F11 535i Touring
Discussion
I actually looked for one of these nearly a year ago as a replacement for our E61 525i. Well actually an F11 535i or 550i. Neither are that easy to find in the UK and I actually started speaking to importers about bringing one over from Japan. That sort of fizzled out as in all honesty I couldn't really find something I was keen on here or in Japan so I stuck with the 525i until the beginning of this year but it was starting to give us some headaches and I decided to move onto something else. I'd given up finding a BMW that I liked so I bought a B8 S4 Avant. Great all rounder but for some reason neither my wife nor I actually really liked it that much. And they're quite a risky/pricy car to run if you're not that keen. So then an E91 335i with a manual box popped up locally and I snapped that up and sold the Audi. This was all only about 3 months ago.
The 335i is a terrific car to drive but it's fair to say we've had a difficult relationship! I've worked my way through a few issues and the car is now good but during that process I had decided I needed something more robust and also bigger. Years of 5-series owenrship meant that the smaller dimensions of the 3-series actually came as a bit of a shock. With a couple of long family trips looming, I decided to look for a replacement. My short list was really only a Lexus LS460, a Lexus RX450H or another 5 series. The LS appealed massively for it's sheer wafty comfort paired with being a pretty robust device. But, I really needed an estate so I felt that the LS could only ever have been a short term itch scratcher and I've churned through enough cars recently! The RX was a nod to having a practical car with Lexus build but in truth I was never that keen. They don't have the toys of an LS and the looks and CVT never really appealed. It was a sort of head over heart option. But then one evening, a family member popped by with his new F10 535D and it instantly reminded me of my old E39's that I'd loved so much.
That evening, I fired up autotrader and had a look at the F11 options kicking around. I was quite resigned to opting for a 6 cylinder diesel but low and behold a 535i SE was on there with sensible miles and on at £8k. Looking at the ad description, there were no alarm bells but not much mention of any interesting options either. But scrutinising the photos, I started to spot stuff that hadn't been mentioned in the text. Heated Seats. Comfort seats. HUD on/off button. Heated rear seats and an auto tailgate. This was looking promising!
I had a work trip at the other of England later that week so on the way back home, I called in to have a look. The lady selling it had recently acquired it from her BIL who'd owned it from new. She needed a car to run her garden business and the 5 series wasn't necessarily ideal so she was going to buy something van shaped instead. In the flesh, the car was a bit scruffy inside and out but it drove nicely despite still being on a set of winter run flats. Nothing major on the bodywork but the rear bumper has clearly had a knock at some point. Best thing of all, I noticed that it had a pan sunroof. I know these can be a liability on older cars but I absolutely love letting some light in. I also discovered a pro-nav screen, comfort access and adaptive headlights with auto main beam. Full service history exclusively with Tring BMW from new.
I didn't do a deal there and then as I was worried I'd arrive home to divorce papers if I bought yet another car but the other half got on-board so I made arrangements to collect a week later.
The car would still be on winters but came with a set of summer tyres (no wheels) too. But actually what I really wanted was a set of cross climate 2's on there having become a big fan of them on our family cars. I found a set of BMW style 328 wheels on ebay that matched those on the car and they were shod with nearly new CC2's. And they would be only a small diversion to collect on my way back from collecting the car. Result! I also made plans to meet up with Fermit from this Parish to drop off a carplay screen for him for the E91.
First issue collecting the car was that it didn't have a locking wheel nut key present. Arrrrgh. Not a disaster as the locking bolts all matched and looked to be original so I knew I could get a replacement easily enough but not a great start. I also found out a few miles into my journey that the interior had a strong aroma coming off it! I sort of assumed it was from gardening muck but it smelt a lot like animal pee (more of that later!). Otherwise the car was great though I massively underestimated how much room 4 tyres and 4 tyre shod wheels would take up in the car! I ended up with a tyre on the passenger seat for most of the journey home.
Quick meet up with Fermit on the M1.
My first passenger in the car was a 245 run flat.
Because it's 7 mates filled the rest of the car!
Back home I discovered the source of the pee smell when I started unloading tyres and a load of what I assume to be dog piss sloshed out of one of them. Oops.
