F10 535D - yay or nay?

[Pommy]

I am looking at a 2015 LCI F10 535D. It's done 60k miles (I am in Oz,so 100k km) and service history and condition looks good.

Question is, is it a good thing own and drive?

Also, any known issues? I understand the 3.0 6 diesels are pretty good.

Love the power, equipment and general sense of 'well this is nice' but not sure if it's a little underwhelming in terms of image and 'mature' driver esque appeal.

Thoughts? Also, anyone swapped in Android Auto?

[Deep Thought]

I can't imagine why it wouldn't be.

I'd a couple if e60 535d and loved them. As you say, loads of power and well equipped.

[d_a_n1979]

Don't see why not...

The FiL's F10 530D was a superb motor; drove brilliantly & pulled like a train. Can only see the 535D being that bit better...

Do your due diligence and make sure that it's plenty of paperwork to back up the service history etc and it should all be good

[Spuffington]

I had an E60 535d and F11 530d - both of which were owned at c. 3yrs old through to 5yrs old. Both outstanding cars. I had a particular soft spot for the F11 which had a fabulous cabin and comfort level, having been a really good revision to the E60 (which was also very good).

My E60 535d had some issues with vacuum hoses which I think were pretty complex with the twin turbo setup, but IIRC the newer 535d then moved to a single turbo setup?

Anyhow - the F11 I ran from 75k miles to around 93k miles with no issues other than 2 x failed airbags and compressor for the rear suspension (saloon version doesn't have this).

[steve_n]

Still a sequential twin turbo setup on the F10/11.

[Hants PHer]

Pommy said:

I am looking at a 2015 LCI F10 535D. It's done 60k miles (I am in Oz,so 100k km) and service history and condition looks good.

Question is, is it a good thing own and drive?

Also, any known issues? I understand the 3.0 6 diesels are pretty good.

Love the power, equipment and general sense of 'well this is nice' but not sure if it's a little underwhelming in terms of image and 'mature' driver esque appeal.

Thoughts? Also, anyone swapped in Android Auto?

I had a 535d in Luxury spec, late 2015 model. In many ways it was a brilliant car; luxurious, very good build quality, smooth but swift performance, and rode superbly too. Oh, and it managed 50 mpg on a long run. The ZF8 gearbox is excellent, but at 60k miles I'd be wanting a gearbox fluid flush done and that's around £500 I think, or whatever that is in Dingo Dollars.

It's quite a big car and not really suited to being hustled through bends, and the steering was, I found, a bit imprecise. Especially in SE or Luxury trim it does seem to appeal to the more mature driver - that said, it'll surprise many a hot hatch with straight line oomph.

Transmission is, I'm told, very reliable as long as serviced properly. Right hand drive models sometimes suffer from a leak on the left hand side where BMW use a 'grommet' where the steering column would be if left hand drive; check the carpets are bone dry. Some owners have their cars remapped but I'd want one that's standard. DPF's can clog if the car is only used for short journeys. There was a recall for the EGR cooler so check that's been done.

[Pommy]

Thanks chaps.

All very positive and yep EGR done.

Appreciate the insights and beyond being an older car seems to be a good thing.

At least it seems like a generally reliable thing with maintenance. The blokes been taking it to a main dealer which is a good sign for his propensity for upkeep costs.

Here's the service screen

Edited by Pommy on Wednesday 6th December 23:10

[Pommy]

Went to look at the car today and bought it.

As one to buy it was sublime - loads of equipment like adaptive LEDs, HUD, auto rear blinds, boot etc. full main dealer history, and new tyres and brakes.

To drive it was just so silky. A real pleasure to drive. Not so fast off the line but moving acceleration was punchy. .

Couple of questions:

Stage 1 Tune - yes or no?

Android Auto - what's recommended to get it?

Bimmercode or Carly?

[d_a_n1979]

Pommy said:

Went to look at the car today and bought it.

As one to buy it was sublime - loads of equipment like adaptive LEDs, HUD, auto rear blinds, boot etc. full main dealer history, and new tyres and brakes.

To drive it was just so silky. A real pleasure to drive. Not so fast off the line but moving acceleration was punchy. .

Couple of questions:

Stage 1 Tune - yes or no?

Android Auto - what's recommended to get it?

Bimmercode or Carly?

Sounds like a good buy; good spec too... Get some pics up/get a Readers Cars thread going

Re Carly/Bimmercode - go for the latter with the VGate dongle off Amazon; this is on Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/iCar-Pro-4-0-Diagnostic-C...

