BMW 530d MSport Touring & Clio 172 Cup Track Car
Discussion
I think Readers Cars is probably my favourite section on PH but have never once posted here.....so here goes 
Rewind to last October and I sold my frozen grey edition M3 after a few years of ownership. As much as I loved it, I simply didn't use it enough, coupled with the fact that a 2 door coupe wasn't really going to fit in with my future plans. I had a 118d for daily commuting which quite frankly bored me to tears.
Last Friday I picked up this 530d MSport Touring:
I looked at so many different cars before buying this from a Macan to a new Focus RS. To cut a long story short, I somehow narrowed it down to a 5 series. I saw a lovely E60 550i Saloon but whilst it ticked most boxes, it really had to be in estate form to fit a). the dog b). the pram. I should probably mention now that the reason for the change is we are expecting our first child in August
. The same day I was looking at BMW Used Approved website and I saw a ‘Coming Soon’ advert for a 1 owner ’59 530d MSport Touring Business Edition in Deep Sea Blue Metallic which I thought was well priced, probably 2k cheaper than the nearest equivalent on Autotrader. I phoned the dealer and the next day travelled two hours to view it. It had just been part exchanged and hadn’t been checked so I was unable to drive it. Now this is where it gets interesting. The cars just done 60k and clearly has been mechanically looked after, 14 services in its lifetime (over serviced?!), a folder full of receipts including one for a new set of alloys @ £540 each and various other bits. What shocked me was when I opened the door. It was FILTHY! There were coffee stains, dandruff, a few bogeys on the dash 
but underneath all of this there wasn’t a single mark on the interior. Two days later, a deal was struck and I agreed to part ex my 118d. The dealer topped it up with a full tank of diesel, considering I had travelled a long way to view the car, which I thought was decent of them.
I spent Saturday cleaning it and it’s come up like new. At first I wasn’t keen on the wood trim and am still considering replacing it with black inserts, although it’s growing on me and goes well with the seats. It also has a panoramic roof which is a nice touch. A few more pics:
First impressions: Covered nearly 200miles and I’m really impressed with it – its comfy, has a good turn of speed, handles well and I think it will make a great family wagon! Currently returning 34mpg.... and needs a bit more power though so I’m getting in touch with Evolve in Luton.
And now onto my Clio 172 Cup track car, I bought as a standard car 3.5 years ago with 109k miles on the clock. It’s a fantastic little car and I love the way it keeps up with much more expensive machinery on track. It’s such fun and so rewarding to drive and apart from the throttle body needing replacing, its been faultless and taken me to the Ring and Spa, and well over 30 track days in my ownership. It’s now caged with bucket seats, upgraded suspension, RS tuner remap etc and compared to my mates 172 cup, pulls a few car length on the straights so the engine seems pretty strong. Last time out at Bedford, I had a great battle with a 135i for a few laps and there wasn’t much in it despite us both going for it! Next month it’s booked in to have a RS2 Inlet fitted, Clio 197 cams and a remap so this should take it to approx. 200bhp which should give me a bit more speed on the straights. I've considered replacing it a few times but I don't think there's much that come close for the money and smiles!
Thanks for reading!
Rewind to last October and I sold my frozen grey edition M3 after a few years of ownership. As much as I loved it, I simply didn't use it enough, coupled with the fact that a 2 door coupe wasn't really going to fit in with my future plans. I had a 118d for daily commuting which quite frankly bored me to tears.