My garage was now looking like a branch of kwikfit. There are 5 other loose wheels in there not in shot! Must get rid of some of these soon!
The first TLC the car got was a really thorough interior clean. There was little sign it had ever been cleaned. Loads of muck in all the little gaps and under the boot floor etc but it all came up brilliantly.
I haven't gone mad on the exterior but it did get a good clean and quick once over with polish and wax.
Problems? Well not really, it seems great! The only thing I've had to deal with is that both n/s comfort access sensors were going a bit mad so I disconnected them both. I'd need to get new door handles to properly fix this and tbh, I probably won't bother as I'm just not sure it matters. I probably will eventually replace the rear bumper but can live with it for a while.
The car is lovely to drive. Comfort seats are utterly fantastic and SE suspension suits me down to the ground. I know VDC would have been the ideal but I probably wouldn't welcome the extra bork potential there and SE suits me better than msport I think. The car has plenty of go though it's amazing how different this car feels to my 335i. The 335i is the older N54 and is remapped, manual and I guess a fair bit lighter and it feels massively faster than the 5 but the 5 has a lovely effortless, muscularity about it and frankly has more than sufficient oomph for family transport.
Plans? I have ordered an andream unit to replace the screen so that I have carplay as well as the original idrive stuff. I'll get the gearbox serviced before the end of the year. I've fitted my CC2's now so I have about 400 wheels to sell. It's off to France next week too which I'm really looking forward to.
Very, very happy with this thing so far.
The 335i is a terrific car to drive but it's fair to say we've had a difficult relationship! I've worked my way through a few issues and the car is now good but during that process I had decided I needed something more robust and also bigger. Years of 5-series owenrship meant that the smaller dimensions of the 3-series actually came as a bit of a shock. With a couple of long family trips looming, I decided to look for a replacement. My short list was really only a Lexus LS460, a Lexus RX450H or another 5 series. The LS appealed massively for it's sheer wafty comfort paired with being a pretty robust device. But, I really needed an estate so I felt that the LS could only ever have been a short term itch scratcher and I've churned through enough cars recently! The RX was a nod to having a practical car with Lexus build but in truth I was never that keen. They don't have the toys of an LS and the looks and CVT never really appealed. It was a sort of head over heart option. But then one evening, a family member popped by with his new F10 535D and it instantly reminded me of my old E39's that I'd loved so much.
That evening, I fired up autotrader and had a look at the F11 options kicking around. I was quite resigned to opting for a 6 cylinder diesel but low and behold a 535i SE was on there with sensible miles and on at £8k. Looking at the ad description, there were no alarm bells but not much mention of any interesting options either. But scrutinising the photos, I started to spot stuff that hadn't been mentioned in the text. Heated Seats. Comfort seats. HUD on/off button. Heated rear seats and an auto tailgate. This was looking promising!
I had a work trip at the other of England later that week so on the way back home, I called in to have a look. The lady selling it had recently acquired it from her BIL who'd owned it from new. She needed a car to run her garden business and the 5 series wasn't necessarily ideal so she was going to buy something van shaped instead. In the flesh, the car was a bit scruffy inside and out but it drove nicely despite still being on a set of winter run flats. Nothing major on the bodywork but the rear bumper has clearly had a knock at some point. Best thing of all, I noticed that it had a pan sunroof. I know these can be a liability on older cars but I absolutely love letting some light in. I also discovered a pro-nav screen, comfort access and adaptive headlights with auto main beam. Full service history exclusively with Tring BMW from new.
I didn't do a deal there and then as I was worried I'd arrive home to divorce papers if I bought yet another car but the other half got on-board so I made arrangements to collect a week later.
The car would still be on winters but came with a set of summer tyres (no wheels) too. But actually what I really wanted was a set of cross climate 2's on there having become a big fan of them on our family cars. I found a set of BMW style 328 wheels on ebay that matched those on the car and they were shod with nearly new CC2's. And they would be only a small diversion to collect on my way back from collecting the car. Result! I also made plans to meet up with Fermit from this Parish to drop off a carplay screen for him for the E91.
