530D - experiences, opinions and tuning of...

[mista weava]

Hi all,

this is my first post, so a brief intro.

i am Richard Weaver, living on the isle of wight. i have a business with my father - building a undertaking.

i have had various jap rocketships, but am now following in the footsteps of the old man and am building a Group 4 mk 1 ford escort Rs2000 rally car for use in historic stage rallying.

shortly i am to dispense with my current hack (nissan 200sx) for more favourable towing ability to get the car to an from tracks and rallys. i am looking for luxuary and have narrowed the choice down fro an audi a6 quattro avant and a bmw 5 series touring to a bmw 5 series touring - lol.

i see the 530d as the choice of the bunch for economics in general, plus for the towing aspect - torque and economy are importnant to me (and lux for those long journeys after tiring weekends away). am thinking manual is better for towing and will provide a more enjoyable driving experience in general (although i Do like autos). i am looking for a 1998-2001 model around the £7k-£9k mark, which seems to be realistic.

i am guessing these cars dont suffer wiht and hide miles well, but under 100k is what i am after.

really seeking opinions in general and also the possibility of tuning for a bit more grunt.

i have considered 4x4 type towing vehicles, but i really dont want one and its not what i want day-to-day.

cheers in advance for any replies i get,
Rich

[reggie183]

www.superchips.co.uk will get about another 30bhp for c £500. There are lots of tuning houses around, but these boys have a franchise, so delaers all over the country.

I had it done with my 330d and it was immense the difference it made. Also improved the fuel economy. Service fro, Superchips was excellent - it only takes less than 1 hour.

[gareth h]

If this model is the 218bhp engine I have a tuning box for sale in the classifieds at the moment, gives +40bhp, big increase in torque huge improvment in 40-80mph performance and marginal improvment in mpg

[jeffc]

530d will be a good tow car .. early 530d 184 bhp standard, 2001 onwards think had 196bhp.. tuning box will give a slight gain but ecu remap is the way forward, I pay £200 to get them done and they go well noticable difference, imho If you pay any more and you are lining the tuners pocket for the same job.

later E60 is a proper tool remapped.. I run one for 2 years.. 270bhp and would still do 47mpg on a run (manual ) but sadly not yet in your budget...

fwiw I sold My E60 (other than an X5 3.0d the best tow car ive driven ) and now use an A6 130 tdi remapped to 160 bhp as a tow car for the westy ..

[mista weava]

cheers lads.

interesting comments on the a6 130bhp.

i think its a case of getting a 530d from about 1999/2000 then and having a remap. cant stretch to neither want an X5, but interested to hear what you say about them.

how does the a6 compare to the bmw? i aint talking just power - i am more concerned with driveability day-to-day.

[jeffc]

In my opinion the old shape 530d feels a bit of a dinasour to drive , really showing its age now.. good engine feels and sounds more like a petrol but its everything else that lets it down , interior trim looks and feels old, I think they feel a bit numb to drive round the doors.. good on the motorway still though.. Sport models have a much nicer feel inside than the Se model but come at a price..

For work/towcar in the last year Ive had a 530d (2004) replaced it with a 535d sport then with a X5 3.0d sport.. killing them with miles was not economical so For me I decided on an older 2nd car to run about in for a couple of years to keep the miles of my main car a, my criteria needed to be big enough to get 3 kids in and the mountain bikes on etc. and man enough to tow the trailer/car ,big boot to fill with Slicks/wets etc .. for work (I sell used audis) I do a lot of motorway driving and A6 will do close to 50 mpg and still manages 44 round the doors, around 30-32 towing. ..

For the money I thought the A6 avant 130 tdi was the best car I could get for the job I wanted it to do..on a £10k budget its what I would go with every time.. spend a bit more and on a £15-£20k budget I would go for the E60 bmw 530d as I said its a corker of a car, suprisingly as economical than my A6 1.9 with twice the performance! and I personally prefered it to the 535d sport (whic I had chipped to 330bhp )..

I would have a test drive in both before you decide ...

Edited by jeffc on Sunday 14th January 09:38

Edited by jeffc on Sunday 14th January 10:01

Edited by jeffc on Sunday 14th January 10:02

[mista weava]

very useful advice.

thankyou for the writeup.

i am very keen to keep under 10k - the lower the better, so i am really restricted to a "dinosaur" model 5 series lol, or an a6.

so to summarise, i would say that you reckon an a6 to be a better bet for my need?

i want a pokey diesel thats the rub, and i dont think the 1.9tdi will do enough. i dont wnat fwd either, so its rwd and awd as the only options.

[530dTPhil]

I had a virtually open choice in 2002 for a change of company car. I had been using a 96 (old shape) A6 2.5TDi Quattro Avant, 140 bhp.
I tried a new 2.5TDi A6 Avant and didn't like the seating position and reduced visibility over the old model. It felt like you were sitting on the seat rather than in; I just couldn't feel relaxed driving it.
My choice was a (dinosaur) 530d Sport Touring with a manual box; this was delivered in June 2002 and I am still using it with 104K now showing. It was remapped at 70K by Emaps of Wolverhampton and this made the car even better with no reduction in fuel consumption. The worst that I get on all town work is 33 mpg but I regularly get over 40 mpg on mixed use. I haven't towed with the car but the torque is huge, particularly after the remap.
I have the option to change the car but can't find anything that fits the bill. I have now accepted the looks of the E60 but cannot come to terms with the interior.
Going back to what jeffc says about the A6, i have heard that the 140bhp diesel is easily remapped to give over 160bhp and significantly more torque than standard, making it an excellent towcar.

[mista weava]

ok - so the jury is still somewhat out.....i guess a drive of both vehicles is in order before choices an be made, problem being that finding either to test drive is not exactly easy...especially living on the isle of wight!

[jeffc]

I would steer clear of the 4wd Audis diesels , I always feel they zap to much of the economy and performance.. A6 has engine mounted in line but front wheel drive . Ive sold dozens of them and have no issues with the A6 and I have owned them as a runabouts since 1999.. this will be my 4th now, all being diesels had 110bhp /115bhp / 180bhp Quattro (worst one) / and now to me the best of the bunch the 130 tdi..

I would have a test drive .. :-)

[mista weava]

Thanks very much for all your comments.