Thoughts on the Japanese import F11
Discussion
I go back and forward a lot on the idea of replacing our current E61 525i. It throws up the odd fault these days and is starting to feel like I'm always needing to address something before the next thing comes along. It's manageable for now we'll see. The problem I have is that it's a really nice car! It's done 190k miles and has some scars to prove it but it's still drives beautifully and is so comfortable. When I look at what I'm getting if I splash out £20k+ on something newer, I often think I won't end up with something all that much different.
But it won't last forever so I do find myself scouring the classifieds sometimes.
This caught my eye.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206297...
2010 535i with a lovely set of options and low mileage for £11k. Now admittedly it's only 3 years newer than our current steed but has only done 25% of the miles (if genuine).
Any general thoughts on moving to an F11 from E61? More of the same with a more potent engine is probably what I'm after. The pan roof, heated rear seats and ventilated front seats would be nice additions that our current car doesn't have.
What about the fact it's an import? I've had older MX5 imports and other than the KM odometer it was business as usual. Had to be vigilant that MOT testers used the correct unit though! But on something newer? Tax? Insurance etc all okay?
But it won't last forever so I do find myself scouring the classifieds sometimes.
This caught my eye.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206297...
2010 535i with a lovely set of options and low mileage for £11k. Now admittedly it's only 3 years newer than our current steed but has only done 25% of the miles (if genuine).
Any general thoughts on moving to an F11 from E61? More of the same with a more potent engine is probably what I'm after. The pan roof, heated rear seats and ventilated front seats would be nice additions that our current car doesn't have.
What about the fact it's an import? I've had older MX5 imports and other than the KM odometer it was business as usual. Had to be vigilant that MOT testers used the correct unit though! But on something newer? Tax? Insurance etc all okay?
That is one very well specced car. Comfort seats are fantastic in the F11 (have them in mine) and being ventilated is rare.
It has a surround camera - the cameras in the front wing are known to fail every now and again or go cloudy so check them out.
Being an import the satnav is unlikely to work and you may get the speedo in km/h but otherwise not much difference.
Check that everything works including the pan roof. See how old the rear suspension airbags are - they tend to fail every 6 to 8 years - not an expensive fix for an indy (£250 plus labour for both sides)
If it has Variable Damper Control or Adaptive Drive it almost makes the perfect car.
It has a surround camera - the cameras in the front wing are known to fail every now and again or go cloudy so check them out.
Being an import the satnav is unlikely to work and you may get the speedo in km/h but otherwise not much difference.
Check that everything works including the pan roof. See how old the rear suspension airbags are - they tend to fail every 6 to 8 years - not an expensive fix for an indy (£250 plus labour for both sides)
If it has Variable Damper Control or Adaptive Drive it almost makes the perfect car.
E39mad said:
That is one very well specced car. Comfort seats are fantastic in the F11 (have them in mine) and being ventilated is rare.
It has a surround camera - the cameras in the front wing are known to fail every now and again or go cloudy so check them out.
Being an import the satnav is unlikely to work and you may get the speedo in km/h but otherwise not much difference.
Check that everything works including the pan roof. See how old the rear suspension airbags are - they tend to fail every 6 to 8 years - not an expensive fix for an indy (£250 plus labour for both sides)
If it has Variable Damper Control or Adaptive Drive it almost makes the perfect car.
I must admit, having comfort seats in our current car, they're the first thing I look for on a newer BMW but seem quite rare. In the UK, I think that usually also means that the leather all gets an upgrade but clearly things are different in Japan as the seat centres are fabric but maybe everything else still nicer leather, hard to tell. It has a surround camera - the cameras in the front wing are known to fail every now and again or go cloudy so check them out.
Being an import the satnav is unlikely to work and you may get the speedo in km/h but otherwise not much difference.
Check that everything works including the pan roof. See how old the rear suspension airbags are - they tend to fail every 6 to 8 years - not an expensive fix for an indy (£250 plus labour for both sides)
If it has Variable Damper Control or Adaptive Drive it almost makes the perfect car.
Thanks for the other tips. The camera views actually look cloudy on the images so maybe something for me to check carefully.
I'm actually most concerned about the clocks being in kmh. Need to see what the options are on that as it's not something I could put up with.
