520d E60

dilated · 5 Jul 2006 at 22:43

has anyone driven one of these?

Im looking for a new car and one of these is on the list; the auto m-sport costs less in tax than a 330d and I know that its not as much fun to hoon in the 520d seems like a logical step from my current car (607 2.2HDi).

I have some test drives arranged soon, but any comments or insights would be welcome.

dilated · 5 Jul 2006 at 23:31

Thanks for the opinions, to be honest I thought that the 520d wold be very sluggish but its surprising to see how close the 3series and 5series are.

I started looking at the 525, but saw these figures on bmw.co.uk;
0-60 top speed mpg
BMW 520d auto 8.7 139 41
BMW 525d auto 8.3 141 36

Is the 525 really that much smoother, I started looking at these and was surprised to see the lack of differance between the two. The cost per month would be over £70 differant (245/318).

A debadged m-sport model would look good and have a good level of equipment, but Im thinking that the bodyit doesnt really go with a 2.0 derv auto.

dilated · 5 Jul 2006 at 23:40

[TW]Fox said:
You HAVE to get an M-Sport - IMHO the bodykit on the Sport pack is the thing thats really fixed the lines on the E60. It looks wrong as an SE, but strangely nice as a Sport.

I agree that it looks 101% better but its also a little wrong, but not on the same scale as a 316 with m3 mirrors.

dilated · 6 Jul 2006 at 19:16

stig said:
i really feel that the 520d will be serverly underpowered for the weight of the car , when i test drove mine i tested the 525d and thought it was just about enough

what surprised me what the lack of differance between the two cars in performance (on paper) - the only noticable differance is economy.

also dont forget that my current car isnt exactly a rocket ship.