F10 530d v 535d

[BMRuss]

Just about to order a new car and am unsure if the 535d is worth the extra cost over the 530d.

Doesn't anyone have an F10 530d M Sport that they can give their opinion on?

I currently have a 335d Xdrive and the engine is very good and the car quick, but a growing family means I need to get something bigger, contemplated the 430 / 435 but just not big enough.

Didn't want to order a 530d to be left disappointed with the performance.

Thanks!

[rassi]

Especially coming from a 435d, I think you will miss the linear and low down push of the 35d engine, as the twin turbo setup makes for a very linear power curve.

[rayyan171]

One thing to note - they aren't twin turbo anymore from the introduction of the N55 Diesel engine (2009). Only the 40d engines are twin turbo and the older 35d engines.

[rassi]

rayyan171 said:

One thing to note - they aren't twin turbo anymore from the introduction of the N55 Diesel engine (2009). Only the 40d engines are twin turbo and the older 35d engines.

Think you are confusing the change from 35i N54 twin turbo petrol to the "twin power" single turbo 35i N55 petrol engines.

The 35d/40d diesel engines are always twin turbo.

Edited by rassi on Wednesday 31st August 14:29

[Ninja59]

Drove an F10 530D for a few days (with VDC and 19's) whilst my 640D was in...

Engine wise character very similar, but you do notice it beginning to tail off with the 530D much sooner and the blower in that you do notice working much harder to keep it moving at pace. The 35D/40D in comparison just keeps going quite happily.

MPG wise there is not much difference, if cost to purchase is in it then go 530D, but and a big but the biggest issue for me with the 535D is the 640D...the 6 has a much better spec standard than the top end and if you add the same spec to a 535D it tends to work out slightly more...

Edited by Ninja59 on Wednesday 31st August 14:54

[anonymous-user]

Ninja59 said:

Drove an F10 530D for a few days (with VDC and 19's) whilst my 640D was in...

Engine wise character very similar, but you do notice it beginning to tail off with the 530D much sooner and the blower in that you do notice working much harder to keep it moving at pace. The 35D/40D in comparison just keeps going quite happily.

MPG wise there is not much difference, if cost to purchase is in it then go 530D, but and a big but the biggest issue for me with the 535D is the 640D...the 6 has a much better spec standard than the top end and if you add the same spec to a 535D it tends to work out slightly more...

Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 31st August 14:54

I'm not sure mpg has a bearing.

If you're going to use 535d in a way that would make the extra power noticeable, the mpg is going to be very low. If you're aiming for a reasonable fuel economy, the extra power of a 535 won't be evident.

I've not been disappointed with either aspect of my 530d; if I had another 5 series and wanted better performance I'd go for petrol.

[rayyan171]

rassi said:

rayyan171 said:

One thing to note - they aren't twin turbo anymore from the introduction of the N55 Diesel engine (2009). Only the 40d engines are twin turbo and the older 35d engines.

Think you are confusing the change from 35i N54 twin turbo petrol to the "twin power" single turbo 35i N55 petrol engines.

The 35d/40d diesel engines are always twin turbo.

Edited by rassi on Wednesday 31st August 14:29

You're completely right. I feel like a right tosser now haha. So sorry.

[Welshbeef]

Well another way to think about it is

530d is 149bhp/tonne
535d is 180bhp/tonne

Plus the torques differences.

Of course you can turn the 535d into a 390bhp remap Hartage or Birds which turns that into 225bhp/tonne which is getting into the very interesting zone I think the C5 RS6 estate was 228bhp/tonne to give that value some meaning. The 530d will remap but only really to 180bhp/tonne.

[sak83]

there's not much between them if you take the discounted price in to account. If you are financing it the 535d will have better residuals so the difference in cost may be minimal

https://broadspeed.com/new_cars/BMW/5-Series/Choos...

[335d]

The 530d and 535d are both decent cars. In some ways, if I was to move from my current 335d to a 5 Series, I might consider a 530d. They aren't really designed to be thrown about so perhaps the 30d engine is sufficient, despite being a bigger car. I guess it all comes down to test driving. I drove a new 730d recently (with the newer 30d engine) and it felt like it had enough power for a luxury barge.

Perhaps though despite my best intentions, I would be unable to resist buying a 535d.

[Ninja59]

REALIST123 said:

I'm not sure mpg has a bearing.

If you're going to use 535d in a way that would make the extra power noticeable, the mpg is going to be very low. If you're aiming for a reasonable fuel economy, the extra power of a 535 won't be evident.

I've not been disappointed with either aspect of my 530d; if I had another 5 series and wanted better performance I'd go for petrol.

