BMW 530d F10 - safe buy?

Old diesel

Good evening all.

My brother was just asking about the 5 series...

I take it the 520d is a no no due to the timing chain issue.

But wondering does the 530d have the same issue - and if not - are they a good purchase generally on the 2nd hand market.

Looking at cars in the 2011 type age range - with an expected ownership period of 5 years - doing 20,000 miles a year - so 100 k on top of whatever the car has already.

Incidentally - seen reports in press suggesting you really need the fancy (optional) suspension to get a decent ride on F10s - is that actually true.

He did test drive black S80 D5 but that sold afterwards - a tad frustrating as very few sold over here . Lovely car for the new owner though

All F10 5 series 530d thoughts welcome

thank you

bazz26

F10 530d uses the N57 engine which is from the same family as the 520d's N47 engine so it does suffer from timing chain issues, just not to the same extent as the N47 but that could be because there are way more 520ds sold than 530ds. My advise would be to buy one from a main dealer where you will get a good two year warranty. Unfortunately F10 530ds are thin on the ground and you will pay handsomely for one.

Regarding the Dynamic Damper Control, have it in my F10 520d, it was an optional extra on pre 2012 F10s afaik. It's BMW speak for different driver modes which includes adjusting the suspension, steering and throttle response. You will know a car with it by looking for the buttons to the right of the gear shift changer. Should be buttons with Comfort, Sport and Sport+ labelled on them. When you press these buttons you will see the different adjustments made on the screen of the iDrive with the relevant settings.

George Dalton

bazz26 wrote: »

F10 530d uses the N57 engine which is from the same family as the 520d's N47 engine so it does suffer from timing chain issues, just not to the same extent as the N47 but that could be because there are way more 520ds sold than 530ds.

I would say that is the case. Probably equally (un) likely to encounter an issue with an N57 as an N47.

bazz26 wrote: »

My advise would be to buy one from a main dealer where you will get a good two year warranty. Unfortunately F10 530ds are thin on the ground and you will pay handsomely for one.

I don't think it makes any sense to do this. In the vast majority of cases the premium you pay for the privilege of getting the warranty outweighs the cost of any issues you may encounter. It makes no sense to pay €2000 extra for a 520D from a main dealer because you are afraid of the cost of a timing chain replacement when a timing chain replacement in fact costs substantially less than €2000 and in any case you are unlikely to ever need to do it!

bazz26

George Dalton wrote: »

I don't think it makes any sense to do this. In the vast majority of cases the premium you pay for the privilege of getting the warranty outweighs the cost of any issues you may encounter. It makes no sense to pay €2000 extra for a 520D from a main dealer because you are afraid of the cost of a timing chain replacement when a timing chain replacement in fact costs substantially less than €2000 and in any case you are unlikely to ever need to do it!

Well when I was buying mine last year there was about 1k difference in price between a main dealer and a decent one from a non main dealer. Timing chain replacement was a bit more expensive at that time too.

Old diesel

Thank you guys

Was under the impression from the big thread on here that it was really widespread on post mid 07 520ds to have timing chain issues.

So are you of the view that theres no need to avoid a 520d or 530d due to timing chain issues????

Good news if so - are there any other issues that are of major concern on an F10.

bazz26

Old diesel wrote: »

Thank you guys

Was under the impression from the big thread on here that it was really widespread on post mid 07 520ds to have timing chain issues.

So are you of the view that theres no need to avoid a 520d or 530d due to timing chain issues????

Good news if so - are there any other issues that are of major concern on an F10.

I don't think anyone has said they don't suffer from timing chain issues. They use the same family of engines so the same risk still applies though not to the same extent as with previous models because the F10 is only around 5 years plus the F10 530d engine was not the same as the previous E60 530d and also is not as common as the F10 520d.

Old diesel

bazz26 wrote: »

I don't think anyone has said they don't suffer from timing chain issues. They use the same family of engines so the same risk still applies though not to the same extent as with previous models because the F10 is only around 5 years plus the F10 530d engine was not the same as the previous E60 530d and also is not as common as the F10 520d.

Thank you

Bit of a headscratcher - just read one of the big threads on here about it - and there was mention of some newer ones having the issue - but it seems mostly E60s - due I assume to age and mileage.

Part of the thing id be wondering is that if less F10s have popped up with the issue - does that mean they will also pop up at a later stage .

Or have they improved things so its genuinely less of a risk - BUT still happens.

MetzgerMeister

The timing chain issue was put down to long service intervals AFAIK. I bought a 2013 330d with the N57 engine from a BMW dealer and made sure that a) the chain issue was covered, which it was and b) that a full oil service will be done each time it's due in order to avoid any issues.

If the car has been serviced properly and not starved of oil, there shouldn't be an issue.

FYI bbari on there is selling his 2014 F10 520d if it's of interest to you.

Bigcheeze

Old diesel wrote: »

Incidentally - seen reports in press suggesting you really need the fancy (optional) suspension to get a decent ride on F10s - is that actually true.

I have the VDC (variable damper control) on mine. Select sport mode and it tightens up the suspension and steering and makes the throttle more responsive. It will also put the transmission in sports mode but you can select not to do this in Idrive.

I prefer the tighter suspension as there's less roll but probably wouldn't pay for it as an extra. Not sure if in standard mode the car rides the same as a car without VDC