Hi there
Well the Porsche needed some warranty work, so Porsche delivered to my home a Premium car, what I got was completely un-expected, but it was a 61-plate F10 5 series BMW 520D, which to be frank I've being rather blown away by, my experience of 5 series has being E39 and E60 which were damn good cars but the E60 definetely lacked interior quality until the very last ones and M5 models, but were never a car I'd consider, well except the M5 model.
So anyway for nearly a week I've had this 61 plate 520D with 12,000 miles. I think it was quite a high spec'd car, but am sure Fox can confirm this, but in short it had the following:-
For all I know this could be pretty basic spec now on the new F10 series, but it impressed me anyway, Fox maybe you can confirm?
OK so lets talk about this car, well its damn big, from the outside it looks closer to 7 series in size, it also has quite a menacing look too. Though on th inside, the leg room in the rear was well not the best, not terrible but less than one expected. The boot on the other hand was rather gigantic. Also surprising that many motorist when your around them behave so much or move out of your way, obviously thinking it was an unmarked police car.
Engine / Gearbox / Performance
This 520D is a 4 cylinder single turbo engine with 185BHP and 280lb/ft if I am correct and connected to the 8 speed AUTO box is surprisingly nippy. 0-60mph is approx 7.5s and it will reach 100mph without much effort and well beyond, high speed cruising is excellent and on the autobahn this would be perfect for wafting along at 140-150mph. But the cars power is always there and available, infact sorry to sound boring but generally you'd never need more than on offer, its plenty. One thing you can get away is it sounds very diesel and rubbish when your giving it some, but otherwise in normal driving you can't really hear the engine, it is very quiet.
The 8 speed AUTO I have to say is simply superb, I've driven a Golf GTD DSG, which I believe had 170BHP matched to a 7 speed DSG box, after 10 minutes in this car I was bored, the gearbox I found boring and lacked any involvment and the car to me just felt boring. Considering the Golf is approx 100kg lighter, maybe 150kg tops and only 10BHP less it certainly did not have the same level of performance as the 520D, which is surprisingly as the 520D is around 1750kg with the options it had. So I can only assume the BMW has a lot more torque or its the 8 speed AUTO's very short ratio's giving it a much more responsive feeling. The Golf in comparison though also felt numb and boring though it did have good handling being the GTD with the suspension upgrade I still just found the Golf boring and the FWD and understeer was just well BORING.
Back to the 8 speed AUTO in the BMW, you can drive it in "D" which is fine, the car will up-change around 3500-4000rpm when your giving it beans and when cruising it will go to the highest gear it can as soon as possible. Selecting "DS" and the car will rev to nearly 4500rpm and hold onto gears longer, its basically a sport setting for the gearbox. Or push the leaver and your in manual mode which is like a sequential gearbox, pull back for up and push forward for down. Gear changes are very fast and smooth, though if your gunning it, you do get a nice little jolt in the back on up changes and in this mode you can push the engine to approx 5200rpm. It makes it all a little more involving, this car did not have paddles and I think it was best for it as it added a little involvment. In general I've never used a better AUTO box, it was absolutely superb and I think it helped a lot with the urgency of the engine due to the very short ratio's it has being an 8 speed.
Handling / Grip
Handling wise - WOW! Not only does this car have truly immense levels of mechanical grip, the corner speeds you can hit are simply fantastic and the level of communication from the chassis and steering is very good. This for me really made the BMW shine because its a very comfy car with a superb quality interior that would be very at home on the motorway and really return you some epic MPG's, I suspect average of 60+ mpg on motorway trips. But this car comes alive on a B road, it never feels like your hauling a nearly 2 tonne car around, OK its no 911, but the handling is pretty superb and the levels of feedback/communication actually make it fun. In my week of ownership which consisted of it being thrashed and driven like I stole it, I still averaged 29mpg, crazy. In normal driving with a little thrashing it was average around 40mpg and a long trip today on A roads to collect my 911 it averaged 51mpg.
The grip from the chassis is excellent and I have to ask Fox if he can clarify but is 275/40/18 on the rear and 245/45/18 on the front normal for the F10 5 series, or is this part of the M sport option? Needless to say the large tyres give immense levels of grip which mean medium tightish and long sweeping corners can be taken at very high speeds, the grip levels are higher than you'd have say in a hot hatch, the only weakness is in much tighter stuff or on fast direction changes where the cars mass does show.
My only surprise was as this was an M Sport is that it still seemed very comfy and the damping was perfect, though there was lots of bodyroll present which makes me think if it had M sport suspension or not.
But it was great fun taking such a large executive car along some of my favourite A roads and bigger B roads and driving in a spirited manner and really enjoying driving the car on the edge. It naturally moves to understeer when pushing towards the edge but more throttle and the rear will slide out, but the control from the chassis is superb, it has very progressive handling characteristics and a lot of fun.
