BMW 530D - WTF

[Chilliman]

80-100 leptons (private road obviously), like to think it had an M5 engine in it, was also a cog too low, just thought I'd 'nip' past it... what is it with these bloody oil burners ???

[rainifa]

Ha! I had one of these, the low revs pick up is outstanding. That's what 520Nm of torques does.

[.Mark]

These new cars are pretty nippy now. I once got caught out a bit like you with a Volvo S80 D5, I was a gear wrong and a bit slow and had to work hard to get past.


It's not happened again!

[Lighterfuel]

Torque is indeed impressive in the oil burner. Many moons ago i test drove an M3 and 530d sport and opted for the 530d!! Was a great car performance wise but was not impressed with the dealers. Kickdown at any speed is impressive. Would have another one any day. Come to think of it, I kinda miss the Beemer.

[Porthmog]

Likewise. I used to have a 530d and the kickdown is very impressive. Now have an alpina d3 (manual gearbox)If I miss a gear it's like treading water.

[blueg33]

50 to 70 acceleration is where many diesels excel, my A6 3.0 tdi is pretty swift at overtaking and in Sport mode it swaps cogs pretty agressively too

[CarlosV8]

Had the same when I first got the Chim - was taking it to Carl Baker via the scenic route and came across a tractor, overtook it when it was clear and a 5 series nipped out from a few cars back and sped right up to my rear bumper. "I'll show him" I thought and put my foot down for a mile or 2 and he just stuck to me. It was a bit damp, I hadn't had the car long and the missus wasn't overly impressed so I eased off to let him past, expecting to see an M5 badge, but it was a 535d. Damn! Mine sounded much better though

[crisp500]

Oooh, I had a run in with a 535d not to long ago along the A140, pulled out to overtake him at about 50 and he nailed it. Me in 5th gear, I did get past... just.. at about 90-95! Went straight out and purchased ACT induction, removed precats, now getting trumpets, 72mm plenum and inlet manifold sorted. Saving hard for the Emerald and supercharger. Lmao, I'll be ready for the German oil burning barsteward next time

Harley

[Marty V8]

Had the same sort of experience last time me and a mate were out in the Griff and we came up behind one of these Diseasels. He said 'These BMW 5 diesels are pretty quick you know'

I thought he was taking the piss. Turned out he wasn't, and yes they are.

Comes to something though, when you've got to work at it a bit to get past a big barge that runs on paraffin.

[kieranjholland]

I'm currently driving a D5 and whilst the 0-60 times aren't staggering, the torque is immense and there is so much power above 60. I'm moving onto a 530d in the not too distant future hence I popped into this thread...

still, if personal circumstances were different I wouldn't consider anything but a TVR

[Ironballs]

Is this the engine that liked to eat it's turbo or was it just a problem on the early models? I recall a friend of mine had this problem with his 5 crude burner

[athomp04]

I have had the same whilst driving my Scooby for no apparent reason, it must be an iferiority complex at not being able to afford an M5. To be fair it was quick but no match "enough said" as they used to spout in their ads

[dog man]

Which one? An F10? Yeah they're beasts.

I had the old E61 (tourer) face lift 530d...it would chirrup the rear tyres simply from pulling away from standstill!

Once on the go however progress was much less amazing more 'gradual'

[kieranjholland]

Ironballs said:

Is this the engine that liked to eat it's turbo or was it just a problem on the early models? I recall a friend of mine had this problem with his 5 crude burner

No that's the 535d, twin turbo 3 litre engine, the internals are almost at the limit of power that they can handle so turbo's tend to go when pushed hard regularly. They still haven't built a manual geabox that can channel the torque. The 530d's are a little more civilised.

Edited by kieranjholland on Wednesday 23 March 23:19

[portzi]

CarlosV8 said:

Had the same when I first got the Chim - was taking it to Carl Baker via the scenic route and came across a tractor, overtook it when it was clear and a 5 series nipped out from a few cars back and sped right up to my rear bumper. "I'll show him" I thought and put my foot down for a mile or 2 and he just stuck to me. It was a bit damp, I hadn't had the car long and the missus wasn't overly impressed so I eased off to let him past, expecting to see an M5 badge, but it was a 535d. Damn! Mine sounded much better though

Same for me staionary side by side a some lights. got the lead on him but could not pull away,was right up my chuffer

[Alexdaredevilz]

You guys need to try harder,

[dbv8]

I mentioned in another thread some months ago that our 1990's 4 litre Chims weren't relatively 'fast' by modern day standards and said that a modern diesel could give us a run for their money.

A few on here weren't impressed with this statement claiming how rapid their 400's were and how they can beat 'hot hatches' from the lights.
An old Golf gti is not as quick as you remember... check the figures.
These big capacity turbo'd diesels have masses of torque just when its needed. I think some of us rely too much on our lazy torque and forget that its sometimes necessary to be ready to drop a gear swiftly.
If in any doubt then have a nitrous kit ready to be armed and active within seconds

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

The RV8 is fairly torquey, and that allows you to get away with being in a sub-optimal gear in normal driving. However, if you want to out-pull diesel BMWs you aren't going to do that if you're in the wrong gear.

My sensible car is a SEAT Ibiza FR TDI, which admittedly is remapped to about 175 bhp / 285 lb-ft. In the diesel's low-to-mid range, it feels every bit as torquey as my 450's low range, and it keeps pulling pretty well up to about 5000 rpm. I do think it would keep up with a badly-driven Chimaera in the wrong gear - but only until the RV8 finds the revs it needs.

The RV8 really wakes up at about 3500 rpm and feels like it's properly on-cam by about 4000. If you drive it in the 3500-6000 rpm band, I think most oil-burners (including mine) would be comprehensively blown away.

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Thursday 24th March 09:24

[CarlosV8]

I think my 4 litre is pretty much comparable to modern hot hatches, and the big diseasals in a straight line. But would I rather have a torque steering FWD hatch, an oil burning RWD tank or a rumbling V8 RWD sports car? I'm happy with my choice and I don't care who beats me away from the lights!

Although the oil burner would make a good every day car. But for now i'll stick with my (t)rusty British hot hatch and will spend all my spare cash on the Chim (and the odd beer).

[Targarama]

The trick is to either try properly, or pretend you weren't trying at all This relative performance problem affects a lot of cars. My old Chimaera (a healthy 4.0L) was exactly the same as a hard driven E46 M3 on various private test tracks. The M3 had less low down torque, and thus an M3 driver would be even more caught out than a Chimaera 4.0 driver when Mr high capacity diesel is giving it some welly.