do 50-60mpg like a modern day 520 but can easily top 40mpg and 45ish on a run realistic. As an added bonus, unlike the engine which replaced these the timing chain and tensioner isn’t made of chocolate.
Fault wise I wouldn’t say it drives like new but drives OK (from the limited amount of driving no MOT has allowed). It does have an annoying clonk sometimes when you start it (not always but sometimes). I’ve come across this before and is the gearbox self check. It is a known issue and there is a TSB and software update somewhere to cure it. I suspect it has been there since new but unless the customer complained about it BMW did not apply it.
A mad treat for the poor old thing:
It could also, frankly, do with a decent valet. I haven’t even washed it yet and it still has auction compound mud on it. The cream interior is slightly less cream than when new. Overall condition doesn’t seem so bad, it could really do with a proper polish which I suspect would bring it up nicely. Probably something for the spring.
The lights are excellent, the seats heat very fast and the heater comes on promptly. The stereo is decent and although no USB (it was an option this car does not have) it will at least read MP3s. The phone works too and (incredibly important) the doors pull themselves closed with a satisfying hiss.
It needs a long journey to test properly really but current lockdown means that is not on the horizon so it will be poodling around locally. I’ll keep an eye on the levels and wait patiently for the gearbox to go clonk or something and stop but until it does I’ll run it up to Christmas and maybe through the new year depending on how it goes and whether I get quickly tired of it.
It was, frankly, too much money for a completely blind gamble with no MOT but we seem in a “new normal” at the moment of old cars costing a lot more than they used to. A quick look on Autotrader reveals very little similar for under £4500 and most equivalents have a measly spec so maybe it wasn’t such a bad price after all. After fees, MOT and a bit of work it probably stands me about £2600-2700, it just seems a lot for a 13 year old BMW. I doubt I’ll make on it but if I get my money back in March I’ll be pleased.
The car, as at auction house:
Moderately beige comfy seats:
S100HP said:
Good write up. BMW historically do little for me, but that looks like a lovely place to sit.
To be honest, me too. Winter before last I spent with a Citroen C5 Exclusive Auto which was more my thing and last year a Jaguar which has a better resolved ride/handling setup than any BMW I have encountered. The Citroen and BMW do have one thing in common though: they both have the rare feature of being able to adjust the top part of the seat backrest independently from the bottom. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff