BMW 5 Series Touring Diesel...any good?

[otherclive]

I am thinking of swopping the Sorento and buyinga 05 (or later) BMW 5 series 520D. On paper it looks a good match for the 1400kg van that I tow. Has anyone any experience with this model in manual and auto options. Also would the 525D be a better bet, bearing in mind that for solo driving I am looking to get above the Kias 30-32mpg to above 40mpg.

Cheers

Other Clive

 

[PaulHull]

I personally wouldn't bother with the 525d, you get only marginally better fuel economy over the 530d and only marginal performance over the 520d.

If you want economy get the 520d, for performance get the 530d.

Just my opinion tho!

 

[Garfield]

Looking at the BMW website the 520d gives a combined fuel consumption of over 50mpg and about 40 mpg for the 530d, the 525d is a detuned 3 litre rather than a 2.5, My 1500kg 1989 530i with 160k on the clock was very stable with a 1650 kg boat behind it up to 70 mph, the same boat behind a newer, lower mileage and much heavier (2000kg+) 4x4 was impossible to get past 55mph without stability problems

 

[ScouseIan]

Just changed my car from a 530d tourer to a VW Phaeton.

I did not realise just how good it was until I changed. And thats not saying the Phaeton isn't good either. Auto gearbox is superb.

530d auto is best, but also most expensive obviously

 

[Vince_374407146]

I realise this post is veeeery late, but here's my tuppence worth.

We have a 520d MSport Touring Manual (58 plate). We tow a Bailey pageant S7 Provence (1490Kg MTPLM).

Overall average whilst solo - 43mpg. We get around 50mpg on a longish run to the in-laws (100 miles each way, all motorway). We cover about 500 miles per week, mixture of the daily commute and weekend shopping etc give the 43mpg figure.

We get around 25 - 30 whilst towing, depending on the route. Long motorway runs see it nudging up to the magic 30 mark.

One thing to note however, it struggles on flat road at 60, in 6th gear. 5th gear is where most of the mileage is done!

That said, it'll accellerate from 45 - 60 in 5th going up a reasonable incline on the motorway, it's really that 6th is just too long for towing such a heavy van.

In terms of ride, handling, behaviour - it's nearly perfect. The stiffer sports suspension means that the car has less "give" when the van hits a pothole etc but most of the time it's excellent. I guess the stabiliser and ATC (std on the S7 Bailey) both play their part too...

I would personally recommend the car. It's very comfortable, huge and economical. it's relatively high kerb weight makes it a good match for all but the very large vans and being rear wheel drive it's both fun when solo, and better at 'wet' hill starts than a front wheel drive...

All very subjective I'm afraid, because I have one and I'm happy with it. We were looking at a 525D, but the power and economy figures compared with the 520d just didn't stack up for us - it's a company car and the 525d is quite a bit more expensive on our scheme.

HTH

Vince.