Advice needed on F10-F11 BMW 520d

darragh o meara

I’m looking at picking up a 2012-2103 5 Series M touring in the next few weeks and I’m kinda worried about the timing chain issue. I’m reading conflicting reports as to what year cars are affected and if BMW will cover the repairs. I called a few dealers today and none really wanted to know once the car was out of warranty. One dealer did say it didn’t affect the newer F10-F11 model.

Anyone got a bit more information? The cars I’m looking at are in the 70-90k mileage range and most of not all have full main dealer histories so that should stand somewhat if I was unfortunate to have to make a claim.

Other than the timing chain, is there anything else I need to keep an eye on? Are the auto gearboxes, electrics reliable etc??

MarkN

darragh o meara wrote: »

I’m looking at picking up a 2012-2103 5 Series M touring in the next few weeks and I’m kinda worried about the timing chain issue. I’m reading conflicting reports as to what year cars are affected and if BMW will cover the repairs. I called a few dealers today and none really wanted to know once the car was out of warranty. One dealer did say it didn’t affect the newer F10-F11 model.

Anyone got a bit more information? The cars I’m looking at are in the 70-90k mileage range and most of not all have full main dealer histories so that should stand somewhat if I was unfortunate to have to make a claim.

Other than the timing chain, is there anything else I need to keep an eye on? Are the auto gearboxes, electrics reliable etc??

Timing chain sorted by then. The facelift that was in 2013 is your best bet.

Wailin

Are you looking at buying from bmw dealer with the 2 year warranty? You'll pay a bit extra but with that unlimited mileage warranty you'll have peace of mind. Full documented and regular service history is crucial. As Mark said above, timing chain issue should have been sorted by then but i would go for a 2013 if budget can stretch that far. Make sure it has pro nav too, car looks crap inside with narrow screen.

drunkmonkey

Or go 530d and forget about the timing chain and have a nicer car.

darragh o meara

Wailin wrote: »

Are you looking at buying from bmw dealer with the 2 year warranty? You'll pay a bit extra but with that unlimited mileage warranty you'll have peace of mind. Full documented and regular service history is crucial. As Mark said above, timing chain issue should have been sorted by then but i would go for a 2013 if budget can stretch that far. Make sure it has pro nav too, car looks crap inside with narrow screen.

I’m hoping to go with a main dealer, I’m not sure how the warranty would work if I imported the car from the UK though, I know some of the other main dealers warranty will only cover cars while still in the UK ie. VW

bazz26

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Or go 530d and forget about the timing chain and have a nicer car.

Lower risk with the 3.0 but not entirely risk free, both 6 cylinder and 4 cylinder in the F10/F11 are from the same family of engines. If you want total risk free timing chain issues you need to get a 6 cylinder E60/61.

drunkmonkey

darragh o meara wrote: »

I’m hoping to go with a main dealer, I’m not sure how the warranty would work if I imported the car from the UK though, I know some of the other main dealers warranty will only cover cars while still in the UK ie. VW

You'll pay way over the odds with a main dealer, if you can find one with a full BMW warranty in the UK and get it with an RAC warranty from there or put a mapfre warranty on it here when you get it home. I bought mine from the UK and it came with a European RAC warranty, didn't put any extra cover on it here but let BMW do the servicing on it or at least advise what's to be done outside the normal oil etc if there to expensive and just get the indy to do it.

Think about the 530d it is a serious car if you can find one in the money, tax is a little higher but still cheap for a 3.0L , I've put up 200k on them over the last few years without any major issues, Mrs wouldn't allow me to buy a 520 after seeing the documentary on the BBC a few years ago.

drunkmonkey

bazz26 wrote: »

Lower risk with the 3.0 but not entirely risk free, both 6 cylinder and 4 cylinder in the F10/F11 are from the same family of engines. If you want total risk free timing chain issues you need to get a 6 cylinder E60/61.

That's why I let them do the engine servicing to minimise the little risk, I'm not anyway worried, wouldn't touch a 520, had a courtesy car of one of them a few months ago, it's a completely different drive.

darragh o meara

drunkmonkey wrote: »

You'll pay way over the odds with a main dealer, if you can find one with a full BMW warranty in the UK and get it with an RAC warranty from there or put a mapfre warranty on it here when you get it home. I bought mine from the UK and it came with a European RAC warranty, didn't put any extra cover on it here but let BMW do the servicing on it or at least advise what's to be done outside the normal oil etc if there to expensive and just get the indy to do it.