Sorry, I know nothing of the F11 technically speaking (other than the fact that particular car looks wonderfully clean for it's age) but I will say/agree with the advert that Japanese-owned vehicles are cared for in a much higher regard than we do in the UK (including their own home-grown vehicles). I have a 2005 Nissan Elgrand which I imported in 2019 and even at 17 years old, the interior and most of the exterior at important is/was effectively 'as new'. No parking dings (a big no-no in Japanese society) and a full/complete Nissan history with every single possible service item done correctly. I think that 5 series reflects that sort of ownership/care.
I would bare in mind however that smoking is still common place in Japan - bare that in mind when going to view, as if that is a smoker's car, it can be nigh on impossible to get rid of the smell once it is ingrained in the headlining / carpets etc. Also, they don't tend to underseal their vehicles as there is no use of road salt in Japan, so do check to see if that would have been the case for this vehicle too? (i.e. Does BMW apply a lesser protection to cars being sold into the Japanese market?). Same would apply to rear fog light - they don't use or require them in Japan, so will that have been 'deleted' from this vehicle at the factory? If so, probably an easy resolve, but I expect the dealer should have done that already for MOT purposes...?
Side Note (but relevant): The advert talks about Japan being hot and dry.....the country is geographically 60% bigger than the UK and that sweeping statement is the same as trying to describe the entirety of the UK weather by using say Kent's data alone. It isn't - Tokyo for example is a much wetter City than London. Depending on where that car was 'based', it could quite easily have spent it's life in the mountain areas and in around significant mountain rainfall / snow or in typhoons/monsoons etc - Not necessarily a terrible thing, just be aware when you go to look at it that you might also need to consider any common rust areas, if that is indeed an F11 trait.
I would bare in mind however that smoking is still common place in Japan - bare that in mind when going to view, as if that is a smoker's car, it can be nigh on impossible to get rid of the smell once it is ingrained in the headlining / carpets etc. Also, they don't tend to underseal their vehicles as there is no use of road salt in Japan, so do check to see if that would have been the case for this vehicle too? (i.e. Does BMW apply a lesser protection to cars being sold into the Japanese market?). Same would apply to rear fog light - they don't use or require them in Japan, so will that have been 'deleted' from this vehicle at the factory? If so, probably an easy resolve, but I expect the dealer should have done that already for MOT purposes...?
Side Note (but relevant): The advert talks about Japan being hot and dry.....the country is geographically 60% bigger than the UK and that sweeping statement is the same as trying to describe the entirety of the UK weather by using say Kent's data alone. It isn't - Tokyo for example is a much wetter City than London. Depending on where that car was 'based', it could quite easily have spent it's life in the mountain areas and in around significant mountain rainfall / snow or in typhoons/monsoons etc - Not necessarily a terrible thing, just be aware when you go to look at it that you might also need to consider any common rust areas, if that is indeed an F11 trait.
Edited by MattyD803 on Thursday 18th August 09:42
I went from an E63 to F32. The technology is a step change; fit, finish & general BMWness remains as you would expect.
If it is already imported I wouldn't expect too much difficulty wrt insurance and car tax will be as a UK car. I would also expect the miles / KM to have been changed but if you cant change this in the i-drive settings you can definitely code it with a Carly. If you are serious about buying this I would use a Carly or similar to check the mileage - it scans all the control modules that records mileage (its actually in KM)
If it is already imported I wouldn't expect too much difficulty wrt insurance and car tax will be as a UK car. I would also expect the miles / KM to have been changed but if you cant change this in the i-drive settings you can definitely code it with a Carly. If you are serious about buying this I would use a Carly or similar to check the mileage - it scans all the control modules that records mileage (its actually in KM)
Many thanks all. I've made an enquiry.
Collectingbrass said:
I went from an E63 to F32. The technology is a step change; fit, finish & general BMWness remains as you would expect.
