520d Vs A6

bemak

Thought I'd post in here as I'm in a similar predicament as the original poster. I currently have a 97 A4 which has 225k on the clock and no bother to it. really has been an immense car. never any trouble except lately the steering fluid is leaking due to a seal. nothing major.

anyway, i'm looking to upgrade. normally if someone asked me what i think they should get in a situation like mine id say stick with the A4s etc but I'm into my cars so I'm looking at a 2005 520d or a similar aged A6 2.0 tdi.

Price wise, you would get a good 520 with 100-150k miles for between €8-9k with a similar audi being €1k or so cheaper.

Just wondering from anyone with first hand experience if I'd be mad buying such a car for whatever reason? I'm just curious about running costs etc.

Audi's are great, But time for a 520-530D, I've never driven one but I believe the ride is bone shatteringly hard ?

I know BMW's turbo s give a fair bit of trouble, I do think the Audi's are more reliable. My old 2003 A4 TDI ran for 200,000 miles before I sold it. The engine was in good condition for the mileage.

The thing about these cars is they are expensive enough even 2nd hand with lots of miles!

TestTransmission

I've created a new thread for you OP

Tea 1000

Deleted User wrote: »

Audi's are great, But time for a 520-530D, I've never driven one but I believe the ride is bone shatteringly hard ?

I know BMW's turbo s give a fair bit of trouble, I do think the Audi's are more reliable. My old 2003 A4 TDI ran for 200,000 miles before I sold it. The engine was in good condition for the mileage.

The thing about these cars is they are expensive enough even 2nd hand with lots of miles!

Your A4 was reliable because it had the 1.9TDi. The A6 with the early 2 litre TDI's aren't reliable. Most recent Audi's aren't reliable with big miles. The 5 series is a better car in every way really. It's only the current A6 that really upped it's game.

Blazer

Definitely 520D...got one recently and love it to bits...but I want more power
Actually there was a chap on here with a link to a 05 535D for 8,5K I think...
fantastic price and it looks great ..272hp I think as well so plenty of power


ah here is it...

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2962386

No bloody A6 is gonna match this

heate

Blazer wrote: »

Definitely 520D...got one recently and love it to bits...but I want more power
Actually there was a chap on here with a link to a 05 535D for 8,5K I think...
fantastic price and it looks great ..272hp I think as well so plenty of power


ah here is it...

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2962386

No bloody A6 is gonna match this

Op is looking for a 520d / a6 2.0tdi the 535d is a stonker but hardly in the same thought process.
I'd have a look at a manual A6 or an auto 520d. The Audi multitronic gearbox is a bit of a nightmare.

bazz26

OP, they both have different driving characteristics despite being rivals to each other, one is RWD while the other is FWD. The only way you can choose which one you like the most is by test driving both. I'm sure you will decide quick enough then which one you want.

Ferris

My Da has a 2005 A6 from new. It had a turbo under warranty. Then it needed a DMF and a clutch at 80k, I suspected that the DMF had gone from nearly new. It split an intercooler. The gear linkage fell off. Then the oil pump broke (a common failure at 100k aparently) and this lunched the 2nd turbo. I hear that when the injectors let go, which they will by all reports, thats another grand. The car had a full service history and has had the correct materials/oil etc.

Its a lovely car and all but the lack of reliability and expence required to fix is unacceptable. I have no experience of 520d's however but I suspect that they're not much better.

bemak

Blazer wrote: »

Definitely 520D...got one recently and love it to bits...but I want more power
Actually there was a chap on here with a link to a 05 535D for 8,5K I think...
fantastic price and it looks great ..272hp I think as well so plenty of power


ah here is it...

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2962386

No bloody A6 is gonna match this

Thats a sweet car alright. If it was exactly (including price :P) except it was 2 litre instead I'd be gathering the pennys!