Think about the 530d it is a serious car if you can find one in the money, tax is a little higher but still cheap for a 3.0L , I've put up 200k on them over the last few years without any major issues, Mrs wouldn't allow me to buy a 520 after seeing the documentary on the BBC a few years ago.

I’ve driven the 530d and the 535d and yes they are totally different animals indeed. Must price a few although I expect the VRT will be crazy on them which is something the 520d has going in its favour..

What does a 530d cost to tax here??

Wailin

darragh o meara wrote: »

What does a 530d cost to tax here??

Same as 535d, €390.

I've had a 520d E61 and 525d F11, both with the N47 engine. A 2013 will not have the chain issue. There is nothing wrong with a 520d. Its powerfull enough and economy is good. It has more power than you need really. Plenty of 1.6 diesel engines going around in big cars like the superb. 520d in a different league. Lot of dislike for it here even without the chain issue, don't really know why. People seem to think a bmw has to have a 6 cylinder engine to be any good yet don't bat an eyelid on a 1.6 in an equally big skoda superb.

drunkmonkey

What's the budget? Your looking at about 22k for this by the time it's home, taxed and 2yr mapfre warranty. https://www.carsite.co.uk/used-car/bmw/5-series/mtz_43853_46261059#

CtrlAltDelete

Chain issues were supposedly rectified after 03/11 build of the pre LCI F10/F11 however, there seems to be many instances of failure well after that date. Even 2014 . Do some research on dedicated BMW forums in the UK. That aside the F11 is prone to rear air suspension failure - the dirt track roads we have here in Ireland doesn't help. Quite inexpensive and straight forward to fix ( new rear air bellows ) but can be somewhat difficult to diagnose as the pump can also fail. Beautiful car, and no matter what car you purchase it will have issues if not maintained and looked after. Good luck with your purchase.

Leonard Hofstadter

530ds don't have the timing chain problem (despite being from the same engine family) unless you do something silly like completely ignore the service intervals. The oil capacity is much larger in the 3.0s as well (9 litres vs 5.2 for the 2.0s), which also helps.

Heres Johnny

Wailin wrote: »

darragh o meara wrote: »

What does a 530d cost to tax here??

Same as 535d, €390.

I've had a 520d E61 and 525d F11, both with the N47 engine. A 2013 will not have the chain issue. There is nothing wrong with a 520d. Its powerfull enough and economy is good. It has more power than you need really. Plenty of 1.6 diesel engines going around in big cars like the superb. 520d in a different league. Lot of dislike for it here even without the chain issue, don't really know why. People seem to think a bmw has to have a 6 cylinder engine to be any good yet don't bat an eyelid on a 1.6 in an equally big skoda superb.

Yeah I don't get the dislike. Of course the 30d is better but it's savage money on top of a 20d. Most motoring journalists agree the 20d is all the car you will ever need. It's in the top 10% of cars on Irish roads when it comes to power so it's not slow. It's also not unrefined, it's a good car. Mot many cars on Irish roads in the ballpark of 200bhp in a big saloon. Plenty available but few bought.
There isn't a car in the top 20 sellers that can touch it.
Why doesn't the Audi a6 or Merc e class diesels get such stick. Times are changing it's not all about 6 cylinder machines nowadays. The 520d e60 is faster than my 523i and the 520d now is faster than the 520i.
That said I'm probably going to buy a 530d f10 soon or a f01 730d. But for the vast majority the 520d is perfect

drunkmonkey

It's the new cost of the car here is why there's so little of them, if it was only 5k you'd see a lot more 530 SE on the road than 520msports
I specced up mine here it was north of 90k

Just specced up a similar speck 530d Msport touring with the extras the 2013 one had, looking at 82k new from bmw.

bazz26

captainspeed wrote: »

530ds don't have the timing chain problem (despite being from the same engine family) unless you do something silly like completely ignore the service intervals. The oil capacity is much larger in the 3.0s as well (9 litres vs 5.2 for the 2.0s), which also helps.

Slightly off topic but isn't that statement bit of a contradiction? Your saying the 530d doesn't have timing chain problems but then imply it actually does if you ignore the service intervals? I've owner two BMWs with N47 engines with no timing chain problems that were always serviced on time so technically they were as reliable as a 530d.

Yes there is a higher chance of a N47 engine having chain problems but that's probably down to the sheer number of them sold versus the 530d plus maybe the fact that the N57 gets less stress over it's life compared to the smaller N47 engine plays a part. However the N57 and N47 engines have the same basic design and flaws bar the number of cylinders obviously. There is no doubting the 530d is superior but they are not without timing chain issues either, just on a smaller scale.