BMW E60 525D LCI

Paddy@CIRL

I've been considering changing motors over the last couple of weeks and have gone through so many options that its made my head hurt a little bit. From an E39 M5 to Octavia RS, from E46 M3 to Audi A5 and everything in-between. I sat down last week, examined my present and near future circumstances and decided that the best car for me at the moment would be a diesel 5 Series, six cylinder and in M Sport trim. I'm currently driving a 2006 320D Sport which I love to bits. However, if I want to change I think now may be the best time.

My rationale for a 5 Series:

• Need a diesel for long trips (UK & beyond)
• Would like lots of comfort for said long trips
• Need more room than my E90 but don't want an estate.
• I really, really like E60s.

With this narrowed down, I moved onto examining what's available at the moment within Ireland. There's a nice 2007 530D Touring (lovely car but don't like the touring), a 2007 535D (tax and insurance put this just outside my reach) but what has caught my eye is a 2008 525D Sport. It is fitted with the LCI 3.0 turbo diesel engine and can be remapped safely to 530D levels of power (250hp / 350 lbs/ft approx). It's well specced with the only thing I'd change being the wheels from 18s to 19s. It ticks all my boxes although is a little on the pricey side at close to €18,000 but annual tax is around half of what I'm paying currently which is a small bonus. Being a face lifted 2008 example, I would hope that the residuals would fair better over the years than a 2007 example but that remains to be seen.

I guess what I'm asking is what should I look out for if I go to look at this particular car? I've read that thermostats are prone to failure resulting in poor MPG but little else. Apparently the LCI model does not have swirl flaps so that's one other thing to tick off the list.

What am I missing?

R.O.R

We had an 07 525d on fleet - remember it as it felt a good bit faster than the XF 3.0d I took out to him as a demo, when he was looking at options to replace. Also drove it when it came back off lease. Pretty sure it was an LCI, but couldn't say 100% for sure.

Just had a quick scan through the history. Poor thing was bashed from pillar to post, so lot's of bodywork, but nothing mechanical outside of standard servicing. Only went to 125,000km before we sold it, which seems to be what's on the one you are looking at, so might be of no help.

Paddy@CIRL

As it turns out, I put in the wrong reg on the Motor Tax site, annual tax is €750. This changes everything...

R.O.R

Paddy@CIRL wrote: »

As it turns out, I put in the wrong reg on the Motor Tax site, annual tax is €750. This changes everything...

It's €40 a year more than a 2.0 on the old system, and a damn site cheaper than a 525d would be on the old system.

€750 isn't really that bad.............

Paddy@CIRL

R.O.R wrote: »

It's €40 a year more than a 2.0 on the old system, and a damn site cheaper than a 525d would be on the old system.

€750 isn't really that bad.............

But why pay €750 to tax a 525D when a 535D is in the same band

bazz26

The post 2007 manual E60 LCI 525d is cheaper to tax than the auto but you may as well go 530d/535d if you can find one as they are around the same.

Idbatterim

the below likely to be BS?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/northernireland/search/used/cars/bmw/5_series/postcode/bt39jp/radius/1501/engine-size-cars/3l_to_3-9l/sort/default/body-type/saloon/fuel-type/diesel/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/maximum-age/up_to_6_years_old/ni-only/on

Leonard Hofstadter

Worth noting that on the facelifted E60 5 series, the six cylinder petrols are in the exact same tax band as the six cylinder automatic diesels, though there is the issue of failing injectors and the likes with the petrols, whereas the M57 diesel is a fine reliable engine.

Joey99

I endorse your general thinking - it's pretty much what led me to my 2009 E61 520D. The annual tax of €390 feels (for the first time) like I'm not actually being fleeced by the Government. I brought mine in from the UK and would endorse that approach for anyone who is interested in cars and the import process. I got a fantastic condition report from Dekra Expert that made me feel comfortable about agreeing a sale sight unseen.Unless you really need the bigger engine, I can recommend the 520D.

bazz26

Performance wise the 520d is probably sufficient for most Irish motorists but the 6 pot 525d/530d is far more refined, smoother and overall nicer to drive. It feels more at home in a premium executive saloon than the smaller 4 pot.

Blazer

bazz26 wrote: »

Performance wise the 520d is probably sufficient for most Irish motorists but the 6 pot 525d/530d is far more refined, smoother and overall nicer to drive. It feels more at home in a premium executive saloon than the smaller 4 pot.

agreed...I changed my 07 520D SE for a 07 525D LCI and there's a big difference. I even had the 520D mapped to similiar power as the 525D but that 3L litre makes a massive difference. It's smoother and delivers the power more rapidly.
I got it for 14k with a 2 year BMW full warranty, tax is €1494 for the year. Steep alright but as you can see trying to get a 08+ 3 litre BMW is a pretty tough task in Ireland. Ideally I would have got a 08+ 530D but I'm very happy with the 525D. Remap next on the cards
Saw a nice one on bmw-drivers.net though..white one..very tasty.
http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=92905

Also up there is a 2008 325D LCI which is a pretty nice car as well
http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=89713


Both have the M57 engine.

Leonard Hofstadter

The other advantage of a 525d/530d LCI is they have the M57 engine, so no timing chain issues like all 520ds made after September 2007 suffer from.

Six cylinder F10 diesels have the N57 engine, which of course is heavily related to the disastrous N47 engine infamous for its timing chain problems.