Blazer

bemak wrote: »

Thats a sweet car alright. If it was exactly (including price :P) except it was 2 litre instead I'd be gathering the pennys!

yeah..the 520Ds are a nice car...
Best bet is to go onto the bmw-drivers.net forum and get people's opinions.
Things to watch out for on the 520D are swirl flags on pre 2007 models and ensure they have a full service history etc..

Listen to people who actually have the models you're looking at not to people who heard something :rolleyes:

520Ds do not roll hard, the M-sport versions have sports suspension so are a hard ride.
BMW turbos aren't notorious for blowing, as long as you look after them with regular oil changes (BMW recommend 16K miles I think, most bmw owners say to go with 9-12k oil changes)

Take both for a spin and see which one you enjoy driving the most,,,both of them will bring a smile to your face anyway

bemak

i'm going to see a few 520d sports this week. just wondering if anyone has any advice as to what to look out for when inspecting it? i presume with the sporty suspension that it's worth jacking up each corner and just seeing if theres any play etc.

but if anyone has any tips on specific things to check that'd be great!

thanks in advance for any replies!

rebel.ranter

Just a note on the supposed hard ride in the BMW Sport models. I would recommend you make your own mind up about the firmness & not rely on the opinions of others. A friend of mine bought a brand new 530d SE with 16' wheels because he read that the ride was too hard on bigger wheels & Sport. His next car was the M5 with 19' wheels, he didn't think the ride was nearly as bad as was made out in the article he had read on Sport models a few years earlier (yes, yes, I know, the M5 is not a Sport, but it is most likely a more extreme harsh to the Sport models!).

bemak

ya thats true. I dont mind the firmer ride anyway, its just the implications of it on the wear and tear of the car. we have a sportivo alfa 156 at home and i love the handling etc but because its more firm, it wears quicker than normal cars

Ferris

Also the m5 doesn't use runflats. Regular e60's do and they make the ride harsher. OP should test it out for himself though.

bemak

i wouldnt mind too much about the run flats as i'd just get what i can out of the current ones on it and change them to normal tyres. seems to be a common theme when you search online about it

RedorDead

Will get flamed for this due to the excessive BMW fanboy-ism here but what the hell.

Make sure you get the recall done or else.....

bemak

the recall?

bemak

I got the car I'm looking at this weekend checked out through the reg check. all pretty standard, the car was imported from uk after first owner, its on the third owner now. the miles are genuine etc etc.

But one thing popped up which pricked my attention. The current owner bought the car in september 2011 and is selling it now again half a year later. Also, since april 2010, the previous owner and the current owner have taxed the car in 3 month stints. I know the tax for a year in a car like this is 660 so maybe its just a money issue, which would explain why the current owner is selling it after only 6 months.

Should i be worried about this? I'll only confront the owner about it when I see the car so that I can guage his reactions etc.

Thanks!

bemak

actually i got that last bit wrong. it has been taxed for six month stints. ill post the dates altogether:


Previous expiry dates: 31/10/2011
31/03/2011
31/10/2010
31/07/2010
30/04/2010

Satanta

I taxed my 520 for 3 months in february there. It caused no faults as of yet.

But seriously, some people just tax their car in short stints. I'll do a year next tome as I get a bonus in April, otherwise it would likely be another 3 months.

bemak

what do you think of someone selling it after only 6 months though? When I asked originally why he was selling it he said that he had 2 cars in the house and couldnt justify running both of them? I'm just a bit apprehensive is all. I'll know when I see it if it's a pup

bemak

bemak wrote: »

what do you think of someone selling it after only 6 months though? When I asked originally why he was selling it he said that he had 2 cars in the house and couldnt justify running both of them? I'm just a bit apprehensive is all. I'll know when I see it if it's a pup

Lots of people change car 2 or 3 times a year, with 3-4 yr old cars if you know what you are doing you can probably sell them at a profit or at a very small loss.

bemak

The other question is regarding the owners. The report quotes 3 but the dates look like this:

Owners
No. of owners (Total): 3 (incl current owner)
No. of current owners (Ireland): 1
No. of previous owners (Ireland): 1
No. of previous owners (UK): 1

Date of first registration: 16/12/2005
Date(s) of sale (UK): 31/01/2009

Date car was registered in Ireland: 03/02/2010

Date(s) of sale (Ireland):

16/02/2010

19/09/2011

I presume that when the car was sold first it was traded in so it was sitting in a dealer etc. Then it was imported to Ireland and sold soon after in feb 2010. sold again then after in sept 2011 which is the current owner.

