I have a thing for BMWs. I don’t know why, I just do. Ever since I placed my backside in my Uncle’s 3-series coupe I have been an addict – stupid as it may sound. It had a Schnitzer bodykit with big alloys and had some serious power hidden beneath, he doesn’t have it anymore but the memory of the car remains. Fast in a straight line, and serious fast through corners, but all done very quietly and smoothly. In my words, it was just right! It felt right, and looked right.
So the blue and white roundel grew and grew on me, until I would spend hours at a time on the internet looking at pictures and technical stuff on the cars. I even know the BM E-number now! E36, E39, E46…..sado!
This is now my third BMW but my first 5-series. If you read reports on the latest generation of 5-series (1996 onwards…….. model number E39!! - I just had to put that in!) it’s easy to see that just about every motoring journalist under the sun has huge regard for the car. It crushed the opposition back in 1996 and it was so good, that even now, the model is still good enough to teach offerings from Audi and Mercedes a lesson in dynamics and driver involvement.
I have been eyeing up the 5-series now for a number of months and just before Christmas, I found what I thought was the one for me. It was a lovely blue 535i advertised in Autotrader. To cut a long story short, I flew to England to buy the car, discovered it was not clean enough for my liking and ended up going home in a silver 523i SE Steptronic.
My car was a late 1998 on an S plate. It had covered a whisker over 100,000 miles but was in showroom condition. The car was advertised at £10,000, but I certainly did NOT pay that, and eventually drove home after striking a deal at £2,000 less than the asking price! I was well chuffed. Even more chuffed when I arrived home and washed the thing. Not a bloody scratch in sight, nothing, nout apart from ONE SINGLE tiny little stone chip on the bonnet. (excuse my choice of wording but you have to understand my expression when I discovered just how much my £8k had bought me!) It may be a good time to point out, that you really need to be careful here, as I know I could knock 80,000miles of the clock and anyone not careful enough would easily fall for it. These cars, when looked after will wear the miles exceptionally well. I have never, ever driven such a fresh 100,000
miler. Fantastic. To the untrained eye, a bad BMW will still look good in comparison to the likes of a second hand mainstream car like the Vauxhall Vectra.
The car was finished in Silver, had a full BMW service history, was equipped with very desirable black leather and the Steptronic gearbox, items that should make it so much easier to sell on in the future. I’ve read that Silver is the most desirable colour in the 5.
The 535i V8 that I had out for a run first was a great motor, it was torquey and would grumble under acceleration. However, I now feel that the six cylinder engines are much better suited to the 5-series’ character. They are a little better to drive as they have the more direct rack and pinion steering which the V8s do not have due to lack of space. The V8s are also a bit nose heavy. The six-cylinder engine is a gem. It’s smooth beyond reason, quiet with a gorgeous muted roar at the top end of the rev range. I personally would like a bit more power than the 2.5 produces, it wont light the tarmac but it is adequate. (Adequate maybe in my books where I am out less than ten thousand but if I had just spent thirty thousand on the thing new, I would be demanding a few more horses under the bonnet.)
Before I move to the interior and the driver environment (ie. drool time) I must cover some important points!
Servicing ----------- BMW dealers are not cheap, make no mistake. They will however, look after your pride and joy better than anyone else if I dare say so. BMW operates 3 different services for the car. They call it, oil service, inspection I and inspection II. My car is now due inspection I which will include the oil change and filter, change of the spark plugs, and a check on all major components such as suspension and brakes. I have been quoted £220 including VAT for this service, which I don’t feel, is too bad. Apparently it will only take them one hour to complete the service, enough time to walk around the local shops, enjoy numerous courtesy cups of tea or, in my case, sit in that brand new M3 in the showroom and just dream about what a hooligan I could be if I owned it.
I bought a set of mats for the car which retail for a unbelievable £117. My god, that’s insane for four mats. I could have had my Peugeot re-carpeted for that.
Dealers --------- Thankfully, I do have praise here, most dealers I would spit at but I found the BM ones very helpful and friendly. I have been in numerous dealerships many a time in relation to my 3-series and have always come out with a smile on my face despite the fact of leaving with an empty wallet. Some do tend to be a little snobby, but when I detect that I let them know about it. I’m sorry, but I have little time for snobbery.
Tech Specs --------------
523i SE – 2494cc 170bhp, 245Nm Max Torque @ 3950rpm 6 cylinder in line. (smooth as pouring cream)
Max Speed: 142mph 0 – 60mph: 8.5secs Average Consumption: 28.8mpg
The mpg figure I quoted above was taken from a Parkers guide. My car’s average consumption computer indicates a figure closer to 26mpg.
Interior -------- Aha, now the best bits………….The interior of this car is a lesson in straight forward thinking. Everything falls to hand, the dash plays host to an uncluttered and easy to use stereo with a big volume knob. I have the ‘lovely to hold’ M-Tec steering wheel which has the volume control and radio station selection buttons located on it along with the cruise control buttons. The stereo however did not impress me, the one in my Peugeot sounds a lot better. There is NO CD player as standard although the car has been wired and ready for you to simply plug in a BMW CD autochanger into the boot. Only a BM one will fit, as the connectors are different!
