F11 purchase. Pre-LCI 535i or LCI 528i?

[RiccardoG]

I'm looking for BMW AUC cars and have settled on an F11 as the right balance between price and age (ruled out G31s as too pricey). Looking at changing from my E39 530i T to a newer car. Petrol only.

Two options right now are:

2016 528i £19k
vs
2012 535i £16.5k

Same miles, ~45k.

Heart wants the 6 cyl engine. Heads says this should be an "unobtrusive" family car. The 528i (4cyl) would be cheaper to run (tax / fuel / insurance), is 2x newer and LCI.

Either one would be "keeper" (4rs plus - currently had the E39 for 11 yrs!).

Thinking about this is driving me mad! Opinions??

[Welshbeef]

535i Is a superb unit.

[d_a_n1979]

RiccardoG said:

I'm looking for BMW AUC cars and have settled on an F11 as the right balance between price and age (ruled out G31s as too pricey). Looking at changing from my E39 530i T to a newer car. Petrol only.

Two options right now are:

2016 528i £19k
vs
2012 535i £16.5k

Same miles, ~45k.

Heart wants the 6 cyl engine. Heads says this should be an "unobtrusive" family car. The 528i (4cyl) would be cheaper to run (tax / fuel / insurance), is 2x newer and LCI.

Either one would be "keeper" (4rs plus - currently had the E39 for 11 yrs!).

Thinking about this is driving me mad! Opinions??

Both great cars; but personally I'd want the smoothness of the 6'er and go for the 535i

[325iMSport]

RiccardoG said:

I'm looking for BMW AUC cars and have settled on an F11 as the right balance between price and age (ruled out G31s as too pricey). Looking at changing from my E39 530i T to a newer car. Petrol only.

Two options right now are:

2016 528i £19k
vs
2012 535i £16.5k

Same miles, ~45k.

Heart wants the 6 cyl engine. Heads says this should be an "unobtrusive" family car. The 528i (4cyl) would be cheaper to run (tax / fuel / insurance), is 2x newer and LCI.

Either one would be "keeper" (4rs plus - currently had the E39 for 11 yrs!).

Thinking about this is driving me mad! Opinions??

What's the spec on both cars? That for me will be the deciding factor.

[drdino]

The 528 has decent spec (adaptive suspension, adaptive LEDs) but has the N20 engine... In theory by 2016 they had sorted the timing chains out, but it would niggle me... Not that the N55 can't have issues of its own, but it's probably better. Can't find it on auc though!

[RiccardoG]

I see "heart" is winning!

Here is the 528i

Here is the 535i

In principle the main difference is 528i SE vs 535i MSport. But the 28i has VDC and sports seats, plus I prefer the subdued looks and smaller wheels of the SE anyway.

Slightly prefer spec of the 528i with its heated steering, electric towbar, LED lights and blue colour. Only the nav is smaller 6.5 screen which looks cheap/silly (and no 20Gb storage). But the Nav & screen are not a major issue for me as both are obsolete at this stage.

Probably gladly live with either spec as weekend & EU road trip car, not a daily driver.

Have to agree on N20, despite late build. What a pain that BMW hadn't taken the 30i B48 over by then (as it did with the 20i)!

Edited by RiccardoG on Wednesday 2nd December 17:58

[BFleming]

I see the 528i also has heads up display, high beam assist, reverse camera, folding mirrors, adaptive cruise and lane departure (in addition to the better suspension).
The 535i has the reverse camera and folding mirrors.
I think the newer 528i is a safer bet and a nicer place to be. Timing chains aren't expensive on the N20 (unlike the diesels).
But this is Pistonheads so I'd better add a caveat that says there's no replacement for displacement, straight 6, etc etc.

[d_a_n1979]

RiccardoG said:

I see "heart" is winning!

Here is the 528i

Here is the 535i

In principle the main difference is 528i SE vs 535i MSport. But the 28i has VDC and sports seats, plus I prefer the subdued looks and smaller wheels of the SE anyway.

Slightly prefer spec of the 528i with its heated steering, electric towbar, LED lights and blue colour. Only the nav is smaller 6.5 screen which looks cheap/silly (and no 20Gb storage). But the Nav & screen are not a major issue for me as both are obsolete at this stage.

Probably gladly live with either spec as weekend & EU road trip car, not a daily driver.

Have to agree on N20, despite late build. What a pain that BMW hadn't taken the 30i B48 over by then (as it did with the 20i)!

Edited by RiccardoG on Wednesday 2nd December 17:58

Both look superb cars.

Are they local enough to you to be able to test them out depending upon lockdown measures etc?

Agree with you; heart says the 535i but the spec of the 528i isn't to be sniffed at and you can soon remap it

[325iMSport]

The 528i is slightly edging it for me but even then at £19k you are getting very close to G31.

How much are G31's? £21/22?

[drdino]

For an AUC 530i/540i? Closer to 25k I'd say.

[Triumph Man]

6 cylinders all the way, plus the 535i has electric memory seats.

[RiccardoG]

TBH I am leaning slightly more towards the 528i, despite its N20 engine. Mainly as its newer and cheaper to run, which is probably what I need (I also have a "fun" car).

