BMW 5 Series -F10 any owners experiences, recommendations?

[JC180]

Hi, after just a year with my W204 C250, having owned a W203 for 6 years, I require (read the wife requires) something more comfortable for a long upcoming journey to Europe.

Nothing further up in the merc range excites me, save for an E Coupe which isn't all that practical so I have been looking at the F10 5 Series.

I am not really a fan of diesels, but may enjoy the BMW 6 pots like the earlier 525d 6cyl engine and the 530d. Petrol options are very much restricted in terms of availability to the 523i and rare earlier 6 cyl 528i (as opposed to the current 4 cyl turbo 528i).

Budget is no more than £28-29k would prefer it to be under £25k though.

Anyone here have one, or experience of one, I am concerned about M-Sport spec and 19" alloys rattling my fillings out, seat and ride comfort are top priorities for me.

Also, anyone have alcantara seat? If so how do they wear?

TIA

Jacob

[mactrack]

I needed something with more doors/practicality after a 3 door A3 and an A5 coupe. I never really liked any of the previous generation Exx BMWs, in particular the interiors, but ended up buying a F10 520d M Sport nearly a year ago. It has the upgraded 19" wheels, run-flat tyres and M Sport suspension and yet it's still nowhere near as harsh a ride as the previous two cars (the A5 even had the "softer" Sport and not S Line suspension).

You will of course need to have a test-drive yourself and no doubt your opinion will be gauged by what car you currently drive. The ride is still firm but not overly so but will be crashy over very poor road surfaces so your choice way be swayed by the standard of roads in your area. Otherwise it's been a great car which has averaged 48MPG over 10K miles;



You will easily get one within your budget but the options that I would look out for are; a 2012 model year car as the economy got better and mine is in VED tax band C, currently £100 a year, 19" wheels (but moreso for resale), Visibility pack (Xenons are fantastic), Professional Navigation (huge 10+ inch screen). Also BMW had some very good value, at £400, 5yr/60k miles service packs which have since changed to £475 and are only 5yr/50K miles so a maximum of only two services instead of three.

Anything else feel free to ask.

[JC180]

Thanks for your input Mac, I am coming from 204bhp and 0-60 in 7.2 sec so was looking at the 525d, 528i or 530d for similar or better performance levels. Economy is not such an issue for my and neither is co2 emissions etc as it will be a personal purchase and my mileage is 8k a year and more than paid for by my disbursements claimed from my clients.

I am toying with going for a saloon or touring (currently have an estate), how do you find the boot in the saloon size wise, I am thinking of taking some suitcases to the dealer to try it for size!

Coming from Audi, you will have a different perspective on ride and refinement that myself whose had mercs for 7 years (I drove an A6 pool car for a while...) but I guess as these things are relative and personal, I can only establish this with a test drive.

How would you describe the performance of the 520d on the motorway, are you ever left wanting more power?

Cheers

JC

[mactrack]

As you have already said there are literally only a handful of petrol F10s on the market and I have even read on a BMW forum, so take with the appropriate amount of salt, that there are some UK dealers who will not order or take in PX, unless extremely cheap, petrol F10s. Also the list price of a 520d is less than a 520i so unless you can find an attractively priced petrol car I think you will be "forced" into a diesel unless you take out BMWs 0% finance offer on their M5!

http://www.bmw.co.uk/en/topics/owner...ailoffers.html

Only you can decide on the ride quality so test drive one but make sure you know, if it's an M Sport one, whether the the M Sport suspension has been deleted (as this is an option). Stick with the 2012 model year onwards cars as all the diesel engines had upgrades, higher MPG & BHP (the 525d became a four cylinder), although the face lifted F10 will debut shortly as a 2014 model year car shortly(ish) so might be worth waiting to see what that brings.

I like both the saloon and the touring visually but the saloon was cheaper at the time and the boot is plenty big enough for most. The 520d is absolutely fine on the motorway and it's in no way under powered but of course a bigger engined car is always going to be better which is why I'm waiting for 640d Gran Coupe prices to come down a bit more!

[100thmonkey]

I have no experience of the new models but regardless I would have those run flats stright off and real tyres on, transforms the ride IMHO

[JohnF]

Hi, after just a year with my W204 C250, having owned a W203 for 6 years, I require (read the wife requires) something more comfortable for a long upcoming journey to Europe.

