E60 - 520d/525d, Reliability and economy?

[D1on]

Changing my car soon and been looking at these,
Probably the pre lci m sport as I will have around £5500 to spend, Is their much difference in economy between the two?, I do mostly town driving so are we only talking a couple of mpg between the two as I imagine the 520d will be more underpowered,

Also are their any common big faults that occur, I've seen a few with automatic gearbox problems so think I'll go for a manual which I imagine will also improve the mpg!

Thanks Guys!

[Evanivitch]

N47 timing chain. Try searching for that.

[outnumbered]

The pre-LCI 525d has much worse fuel economy than the later version (not sure of the engine code numbers). Ours did about 25mpg around town.