The DSC I found a little confusing, not pressing anything and it seems that if you tried to put on the power to early in a corner on exit the car would just take the power away keeping everything polite.
A single press turned the car to optimum traction mode seemed to alter the DSC and not disable it, now if you got the car sliding or power on too early it would allow you to get the rear out and push the car beyond grip boundaries and keep the power in, but at the same time the car did still seemed to be using stability control to help you keep things in shape. Infact it seemed to work quite well as you can still give power and slide but the computer will stabilise and help out along the way, or thats how it seemed.
Pressing the button for 3s definetely disable DSC all together.
In this mode big slides were possible but the lack of revs and power of the 520D with those huge rear tyres made it quite hard to hold any kind of slide as there was just too much grip on offer, in the wet however
The brakes also deserve a mention, yes they are heavily assisted, but very very powerful, infact surprisingly good how strong they are, but even though they have a bit too much assistance, again they have great feel, you can brake very hard and can feel that if you brake much harder you will trigger ABS. So another positive note on the brakes too.
Having driven the A5 3.0 TDI, Golf GTD Sport and now this F10 520D, I'd take the BMW every time, it does the cruising part better but when it comes to having a bit of fun and driving the wheels off it, damn it is a lot better as a drivers car compared to the Audi/VW options.
So I have to say I found it a great car, if I was to be picky I'd say for me a little more power would be nice, maybe a remap could sort that as from a quick google they seem to remap too 220-240BHP with approx 360-380lb/ft would would be a great improvement. Or there is the new 525D which is the same 2.0 diesel engine but twin turbo, so that could be an option too.
Or there is the 530D and 535D models which definetely have the extra oomph but at the same time they seem approx 150kg heavier too, which I suspect must be the straight 6 engine, bigger turbos etc, which all being on the front end must effect the handling in a negative way, again maybe our resident expert Fox could comment?
Anyway needless to say I was surprisingly impressed, a seriously good car and getting back in the 911 today I have to say the 911 felt like a race car in comparison.
Pictures
Well the Porsche needed some warranty work, so Porsche delivered to my home a Premium car, what I got was completely un-expected, but it was a 61-plate F10 5 series BMW 520D, which to be frank I've being rather blown away by, my experience of 5 series has being E39 and E60 which were damn good cars but the E60 definetely lacked interior quality until the very last ones and M5 models, but were never a car I'd consider, well except the M5 model.
So anyway for nearly a week I've had this 61 plate 520D with 12,000 miles. I think it was quite a high spec'd car, but am sure Fox can confirm this, but in short it had the following:-
- Navigation
- USB
- Rear view camers with front/rear sensors
- Cruise control
- 8 speed automatic
- M sport (is this a total package or can one just choose bits of M package?)
- Handbrake is a button along with an auto option which works very well
- 275/40/18 rear tyres and 245/45/18 front tyres
- Amazing I-Drive system with full car diagnostics and customisation ability
- Electric seats
- Keyless, start button!
- Climate control, heated seats etc.
- Efficient dynamics, seemed to be some kind of KERS system, again Fox can you confirm what this is/was?
- Auto lights, wipers etc.
For all I know this could be pretty basic spec now on the new F10 series, but it impressed me anyway, Fox maybe you can confirm?
OK so lets talk about this car, well its damn big, from the outside it looks closer to 7 series in size, it also has quite a menacing look too. Though on th inside, the leg room in the rear was well not the best, not terrible but less than one expected. The boot on the other hand was rather gigantic. Also surprising that many motorist when your around them behave so much or move out of your way, obviously thinking it was an unmarked police car.
Engine / Gearbox / Performance
This 520D is a 4 cylinder single turbo engine with 185BHP and 280lb/ft if I am correct and connected to the 8 speed AUTO box is surprisingly nippy. 0-60mph is approx 7.5s and it will reach 100mph without much effort and well beyond, high speed cruising is excellent and on the autobahn this would be perfect for wafting along at 140-150mph. But the cars power is always there and available, infact sorry to sound boring but generally you'd never need more than on offer, its plenty. One thing you can get away is it sounds very diesel and rubbish when your giving it some, but otherwise in normal driving you can't really hear the engine, it is very quiet.
The 8 speed AUTO I have to say is simply superb, I've driven a Golf GTD DSG, which I believe had 170BHP matched to a 7 speed DSG box, after 10 minutes in this car I was bored, the gearbox I found boring and lacked any involvment and the car to me just felt boring. Considering the Golf is approx 100kg lighter, maybe 150kg tops and only 10BHP less it certainly did not have the same level of performance as the 520D, which is surprisingly as the 520D is around 1750kg with the options it had. So I can only assume the BMW has a lot more torque or its the 8 speed AUTO's very short ratio's giving it a much more responsive feeling. The Golf in comparison though also felt numb and boring though it did have good handling being the GTD with the suspension upgrade I still just found the Golf boring and the FWD and understeer was just well BORING.
