My first BMW that isn't an M5 - G30 530i M Sport
Discussion
I sold my CLS 350 CDI a few weeks ago and have been using my E60 M5 as a daily since, which has been interesting. I needed a new daily and decided that I really liked the look of the G30 M Sport cars.
Initially I was looking at 530e's, but concerns around the hybrid system and battery put me off. Lack of boot space and the fact many are low spec and don't have folding rear seats also put me off. I then thought about a 520i or maybe a diesel, though I don't really do the mileage for a diesel. I considered other cars, like a Volvo S90, and I was very tempted to go look at one, but I had concerns around the Sensus system and everything being on the touch screen. I prefer buttons and knobs (ooer).
To that end, a 530i M Sport in Sophisto Grey Xirallic popped up which had 1 owner but slightly high miles. I decided it was worth a look.
The spec includes:
Comfort access
360 camera
Blind spot assist
Radar cruise
Park assist
Head up display
Gesture control
Through load rear seats
Collision alert
Steering assist / lane assist
Display key
The 1st owner certainly ticked a few options boxes!
First and second impressions are really good. It drives nicely, is quiet, everything works and looks to have been fairly well looked after.
I don't really have too many plans for it other than to run it and keep on top of it. It's the perfect car for my needs and ticked all my boxes, and some!
Initially I was looking at 530e's, but concerns around the hybrid system and battery put me off. Lack of boot space and the fact many are low spec and don't have folding rear seats also put me off. I then thought about a 520i or maybe a diesel, though I don't really do the mileage for a diesel. I considered other cars, like a Volvo S90, and I was very tempted to go look at one, but I had concerns around the Sensus system and everything being on the touch screen. I prefer buttons and knobs (ooer).
To that end, a 530i M Sport in Sophisto Grey Xirallic popped up which had 1 owner but slightly high miles. I decided it was worth a look.
The spec includes:
Comfort access
360 camera
Blind spot assist
Radar cruise
Park assist
Head up display
Gesture control
Through load rear seats
Collision alert
Steering assist / lane assist
Display key
The 1st owner certainly ticked a few options boxes!
First and second impressions are really good. It drives nicely, is quiet, everything works and looks to have been fairly well looked after.
I don't really have too many plans for it other than to run it and keep on top of it. It's the perfect car for my needs and ticked all my boxes, and some!
stevemcs said:
The 2.0 petrol is a great engine, they have decent low down shove, they are quiet and pretty good on fuel.
I averaged just under 40mpg on the way home, which I thought was ok, if not blistering. But the fuel is about 25p a litre less than diesel at the moment (unleaded) and around 15p a litre less for super unleaded (which is what I plan to run it on) so it'll be good. It's around town were I am hoping to see the big benefits. My memory is a bit rusty on this but is the high spec and 'YA' reg an indication it was initially BMW fleet / dealer demo? My wife worked for a BMW retailer around that time and had some really nicely specced company cars. I remember driving a G30 530d not long after they came out and was seriously impressed with it. Great cars, and are starting to look very good value.
CMTMB said:
My memory is a bit rusty on this but is the high spec and 'YA' reg an indication it was initially BMW fleet / dealer demo? My wife worked for a BMW retailer around that time and had some really nicely specced company cars. I remember driving a G30 530d not long after they came out and was seriously impressed with it. Great cars, and are starting to look very good value.
Yep, quite probably- could also be through BMWs employee/affiliate lease scheme ('Alphabet'), as my old E82 125i was. The giveaway will be if the pre-delivery inspection was done by BMW UK in Thorne- quite easy to know with a stamped service book but not sure how you tell with the digital service history on the iDrive! Sometimes it'll also mean the car started life out as a hire car, as the rental firms tend to buy direct from BMW UK but (in my experience) they never have any options on beyond the M-Sport packs and occasionally some nice wheels, so I wouldn't worry about OP's car (with such a high spec) being of that ilk.Lovely car OP, I really like this gen of 5 Series and would take it over the current model every day of the week. Having driven a lot of the newer iDrive 8 and onwards cars, this era in my view was a bit of a sweet spot in terms of having all the modern tech but still having proper buttons and a good user interface.
TheAngryDog said:
I averaged just under 40mpg on the way home, which I thought was ok, if not blistering. But the fuel is about 25p a litre less than diesel at the moment (unleaded) and around 15p a litre less for super unleaded (which is what I plan to run it on) so it'll be good. It's around town were I am hoping to see the big benefits.
My 280 superb won t hit 30 on a run.530i remaps well too .. if your interested in that kind of thing
Googie said:
Nice- great spec-didn t know a display key was a thing. I have the diesel version in the same colour-a 530 is a wonderful thing
Cheers. Yes it is a good spec, just a shame the owner didn't also tick the HBA & IKON headlights box as well as Power boot. Those are nice to haves.Sofa said:
CMTMB said:
My memory is a bit rusty on this but is the high spec and 'YA' reg an indication it was initially BMW fleet / dealer demo? My wife worked for a BMW retailer around that time and had some really nicely specced company cars. I remember driving a G30 530d not long after they came out and was seriously impressed with it. Great cars, and are starting to look very good value.
