# BMW 5 series advice



## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

If you have seen my other thread then you know i am after a new car. Think i have decided on a BMW 5 series M sport.... 520d or 525d i m not sure.

Going to go for the manual version unless i can find one in my budget with the newer Step Auto Box.

Question is, anyone own or owned on? Are they a nice to own as they look? Anything to look out for / big fixes.

What is considered high mileage? Most i have been looking at have circa 50k, should i worry about this as every car i have previously owned was purchased with cira 20k on the clock and sold before they reached 50k. Are things going to start going wrong or are they reliable and cope with the mileage?

Thanks for your help.


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## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

i bought an 07 520d msport in june,and i adore it  bought it from a used approved bmw dealer with 21k and one previous owner.i love it mate,its only the 520d,but compared to my previous 2 litre 08 mondeo (petrol) the Bm doesn't half shift.lots of torque (but you get that from a diesel,insurance was high for me so couldnt go for a 525,but to be honest im more than happy with the 520.its a manual as well,i dont like the idea of the auto and i certainly dont like the repair bill if an auto goes **** up lol.not had any real issues so far,i do have an issue where if the heated rear window is on then the radio signal weakens,but its only sometimes.but its going back to bmw to have a look at it in the new year.so if your having a test drive put the rear window on and turn the radio on lol.

other than that,IM IN LOVE WITH MY CAR :argie:


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## carrera2s (Jun 28, 2009)

Hi mate

I have a 2004 535D M Sport touring and only got it after my mate had the saloon version for 5 years and 110k miles. Had mine since April and had 69k on abd now 75k. Not one bit of trouble and I love her.
Hope that helps a little!:thumb:


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

carrera2s said:


> Hi mate
> 
> I have a 2004 535D M Sport touring and only got it after my mate had the saloon version for 5 years and 110k miles. Had mine since April and had 69k on abd now 75k. Not one bit of trouble and I love her.
> Hope that helps a little!:thumb:


Yeah it does help a bit, find it hard to get away from my misconceptions that 50k is high mileage and asking for things to go wrong


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## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

i think either nudda or grizzle had an e60 and they had some issues with it,so lets hope either of them see this,as its good to get a balanced thread on the problems people have had with the car.


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

My sister has an E60 530D msport, lovely motor but quite pricy if anything goes wrong, they had the key recptacle play up on them and not recognise the key being in or out and the bill was just shy of £600. I like them though 535D touring in grey or le mans blue for me.


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## PaulTheo (Sep 26, 2010)

Any car can have issues but I have always found both Audi and BMW's seem to have less and less often. Yes repairs are not cheap and I have always done my own outside of the warranty but I have been really impressed with the reliability of them yes there will be the odd niggle but rarely one that stops you from getting home. And why is it that a really good looking motor always seems to have less issues? I am sure its because they are looked after.


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## GerryH (May 8, 2011)

I have a 59 520 m sport, originally wanted a 530/525 but the 520 is quick enough has better economy and a bit cheaper to insure. No issues to speak of, only a faulty electric window switch that was replaced under warranty and some premature wear to the driver seat bolster which BMW replaced without fuss at 11k miles. Servicing costs are high but with variable servicing all the bills shouldn't hit at once and dealers are wiling to haggle over price.

The only thing I don't like is the run flat tyres. On 18's they are a bit harsh and expensive to replace. I'll be switching to non run flats once the tyres are due for replacement.


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

Cheers for the advice guys.

Is there anything to look out for? ie with my astra 1.9 150 it was the DMF and gearbox, with the mondeo st it was injectors and DMF. Does the BM have any common faults?


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

Swirl flaps and a comprehensive service history.