Nothing further up in the merc range excites me, save for an E Coupe which isn't all that practical so I have been looking at the F10 5 Series.

I am not really a fan of diesels, but may enjoy the BMW 6 pots like the earlier 525d 6cyl engine and the 530d. Petrol options are very much restricted in terms of availability to the 523i and rare earlier 6 cyl 528i (as opposed to the current 4 cyl turbo 528i).

Budget is no more than £28-29k would prefer it to be under £25k though.

Anyone here have one, or experience of one, I am concerned about M-Sport spec and 19" alloys rattling my fillings out, seat and ride comfort are top priorities for me.

Also, anyone have alcantara seat? If so how do they wear?

TIA

Jacob

I've been driving BMW for the last 15 years, first with a 528i, then 530td, since then 525td in various iterations. Currently a 525td in the F10 incarnation.

Lets's see. The car is not really a 5, it's a shrunken 7. It's wider than its predecessor, as well as longer. That meant that the wife dinged the bumpers a few times. It's harder to park, it's harder to maneouvre in tight spots, etc. Upside, of course, is that it's getting closer to the room of the 7, especially the back seat leg room. Seriously nice compared to its predecessor.

I've got the 6-speed manual transmission and the ratios are very nicely spaced. Tires are 18" runflats, as they don't offer any options with a real spare any more and I hate donuts. Ride is a tad detached in comparison to its predecessor, the road feel is good, but you lose some of the feel of the surface of the road in comparison: gravel doesn't feel as rough, sand on the street is much less there, but there is absolutely no problem with normal streets: feels exactly the same.

I have the business navigation with the online option, which is a fabulous. Running low on diesel and not sure where the next station is? Tell the navi what's up and it'll find it for you and put it as destination in the navi to get there before you run out fuel. The navi does tend to be a little bossy, taking you on detours around construction that are far longer than any delay that the construction really entails. The music system - I have the mid-level option - is quite nice, albeit the search function is a tad tedious.

So, handling. Like I need to say something? :-)

Now, I live in Germany where I can actually drive at a decent speed. I've spent around 60 hours over the last two years at 240 kmh, which is the normal top speed. The great thing that sets this car apart from so many others is that handling at 240 is not much different than handling at 160. Really sweet when you have the conditions and traffic permits.

My car is two years old, belonging to the first batch off the lines, and there is a problem with the shift lever vibrating and making noise at relatively low speeds, which the dealer has acknowledged to exist in the first group off the assembly lines. It's an annoyance, but one that I can live with.

Let's see: what else. I did have some annoying problems with the automatic tire pressure system, which the dealer forgot to recalibrate for winter tires when I got the car (it was delivered with summer tires, which are stored at the dealer, and they swapped winter tires before delivery). I tried to recalibrate it and never quite got it right: the dealer had it for 20 minutes and got it reset properly. That option is worth it, as you can monitor tire temperatures when moving at high speed, which is important to know when to back off.

Mileage is superb for the performance: real-world, after 38k km, is around 8l/100 km; normal highway speed (ca 150kmh) is around 6 l/100 kmh, drops to 4l/100km with 90kmh. Those are the numbers from the on-board computer.

Hope that helps. :-)

[walkerwek1958]

Forget the Beemer and get a Jag XF 3.0 diesel. In a different league IMO.

Paul

[RJS]

Forget the Beemer and get a Jag XF 3.0 diesel. In a different league IMO.

Paul

I went from a 520d to a E220CDi and I much prefer the Merc. A lot of my driving is motorway.

Having said that, I think my next one will be a Jag XF 2.2 diesel (200).

[Kirk280]

I recently had a new 320d touring and 520d touring for a week. The 3-series was a good car, the f10 was in a different league though and that's the one we ordered. Sports autobox is nicer than the manual. It's only a 2.0d but puts out 184bhp and feels fast enough. I test drove the 330d too, now that's a fast car but I still preferred the 5-series. I've not driven the Jag, but I've driven the Evoque with the same 2.2d engine and wasn't too impressed (but I know the 3.0d S is supposed to be a peach.) Test drive a few, I'm sure you'll soon find one you like!

[JC180]

Thanks everyone for your valuable input, still yet to drive an F10 but have been to see Williams Mcr this morning and hopefully drive a couple of examples tomorrow.

Anything other than 520d seem expensive and rare as a result so its not going to be easy. Like I said, economy and co. car tax issues are not so relevant as it is a private purchase.

