BMW E39 525d vs 530d and a few questions

johnnystork

Hi All,

I'm looking to buy a E39 5 series diesel and I'm looking for some advice. I'll tell you what I've read and it would be great to get some feedback.

Older model <2000 142bhp 525 should be avoided in favor of the newer 2000> 162bhp engines? (525d rather than the older 525tds?)

No great mpg difference between 525 and 530?

Should Auto transmission be avoided due to lower mpg, swirl flaps and other mech problems and less able to cope with an ecu remapping?

Apart from more torque is the 530d really worth the €400 more in road tax?

Will a decat increase mpg and still pass an NCT?

Apart from donedeal, carzone and autotrader is there any other sites to check out?

Cheers

166man

There's not that many 525d's around last time I checked, pity you hadn't been a few months earlier, a member on here had an unreal 525d for sale.

I can't imagine it's worth the extra tax tbh, just remap a 525d is what I'd be doing, although I'm not an expect on them by any means.

Theanswers

Hey,
I have a 530d touring which I am converting to commercial for lower tax (310 euro). Still a car on the logbook and I have all rear seats/ belts etc. I also have it on Donedeal. You can PM me if your interested. Sorry Mods if this isnt aloud. It's 2002

johnnystork

Yeah the 525's are few and far between especially with any spec, so that looks to be the only reason to go for the 530.

johnnystork

Theanswers wrote: »

Hey,
I have a 530d touring which I am converting to commercial for lower tax (310 euro). Still a car on the logbook and I have all rear seats/ belts etc. I also have it on Donedeal. You can PM me if your interested. Sorry Mods if this isnt aloud. It's 2002

Sorry not really needing the extra space of the touring model.

Leonard Hofstadter

The E39 530d while hardly slow is not terribly fast either with an automatic gearbox, so I'd definitely be avoiding the 525d. Worth noting is that the autos can give trouble, so I'd probably go for a manual. The manual is more reliable, faster and does a good few more mpg as well. Personally I'd rather a petrol, nothing beats a silky smooth straight 6 powered by petrol .

166man

captainspeed wrote: »

The E39 530d while hardly slow is not terribly fast either with an automatic gearbox, so I'd definitely be avoiding the 525d. Worth noting is that the autos can give trouble, so I'd probably go for a manual. The manual is more reliable, faster and does a good few more mpg as well. Personally I'd rather a petrol, nothing beats a silky smooth straight 6 powered by petrol .

A 530d isn't meant to be terribly fast though, it's a refined economical way of getting around. Marlow on here had a 525d and that had fair enough poke if I remember correctly, think it was remapped too. Couldn't justify the extra tax myself though.

I'd love a petrol myself, but an auto 530d can reach 35mpg, where the petrol would be in or around 25mpg I'd imagine. The figures speak for themselves really unfortunately...:o

Marlow

166man wrote: »

A 530d isn't meant to be terribly fast though, it's a refined economical way of getting around. Marlow on here had a 525d and that had fair enough poke if I remember correctly, think it was remapped too.

It had an egr-delete, cat-back and remap running 230 bhp and 365 ft-lb (495 Nm) torque. As it was a manual, there were no swirl flaps in the first place. The only let down of the diesel would be the short powerband with a redline at around 4500 rpm.

johnnystork wrote: »

Older model <2000 142bhp 525 should be avoided in favor of the newer 2000> 162bhp engines? (525d rather than the older 525tds?)

The 525tds (pre Sept '00) is an old, mechanically injected turbo-diesel. From a reliability perspective, it's very hard to kill that engine. I've had two and can't fail them. It's just if you are looking to tune the car for more power, that it would be a bad choice.

Drive one and see, if it suits yourself. From a fuel consumption perspective, they'd do about 2-3 mpg less than the commonrail (525d) equivalent. That's about it.

johnnystork wrote: »

No great mpg difference between 525 and 530?

There wouldn't be a lot of difference in the fuel consumption between the 525d and the 530d.

johnnystork wrote: »

Should Auto transmission be avoided due to lower mpg, swirl flaps and other mech problems and less able to cope with an ecu remapping?

I wouldn't avoid an automatic, but I would definatly get the swirl flaps removed ASAP, if they still are in place. The same applies to some manuals. There are some that have swirl flaps, but it's rare. In regards to remapping, you only get problems if you buy a generic remap somewhere.

If you go to somebody, that will map the car specific to the power output using a dyno or doing a rolling remap, there should be no more problem.

johnnystork wrote: »

Apart from more torque is the 530d really worth the €400 more in road tax?

The issue is, that 525d's never officially were brought into Ireland. All the ones that you see pottering around are UK imports and the likes. Hence 525d's are rare enough to find.

johnnystork wrote: »

Will a decat increase mpg and still pass an NCT?

A decat (or catback) without a remap afterwards will usually actually decrease your mpg (worse fuel consumption). You will gain power/torque though. This is due to changed back pressure in the exhaust system. A remap can fix that and will most likely bring it back to the same mpg as before.

johnnystork wrote: »

Apart from donedeal, carzone and autotrader is there any other sites to check out?

Gumtree, buyandsell and adverts maybe ?

/M

johnnystork

Hey Marlow,

Thanks for the detailed reply. Especially on the older 525tds.

So if I wasn't too pushed on bhp then any aged 525 in manual would be the sensible choice?

Would the catback/decat be worth while on the older engine? Would this pass an NCT? As I couldn't be arsed with changing it every time just to pass the NCT.

530d auto is easiest to find but has biggest tax and probably most costly to run in terms of maintenance etc.


Cheers

Marlow

johnnystork wrote: »

Would the catback/decat be worth while on the older engine?

It wouldn't make much sense to do a catback/decat with the older engine, simply because you'd need to retune it. And on the older engine that means replacing the chip. The ECU is not flashable. It can be done, but probably cost you a good bit more.

johnnystork wrote: »

Would this pass an NCT? As I couldn't be arsed with changing it every time just to pass the NCT.

I've nct'd my 525d with the cat-back and had no emissions problems with the cat-back. Can't say, if a full de-cat would have pushed it over the limit. Don't think so either.

You have to remember, that with a diesel, it's not the co2 values they measure.

johnnystork wrote: »

530d auto is easiest to find but has biggest tax and probably most costly to run in terms of maintenance etc.

Maintenance is the the same on all of them. The tax is the only difference. In the E60, the 525d's even had the same block after '07 (3l engine, smaller injectors).

/M


Cheers[/QUOTE]