Last Friday I picked up this 530d MSport Touring:
I looked at so many different cars before buying this from a Macan to a new Focus RS. To cut a long story short, I somehow narrowed it down to a 5 series. I saw a lovely E60 550i Saloon but whilst it ticked most boxes, it really had to be in estate form to fit a). the dog b). the pram. I should probably mention now that the reason for the change is we are expecting our first child in August
. The same day I was looking at BMW Used Approved website and I saw a ‘Coming Soon’ advert for a 1 owner ’59 530d MSport Touring Business Edition in Deep Sea Blue Metallic which I thought was well priced, probably 2k cheaper than the nearest equivalent on Autotrader. I phoned the dealer and the next day travelled two hours to view it. It had just been part exchanged and hadn’t been checked so I was unable to drive it. Now this is where it gets interesting. The cars just done 60k and clearly has been mechanically looked after, 14 services in its lifetime (over serviced?!), a folder full of receipts including one for a new set of alloys @ £540 each and various other bits. What shocked me was when I opened the door. It was FILTHY! There were coffee stains, dandruff, a few bogeys on the dash but underneath all of this there wasn’t a single mark on the interior. Two days later, a deal was struck and I agreed to part ex my 118d. The dealer topped it up with a full tank of diesel, considering I had travelled a long way to view the car, which I thought was decent of them.I spent Saturday cleaning it and it’s come up like new. At first I wasn’t keen on the wood trim and am still considering replacing it with black inserts, although it’s growing on me and goes well with the seats. It also has a panoramic roof which is a nice touch. A few more pics:
First impressions: Covered nearly 200miles and I’m really impressed with it – its comfy, has a good turn of speed, handles well and I think it will make a great family wagon! Currently returning 34mpg.... and needs a bit more power though so I’m getting in touch with Evolve in Luton.
And now onto my Clio 172 Cup track car, I bought as a standard car 3.5 years ago with 109k miles on the clock. It’s a fantastic little car and I love the way it keeps up with much more expensive machinery on track. It’s such fun and so rewarding to drive and apart from the throttle body needing replacing, its been faultless and taken me to the Ring and Spa, and well over 30 track days in my ownership. It’s now caged with bucket seats, upgraded suspension, RS tuner remap etc and compared to my mates 172 cup, pulls a few car length on the straights so the engine seems pretty strong. Last time out at Bedford, I had a great battle with a 135i for a few laps and there wasn’t much in it despite us both going for it! Next month it’s booked in to have a RS2 Inlet fitted, Clio 197 cams and a remap so this should take it to approx. 200bhp which should give me a bit more speed on the straights. I've considered replacing it a few times but I don't think there's much that come close for the money and smiles!
Thanks for reading!
Really nice choice of car there. I've been eyeing out 530d M Sports for a while. Can't decide if I should get one, buy a cheap commuter and keep my E46, or keep my E46 and get an E28 5er instead. But, back on topic, nice choice. You've chosen a really good spec by the looks of things. Only thing I would change (if it were mine) is the woodgrain trim.
Love the little Clio too.
Love the little Clio too.
HugoFastmann said:
Really nice choice of car there. I've been eyeing out 530d M Sports for a while. Can't decide if I should get one, buy a cheap commuter and keep my E46, or keep my E46 and get an E28 5er instead. But, back on topic, nice choice. You've chosen a really good spec by the looks of things. Only thing I would change (if it were mine) is the woodgrain trim.
Love the little Clio too.
Thanks for the comments. I would definitely recommend one, if it's a E46 M3 then I'd keep it! Love the little Clio too.
Lovely colour combo on the touring, keep the wood! Seriously tempted by one of these as I am in the same situation as you but my brother had a mapped 535d and it caused him so many issues but it had done many miles and had as many owners, yours looks great and has a solid history. Check the sunroof drain holes, they easily get blocked up and you end up with a soggy boot!
si_xsi said:
Lovely colour combo on the touring, keep the wood! Seriously tempted by one of these as I am in the same situation as you but my brother had a mapped 535d and it caused him so many issues but it had done many miles and had as many owners, yours looks great and has a solid history. Check the sunroof drain holes, they easily get blocked up and you end up with a soggy boot!
I've read about the sunroof drain holes so will check them out. I'm tempted to map it and removing the dpf seems the done thing but for now it seems to be performing well and has a years BMW warranty so might just keep it stock. Undecided!mattwhite709 said:
They are the best wheels for that 5 series. I have a thing for coloured leather seats, normally not a fan of wood inserts but they contrast nice with the seats.
This is the first car I have owned which doesn't have black seats and trim but it really works with the blue exterior and sets combo. The wood is growing on me. Changing to black would completely change the feel of the interior but I'm not sure for the best, it would make it feel very business like. For now I am really happy with itHad our '57 E61 530d in carbon black for about 5 years and put about 55k miles on it so now showing 113k on the clock. It drives the same and is a pampered car.
We are hoping to keep it to at least 150k, maybe 200k miles. It has a lovely surge when we do need the power and is so easy and comfortable to drive.
We are hoping to keep it to at least 150k, maybe 200k miles. It has a lovely surge when we do need the power and is so easy and comfortable to drive.
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