I ran a quick WBAC valuation, both came in at £7k less than the BMW asking price. That's a huge spread....!

Already been through the whole budget creep thing... Started with an older £10k F31 320i, then moved to F34 335i (the 3 GT) and even seriously considered a G31 530i before concluding its too much. The AUC 530i's start at £25k and 540i's at £29k, which is more than I want to spend...

[AndrewO]

I'd buy a 520 petrol, its the same engine and get it remapped if you want a bit more umph. I bought a 2012 one that was a year old for £25k, list was £44k and it had 7k mls on it. There were some 2012 6cylinder cars about but another £5k at the time. I don't see the point in the 528 other than the badge.

I would have thought if there are some F11 on the bmw website they would be good value what with the new ones out. Also have a look at equivalent 530d, they are euro6 and six cylinder. In 10yrs time we are all in electric cars so what diff does it make !

[BFleming]

I'm not sure I'd be fussed about paying the AUC premium - and it's a big premium. Sorry I'll rephase, I certainly wouldn't pay it. Plenty of other dealers about with quality used BMWs.

[RiccardoG]

Thanks again guys. Not really into "modding" (remapping) plus I believe that the 28i has other differences to 20i such as engine internals and exhausts. Having said that, a quick search on the internet shows some interesting results. But if I went down that route I'd get a 520i G31 I think - but then have issue with warranty... hmmm, not so sure then.

BFleming said:

I'm not sure I'd be fussed about paying the AUC premium - and it's a big premium. Sorry I'll rephase, I certainly wouldn't pay it. Plenty of other dealers about with quality used BMWs.

Happy to have a look if you show me where! Have not seen many options really.

[BFleming]

RiccardoG said:

BFleming said:

I'm not sure I'd be fussed about paying the AUC premium - and it's a big premium. Sorry I'll rephase, I certainly wouldn't pay it. Plenty of other dealers about with quality used BMWs.

Happy to have a look if you show me where! Have not seen many options really.

Autotrader is a good start - where most people look at & buy from.
In my opinion only, AUC is a false economy - it's an expensive warranty, and doesn't guarantee the provenance of the car. Enough people seem to buy "questionable" cars from there. There are a few "warranty won't pay / has my AUC M-car previously been remapped/modded" tales of woe going around. BMW might at last be getting a grip on that situation though.
A friend bought an AUC F11 LCI 520d, 66 plate, from a well known south coast dealer 2 years ago. Collected it the week before Christmas, broke down on their way to the continent on 23rd Dec, the old EGR cooler failure (lucky it just broke down & didn't go up in flames). Repairing dealer said it had been leaking for ages. The same car had some quirky handling too, our local main dealer said it had been accident damaged & poorly repaired. So AUC... can't say I think much of that particular programme.
I know having a warranty (and paying handsomely for it ) gives people peace of mind, but what big repair cost are you expecting/betting against? It's hardly a V8 with a thirst for crankshaft bearings is it?
Lastly, as you've probably discovered, almost no-one bought petrol F10/F11s - they are unicorns in any guise. There seems to be proportionally more petrol G30/G31s about.

[RiccardoG]

BFleming said:

Autotrader is a good start - where most people look at & buy from.

Indeed, I might just about be familiar with that site...

I do see your point and in fact don't restrict my search to AUC only. However, if you look at AT you will see that, right now, there are few options and some of the non AUC stuff is similarly priced. Actually my main issue is that I don't want a car with a black interior, that limits options somewhat.

[AndrewO]

I've found the BMW AUC is the cheapest place to find a 1yr old low mileage car. Most BMW employees get a company car and they get distributed around the dealers to move them on.

They will have a few options on them but not loads and you need to flexible on spec. Personally I would look at cost of ownership, depending on mileage and how long you keep a car it could work out cheaper spending more. The 5series mentioned earlier cost me £7k over 3yrs depreciation.....but when I sold it there were very few petrol cars about and no one wanted diesel.

[JeffreyLebowski]

I picked up a 2011 F11 535i a couple of months' ago, driven it less than 1k miles so far thanks to COVID, but I absolutely love it.
I didn't drive a 4 pot version, and I'm sure it's a perfectly good engine, but it wouldn't interest me to be honest - the sound and smoothness of the 6 cylinder engine really makes the car imo. It's no rocketship (swapped over from a mppsk 340i which was pretty savage), but plenty fast enough for the road, and the N55 is a lovely unit to wring out - it feels naturally aspirated in its power delivery, it definitely builds as you head towards the red line. High 30's mpg on a sensible motorway cruise too. Highly recommended.

[GTEYE]

If you're moving from an E39, what about an F30/31 3 Series, as space will be about the same.

Under £20k will buy you for example a 330d M Sport 2018 with less than 20k miles. I'm sure a 330i would be similar money, but the 330d is the nicer engine.

For me that might be a better longer term bet, the F11 5 Series has already been out of production over 3 years, so I'd be tempted to get something a bit more modern.

If you're looking at long term ownership, I don't think it makes a difference petrol or diesel as someone has said.