It is not really the extra power though, but how it is delivered the additional turbo really does make quite an impact from fairly low down and really does reduce the strain sounding 530D. Current MPG on mine which is not motorway work just flowing A roads with 30/40/50 and NSL is around 37 MPG, motorway work makes it around 45-47.

[Welshbeef]

sak83 said:

there's not much between them if you take the discounted price in to account. If you are financing it the 535d will have better residuals so the difference in cost may be minimal

https://broadspeed.com/new_cars/BMW/5-Series/Choos...

The other thing is the 535d M Sport is pretty rare the 520d is everywhere and he 530d reasonably common - as such it's a real chance for you to decrease the depreciation / easier to sell.

Plus if you want 390bhp you can in the 535d you cannot in the 530d.



Also if buying used I've found that the first owner tends to spec up the 535d more than the equivalent 530d which is a nice bonus too.

[Fox-]

I looked at a pre facelift 535d with the current 313bhp engine. I don't know if it was my expectation level being too high but it did not blow me away in the way I expected it to. It felt like a slightly faster 530d, I was expecting it to give me some sort of utterly lag free instant surge without the momentary pause below 2000rpm of the 530d but it didn't do that.

It just felt like a slightly faster 530d. In the end I decided that for the money I'd rather have a newer, facelift 530d so that's what I ended up buying. The additional performance over the 530d didn't make up for the tradeoff in terms of cost.

Ignoring the cost difference there is of course no reason to elect for a 530d over a 535d - it is no less fuel efficient, no more expensive to run, and you'll get some of the premium back when you sell it. But then if we ignored the cost difference you'd order an M5, so cost is always a factor

[Fox-]

Welshbeef said:

Also if buying used I've found that the first owner tends to spec up the 535d more than the equivalent 530d which is a nice bonus too.

I did not find this to be the case - my recent search has been very long winded and I was very surprised to find how often poor spec 535d's popped up. I'd say in terms of proportions, a higher proportion of 535d's have no spec versus 530d's. I agree this is very odd and I don't fully understand the reasons why. One dealer had 5 identical 535d M Sport's on 64 plates - all with literally no spec at all. Not even Pro Nav.

[Welshbeef]

Fox- said:

Welshbeef said:

Also if buying used I've found that the first owner tends to spec up the 535d more than the equivalent 530d which is a nice bonus too.

I did not find this to be the case - my recent search has been very long winded and I was very surprised to find how often poor spec 535d's popped up. I'd say in terms of proportions, a higher proportion of 535d's have no spec versus 530d's. I agree this is very odd and I don't fully understand the reasons why. One dealer had 5 identical 535d M Sport's on 64 plates - all with literally no spec at all. Not even Pro Nav.

Yep that's unusual and against what you'd imagine is top of the range derv unit. Possibly they were cheap X lease deals?

Mine is heavily loaded so I'm happy and I'd always like heavy specification just to make it even nicer to live with.

[BMRuss]

Thanks for everyone's input, greatly appreciated.

I have ordered an Alpine White 535d with cinnamon leather with a few options, 8-10 weeks and will be here

If anyone wants a set of ACS springs for a 335d xdrive, let me know

[sak83]

BMRuss said:

Thanks for everyone's input, greatly appreciated.

I have ordered an Alpine White 535d with cinnamon leather with a few options, 8-10 weeks and will be here

If anyone wants a set of ACS springs for a 335d xdrive, let me know

What sort of deal did you get? i have been deliberating over a new car and am considering the f10 as its coming to the end of production and expect there to be good deals out there.

[clumsen]

BMRuss said:

Thanks for everyone's input, greatly appreciated.

I have ordered an Alpine White 535d with cinnamon leather with a few options, 8-10 weeks and will be here

If anyone wants a set of ACS springs for a 335d xdrive, let me know

BMRuss funny enough I picked up a 335d xdrive yesterday, how much for the springs??

[CarsOrBikes]

An option may be looking into the M Performance power kit for the 530 as you may discover it gives the same power figures after installation, new ecu and intercooler, maybe front brakes depending on core spec.

[cycle tramp]

If its the same upgrade as BMW offer on the F30 series 330d, its a complete waste of money.

The BMW Performance Power Kit (PPK) I had fitted to my 2014 F31 330d made a negligible performance increase, whilst causing the fuel consumption to increase dramatically and making the gearbox really busy, causing it to shuffle up and down the ratios constantly in response to the slightest throttle input even on the motorway. After a few weeks BMW agreed to take it all off and revert the car to standard and it was a great improvement.

A tuning box is probably a better option if its extra power thats wanted.