First issue collecting the car was that it didn't have a locking wheel nut key present. Arrrrgh. Not a disaster as the locking bolts all matched and looked to be original so I knew I could get a replacement easily enough but not a great start. I also found out a few miles into my journey that the interior had a strong aroma coming off it! I sort of assumed it was from gardening muck but it smelt a lot like animal pee (more of that later!). Otherwise the car was great though I massively underestimated how much room 4 tyres and 4 tyre shod wheels would take up in the car! I ended up with a tyre on the passenger seat for most of the journey home.
Quick meet up with Fermit on the M1.
My first passenger in the car was a 245 run flat.
Because it's 7 mates filled the rest of the car!
Back home I discovered the source of the pee smell when I started unloading tyres and a load of what I assume to be dog piss sloshed out of one of them. Oops.
My garage was now looking like a branch of kwikfit. There are 5 other loose wheels in there not in shot! Must get rid of some of these soon!
The first TLC the car got was a really thorough interior clean. There was little sign it had ever been cleaned. Loads of muck in all the little gaps and under the boot floor etc but it all came up brilliantly.
I haven't gone mad on the exterior but it did get a good clean and quick once over with polish and wax.
Problems? Well not really, it seems great! The only thing I've had to deal with is that both n/s comfort access sensors were going a bit mad so I disconnected them both. I'd need to get new door handles to properly fix this and tbh, I probably won't bother as I'm just not sure it matters. I probably will eventually replace the rear bumper but can live with it for a while.
The car is lovely to drive. Comfort seats are utterly fantastic and SE suspension suits me down to the ground. I know VDC would have been the ideal but I probably wouldn't welcome the extra bork potential there and SE suits me better than msport I think. The car has plenty of go though it's amazing how different this car feels to my 335i. The 335i is the older N54 and is remapped, manual and I guess a fair bit lighter and it feels massively faster than the 5 but the 5 has a lovely effortless, muscularity about it and frankly has more than sufficient oomph for family transport.
Plans? I have ordered an andream unit to replace the screen so that I have carplay as well as the original idrive stuff. I'll get the gearbox serviced before the end of the year. I've fitted my CC2's now so I have about 400 wheels to sell. It's off to France next week too which I'm really looking forward to.
Very, very happy with this thing so far.
Edited by Gad-Westy on Saturday 22 July 21:02
A couple of other absolutely fascinating things I forgot to mention. Firstly the wood trim had a couple of scuffs in prominent positions on the front cup holder cover and ash tray. As an experiment I gave them a quick polish with a pad mounted in a cordless drill. Came up bloody brilliant!
Before
After
Another thing bugging me was how mucky it was under the bonnet. First world problem I know! Quite interesting how neat BMW have packaged this engine and it's gubbins. There's quite a bit of space around it. The N54 in the E91 barely has an inch to spare.
Before
After
To France proof the car, I've also stuck my telepeage transponder to the windscreen and put a UK badged plate on as I hate stickers.
One backward step from the E61 is the total lack of spare wheel or anywhere to put one. Having experimented with keeping a space saver in the E91 and finding it a total nuisance, I need a better solution for this car as I'm now on non run-flat Michelins. I do have a goop kit and a compressor as a last resort but I think I'll pick up a plug kit too.
Before
After
Another thing bugging me was how mucky it was under the bonnet. First world problem I know! Quite interesting how neat BMW have packaged this engine and it's gubbins. There's quite a bit of space around it. The N54 in the E91 barely has an inch to spare.
Before
After
To France proof the car, I've also stuck my telepeage transponder to the windscreen and put a UK badged plate on as I hate stickers.
One backward step from the E61 is the total lack of spare wheel or anywhere to put one. Having experimented with keeping a space saver in the E91 and finding it a total nuisance, I need a better solution for this car as I'm now on non run-flat Michelins. I do have a goop kit and a compressor as a last resort but I think I'll pick up a plug kit too.
Edited by Gad-Westy on Saturday 22 July 21:03
As a spare wheel solution, at least keep one wheel and tyre at home in the garage - if you find you wake up to a slow puncture you have that to keep you mobile.
Well done finding a 535i Touring, anyway. I snapped mine up in 2015 because they were rare but would rather have had an SE with comfort seats than the MSport, which is probably a large part of why I kept it less than 2 years.
