BMW 520D(E60) M-Sport

BigChap1759

Lads,

Looking at buying one of these - probably an 06 or 07 plate and was hoping to get some buying advice. Are there any gotchas in terms of things that are wrong with the car or engine etc.

Cheers

Adrian

ongarite

If your budget can stretch out, get the LCI update and maybe a late 07 model when the updated 520d engine & gearbox was introduced.

heate

BigChap1759 wrote: »

Lads,

Looking at buying one of these - probably an 06 or 07 plate and was hoping to get some buying advice. Are there any gotchas in terms of things that are wrong with the car or engine etc.

Cheers

Adrian

Just try to buy one with a stamped history and low ish mileage probably better off with an 06' asfaik the efficient dynamics system was installed in 07' that may give problems.

swhyte027

I deal with them on a daily bases nice car to be honest but there both not without there problems, but then again no car is perfect il give you some problems that both face. Rear pivot bearings and the top banana arm on the rear suspension are very common faults. As the car gets that bit older the rear metal brake pipes need changing,id prefer get the automatic then the manual to be honest. As its just a nicer drive,the engines are good altough starting to see problem in the inlet ports in the heads building up with carbon, and also the dreaded turbo problem not as bad on the newer models but still some trouble, the front suspension gives slight trouble with control arms and track rod ends, also after the heavy rain we had to do a number of front wheel bearings which I found strange. Anyways never the less these are just small problems and apart from the turbo they are relatively inexpensive to repair.feel free if you have anything else you would like to no.

Gumbo

nice cars.
Buy the best spec'd you can and buy on condition and history, not based on year/mileage.

ideally, LCI, auto, xenon, leather, bluetooth and then some bonus points would be heated seats, sat nav, 19" 172M wheels, Logic 7 hi fi upgrade, privacy glass.

jsd1004

kceire wrote: »

nice cars.
Buy the best spec'd you can and buy on condition and history, not based on year/mileage.

ideally, LCI, auto, xenon, leather, bluetooth and then some bonus points would be heated seats, sat nav, 19" 172M wheels, Logic 7 hi fi upgrade, privacy glass.

Why would you buy one of these? They are more common than Mondeos.

Gumbo

jsd1004 wrote: »

Why would you buy one of these? They are more common than Mondeos.

Why would you post in here? dont like thread, click out, simples....

heate

kceire wrote: »

nice cars.
Buy the best spec'd you can and buy on condition and history, not based on year/mileage.

ideally, LCI, auto, xenon, leather, bluetooth and then some bonus points would be heated seats, sat nav, 19" 172M wheels, Logic 7 hi fi upgrade, privacy glass.

That's ideal but I doubt you'll find a 20d anything with that spec it woul have made it a €70k plus car new! The logic7 is quite excellent but was near €2k originally!

Gumbo

heate wrote: »

That's ideal but I doubt you'll find a 20d anything with that spec it woul have made it a €70k plus car new! The logic7 is quite excellent but was near €2k originally!

yeah true!
Even the UK its quite rare up until the later years, but i do be looking at 535d's so sometimes i forget that the people that bought and spec'd them are not the same kinda people that bought the 20d's.

BigChap1759

Thanks for the advice folks - I heard the turbo isn't as much of a problem as it is in some of the larger diesel engines, is this true?

Any way to tell if the turbo is on the way out - any tell tale signs?

Leonard Hofstadter

Try and find a 530d:)! There's nothing wrong with the 520d, I mean they are popular for a reason (and I don't just mean because it's a BMW), it's just that the 530d is that bit more special. As others have said, buy based on condition, service history (essential) and spec. M Sports are very uncomfortable in my opinion because these cars have run flat tyres. And the larger wheel sizes are obviously going to be more expensive every time you need to change the tyres as well. I prefer the SEs to be honest. Oh and don't buy a manual:)!