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## Techgeek (Jun 7, 2007)

we had an 06 520d m sport. reliable enough, just a snapped exhaust mount and a bit of bumper trim fell off in the year we had it. crap ride, way too hard. cracked 3 rims in less than a year we have never cracked a rim on any car before or after. stereo was pants had to upgrade with an amp and better speakers not what you'd expect for the money. 2.0 was more than quick enough and economical with it. run flat tyres were a pain. brilliant seats and nice interior. needed wetsanded as the orange peel was godawful. I'd have another but an se this time for the softer ride and only if the council gets round to ever fixing the roads so probably never then. I'd be happy with the 2.0 again.
A couple of buyers said the turbo is a weak spot but I reckon they were getting that confused with the older engine in the e46 era cars you dont hear of many e60s with turbo issues.

We sold it at 95k, we were the second owner. we spoke to the previous driver, it was an ex lease company car and his mobile number was on the service receipts, he said there were no major issues with it throughout its life, couple of suspension bushes and a thirst for tyres.


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## GJH0702 (Oct 21, 2011)

I had a 09 Reg 520 D Business Edition (leather + Sat Nav) manual box- averaged 44 MPG, on motorway running at 7o+ got 52mpg.
Good car but make sure you have a warranty as very expensive if anything goes wrong.
Run flat wheels- ATS ( + others) will now repair run flats = I had to throw away a tyre with 400 miles on it after a puncture as at the time no one would repair
Aim for Sat Nav + Leather

Good Luck


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

IS the M Sport really that uncomfortable? I know i have to test drive one to make my mind up but just other peoples thoughts?

Drove a 520 d non M sport and its was a nice, quiet, comfortable place to be.

My mondeo st had sports suspension, low profiles etc, surely the ride cannot be worse?


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

I had a 525d m sport for 2 years










Get the things that went wrong out the way first

Warped discs
Software updates
Jerky auto box
reciever for the central locking stopped working
MAF sensor
6 glowplugs and glowplug controller
camshaft sensor
Swirl flaps
Fuel pump
couple of bushes for the ARB at the rear
CD player needed replaced
anti trap funtion for the windows kept going off
Oh and NEVER jump start if it has a flat battery always either replace the battery(costly option) or get a battery charger.

I would have another in a min though lol.

good points

Handling is soo beautiful, for a diesel it was surprisingly light. 
Space was immense one thing i miss greatly. 
aside the bad parts interior and exterior panels felt solidly made 
Replacing the runflats transformed it.


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

Grizzle, thanks for that, was yours running high mileage with those sorts of things going wrong?

With the runflats replaced was it a reasonably nice driving environment?


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

SRIshortie said:


> Grizzle, thanks for that, was yours running high mileage with those sorts of things going wrong?
> 
> With the runflats replaced was it a reasonably nice driving environment?


Bought it at 27k ran it till 64k

Oh yes no tramlining, less noisy and better wear from the falkens i got put on it, aswell as a cheeky little remap


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## Techgeek (Jun 7, 2007)

SRIshortie said:


> IS the M Sport really that uncomfortable? I know i have to test drive one to make my mind up but just other peoples thoughts?
> 
> Drove a 520 d non M sport and its was a nice, quiet, comfortable place to be.
> 
> My mondeo st had sports suspension, low profiles etc, surely the ride cannot be worse?


with the run flats on it was unbearable on our potholed roads, changed to conventional tyres and tyreweld and it was still quite a jarring ride. ok on very smooth roads but in edinburgh they are few and far between. Definitely harder than my bosses 06 st tdci and harder than our merc a class which a lot of people slag off for having a hard ride. On the test drive we thought we could live with it but after a year we couldn't wait to get rid and get something with high profile tyres. For a while we ran it on e39 16" alloys and high profile tyres as a stop gap while rims were being welded/replaced and the ride was sublime but it looked stupid. our clk had lo pros on 18s and the ride was fine and I've been in plenty of cars on low profile tyres with decent ride so it must be an m sport issue, I put 18s on one of my 7ers and it was nowhere near as harsh as the e60.


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## Exotica (Feb 27, 2006)

If you buy one and keep get those swirl flaps done. BMW deny there is a problem with them but e90 e 60 still carry the design flaw.