I can rule out the XF however as the boot is rediculously undersize for the class and the Sportbrake is too new and expensive. The cabin also appeared inferior in quality and technology to the merc and bmw, my thoughts anyway.


One thing I have learnt though is that my C Class estate boot is no more practical than the 5 series saloon and for that reason I will consider a saloon too.

Off to drive a 530d M Sport Touring in Bolton now, I'll keep you posted.

Cheers

Jacob

[mactrack]

That's exactly the problem I had when I was looking a year ago. I would of defintely entertained a 530/35d but the choice of 520d's was enormous, compared to the other engined models, which meant it was much easier to find the right car at the right price for me.

[JC180]

Just driven a 530d M Sport, very unsure about it, clearly too short a test with the chap breathing down my neck. Power delivery too hesitant and car felt much larger and heavier than my C250. When I climbed back in to mine, it felt coiled and instant and with a lovely turbo creamy torque band, the 530d felt like a luxo barge effortless but also remote if you like. Very confused.

Need to sample the 520d and possibly a 525d and another 530d to see where I stand as buying the 528i that Bolton have may be residuals suicide...

[Fords]

The test drive was one of the reasons i did not go BMW, now Lexus said it's about 3/4's hour are you alright for time, back roads, flyover, motorway, road humps, you name it we did it.


Not saying get a Lexus, because i fancied the 5, but the sale's guys put me off, and the 5 was a bit lifeless with no power, while the lexus was lifeless with plenty of power, i like being detached and flying along, had enough of driving cars, this one drives for you.

[Cookie]

Hi Jacob
I had the older e39 520d msport. Never felt it lacked power or torque, bit of turbo lag but generally a reasonable match for the size of car. Msport 19" wheels and run flats were a bit crashy on poor roads (for that read all roads at the moment) half leather with the msport pack. Great motorway cruiser and good mpg too. You 're right though, once you move away from the 520d everything seems to get very expensive, very quickly with the 5 series.
Surprised you're not looking at an e350d, I'm now running a 320cdi w219 cls and it is probably the best Diesel engine I've experienced. You could pick up a nice CLS for your money :)

Cheers
Steve

[RichS]

Your C-class is a totally different car. I've just moved back to a 530d F10 from a 320d. The 530 is enormous in comparison, but quickly shrinks around you. I think with the additional mass, and volume there is some recalibration to do in terms of how you hustle the car. Was it a manual or auto you tested? Using the Comfort / Sport / Sport+ switch makes a huge difference to the throttle response and gear change intelligence in the auto. This might give you back some of the urgency and immediacy you missed. Also, if it had the active dampers, that will make a difference to the turn-in and handling. There should be ample power to get some excitement into the journey. The acceleration and noise from 2500-3500 is sensational.
It will undoubtedly be worth ditching the salesman if you can and getting a longer test drive. Good luck with your hunt, whichever brand you head for.

[Pitch3110]

Barge like and bland looks. Tried to buy last year and just couldn't.

Sorry.......

Pitch

[spareparts]

Barge like and bland looks. Tried to buy last year and just couldn't.

Sorry.......

Pitch

The F10 is the definitive 3 box midsize saloon for BMW. It's designed to be a touch bland and barge like...

[walkerwek1958]

Put up with the limited boot space and buy a Jag.......the 3.0D is superb.

Paul

[stooo]

Alcantara is very hard wearing.

[a900ss]

Here is a post I made getting on for a year ago of an extended test drive and if you scroll further down, my 6,000 mile report.

I have a F11 (touring) 520d and think its almost a perfect means of transport. It's quick enough, economical for its size (I average 45mpg but I drive quickly) and very refined. The only thing it lacks is a sense of fun. For getting from one side of the country to the other without raising your heartbeat" it's sublime.

Good luck.

http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...-BMW-520d-Auto

[JC180]

Put up with the limited boot space and buy a Jag.......the 3.0D is superb.

Paul

Can't I have a young family with lots of clobber! Boot is stupidly limited for this class, similar in size to a saloon from the class below.

The dials and depth of cabin quality was also lacking IMO and critically, owners have reported lots of niggles and reliability issues, does not appear that Jag have yet got to grips with quality.

[JC180]

Thanks a900s, great reviews and very helpful.

Cookie - Hi Steve, CLS lovely but only a 4 seater, the Sportbrake has 5 seats but too new and therefore too dear!