That & Bimmerlink are really good and all together cheaper than Carly which is a yearly subscription

However; for plug n play (and a reader than can register the battery to you car); the Creator C410 is a superb too (again Amazon UK link): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creator-Battery-Registrat...

Re remap; I reckon stage one with an autobox map alongside will do the car well. This is what I'll be doing to my F31 as soon as I've got all the suspension/cooling system refreshed in Jan & the ZF8 serviced etc

As for Android Auto; no idea. Someone will chime in re that soon enough

[Percy.]

For F10 Android Auto/CarPlay, everyone in the UK forums/Facebook groups suggest DroidUk

https://droiduk.com/product/mmi-box/

[Pica-Pica]

Pommy said:

Went to look at the car today and bought it.

As one to buy it was sublime - loads of equipment like adaptive LEDs, HUD, auto rear blinds, boot etc. full main dealer history, and new tyres and brakes.

To drive it was just so silky. A real pleasure to drive. Not so fast off the line but moving acceleration was punchy. .

Couple of questions:

Stage 1 Tune - yes or no?

Android Auto - what's recommended to get it?

Bimmercode or Carly?

As far as I understand ot, the ‘box will the limiting factor. The ‘box is near the limit for torque increase, and torque is what the motor is all about.

[Pommy]

d_a_n1979 said:

Sounds like a good buy; good spec too... Get some pics up/get a Readers Cars thread going

Re Carly/Bimmercode - go for the latter with the VGate dongle off Amazon; this is on Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/iCar-Pro-4-0-Diagnostic-C...

That & Bimmerlink are really good and all together cheaper than Carly which is a yearly subscription

However; for plug n play (and a reader than can register the battery to you car); the Creator C410 is a superb too (again Amazon UK link): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creator-Battery-Registrat...

Re remap; I reckon stage one with an autobox map alongside will do the car well. This is what I'll be doing to my F31 as soon as I've got all the suspension/cooling system refreshed in Jan & the ZF8 serviced etc

As for Android Auto; no idea. Someone will chime in re that soon enough

Thanks and yep, maybe I should

Regards the OBD, would you get bother readers or just the one? I understand the OBD reader is plugged in and then the Bimmerworls apps connect via Bluetooth to the OBDs for coding/reading - is that correct? Would you get the battery coding one only when getting a new battery?

Percy. said:

For F10 Android Auto/CarPlay, everyone in the UK forums/Facebook groups suggest DroidUk

https://droiduk.com/product/mmi-box/

Excellent thanks just what I was after. Initially I thought I'd have to replace the screen but good to see it's just an interface box - figure I pull the car unit and this just plugs in the back. The car has Harman Kardon sound etc so hope this doesn't affect the sound quality negatively.

Pica-Pica said:

As far as I understand ot, the ‘box will the limiting factor. The ‘box is near the limit for torque increase, and torque is what the motor is all about.

Yeah I read 700nm max, some I've seen doing 730-780nm post tune but surely that's just playing with fire. Most tunes seem to be 360bhp and 700nm and without issue, dropping 60 to about 5 flat, or about m140 pace which would be good.

Thanks for the insights all.

Got a pre-purchase inspection to book so will see what that brings up.

Also, need to set aside about 4 hours to read the manual and work out how to use the damn systems

[Ifinishposts]

Re-map already?

Why not just get used to the car as it is then in the fullness of time think about a re-map.

I have a 2011 530d and have thought about a re-map, then when I have driven it again I have decided does it really need it, it goes well enough as it is.

[Pommy]

Ifinishposts said:

Re-map already?

Why not just get used to the car as it is then in the fullness of time think about a re-map.

I have a 2011 530d and have thought about a re-map, then when I have driven it again I have decided does it really need it, it goes well enough as it is.

I have the funds to do it and the cars just been serviced and is going through a PPI so it's the most reassured I'll ever be it's fit and healthy to do it. And its not going to ruin it so might as well enjoy the car at its fullest potential for as long as I own it.

[Ifinishposts]

I really like factory extras on cars. Have you had a look what it has from new.
The price of some factory kit might surprise you in a nice way.

[Pommy]

Ifinishposts said:

I really like factory extras on cars. Have you had a look what it has from new.
The price of some factory kit might surprise you in a nice way.