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## Denzle (May 4, 2011)

Having read so many horror stories about the dreaded swirl flaps, i had them removed, they were in surprisingly good condition considering that the cars got 112k on the clock.
By the way the car is a 525tdse auto.(E39)on an 01 plate.


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## Alfa GTV (Apr 18, 2007)

I own a E60 530D M sport, had it about 18 months now, never had any problems with it, swirl flaps removed in first week of ownership and then remapped.

Car is well made, quiet at speed (1300rpm @ 80mph), fast and reasonably efficient - 42mpg motorway use - 31 ish town use.










Good luck in your search.


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

Exotica said:


> If you buy one and keep get those swirl flaps done.





Alfa GTV said:


> I own a E60 530D M sport, had it about 18 months now, never had any problems with it, swirl flaps removed in first week of ownership and then remapped.


Yeah i was just reading about the swirl flaps.

Seen PMW's blanking plates come highly recommended. Is it true removal / blanking wont effect the engine in anyway? Does it throw up any engine management light?


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## Alfa GTV (Apr 18, 2007)

Swirl flap removal will not cause any management lights or any faults to appear.


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

Alfa GTV said:


> Swirl flap removal will not cause any management lights or any faults to appear.


Cheers mate, thank you :thumb:


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## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

I have 19s on mine and I don't find the ride to be anything but good. Certainky don't want to hit potholes though lol.


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

Gutted, thought i had found the perfect motor.

58 plate, 23k on the clock, FSH, 1 owner, 520d m sport in stunning white, little more than i was initially going to spend but a VW dealer (lookers franchise) had it reduced from 18k to 16k. Phoned them up but it had sold less than an hour ago


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## Exotica (Feb 27, 2006)

SRIshortie said:


> Gutted, thought i had found the perfect motor.
> 
> 58 plate, 23k on the clock, FSH, 1 owner, 520d m sport in stunning white, little more than i was initially going to spend but a VW dealer (lookers franchise) had it reduced from 18k to 16k. Phoned them up but it had sold less than an hour ago


I hate it when that happens. That would look lovely with the 19 spider alloys and they are non run flats I believe.


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

Exotica said:


> I hate it when that happens. That would look lovely with the 19 spider alloys and they are non run flats I believe.


I agree with that lol.

So if anyone see's a similar deal about, let me know lol :driver: :thumb: :thumb:


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

Has anyone purchased through BMW Approved Used, is there much chance of driving a deal with them?

Going to phone a dealer in London later but just wanted to know if people have been successful driving the price down or getting mats/fuel etc thrown in?


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

Or anyone recommend a Good BMW forum (UK) ???


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## M.O.S (Dec 26, 2008)

I'd say go for a 6 cylinder if you can, far smoother and quieter. Also its worth comparing the price of a petrol model. The 530i still does 38mpg, rapid acceleration and has lower maintenance costs than the diesel. Plus with diesel being 9/10p a litre more than petrol you may find there's very little in it. When we bought a 5 series years ago the real world MPG wasn't that much better than the diesel, so went petrol. Never looked back, brilliant car although it wasn't without it's faults. Certainly didn't regret the minor expense over diesel in the long run.


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

How hard is it finding the right BMW.

All spec'd differently, anything with reasonable mileage has a hefty premium added. Far higher premium compared to mileage differences in other manufacturers.


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

Still struggling to find the right one


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## petemattw (Nov 3, 2008)

How much are you looking to spend? My 11 plate 520d M Sport goes to the dealer in 4 weeks as a part ex for my 12 plate 520d M Sport


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## BMW Shortie (May 27, 2008)

petemattw said:


> How much are you looking to spend? My 11 plate 520d M Sport goes to the dealer in 4 weeks as a part ex for my 12 plate 520d M Sport


I can see your 11 plate being well out of my budget i am afraid.

16k is my budget - probably easier to find one if i had a budget of 20k but unfortunately were planning on moving to a bigger house in the next 6-12 months so i have to be strict with the budget


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

just keep looking something will turn up that you want, dont buy the one nearest the spec you are after as you will regret it.


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