Just drove another 530d, this time a saloon in SE spec but with tons of options.

It has:

9" V-spoke style 331 alloy wheels (I prefer the 332 design and also 18" over 19")
Bootlid operation. powered

Dark Ash-grain wood. high-gloss

Dynamic package - 19"alloys, anthracite headlining, Sports seats etc

Ext. mirrors - folding. auto dimming
Loudspeaker system - BMW Business

Media package - BMW Professional
Reversing Assist camera
Seat heating. front
Seat heating. rear

Soft-close doors
Split-folding rear seats
Sport automatic transmission
Sun protection glass
Through-loading ski bag
Visibility package - Active headlights, Xenons, headlight wash


The sport auto gearbox IMO is critical to how the car feels, it allows 3 modes, comfort (softer ride, smoother gearchanges etc) Sport (firmer ride, far more sportier gearchanges i.e. shorter ratios) and Sport + which turns the car in to an animal. You can also specify whether you want drivetrain and suspension in Sport mode or either. My sweet spot is probably a sportier gearchange but softer suspension as particularly on 19" alloys, the car on anything but Comfort suppers from a slightly inferior ride.

To cut a long story short, I had a longer drive in one and felt much better about the car, to the extent that I am close to putting a deposit on one. I am apprehensive naturally about going for a car from the class above which is bigger and less naturally sporty than my C Class but the 3.0d is fast, very fast, and the gearbox in Sport is lovely.

The seats are supportive and should be comfortable on longer trips and the kit count is massive (£50k+ including all the options) so I don't see how I could be disappointed.

I will keep you posted, meanwhile keep your eyes peeled in SC for a stunning C Class ;))

[JC180]

Deposit placed, collection middle of next week all being well.

Thanks for your input, a little apprehensive but all the reviewers cannot be wrong and one can get used to anything.

Regards

JC

[a900ss]

Congrats.

I'm sure you'll love it.

[Asupercoolusername]

Lucky boy.......enjoy!

[zelig]

Looking forward to post purchase posts as I will be changing my A6 in about 6 months - with the F10 a contender. So I'd be very interested in your long term view on ownership - particularly comfort on long drives.

z

[JC180]

Thanks Chaps.

Zelig, I will be sure to update the thread with my thoughts initially and maybe over the period of a few months.

There is an ownership thread on overclockers of 530d which I have read and the chap loves the car but hates the damping. He has an M Sport however and I think that is the critical factor in his criticism.

I am looking at getting a cheap set of 18" to try possibly on non run flats if the ride is a little crashy but I found the ride pretty well damped and certainly not uncomfortable on SE suspension in comfort mode, sport is a little harsher and sport plus a little extreme. I think the ideal around town is comfort suspension and sport drivetrain which you can select independently.

I was generally unimpressed with my test of the 530d m sport however with non adjustable throttle and suspension.

[JC180]

Picked up the 530d yesterday from Williams Manchester, the car stank of polish and gave me a headache, it has since worn off (the smell that is) in contrast to merc who leave the car smelling like new.

Initial thoughts, to be updated...

It is incredibly quick in Sport and in Sport+ it is utterly bonkers and VERY keen to wag its tail!

Very impressed alround, when a gentle bumble around town is required, leave in Normal and you can barely hear the engine and certainly cannot hear gear changes unless you gaze at the rev counter 30mpg + achievable, in Sport it firms everything up, longer ratio's and one less gear in Sport+ it is a wild untamed beast and will fling you and the car around withhot hatch levels of response and agility, quite an incredible transformation but expect 18-23mpg for very spirited driving in short trips (i.e. showing off!).

Ride quality is firm but very controlled hence very comfortable, lateral movement is very well controlled and over smooth tarmac it is silent at speeds up to 50mph. On rougher ground less so but never thumps unless you hit a very sharp ridge like a sunken utility trench etc.

Cabin is beautifully put together and well detailed, very intuitive iDrive system took a very short time to get the hang of and is an equal to COMAND if not better in some areas.

Seats are very comfortable, large and with plenty adjustment, wife is happy HURRAY! The rear seats are to die for, big and sumtuous, you just sink in to them and they're heated too, lucky kids!!

Carpets and seats are high quality and look new and are unmarked (18k on the clock) cabin is 95% perfect with just the high gloss wood showing swirles.