Well done finding a 535i Touring, anyway. I snapped mine up in 2015 because they were rare but would rather have had an SE with comfort seats than the MSport, which is probably a large part of why I kept it less than 2 years.
Court_S said:
That looks grand. The F11 is a good looking car and the interior is a big step up from a 3 in terms of quality.
Cheers. It is nice inside and I must admit in terms of general comfort it's way better than my e91. On the flip side, the E91 is miles more engaging if you're in the mood. I think though, the 5 suits my usage much better. Felt like getting back into an old friend (ooo er!) as soon as I sit in it. Jobbo said:
As a spare wheel solution, at least keep one wheel and tyre at home in the garage - if you find you wake up to a slow puncture you have that to keep you mobile.
Well done finding a 535i Touring, anyway. I snapped mine up in 2015 because they were rare but would rather have had an SE with comfort seats than the MSport, which is probably a large part of why I kept it less than 2 years.
Keeping a single wheel might be a good idea actually. Though probably not one of the current lot as it's probably easier for me to flog a complete set then find a single spare later on. I have ordered a stringy plug kit this afternoon as well so that I at least have a fighting chance of dealing with a puncture far from home. It's a bit annoying actually as it doesn't look like it would have been an enormous effort for BMW to have incorporated a spare wheel well. The battery sits there on these (same as saloon I think) but it has loads of room around it but it's not useful storage space. Comfort seats are superb. I had them on the E61 as well so I was very keen to have them again on an F11 but was prepared to forgo them for the right car. Got lucky here. Well done finding a 535i Touring, anyway. I snapped mine up in 2015 because they were rare but would rather have had an SE with comfort seats than the MSport, which is probably a large part of why I kept it less than 2 years.
TurboRob said:
That does look good.
Do the F10/F11’s suffer from rust or corrosion anywhere? I had several e39s which were let down by this.
It looks pretty damn clean everywhere. I know what you mean regarding E39's. I had a couple that both started to go the boot lid and sills and an E46 that was bad on all 4 arches. I think BMW made huge improvements in the mid 2000's though. My E91's rear arches are starting to but everything else is very clean. The F11 looks squeaky clean everywhere though I haven't gone right under it yet. Do the F10/F11’s suffer from rust or corrosion anywhere? I had several e39s which were let down by this.
Nick1876 said:
I’ve been looking at the F10/F11 for the last few months.
Budgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
I'm not in a great position to advise having not really looked for one for very long. But all I would say is that if you're not too fussed on saloon vs estate or petrol vs diesel, there seems to be far better value to be had in saloon diesels. I didn't pay much over your budget for this one but I can't honestly recall seeing any other sub £10k 535i tourings so I think I probably just got lucky with timing. Budgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
Nick1876 said:
I’ve been looking at the F10/F11 for the last few months.
Budgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
For £7k you'll get a good saloon; but not as good a touringBudgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
IMO save more if you can, around £10k you'll get a really decent example of either. £7k is quite low; more so as it'll more than likely need some work at that price level, unless you can find one that's been well looked after with paperwork to back it up etc
Gad-Westy said:
I actually looked for one of these nearly a year ago as a replacement for our E61 525i. Well actually an F11 535i or 550i. Neither are that easy to find in the UK and I actually started speaking to importers about bringing one over from Japan. That sort of fizzled out as in all honesty I couldn't really find something I was keen on here or in Japan so I stuck with the 525i until the beginning of this year but it was starting to give us some headaches and I decided to move onto something else. I'd given up finding a BMW that I liked so I bought a B8 S4 Avant. Great all rounder but for some reason neither my wife nor I actually really liked it that much. And they're quite a risky/pricy car to run if you're not that keen. So then an E91 335i with a manual box popped up locally and I snapped that up and sold the Audi. This was all only about 3 months ago.