Any cause for alarm do ye think?

Satanta

That honestly wouldn't put me off. I can't actually see an issue tbh. In the current climate there are many reasons why someone would sell a car even shortly after buying it.

Id be more concerned that the mileage is genuine and whether there is a service history etc.

bemak

the mileage is actually spot on thankfully. loads of entries showing up to 40k in the uk. irish records are a bit more sparse but genuine all the same

bemak

general question. i notice in a few 520's that when looking at the front head on, some cars have an "upside down V" type strut or something in front of the radiator. anyone know why some have this and some havent?

ongarite

Have a picture of the part/area your talking about?

bemak

found this after a quick search. some seem to clearly have it where as you cant see it in others. this was a sport model

bemak

like for example this car here you cant see the bars or struts.

http://www.cbg.ie/car_detail.aspx?ID=4888985

maybe its just the transparency of the grill?

Blazer

bemak wrote: »

general question. i notice in a few 520's that when looking at the front head on, some cars have an "upside down V" type strut or something in front of the radiator. anyone know why some have this and some havent?

I think it's the pre-LCI and the LCI model you're talking about.
Or else you're mistaking maybe 530 etc for the 520D?

bemak

just behind the grill you can see this 'upside down V' that im on about. looks like a strut or something. just curious is all. ive noticed that some models have it and some dont. ive seen an LCI model with it

Blazer

I suspect it's it do with the new engine introduced into the 5 series in September 2007.
just checked 3 520D's in the carpark.
05 Pre-LCI- Struts
07 LCI (March)- struts
08 model- new engine(no struts).

bemak

ah right i see. no need to go to all that bother but thanks for doing it!

Satanta

mines is 05 without the struts

Blazer

Satanta wrote: »

mines is 05 without the struts

That's really weird...it seems to be completely at random then...
really curious as to it's function..must try the lad at bmw-drivers.net

bemak

Another thing i've noticed in 520s, the different steering wheel types. At first I thought the round centre one signified newer models or sport models but there doesn't seem to be any reason only choice of spec. I prefer the round centre one though!

Gumbo

bemak wrote: »

Another thing i've noticed in 520s, the different steering wheel types. At first I thought the round centre one signified newer models or sport models but there doesn't seem to be any reason only choice of spec. I prefer the round centre one though!

its standard on the sport model, but SE cars can be spec'd to have the sport steering wheel too.

bemak

ah right. simple as that eh? good to know. i found an online bmw service manual here. just thought it might be handy to post for anyone else.

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/e60/

bemak

found out what that 'V' thing is.

http://tis.spaghetticoder.org/s/view.pl?1/08/99/55

i saw a 520 today and it seems that a lot of grills have a plastic cover behind them so you actually can't see the radiator. some cars obviously havent got this plastic cover so you can see the engine.

bemak

just went for a test drive over the weekend. was an m sport with 107k miles on it. drove well but the lad selling it ended up deciding to keep it! anyway, got me thinking seriously about what i should be looking for when buying a car like this with 100k+ miles. what would need to have been done mechanically? i just want to be in a better position when bargaining and if i know what needs to be done or should have been done on a car with that kind of mileage then i'd feel like im getting the best value i can get!

any help or tips guys would be greatly appreciated!

Blazer

prob the best bet is the lads over on bmw-drivers.net ....some of them know their stuff

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/

bemak

good shout! thanks for that blazer!