535i Manual gearbox.
Discussion
There will be 100 auto buyers for every manual buyer, however, there are currently 190 F10 5 series on BMW AUC with 3 litre or bigger engines, of those only 1 is manual.
So when selling you have a captured audience, that one person looking for a manual will probably have the choice of your car and .......well, just your car.
The F10 suits the auto, but a 535i or 550i manual does sound nice, No way I would own a manual diesel, but a nice powerful petrol manual would be great.
So when selling you have a captured audience, that one person looking for a manual will probably have the choice of your car and .......well, just your car.
The F10 suits the auto, but a 535i or 550i manual does sound nice, No way I would own a manual diesel, but a nice powerful petrol manual would be great.
Whilst the normal opinion is that 'nobody wants big manuals', you'll find that come resale time you won't have much trouble shifting a manual 535i. They're incredibly rare and interesting cars in a sea of 520d Autos. When I sold cars for a BMW dealer, I found that stuff like 6 Series manuals were very quick to sell. I'd prefer an auto myself.
Buy it. Great car, I bought mine (manual F11 535i) about three months ago, love it. It has just tucked over 100k and whereas I was always worrying about the auto box in my 45k mile E39, I have no such concerns now.
There are two minor problems with the manual though:
1 - Find yourself driving along at 5k revs because it's so refined you forgot to change up.
2 - That funny BMW valve thing that makes a fast 1st to 2nd change nigh on impossible.
There are two minor problems with the manual though:
1 - Find yourself driving along at 5k revs because it's so refined you forgot to change up.
2 - That funny BMW valve thing that makes a fast 1st to 2nd change nigh on impossible.
That takes less than 15 minutes to remove.
Clamp the pipe leading to it, remove the plastic housing, pop the grommet out and put the housing back in.
Makes a huge difference.
Then put some Redline D4 ATF in the gearbox for really slick gear changes.
Clamp the pipe leading to it, remove the plastic housing, pop the grommet out and put the housing back in.
Makes a huge difference.
Then put some Redline D4 ATF in the gearbox for really slick gear changes.
Edited by gizlaroc on Sunday 13th July 22:08
Collected the car on Tuesday and had a good long drive home over a mix of motorway and two way A roads.
The power delivery of the 3 litre petrol engine is amazing and can be almost silently silky smooth in comfort mode, or much more responsive, with a nice rorty engine note, in sport mode.
The manual gearbox is nice and positive to operate, but all is so quiet in comfort mode, that you have to double think which gear you are in at times!
Managed 38mpg on the drive home, but this was a result of a leisurely 55-60mph cruise in the midst of fairly busy holiday traffic and I would think that a more realistic average of 30 - 34 mpg, should be achievable.
In all, a great car and looking forward to seeing how it performs on a more day to day basis.
The power delivery of the 3 litre petrol engine is amazing and can be almost silently silky smooth in comfort mode, or much more responsive, with a nice rorty engine note, in sport mode.
The manual gearbox is nice and positive to operate, but all is so quiet in comfort mode, that you have to double think which gear you are in at times!
Managed 38mpg on the drive home, but this was a result of a leisurely 55-60mph cruise in the midst of fairly busy holiday traffic and I would think that a more realistic average of 30 - 34 mpg, should be achievable.
In all, a great car and looking forward to seeing how it performs on a more day to day basis.
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