The 335i is a terrific car to drive but it's fair to say we've had a difficult relationship! I've worked my way through a few issues and the car is now good but during that process I had decided I needed something more robust and also bigger. Years of 5-series owenrship meant that the smaller dimensions of the 3-series actually came as a bit of a shock. With a couple of long family trips looming, I decided to look for a replacement. My short list was really only a Lexus LS460, a Lexus RX450H or another 5 series. The LS appealed massively for it's sheer wafty comfort paired with being a pretty robust device. But, I really needed an estate so I felt that the LS could only ever have been a short term itch scratcher and I've churned through enough cars recently! The RX was a nod to having a practical car with Lexus build but in truth I was never that keen. They don't have the toys of an LS and the looks and CVT never really appealed. It was a sort of head over heart option. But then one evening, a family member popped by with his new F10 535D and it instantly reminded me of my old E39's that I'd loved so much.
That evening, I fired up autotrader and had a look at the F11 options kicking around. I was quite resigned to opting for a 6 cylinder diesel but low and behold a 535i SE was on there with sensible miles and on at £8k. Looking at the ad description, there were no alarm bells but not much mention of any interesting options either. But scrutinising the photos, I started to spot stuff that hadn't been mentioned in the text. Heated Seats. Comfort seats. HUD on/off button. Heated rear seats and an auto tailgate. This was looking promising!
I had a work trip at the other of England later that week so on the way back home, I called in to have a look. The lady selling it had recently acquired it from her BIL who'd owned it from new. She needed a car to run her garden business and the 5 series wasn't necessarily ideal so she was going to buy something van shaped instead. In the flesh, the car was a bit scruffy inside and out but it drove nicely despite still being on a set of winter run flats. Nothing major on the bodywork but the rear bumper has clearly had a knock at some point. Best thing of all, I noticed that it had a pan sunroof. I know these can be a liability on older cars but I absolutely love letting some light in. I also discovered a pro-nav screen, comfort access and adaptive headlights with auto main beam. Full service history exclusively with Tring BMW from new.
I didn't do a deal there and then as I was worried I'd arrive home to divorce papers if I bought yet another car but the other half got on-board so I made arrangements to collect a week later.
The car would still be on winters but came with a set of summer tyres (no wheels) too. But actually what I really wanted was a set of cross climate 2's on there having become a big fan of them on our family cars. I found a set of BMW style 328 wheels on ebay that matched those on the car and they were shod with nearly new CC2's. And they would be only a small diversion to collect on my way back from collecting the car. Result! I also made plans to meet up with Fermit from this Parish to drop off a carplay screen for him for the E91.
First issue collecting the car was that it didn't have a locking wheel nut key present. Arrrrgh. Not a disaster as the locking bolts all matched and looked to be original so I knew I could get a replacement easily enough but not a great start. I also found out a few miles into my journey that the interior had a strong aroma coming off it! I sort of assumed it was from gardening muck but it smelt a lot like animal pee (more of that later!). Otherwise the car was great though I massively underestimated how much room 4 tyres and 4 tyre shod wheels would take up in the car! I ended up with a tyre on the passenger seat for most of the journey home.
Quick meet up with Fermit on the M1.
My first passenger in the car was a 245 run flat.
Because it's 7 mates filled the rest of the car!
Back home I discovered the source of the pee smell when I started unloading tyres and a load of what I assume to be dog piss sloshed out of one of them. Oops.
My garage was now looking like a branch of kwikfit. There are 5 other loose wheels in there not in shot! Must get rid of some of these soon!
The first TLC the car got was a really thorough interior clean. There was little sign it had ever been cleaned. Loads of muck in all the little gaps and under the boot floor etc but it all came up brilliantly.
I haven't gone mad on the exterior but it did get a good clean and quick once over with polish and wax.
Problems? Well not really, it seems great! The only thing I've had to deal with is that both n/s comfort access sensors were going a bit mad so I disconnected them both. I'd need to get new door handles to properly fix this and tbh, I probably won't bother as I'm just not sure it matters. I probably will eventually replace the rear bumper but can live with it for a while.
The car is lovely to drive. Comfort seats are utterly fantastic and SE suspension suits me down to the ground. I know VDC would have been the ideal but I probably wouldn't welcome the extra bork potential there and SE suits me better than msport I think. The car has plenty of go though it's amazing how different this car feels to my 335i. The 335i is the older N54 and is remapped, manual and I guess a fair bit lighter and it feels massively faster than the 5 but the 5 has a lovely effortless, muscularity about it and frankly has more than sufficient oomph for family transport.