The heating controls are something I don’t fully understand. The car is equipped with climate control, which allows the driver and passenger to have different ambient temperatures. A good idea in theory and even better in practice! There is a digital read out of your preset temperatures for driver and passenger, which is very straight forward, but I cannot figure out how exactly to demist all the windows and keep them like that! I take a guess at a button and if it doesn’t clear within a few minutes I take another guess! And yes, true to my male roots, I refuse to read the manual!! The heated seats are fantastic too, especially on a cold winter night.
There are other little touches, which are easily overlooked but are there to remind you this is a quality upmarket car. Touches such as the tiny orange glow lights in the roof which throw a gentle orange glow across the walnut finish at night, it’s a small thing of course but it enhances the feeling of quality and general satisfaction.
The window controls have a one-touch feature for every window, which I like, as I hate having to hold my finger on the button whilst a window works its way up (and before you ask…….yes, I AM THAT LAZY!)
There’s only one complaint I have concerning the interior and it is to do with the front armrest. Whatever way I have my arm on the armrest when I am reversing, I tend to put a little too much pressure on it and it shoots forward! It’s an adjustable armrest but I would rather you could lock it in place with a button of some kind. Apart from that, everything else is top notch. The interior of 5 is a very agreeable place to spend time in and the boot is big enough to accommodate the weekly shopping, but only just!
Oh, and yes, it does have a cup holder, and what a cup holder! lol
On The Road --------------- Very competent to be straight to the point. The car is beautifully balanced, very smooth and comfortable but with a firm enough suspension to enjoy driving on the twisty B roads. From take off, the auto box is quite snappy, but is much more progressive on the move. You will need to shift over to steptronic mode though to make properly swift progress, as in fully automatic mode, I can only get the gearbox to shift down one cog under full throttle, and it just doesn’t feel willing enough to go. Ok so it’s the first Auto I have driven and we have not yet found mutual grounds. I might update this part when I understand how the damn thing works.
Because of BMWs rear wheel drive set up, the steering will always be free of ‘torque steer’ which occurs in front wheel drive cars. Rear wheel drive in my opinion makes for a nicer balanced car. Providing you are comfortable with the car and it’s limits, it tends to feel more direct in the bends, without the tendency to understeer as much on the limit. The 5 series is a pretty grown up car, you are unlikely to see someone in one of these doing donuts in safeways car park, however, when provoked it can behave as badly as you like. As I said before, the car is beautifully balanced and bends can be taken reasonably safely with the sort of care as someone who has just been granted eternal life.
The brakes are strong and confidence inspiring without being ‘grabby’ and the steering is nicely weighted, I can’t comment on the gear change as in mine you just flick it forward or back and sophisticated electronics sort out the rest.
Personally, I enjoy the 3-series more as a drivers car, because of its lighter weight and sharper suspension, however, for a big car, the 5-series is definitely still at the forefront of its class.
Faults ------- To be honest, there isn’t many. As I said earlier, I don’t like the front armrest, I feel like the 523i could do with a bit more power, and I found the dealer parts were pricey. Apart from that though, my complaint card adds up to nothing! Everything in my car still works perfectly and after 100,000 miles there are still no visible signs of wear and tear!
Things to watch for when buying ---------------------------------------- Metallic colours especially blue and silver etc. sell well, non-metallic colours such as red or white do NOT. If you are not worried about the resale value of your car, then you should be able to haggle on the price more of a less desirable colour. Leather interior and automatic gears are also desirable options to have.
Make sure the car has all its service documents and history before you buy. Check the little things such as the toolkit in the boot to make sure it has not been used. The spare tyre, first aid kit and the glovebox torch should all be present. Question it if not.
BMWs are generally very robust cars providing they are cared for. The V8 engines had a sulphur problem in America as far as I recall, which would cause excessive cylinder bore wear and engine failure. This as far as I know does not affect UK cars. The six cylinder engines are not without their faults either. The 2.8 engine (528i) has been know to suffer from cracking in the cylinder head due to the thinner walls as it is basically the 2.5 block bored out. If the 5-series your looking at has starting problems, walk away as fast as you can as the Alloy block has been known to take early retirement, and water can work its way into the cylinders. Expensive to fix so be careful.
Providing you use your head and don’t fall head over heals in love with the first one you see, you are likely to have a car that will provide much owner satisfaction and enjoyment.
Verdict -------- I believe the 5 series is worthy of all the awards it has won since its launch. It is a hugely accomplished vehicle, which I really cannot complain about, and I usually can find something to whinge about. Is it worthy of a 5 star rating?? Ermmmmm.... oh gee....... nearly, very very nearly.
Update ------ I have since had the car serviced and it damaged me by over £700. The oil cooling pipe on the transmission had cracked and needed replaced at £146+ VAT for the part alone...for a pipe!!!! That's crazy. I won't be going back to the dealer in a hurry! Car is running very sweetly now though and I have learnt that the car is much quicker than I initially thought now that I know how to use the auto box correctly.
Thanks for reading!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
BMW 3 Series - Saloon - Rear (RWD) - 6 Speed Manual, 6 Speed Automatic - 1995 cc - Max Speed: 130 mph - 143 bhp - Petrol - Available Trims: M Sport, Sport, SE, ES
BMW 3 Series - Saloon - Rear (RWD) - 6 Speed Manual, 6 Speed Automatic - 1995 cc - Max Speed: 140, 143 mph - 163, 177 bhp - Diesel - Available Trims: ES, SE, Sport, M Sport
Jan 6th, 2003
(Mar 18th, 2003)
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