still umming and arhhhing about a new car.

being in Munich there are lots of BMW 5s about and they seem cheaper than comparable Accords or Avensises…

i know that MPG is a tad lower, but other than that i’m clueless…

anyone here want to sing their praises or slate them?

do the rear seats fold down completely flat? (want to be able to sleep in the back, i’m 5´7″).

cheers

I’ve been looking myself, at the E39 5 series touring, seem like nice cars so would be interested in any first hand experiences.

yup, looking at either that or the newer version…

I have a 2009 E61 520d.
Quite quick and fuel efficient but not a brilliant load carrier, seats do not fold flat.
There is also an engine problem for some model years, mine included – Google BMW timing chain.
Overall I like the car but it sometimes feels a bit too nice to throw bikes into, probably go a bit more utilitarian next time!

I’ve just got an E61. I really like it, it was a few thou more than the Mondeo that I was thinking of replacing the old Mondeo with, but a much nicer place to be.
Not enormous in the boot (my bikes are big as I’m 6’5″), but the rear seats fold flat.
I have a 520d – plenty powerful enough for me, and 50+mpg cruising at 75 on the M’way.

seats do not fold flat.

Mine do – I assumed they all did. test it out when looking at a car.

Have had 2 E34’s, bit old for you, but they were awesome. Built like tanks, rear seats folded flat, and at 5ft10 I was able to sleep in the back fully stretched. Build quality is known to have dropped since the E34’s, but the E39’s and E61’s are still good cars as long as you know what to look out for when buying.

I know a chap who’s got a 530d SE touring with just over 30k miles.

He’s so far needed to have the rear self leveling suspension compressor replaced and also spend £3k on major engine work after a problem with the turbo.

I think the two issues he’s had are well documented looking on the interweb.

Having said all that, it’s a really lovely car; just maybe not as reliable as you might expect.

I had an Alpina B10 3.3 touring for 133k miles. Quick, comfy and reliable, Quite heavy on brakes and tyres but a very good car.

by folding flat do you mean flat-flat, i.e. seats level with boot loading area?

I have an F11 525d – great car. It’s flipping huge, very good on fuel and very comfortable for our small family. I say small, the plan was for a bigger one but sadly health reasons have put and end to that dream….. 🙁

by folding flat do you mean flat-flat, i.e. seats level with boot loading area?

Yes. Just one big* flat area.

* – big-ish, not Mercedes E-class size, but big enough for me.

Got a 2013 520d Touring (company car) this year and love it, fast enough for me and comfy, my shortlist was 520D/2WDXC60/A6 estate and to be honest any of them would have been lovely. The 520d was the nicest to drive and thats what won me over. Capable of 60mpg at 60mph but averages around 40mpg overall so a little less than I had hoped for but still excellent for such a big car. Get around 600 miles out of a tank of fuel which is nice.

Went for the auto box on the 520d and glad I did.

I’ve got both E39 and E61 versions.

As a mechanic that does work on the car myself i prefer the E39. Much better build, more mechanical rather than electrical etc so less to go wrong.

I’ve had the E39 for years, it’s just hit 136,000 miles and is still on the original clutch. I have replaced the entire front and rear suspension on it, and i mean everything at a cost of £1000. It does need front discs once a year though and the rear tyres (265/30/18) are a bit pricey.

Not too great on fuel though.

Other than that i haven’t spent anything else on it in 5 years!

Been buzzed by a few while cycle commuting, but normally more considerate than those in 3 Series.

Does that help?

Got a 2013 520d Touring (company car) this year and love it, fast enough for me and comfy, my shortlist was 520D/2WDXC60/A6 estate and to be honest any of them would have been lovely. The 520d was the nicest to drive and thats what won me over. Capable of 60mpg at 60mph but averages around 40mpg overall so a little less than I had hoped for but still excellent for such a big car. Get around 600 miles out of a tank of fuel which is nice.

My pal had one of those, once you loaded up and put your foot down the economy dropped to barely more than my E39 535i managed at the same speeds/loads.

My E39 was a brill car, solid as a rock and remarkable cheap to run (for a V8) but it died at only 130k when the autobox went into fail mode – the basic cost to strip it, fix what the computer thought was wrong and re-assemble was more than it was worth. So I just ebay’d it.

Would have bought another, but now live in rural Scotland and it wouldn’t even get of my drive (gradient) in the snow.

Have an E61 520d that have had from 12k to 70k. Lovely cars, boot is pretty enormous and from memory the boot is pretty flat when you drop the seats. Servicing is on interval and ok at a independent.

Would recc getting a 525 or above if poss as 6 cylinder engine is much smoother.

As you are in Germany them winter wheels are mandatory so ignore everybody saying it won’t move in snow. They are fine with the right wheels.

Still RWD in the snow – and winter tyres are good. But not that good. In Munich try and get a X (4WD) version.

BMs are horrid in ice and snow, what makes them great in normal driving makes them “challenging” in the slippy stuff

My old E61 would take a large framed 29er in whole, so it’s a decent size. Seats do fold flat, or flat enough not to really notice and at 5’7″ you should be able to lie out in it.

Build quality of E60s doesn’t seem to be as high as on E39s.

Just got an F11 60 plate 530d SE. Engine is great. Turning circle isn’t great, but not horrendous. The seats don’t go completely flat apparently. Not tried the bike in there yet.

I had an e39 525i estate which I sold earlier in this year after 8 years of pretty much trouble-free motoring. Great car. If it had a teensy bit more poke (like, for example a 530i) I would probably still have it.

178k miles. Still drove beautifully.

Epic, thats what they are, epic.

I had two black 530d sport tourings and put 175k & 260k miles respectively on each, damn fine pokey sport estates that can carry far more than you ought to carry, safe, sold, Awe inspiring drive, burns tyres out if you boot it, get them serviced regularly and they will go on forever. I had towbars and roof bars on both, carried bikes, boats, towed dinghies and yachts around Yurope without a hitch. Only point worth noting is the runflats, they’re a bit stiff but easy to change.

Epic.

WOuld I buy another? If I was going to do what I did back then (2007-2011) Yup in an instant, not at the moment though..