Plans? I have ordered an andream unit to replace the screen so that I have carplay as well as the original idrive stuff. I'll get the gearbox serviced before the end of the year. I've fitted my CC2's now so I have about 400 wheels to sell. It's off to France next week too which I'm really looking forward to.
Very, very happy with this thing so far.
That's a cracking car all in...The 335i is a terrific car to drive but it's fair to say we've had a difficult relationship! I've worked my way through a few issues and the car is now good but during that process I had decided I needed something more robust and also bigger. Years of 5-series owenrship meant that the smaller dimensions of the 3-series actually came as a bit of a shock. With a couple of long family trips looming, I decided to look for a replacement. My short list was really only a Lexus LS460, a Lexus RX450H or another 5 series. The LS appealed massively for it's sheer wafty comfort paired with being a pretty robust device. But, I really needed an estate so I felt that the LS could only ever have been a short term itch scratcher and I've churned through enough cars recently! The RX was a nod to having a practical car with Lexus build but in truth I was never that keen. They don't have the toys of an LS and the looks and CVT never really appealed. It was a sort of head over heart option. But then one evening, a family member popped by with his new F10 535D and it instantly reminded me of my old E39's that I'd loved so much.
That evening, I fired up autotrader and had a look at the F11 options kicking around. I was quite resigned to opting for a 6 cylinder diesel but low and behold a 535i SE was on there with sensible miles and on at £8k. Looking at the ad description, there were no alarm bells but not much mention of any interesting options either. But scrutinising the photos, I started to spot stuff that hadn't been mentioned in the text. Heated Seats. Comfort seats. HUD on/off button. Heated rear seats and an auto tailgate. This was looking promising!
I had a work trip at the other of England later that week so on the way back home, I called in to have a look. The lady selling it had recently acquired it from her BIL who'd owned it from new. She needed a car to run her garden business and the 5 series wasn't necessarily ideal so she was going to buy something van shaped instead. In the flesh, the car was a bit scruffy inside and out but it drove nicely despite still being on a set of winter run flats. Nothing major on the bodywork but the rear bumper has clearly had a knock at some point. Best thing of all, I noticed that it had a pan sunroof. I know these can be a liability on older cars but I absolutely love letting some light in. I also discovered a pro-nav screen, comfort access and adaptive headlights with auto main beam. Full service history exclusively with Tring BMW from new.
I didn't do a deal there and then as I was worried I'd arrive home to divorce papers if I bought yet another car but the other half got on-board so I made arrangements to collect a week later.
The car would still be on winters but came with a set of summer tyres (no wheels) too. But actually what I really wanted was a set of cross climate 2's on there having become a big fan of them on our family cars. I found a set of BMW style 328 wheels on ebay that matched those on the car and they were shod with nearly new CC2's. And they would be only a small diversion to collect on my way back from collecting the car. Result! I also made plans to meet up with Fermit from this Parish to drop off a carplay screen for him for the E91.
First issue collecting the car was that it didn't have a locking wheel nut key present. Arrrrgh. Not a disaster as the locking bolts all matched and looked to be original so I knew I could get a replacement easily enough but not a great start. I also found out a few miles into my journey that the interior had a strong aroma coming off it! I sort of assumed it was from gardening muck but it smelt a lot like animal pee (more of that later!). Otherwise the car was great though I massively underestimated how much room 4 tyres and 4 tyre shod wheels would take up in the car! I ended up with a tyre on the passenger seat for most of the journey home.
Quick meet up with Fermit on the M1.
My first passenger in the car was a 245 run flat.
Because it's 7 mates filled the rest of the car!
Back home I discovered the source of the pee smell when I started unloading tyres and a load of what I assume to be dog piss sloshed out of one of them. Oops.
My garage was now looking like a branch of kwikfit. There are 5 other loose wheels in there not in shot! Must get rid of some of these soon!
The first TLC the car got was a really thorough interior clean. There was little sign it had ever been cleaned. Loads of muck in all the little gaps and under the boot floor etc but it all came up brilliantly.
I haven't gone mad on the exterior but it did get a good clean and quick once over with polish and wax.
