Possible purchase - 525d

[blanc]

Hi all

This is my first post in this forum but there seems to be be plenty of knowledge on here so I thought I would ask opinions on my potential new car purchase.

I have been looking at a 2001 525d manual with 55K miles. It's an import but uk spec with full BMW history at the dealer who is selling it for £12.5K with 1 year BMW warranty.

I'm thinking of buying it to replace our golf which I use for my 120 mile round trip to work each day.

I originally went looking at a 3 series touring as I will soon be a daddy but saw this and thought it looked a lot of car for the money.

So my questions are:

In terms of carrying baby things and taking stuff to the dump, how does the 5 series saloon compare to a 3 series touring?

And

What kind of mpg would you say i could expect from the 525d sitting at 70-80 or so on the motorway?

Does this sound reasonable and is there anything I should consider

Thanks for any help.

blanc

[dcb]

blanc said:

In terms of carrying baby things and taking stuff to the dump, how does the 5 series saloon compare to a 3 series touring?

If I recall correctly, the E39 saloon has a capacity of
500 liters or so, less than half that of the 3 series touring
of about 1300 liters.

It might help if you get the folding rear seat option on the
5 series.

FWIW, I manage fine to put a double buggy and twenty full
carrier bags of shopping in the 5 series saloon.

On other days, I get a dozen full bin bags for the tip.

blanc said:

What kind of mpg would you say i could expect from the 525d sitting at 70-80 or so on the motorway?

Looking in BMW magazine, about 40-45 mpg.

blanc said:

Does this sound reasonable and is there anything I should consider

Get one with FBMWSH if you can.

My preference would be the 5 series saloon over the 3 series touring.

The 3 series are mass market. 5 series much more select.

[blanc]

Thanks for the excellent info dcb, I'm really thinking this could be a good idea.

I'm going for a drive at lunchtime.

[off_again]

You might be a bit suprised on the MPG though - its good but it aint great. The older 2.5 TD isnt the most economical in the world, but it is better in the current model. In fact none of the BMW diesels are economy kings. But that said, they are almost without exception, great to drive and with a suprising turn of speed - so you really cant have the best of both worlds (as the saying goes).

If economy is the thing you want then look elsewhere - but if you want something that can go a little quick and is a good drive then a 525d is good. Take one out for a test drive and check it out on the MPG.

[blanc]

Went for a test drive at lunchtime and over the short and mixed drive it averaged 50.1 mpg which I thought was pretty impressive.

Really pleasant comfortable car and it seemed really well put together. It didn't feel that quick although when you look at the speedo it actually was.

Very tempted to take the plunge. Just need to decide if I want one of these or a 3 series touring.

[dcb]

off_again said:

In fact none of the BMW diesels are economy kings.

I can't speak for the E39 diesels, but the new 5 series diesels
[ E60 ? ] seem pretty good compared to their petrol brothers,
if not other diesels.

535D gives 155 mph, 0-62 in 6.5s and still 26 mpg on the urban
cycle, 45 mpg on the extra urban, giving combined mpg of
35 mpg.

Further down, the 530D gives 42 mpg and the 520D an
eye popping 48 mpg.

They are all six-cylinder chariots after all.
They won't have the MPG of a 4 cylinder diesel.

[off_again]

dcb said:

off_again said: In fact none of the BMW diesels are economy kings. I can't speak for the E39 diesels, but the new 5 series diesels [ E60 ? ] seem pretty good compared to their petrol brothers, if not other diesels. 535D gives 155 mph, 0-62 in 6.5s and still 26 mpg on the urban cycle, 45 mpg on the extra urban, giving combined mpg of 35 mpg. Further down, the 530D gives 42 mpg and the 520D an eye popping 48 mpg. They are all six-cylinder chariots after all. They won't have the MPG of a 4 cylinder diesel.

I think you highlight the important thing here - they are 6 cylinder motors and in 530d its 230+BHP. But the headline figures from VAG for example, are the ones that people "think" are what diesels get cursed with.

If I had a quid for every time someone tells me how they get 60MPG from their Golf at 90 on the M1/4/11/25/40..... It doesnt work like that and as you say, the 535d (270BHP) still gets an average 30+Mpg.... which cant be knocked....

[jamesk]

I have an E34 saloon and 2 kids under 3 - double buggy and all the stuff goes in fine. Its not a very high boot space but its very deep - surprisingly big actually.

A good friend bought a 3 series touring and was disappointed with the luggage space. It is bigger in volume than the 5 saloon of course but he expected far more from it and the rear wheel arches really get in the way so I am told.....

[andysv]

i just bought a 330d touring, but i did borrow a 525d recently and to my dissapointment it was averaging 27ish mpg, mainly in town with the wife driving!

[Ramsey]

I purchased a 525d sport in October to replace my M3 and so far the car's
been averaging around 37-42 mpg depending on driving style. Fingers
crossed it's been a joy to own, run and alot less common than the 3series.
(no offence meant as I've owned 4 of those over the years).

[roblees]

I've had a few of these and logged my mileage.done over 60k miles in two years in each car, mainly a daily motorway commute (20 miles each way in light traffic) with the odd long trip to Cornwall.

'95 520i Saloon, no aircon 28mpg
'98 E39 520i touring, aircon 26mpg
'01 E39 530i saloon, aircon 28 mpg
'03 E60 530D saloon, aircon 38mpg

For the cars with aircon the aircon's on all the time.

Unsurprisingly I'd recommend either E39 or E60, especially if you can get the throughload on the back seats which makes the saloon a great load carrier.

It really depends if you can stomach the iDrive!

On the babies front, good luck with it all, and buy the car you and your other half want - you can fill an MPV or a transit or a 911 with baby stuff so you might as well travel a little lighter, have a car you enjoy and take him/her with you more often than pack loads and feel like you have to stay at home for five years because you might forget the 14th spare toy!!
Best, Rob

[blanc]

roblees said:

On the babies front, good luck with it all, and buy the car you and your other half want - you can fill an MPV or a transit or a 911 with baby stuff so you might as well travel a little lighter, have a car you enjoy and take him/her with you more often than pack loads and feel like you have to stay at home for five years because you might forget the 14th spare toy!! Best, Rob

Thanks!

Despite having nearly gone for the 5 series I've started coming to the view of maybe having a car I really want that might be less practical and then dealing with carrying stuff later. Surprisingly my wife took this to another level earlier by suggesting that the we run the Golf into the ground and put the extra money into a 7 shaped toy that a really want.

I think she's finally lost it...

[roblees]

Ah just as I thought, wife choice is more important than car choice. Looks like we both got a good one!