Yeah ran a VIN check and it's pretty bonkers

Edited by Pommy on Sunday 10th December 09:54

[d_a_n1979]

Pommy said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Sounds like a good buy; good spec too... Get some pics up/get a Readers Cars thread going

Re Carly/Bimmercode - go for the latter with the VGate dongle off Amazon; this is on Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/iCar-Pro-4-0-Diagnostic-C...

That & Bimmerlink are really good and all together cheaper than Carly which is a yearly subscription

However; for plug n play (and a reader than can register the battery to you car); the Creator C410 is a superb too (again Amazon UK link): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creator-Battery-Registrat...

Re remap; I reckon stage one with an autobox map alongside will do the car well. This is what I'll be doing to my F31 as soon as I've got all the suspension/cooling system refreshed in Jan & the ZF8 serviced etc

As for Android Auto; no idea. Someone will chime in re that soon enough

Thanks and yep, maybe I should

Regards the OBD, would you get bother readers or just the one? I understand the OBD reader is plugged in and then the Bimmerworls apps connect via Bluetooth to the OBDs for coding/reading - is that correct? Would you get the battery coding one only when getting a new battery?

I have all 3 (Bimmercode & Bimmerlink on my iPhone) and the Creator C410

I'd bought the Creator for when I went to view & buy my F31 (wanted to read the codes whilst out on a test drive etc); but it's a handy tool to have and with it being plug n play and not having to rely on an app etc, kept it as it's simple to use

It comes ready to register a like for like battery to your car; but it can't code a different spec battery to your car. You'd need Bimmerlink for that

Maybe buy the Creator first and see how you get on with that?

The reason why I went for Bimmercode as I wanted to code the folding wing mirrors upon closing & opening of my F31; rear lights as DRLs and a few other things etc

[Pommy]

d_a_n1979 said:

Pommy said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Sounds like a good buy; good spec too... Get some pics up/get a Readers Cars thread going

Re Carly/Bimmercode - go for the latter with the VGate dongle off Amazon; this is on Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/iCar-Pro-4-0-Diagnostic-C...

That & Bimmerlink are really good and all together cheaper than Carly which is a yearly subscription

However; for plug n play (and a reader than can register the battery to you car); the Creator C410 is a superb too (again Amazon UK link): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creator-Battery-Registrat...

Re remap; I reckon stage one with an autobox map alongside will do the car well. This is what I'll be doing to my F31 as soon as I've got all the suspension/cooling system refreshed in Jan & the ZF8 serviced etc

As for Android Auto; no idea. Someone will chime in re that soon enough

Thanks and yep, maybe I should

Regards the OBD, would you get bother readers or just the one? I understand the OBD reader is plugged in and then the Bimmerworls apps connect via Bluetooth to the OBDs for coding/reading - is that correct? Would you get the battery coding one only when getting a new battery?

I have all 3 (Bimmercode & Bimmerlink on my iPhone) and the Creator C410

I'd bought the Creator for when I went to view & buy my F31 (wanted to read the codes whilst out on a test drive etc); but it's a handy tool to have and with it being plug n play and not having to rely on an app etc, kept it as it's simple to use

It comes ready to register a like for like battery to your car; but it can't code a different spec battery to your car. You'd need Bimmerlink for that

Maybe buy the Creator first and see how you get on with that?

The reason why I went for Bimmercode as I wanted to code the folding wing mirrors upon closing & opening of my F31; rear lights as DRLs and a few other things etc

Sound advice thanks will do that..keen to have a play with it

[d_a_n1979]

Pommy said:

Ifinishposts said:

I really like factory extras on cars. Have you had a look what it has from new.
The price of some factory kit might surprise you in a nice way.

Yeah ran a VIN check and it's pretty bonkers

Edited by Pommy on Sunday 10th December 09:54

That's hell of a spec!

[Pommy]

d_a_n1979 said:

Pommy said:

Ifinishposts said:

I really like factory extras on cars. Have you had a look what it has from new.
The price of some factory kit might surprise you in a nice way.

Yeah ran a VIN check and it's pretty bonkers

[url][]

That's hell of a spec!

Yeah was sat in it and it was like the Chinese takeaway scene in dude where's my car...and then...and then...and then...

Personal highlights...

The electric rear blind and rear window which being in Oz will be a relief for the small child.

The HUD

Electric everything

Adaptive LEDs

Oh and the power

Question. - was in comfort mode and at the lights stopped and the box dropped to neutral. Now when I drove an M140 last week it did the same thing twice.

Any ideas if that's an issue or a feature?