Problems? Well not really, it seems great! The only thing I've had to deal with is that both n/s comfort access sensors were going a bit mad so I disconnected them both. I'd need to get new door handles to properly fix this and tbh, I probably won't bother as I'm just not sure it matters. I probably will eventually replace the rear bumper but can live with it for a while.
The car is lovely to drive. Comfort seats are utterly fantastic and SE suspension suits me down to the ground. I know VDC would have been the ideal but I probably wouldn't welcome the extra bork potential there and SE suits me better than msport I think. The car has plenty of go though it's amazing how different this car feels to my 335i. The 335i is the older N54 and is remapped, manual and I guess a fair bit lighter and it feels massively faster than the 5 but the 5 has a lovely effortless, muscularity about it and frankly has more than sufficient oomph for family transport.
Plans? I have ordered an andream unit to replace the screen so that I have carplay as well as the original idrive stuff. I'll get the gearbox serviced before the end of the year. I've fitted my CC2's now so I have about 400 wheels to sell. It's off to France next week too which I'm really looking forward to.
Very, very happy with this thing so far.
Edited by Gad-Westy on Saturday 22 July 21:02
I really wanted an F11 535i but couldn't find one for love nor money... A few Jap import ones came available but I felt they were very pricey; more so as they'd had nothing done to them to be prepped for the UK. market etc
There is a white one still available that's been for sale since last Nov/Dec... Price is still too high!
That's why I'd sort of settled on a UK 530D instead, until I test drove a few local F31s and that changed my mind again
Enjoy the France road trip; it's an ideal car for it!
d_a_n1979 said:
Nick1876 said:
I’ve been looking at the F10/F11 for the last few months.
Budgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
For £7k you'll get a good saloon; but not as good a touringBudgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
IMO save more if you can, around £10k you'll get a really decent example of either. £7k is quite low; more so as it'll more than likely need some work at that price level, unless you can find one that's been well looked after with paperwork to back it up etc
I’ve seen this one that looks good for the money and fairly local, but I’m not in a big rush so can easily keep saving until I’m up to the 10k for a really sorted one.
A saloon diesel is also my preference as my daily commute is M25 then A10 so a petrol would just cost more to run and give no real performance advantage on these roads.
Nick1876 said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Nick1876 said:
I’ve been looking at the F10/F11 for the last few months.
Budgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
For £7k you'll get a good saloon; but not as good a touringBudgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
IMO save more if you can, around £10k you'll get a really decent example of either. £7k is quite low; more so as it'll more than likely need some work at that price level, unless you can find one that's been well looked after with paperwork to back it up etc
I’ve seen this one that looks good for the money and fairly local, but I’m not in a big rush so can easily keep saving until I’m up to the 10k for a really sorted one.
A saloon diesel is also my preference as my daily commute is M25 then A10 so a petrol would just cost more to run and give no real performance advantage on these roads.
But; I'll also say that the N47 twin turbo in our F31 325D is a superb engine and more than enough power; it shifts well enough; but it is a smaller/lighter car...
i had a 2011 F01 730D and the N57 in that was a belter; I was worried that a 4 pot diesel would be a let down, but it isn't in the 325D. I wasn't keen on the 320Ds we test drove though in all honesty; the 325D does make a good difference in power & performance
d_a_n1979 said:
Nick1876 said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Nick1876 said:
I’ve been looking at the F10/F11 for the last few months.
Budgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
For £7k you'll get a good saloon; but not as good a touringBudgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
IMO save more if you can, around £10k you'll get a really decent example of either. £7k is quite low; more so as it'll more than likely need some work at that price level, unless you can find one that's been well looked after with paperwork to back it up etc
I’ve seen this one that looks good for the money and fairly local, but I’m not in a big rush so can easily keep saving until I’m up to the 10k for a really sorted one.
A saloon diesel is also my preference as my daily commute is M25 then A10 so a petrol would just cost more to run and give no real performance advantage on these roads.
But; I'll also say that the N47 twin turbo in our F31 325D is a superb engine and more than enough power; it shifts well enough; but it is a smaller/lighter car...
i had a 2011 F01 730D and the N57 in that was a belter; I was worried that a 4 pot diesel would be a let down, but it isn't in the 325D. I wasn't keen on the 320Ds we test drove though in all honesty; the 325D does make a good difference in power & performance
Although I’ll be upgrading from a 2008 Mazda 2 diesel, so anything will seem quick compared to it and ride quality will be another level altogether I’m sure.