Yep, quite probably- could also be through BMWs employee/affiliate lease scheme ('Alphabet'), as my old E82 125i was. The giveaway will be if the pre-delivery inspection was done by BMW UK in Thorne- quite easy to know with a stamped service book but not sure how you tell with the digital service history on the iDrive! Sometimes it'll also mean the car started life out as a hire car, as the rental firms tend to buy direct from BMW UK but (in my experience) they never have any options on beyond the M-Sport packs and occasionally some nice wheels, so I wouldn't worry about OP's car (with such a high spec) being of that ilk.Lovely car OP, I really like this gen of 5 Series and would take it over the current model every day of the week. Having driven a lot of the newer iDrive 8 and onwards cars, this era in my view was a bit of a sweet spot in terms of having all the modern tech but still having proper buttons and a good user interface.
. I doubt it was a hire car, it has spent most of it's life in and around York and was owned by a DR before me. I am the 2nd official owner. It really is a nice looking car, definitely a sweet spot for BMW. It's comfortable and not crashy. It is a bit wallowy in comfort, but that's not really a surprise!
stevemcs said:
TheAngryDog said:
I averaged just under 40mpg on the way home, which I thought was ok, if not blistering. But the fuel is about 25p a litre less than diesel at the moment (unleaded) and around 15p a litre less for super unleaded (which is what I plan to run it on) so it'll be good. It's around town were I am hoping to see the big benefits.
My 280 superb won t hit 30 on a run.530i remaps well too .. if your interested in that kind of thing
I'm not sure about mapping it tbh, I don't want to compromise the reliability.
danb79 said:
I do like these and they can be had for very good money now too...
This car is the most expensive car I have ever bought! Willber said:
Nice. I fancy one of these or a V90 next. I think the 520i is easily tuneable to 530i power so thats an option too.
V/S90 is a good choice and I flitted between the two. You'll probably find the Volvo is bettered looked after in 90% of scenarios. Everything being behind a touch screen put me off, otherwise I'd have likely gone for the S90.The 520i has a different version of the B48, not as strong internally as the version in the 530i, but still a good engine.
I love the 360 view, it's mega, especially when I am reversing onto my driveway..
I also did some coding via BimmerCode - the car didn't beep when unlocking / locking the car, and I am used to this so had to go enable it in a few places. I also changed the boot up animation for the iDrive and changed the dash clocks.
Before
After
This is the Alpina dash with some tweaks (to include the speed at the top centre of the display. While the car does had head up, my sunglasses filter it out.
My only gripe is that BMW seem to insist on removing the odd numbers from the speedo - I'd love to have a 30 / 50 / 70 mph indicator on there.
Plans?
I am going to get a lip spoiler just to finish the boot lid off. My plan was to keep the car for about a year and then move it on with my E60 M5 and buy and F90 M5. Right now I don't see that happening. I'm going to try and save enough money so I can sell my E60, buy the F90 and keep this as well. It really is that good.
cerb4.5lee said:
My BiL had a 2017 model of this, and I thought it was a lovely thing to drive. Plus the B48 engine felt so much better in it than it did in my F56 Cooper S as well for me.
Enjoy it.
Cheers Lee. The B48 in my wife's F56 is decent enough, but I can feel the extra power and torque in this.Enjoy it.
J4CKO said:
Is that the N55 engine ?
Why would you keep two similar BMW 5 series, wont an M5 do everything this does ?
B48 2.0 i4.Why would you keep two similar BMW 5 series, wont an M5 do everything this does ?
M5 is xDrive, a lot more power and something I can keep nice, rather than doing tip runs etc, like I did on Sunday morning just gone. The alternative is looking at sports cars or a classic.
heisthegaffer said:
Love that key, was thinking the other day itd be useful to have that
It's a bit gimmicky. I haven't really used it and you need a key cover as it doesn't have a key ring on it, or anywhere for it to attach to.NicheMonkey said:
Beel looking at these too, debating on wether it's worth going for the 540i with the B58, I'm not doing much miles and fuel economy doesn't look too bad compared to the smaller engines
I would have preferred a B58, but I couldn't stretch to the £18k+ that they cost for a decent one unfortunately, otherwise I'd have got one.That looks great, and has a good list of options.
I'm stuck in time as I've never had a BMW with an F model designation, never mind a G!
Still the OBC is showing an average of 32.8mpg on my E90 330i which is better than I expected, although being retired I don't have to commute.
Anyway I hope you enjoy it.
I'm stuck in time as I've never had a BMW with an F model designation, never mind a G!
Still the OBC is showing an average of 32.8mpg on my E90 330i which is better than I expected, although being retired I don't have to commute.
Anyway I hope you enjoy it.
Mr Tidy said:
That looks great, and has a good list of options.
I'm stuck in time as I've never had a BMW with an F model designation, never mind a G!
Still the OBC is showing an average of 32.8mpg on my E90 330i which is better than I expected, although being retired I don't have to commute.
Anyway I hope you enjoy it.
Cheers! I managed 37.5mpg on my round trip to work yesterday, which isn't that different to my old CLS, except the fuel is cheaper. I'm stuck in time as I've never had a BMW with an F model designation, never mind a G!
Still the OBC is showing an average of 32.8mpg on my E90 330i which is better than I expected, although being retired I don't have to commute.
Anyway I hope you enjoy it.
This is the modern car I've owned and I should have done it sooner. The steering in comfort / eco is a bit light, but otherwise it's fine.
I'm having the A/C checked today as while it is working, it feels like it could be a bit colder. I've checked the settings in iDrive and they're all set to max coldness.
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