Adaptive Xenons are fabulous, bright and powerful, angel eye halo's are cool for daytime lights.

Got connected drive and BMW online up and running, great in theory, not sure it has any massively practical function unless you get completely lost or lok yourself out of the car!

More comments to follow, here are the pics of the (poorly) dealer prepared car, hopefully I can give it a polish and wax at the weekend if this Arctic weather departs.

[Kirk280]

That looks great. We've just ordered a very similar spec touring, apart from a 2.0 not a 3.0 :(

[ism123]

Saw this post a tad late and reading down it I thought you were going to be put off given your obvious love of the C (and why not, I think it's the best looking medium estate on the road currently).

Glad you saw sense and bought a 6 cylinder. I have the F10 520d and it's just perfectly and efficiently boring. How I long for a 530!

Enjoy!

[mac83]

Congrats on the car - I did consider F10 BMW 530d 2 months ago but somehow as people mentioned already it did feel like a barge a little bit.
Drove XF as well and it was too cramped inside, very very small cabin and I didn't get blown away with 3l diesel engine and its power.

So in the end went for S4 saloon but it looks like I had slightly different prioritites ("powwwwaaa!" rather than comfort ;-) ) then you...

[ingenioren]

Congratulations and welcome to 'Beemer' world....
Once you get suitable 'adjusted' the what BMW can offer of driver satisfaction, you'd be hard pressed to be satisfied with most other marques in the same bracket.
I'm on my 20th Beemer after trying others makes (a.o. by hiring them for some days !) and nothing gives the same 'complete package'.
After the last being 4 X5s, (3 SDs and 1 V8), I definitely wanted to move back to petrol and not regretted it.

My new 550i M Sport gives 26-29MPG on French Mway driving 85-95MPH which I'm very happy with. (Less than my VW BEETLE 1300 50BHP !)
If you have head-up display, remember to change the settings from Miles to KM.
If you are cruising France (I call it an inconvenience to get from A to B....) bear in mind the French police are already out in force.
4 'sneakey' radar controls in January through Burgundy alone, after being pulled over once (clocked at 151 kph, = 45 Euros please !)
one of them told be quietly their 'guns' are calibrated at 148Kph, so you're OK at 90MPH, and the static ones are at 138Kph...
By the way it is now possible to purchase the SETAF 'widget' allowing you cruise through the toll barriers, and the fee is billed your bank account every month but do not approach them too rapidly....
Happy driving ,
Cheers, Peter

[JC180]

Very sore..

pre washed with Valet Pro citrus, washed with Megs Hyperwash, wheels iron x and hyperwashed and then waxed with FK1000, with Megs Endurance on the tyres.

Tries CG all in one by DA polisher but reverted to SRP by spot pad as this provided better results probably due to the fullers. Gave it some Gteqnic 2.0 and topped with CG Pete's 53 Black Pearl.

Should have clayed her but had no lube and although I could have used hyperwash 1:4 or similar, I gave it a miss and regret doing so as its not a time intensive step (relatively) and the results are exceptional.

What a huge car this is, think I will pay someone to detail this for me next time, if I fancy some full defect removal etc.

Here are some photos, very silky...

[westy]

Now THAT is a clean car...

[stooo]

You missed a bit, just inside the tailpipes.

[JC180]

Thoughts on a brief trip to Cheshire Oaks this morning with the missus...

She was comfortable as heck, splayed out in the big sumptuous seats marvelling at the dash architecture, I was enjoying playing with the MPG meter and found that 60mpg is possible in top gear at 60mph....!

You can see from the pic below that door to door to Cheshire Oaks from North Manchester, the car recorded 46mpg with motorway speeds never exceeding 80mph.



On the way back, going at a more "leisurely" pace, the car still averaged 38.9mpg for the trip, extremely improssive considering the way I drove back.



A 40 mile drive feels like a short trip to the shops in this car and the power, toque and refinement are tremendous on all fronts, in three figures the car feels like it is doing 60mph and one can clearly see this car is designed to be an autobahn bruiser with a top speed of a limited 155mph.

The seats are extremely comfortable yet although the ride is well controlled, ruts, potholes and sharp shocks are felt more than one would expect although I blame that on 19" wheels and 35 profile tyres...

Generally very happy with the car after being in two minds due to its bulk and heavier steering (than the c class) around town but far more positive after this morning.

I am off to Holland on Sunday and will keep you posted.

Cheers

Jacob