I note the problems above about carbon build up. This will only happen if the car is driven around town most of the time - don't forget one of the reasons the 520d was so popular even before the tax changes was because it was the only 2.0 litre 5 series available and it was also the cheapest 5 series you could buy. I'd prefer a car with a few miles that's done plenty of motorway driving over a car that's been used mostly to go around town - stuff like the DPF and EGR valve will go wrong if the car is driven around town a lot.

One last thing, get the swirl flaps removed. Yes I know that it was only the earlier cars that suffered from the engine injesting them (writing off the engine in the process) but still it's best to have them removed! It's not an expensive job to get done on them either.

BigChap1759

Thanks for the advice - if cost wasn't an option then it would be a 530d but the road tax is outrageous.

Ride won't be an issue - don't think it will be as stiff as the RX8 I just sold

Out of interest is there any issue with replacing the run flats with sportier tyres, Vreds etc?

Leonard Hofstadter

Get a 535d then, it's still the same outrageous tax, but it's more justifiable because of the greater power:D!

166man

captainspeed wrote: »

Get a 535d then, it's still the same outrageous tax, but it's more justifiable because of the greater power:D!

520d has enough power for most drivers I'd say. 177bhp and 0-60 in roughly 8.5 seconds is fast enough. The fact that 55mpg is easily possible makes the 530d and it's road tax a bit pointless imo.:)

Atomic Pineapple

166man wrote: »

520d has enough power for most drivers I'd say. 177bhp and 0-60 in roughly 8.5 seconds is fast enough. The fact that 55mpg is easily possible makes the 530d and it's road tax a bit pointless imo.:)

Whats the difference in power and tax between a 520d and 530d actually? (Interested to know but too lazy to search)

166man

draffodx wrote: »

Whats the difference in power and tax between a 520d and 530d actually? (Interested to know but too lazy to search)

177bhp to roughly 230bhp
Tax is about 640 against 1300.

Not worth it I think.

BigChap1759

Remap will take the 520 to 200BHP

R.O.R

BigChap1759 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice - if cost wasn't an option then it would be a 530d but the road tax is outrageous.

Ride won't be an issue - don't think it will be as stiff as the RX8 I just sold

Out of interest is there any issue with replacing the run flats with sportier tyres, Vreds etc?

Mine is running on non-run flat tyres, but I do have the spare wheel kit in the boot (space saver, jack etc.). Did get a low pressure warning before Christmas so put air in to it and haven't had any issues since (about 4,000km).

Still fairly stiff even on the motorway, but not boneshaking.

Gumbo

BigChap1759 wrote: »

Remap will take the 520 to 200BHP

Remap will make the 530d 270bhp

foxyboy

My 07C 520D SE has recently failed its NCT :-(, I had garage have a quick look at they have said that it requires
• Rear Banana Arms (Bent)
• 2 Rear Wishbones Bushes 2 pair each side

Is it worth looking at sourcing these parts (if I can identify them correctly) or am I better off getting the garage to get everything ?

ION08

166man wrote: »

177bhp to roughly 230bhp
Tax is about 640 against 1300.

Not worth it I think.

Well Worth it!!!!

6 Cylinders
More BHP
More Torque
Smoother and better power delivery
None of the worries associated with that poxy N47 engine.

Blazer

ION08 wrote: »

Well Worth it!!!!

6 Cylinders
More BHP
More Torque
Smoother and better power delivery
None of the worries associated with that poxy N47 engine.

couldn't agree more..I had a 525D lci and regretted selling it. I bloody loved that car.
I was shopping around again and picked up a e92 320D..only reason I took it was because the timing chain was upgraded on her and it was owned by a bmw mechanic otherwise I was getting a 330/530D.

Leonard Hofstadter

ION08 wrote: »

Well Worth it!!!!

6 Cylinders
More BHP
More Torque
Smoother and better power delivery
None of the worries associated with that poxy N47 engine.

Not bad, replying to something posted a whole four years ago:pac:

Blazer

captainspeed wrote: »

Not bad, replying to something posted a whole four years ago:pac:

Still relevant though