If it is already imported I wouldn't expect too much difficulty wrt insurance and car tax will be as a UK car. I would also expect the miles / KM to have been changed but if you cant change this in the i-drive settings you can definitely code it with a Carly. If you are serious about buying this I would use a Carly or similar to check the mileage - it scans all the control modules that records mileage (its actually in KM)
What's actually bugging me is that the speedo is in kmh. Can be seen on the pics, since that is an actual dial, I'd be stuck with that unless I went for some sort of inlay like people used to do in the 90's! Trying to find out what options there are for a binnacle change. If it is already imported I wouldn't expect too much difficulty wrt insurance and car tax will be as a UK car. I would also expect the miles / KM to have been changed but if you cant change this in the i-drive settings you can definitely code it with a Carly. If you are serious about buying this I would use a Carly or similar to check the mileage - it scans all the control modules that records mileage (its actually in KM)
Gad-Westy said:
Many thanks all. I've made an enquiry.
Are you sure it's not part of the digital readout?Collectingbrass said:
I went from an E63 to F32. The technology is a step change; fit, finish & general BMWness remains as you would expect.
If it is already imported I wouldn't expect too much difficulty wrt insurance and car tax will be as a UK car. I would also expect the miles / KM to have been changed but if you cant change this in the i-drive settings you can definitely code it with a Carly. If you are serious about buying this I would use a Carly or similar to check the mileage - it scans all the control modules that records mileage (its actually in KM)
What's actually bugging me is that the speedo is in kmh. Can be seen on the pics, since that is an actual dial, I'd be stuck with that unless I went for some sort of inlay like people used to do in the 90's! Trying to find out what options there are for a binnacle change. If it is already imported I wouldn't expect too much difficulty wrt insurance and car tax will be as a UK car. I would also expect the miles / KM to have been changed but if you cant change this in the i-drive settings you can definitely code it with a Carly. If you are serious about buying this I would use a Carly or similar to check the mileage - it scans all the control modules that records mileage (its actually in KM)
If so; AK Speedo in Stirling sorted the fascia and coding for my E390 Japanese import; was KM but now all in miles etc
Did you buy it ? its now gone from Autotrader. I did consider it - and also the X3 35i they have but i couldn't live with the X3's lack of sports seats. It was up for 15k when it went live 6 weeks ago - the 535i that is
And yes the speedo was kmph, there are people that will retro fit the speedo, or thats what i found when looking at swapping the X3 clocks over.
And yes the speedo was kmph, there are people that will retro fit the speedo, or thats what i found when looking at swapping the X3 clocks over.
stevemcs said:
Did you buy it ? its now gone from Autotrader. I did consider it - and also the X3 35i they have but i couldn't live with the X3's lack of sports seats. It was up for 15k when it went live 6 weeks ago - the 535i that is
And yes the speedo was kmph, there are people that will retro fit the speedo, or thats what i found when looking at swapping the X3 clocks over.
Alas not. I missed a call from dealer earlier but haven't been able to get hold of them since. I would not be surprised if it sold quickly at that price. I'll maybe ping them an email to check. And yes the speedo was kmph, there are people that will retro fit the speedo, or thats what i found when looking at swapping the X3 clocks over.
Gad-Westy said:
It has indeed sold. Ah well. Seed sewn though...
This is one company that I always keep an eye on for Japanese import BMWs: https://www.seymourpope.com/showroom/?Make=BMW&...Has some good stock in and they always seem to be superb cars & in superb condition
d_a_n1979 said:
This is one company that I always keep an eye on for Japanese import BMWs: https://www.seymourpope.com/showroom/?Make=BMW&...
Has some good stock in and they always seem to be superb cars & in superb condition
Brilliant thanks. Wonder if they ever get f11 550’s….Has some good stock in and they always seem to be superb cars & in superb condition
Edited by Gad-Westy on Thursday 18th August 20:37
Well I mentioned that a seed might be sewn here. I've started speaking to importers about buying a car directly from Japan. I'll still keep an eye out for anything already here but have started looking for cars in Japan too.
A quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
A quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
Gad-Westy said:
Well I mentioned that a seed might be sewn here. I've started speaking to importers about buying a car directly from Japan. I'll still keep an eye out for anything already here but have started looking for cars in Japan too.
A quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
Yeah; think soA quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
My F01 had the adaptive dampers; so Comfort plus, Comfort, Sport and then Sport Plus
Drove perfectly in comfort and superbly in Sport. Wasn't brave enough to rag it around in Sport Plus haha
Have you spoken to the guy who has Seymour Pope re potential imports
Gad-Westy said:
Well I mentioned that a seed might be sewn here. I've started speaking to importers about buying a car directly from Japan. I'll still keep an eye out for anything already here but have started looking for cars in Japan too.
A quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
I run an F11 on std SE suspension with 17" rims and none RFT's. It has the great optional Comfort Seats. I used to run the 17"s as winters only on RFT's as the car came with 18"s originally again on run flats. I found that ride too hard for my liking on 18"s (having come from an E39 Sport) and soon ditched the run flats but the ride was still a little "niggly" and could crash especially on the poor roads of Cheshire so dropped down to the 17"s which is acceptable. Some people are happy with the M Sport suspension running 19"s but I'm in my 50's now so ride becomes more important than looks!A quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
I would seek out a car with VDC or even better Adaptive Drive (which incorporates VDC) as it gives you the best of all worlds. Why BMW make/made you pay to make the car ride better is a joke imho - so much for the old Ultimate Driving Machine.
d_a_n1979 said:
Gad-Westy said:
Well I mentioned that a seed might be sewn here. I've started speaking to importers about buying a car directly from Japan. I'll still keep an eye out for anything already here but have started looking for cars in Japan too.
A quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
Yeah; think soA quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
My F01 had the adaptive dampers; so Comfort plus, Comfort, Sport and then Sport Plus
Drove perfectly in comfort and superbly in Sport. Wasn't brave enough to rag it around in Sport Plus haha
Have you spoken to the guy who has Seymour Pope re potential imports
I emailed SP, no reply as yet. I'll chase up by phone at some point. Have spoken to a couple of other importers too and made good progress but no specific cars identified as yet.
Gad-Westy said:
d_a_n1979 said:
Gad-Westy said:
Well I mentioned that a seed might be sewn here. I've started speaking to importers about buying a car directly from Japan. I'll still keep an eye out for anything already here but have started looking for cars in Japan too.
A quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
Yeah; think soA quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
My F01 had the adaptive dampers; so Comfort plus, Comfort, Sport and then Sport Plus
Drove perfectly in comfort and superbly in Sport. Wasn't brave enough to rag it around in Sport Plus haha
Have you spoken to the guy who has Seymour Pope re potential imports
I emailed SP, no reply as yet. I'll chase up by phone at some point. Have spoken to a couple of other importers too and made good progress but no specific cars identified as yet.
) and got another E39 
But yeah; the adaptive suspension was really good in the F01; the Sport setting was great for the faster B roads etc (used it when I want across to Braemar via Glenshee to lift the Inver Stone) and even on winter tyres; the big land-barge handles superbly!
E39mad said:
Gad-Westy said:
Well I mentioned that a seed might be sewn here. I've started speaking to importers about buying a car directly from Japan. I'll still keep an eye out for anything already here but have started looking for cars in Japan too.
A quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
I run an F11 on std SE suspension with 17" rims and none RFT's. It has the great optional Comfort Seats. I used to run the 17"s as winters only on RFT's as the car came with 18"s originally again on run flats. I found that ride too hard for my liking on 18"s (having come from an E39 Sport) and soon ditched the run flats but the ride was still a little "niggly" and could crash especially on the poor roads of Cheshire so dropped down to the 17"s which is acceptable. Some people are happy with the M Sport suspension running 19"s but I'm in my 50's now so ride becomes more important than looks!A quick question for those who know these cars. I'm finding I'm having to work out what options are fitted from scouring photos rather than specs. If a car has adaptive dampers or VDC, am I right in saying that the selector switch next to the gearshift will have 'comfort' mode instead of normal? How important is this option? Worth waiting for?
I would seek out a car with VDC or even better Adaptive Drive (which incorporates VDC) as it gives you the best of all worlds. Why BMW make/made you pay to make the car ride better is a joke imho - so much for the old Ultimate Driving Machine.
) Not easy to find a car with AD/VDC though but sounds like it's worth holding out for. There are other things I want too and I get the feeling I'm just going to have to wait to find a car where almost everything was ticked which might take some time. This is the trouble with buying used and also being picky!
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