Back to the 8 speed AUTO in the BMW, you can drive it in "D" which is fine, the car will up-change around 3500-4000rpm when your giving it beans and when cruising it will go to the highest gear it can as soon as possible. Selecting "DS" and the car will rev to nearly 4500rpm and hold onto gears longer, its basically a sport setting for the gearbox. Or push the leaver and your in manual mode which is like a sequential gearbox, pull back for up and push forward for down. Gear changes are very fast and smooth, though if your gunning it, you do get a nice little jolt in the back on up changes and in this mode you can push the engine to approx 5200rpm. It makes it all a little more involving, this car did not have paddles and I think it was best for it as it added a little involvment. In general I've never used a better AUTO box, it was absolutely superb and I think it helped a lot with the urgency of the engine due to the very short ratio's it has being an 8 speed.
Handling / Grip
Handling wise - WOW! Not only does this car have truly immense levels of mechanical grip, the corner speeds you can hit are simply fantastic and the level of communication from the chassis and steering is very good. This for me really made the BMW shine because its a very comfy car with a superb quality interior that would be very at home on the motorway and really return you some epic MPG's, I suspect average of 60+ mpg on motorway trips. But this car comes alive on a B road, it never feels like your hauling a nearly 2 tonne car around, OK its no 911, but the handling is pretty superb and the levels of feedback/communication actually make it fun. In my week of ownership which consisted of it being thrashed and driven like I stole it, I still averaged 29mpg, crazy. In normal driving with a little thrashing it was average around 40mpg and a long trip today on A roads to collect my 911 it averaged 51mpg.
The grip from the chassis is excellent and I have to ask Fox if he can clarify but is 275/40/18 on the rear and 245/45/18 on the front normal for the F10 5 series, or is this part of the M sport option? Needless to say the large tyres give immense levels of grip which mean medium tightish and long sweeping corners can be taken at very high speeds, the grip levels are higher than you'd have say in a hot hatch, the only weakness is in much tighter stuff or on fast direction changes where the cars mass does show.
My only surprise was as this was an M Sport is that it still seemed very comfy and the damping was perfect, though there was lots of bodyroll present which makes me think if it had M sport suspension or not.
But it was great fun taking such a large executive car along some of my favourite A roads and bigger B roads and driving in a spirited manner and really enjoying driving the car on the edge. It naturally moves to understeer when pushing towards the edge but more throttle and the rear will slide out, but the control from the chassis is superb, it has very progressive handling characteristics and a lot of fun.
The DSC I found a little confusing, not pressing anything and it seems that if you tried to put on the power to early in a corner on exit the car would just take the power away keeping everything polite.
A single press turned the car to optimum traction mode seemed to alter the DSC and not disable it, now if you got the car sliding or power on too early it would allow you to get the rear out and push the car beyond grip boundaries and keep the power in, but at the same time the car did still seemed to be using stability control to help you keep things in shape. Infact it seemed to work quite well as you can still give power and slide but the computer will stabilise and help out along the way, or thats how it seemed.
Pressing the button for 3s definetely disable DSC all together.
In this mode big slides were possible but the lack of revs and power of the 520D with those huge rear tyres made it quite hard to hold any kind of slide as there was just too much grip on offer, in the wet however
The brakes also deserve a mention, yes they are heavily assisted, but very very powerful, infact surprisingly good how strong they are, but even though they have a bit too much assistance, again they have great feel, you can brake very hard and can feel that if you brake much harder you will trigger ABS. So another positive note on the brakes too.
Having driven the A5 3.0 TDI, Golf GTD Sport and now this F10 520D, I'd take the BMW every time, it does the cruising part better but when it comes to having a bit of fun and driving the wheels off it, damn it is a lot better as a drivers car compared to the Audi/VW options.
So I have to say I found it a great car, if I was to be picky I'd say for me a little more power would be nice, maybe a remap could sort that as from a quick google they seem to remap too 220-240BHP with approx 360-380lb/ft would would be a great improvement. Or there is the new 525D which is the same 2.0 diesel engine but twin turbo, so that could be an option too.
Or there is the 530D and 535D models which definetely have the extra oomph but at the same time they seem approx 150kg heavier too, which I suspect must be the straight 6 engine, bigger turbos etc, which all being on the front end must effect the handling in a negative way, again maybe our resident expert Fox could comment?
Anyway needless to say I was surprisingly impressed, a seriously good car and getting back in the 911 today I have to say the 911 felt like a race car in comparison.
Pictures