Nick1876 said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Nick1876 said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Nick1876 said:
I’ve been looking at the F10/F11 for the last few months.
Budgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
For £7k you'll get a good saloon; but not as good a touringBudgets up to 7k currently so just deciding whether to get the best I can for the money, probably 10/11/12 plate, or carry on saving for a slightly newer one.
IMO save more if you can, around £10k you'll get a really decent example of either. £7k is quite low; more so as it'll more than likely need some work at that price level, unless you can find one that's been well looked after with paperwork to back it up etc
I’ve seen this one that looks good for the money and fairly local, but I’m not in a big rush so can easily keep saving until I’m up to the 10k for a really sorted one.
A saloon diesel is also my preference as my daily commute is M25 then A10 so a petrol would just cost more to run and give no real performance advantage on these roads.
But; I'll also say that the N47 twin turbo in our F31 325D is a superb engine and more than enough power; it shifts well enough; but it is a smaller/lighter car...
i had a 2011 F01 730D and the N57 in that was a belter; I was worried that a 4 pot diesel would be a let down, but it isn't in the 325D. I wasn't keen on the 320Ds we test drove though in all honesty; the 325D does make a good difference in power & performance
Although I’ll be upgrading from a 2008 Mazda 2 diesel, so anything will seem quick compared to it and ride quality will be another level altogether I’m sure.
That looks spot on, I think you've found the ultimate real world spec F11. I'd take a 535i over a 550i given the huge potential cost of running the twin turbo V8 with the hot V. Much prefer petrol to diesel as it's just nicer and no hassle with ULEZ, city centre bans etc. And I agree that SE spec makes a lot of sense in a 5 series. I don't really get the point of M Sport suspension in a car that's never really going to be that exciting to drive due to its weight and footprint on the road. Even on a 3 series there is a case to be made for SE suspension, but they're nearly non existent in the more powerful models.
As a current E91 335i owner who has totally bought into the practically of a Touring I think you have the only car I'd choose to replace mine. If you ever come across another the same let me know
The part about the dog piss was hilarious, although I bet it didn't seem like it at the time!
As a current E91 335i owner who has totally bought into the practically of a Touring I think you have the only car I'd choose to replace mine. If you ever come across another the same let me know
The part about the dog piss was hilarious, although I bet it didn't seem like it at the time!
TurboRob said:
That does look good.
Do the F10/F11’s suffer from rust or corrosion anywhere? I had several e39s which were let down by this.
The only corrosion they suffer from is on the door corners at the top edges. It's minor, pretty much just cosmetic.Do the F10/F11’s suffer from rust or corrosion anywhere? I had several e39s which were let down by this.
Google f10 yellow grommet as they cause a big leak if not sorted.
d_a_n1979 said:
That's a cracking car all in...
I really wanted an F11 535i but couldn't find one for love nor money... A few Jap import ones came available but I felt they were very pricey; more so as they'd had nothing done to them to be prepped for the UK. market etc
There is a white one still available that's been for sale since last Nov/Dec... Price is still too high!
That's why I'd sort of settled on a UK 530D instead, until I test drove a few local F31s and that changed my mind again
Enjoy the France road trip; it's an ideal car for it!
Cheers. I must admit, I think I'd have been quite happy with a 530d or 535d. I'm not really a diesel person but they're nice smooth, potent lumps and suit these cars well. Just got lucky finding a petrol one I think. Should be lovely for France. The ride is already feeling much improved on the Cross Climates 2 too though I didn't find it terrible on the run flats but you could tell that the primary ride is slightly compromised. I really wanted an F11 535i but couldn't find one for love nor money... A few Jap import ones came available but I felt they were very pricey; more so as they'd had nothing done to them to be prepped for the UK. market etc
There is a white one still available that's been for sale since last Nov/Dec... Price is still too high!
That's why I'd sort of settled on a UK 530D instead, until I test drove a few local F31s and that changed my mind again
Enjoy the France road trip; it's an ideal car for it!
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