'00 BMW 530d

AlanD

Hi all...

what are your opinions on the last series 530d from BMW? I've found one well spec'd with xenon's, cruise, auto, climate, m-pack with reasonable miles.

Are they fast?
Do they give trouble?
Will I get 30mpg out of it?

It's got a full service history too which I assume is important.

So what do you think?

kdevitt

Great car - you'll get closer to 40mpg I'd imagine, very fast, no trouble I've heard of, sounds well spec'd alright...I love the sports kit, go for it

ds20prefecture

"Are they fast?"
It's about 200bhp in a 1.5t car. I doubt that it feels slow, but it's no redline screamer either. More a mile-muncher extraordinaire.

"Do they give trouble?" - not really. Make sure it has been well serviced. Beware any high mileage turbo charged car - this would be expensive to replace. Are you buying with a warranty?

"Will I get 30mpg out of it?" - easily on the open road. With a light foot around traffic I would say so.

"So what do you think?" You neglected to mention the price.....

If it is reasonable you will struggle to find a better all-round car.

AlanD

price? €26k which seems pretty good given the spec and the 60-odd on the clock.

I'm sure the price is somewhat negotiable. Doubt it would come with a warranty, but it wouldn't be a half bad idea to use that as a bargaining tool and go to BMW to buy an off the shelf warranty, if possible. I know it's possible with other car makes.

I know servicing with a BMW dealer would be pricey too.

I'm very tempted, I just need to convince the wife that it's a must have.

bbability

That's a ball park figure for that car with that mileage. I drove a 00 530d in June for the first time. What a car It was fully loaded too. Drove it down the M1 and by jaysus was I moving. You'll never understand a car like that until you actually drive one for yourself. You know the way this type of car overtakes you at light speed. They are built for eating roads. My friend's old man who was lucky enough to buy it got it for €15k. The reason.... the bloke he bought it off has his own company and knows him for years. He was trading up to a brand new 730D. BMW only offered him 15 on the trade in.

unkel

AlanD wrote:

price? €26k which seems pretty good given the spec and the 60-odd on the clock

Fine car. €26k for a 5 or 5 and a half year old 530d is still a lot of money. Make no mistake, if you keep it for say 3 years, you will not get more than ballpark €10k for it. So we are talking more than €5k per annum in depreciation only. That's a lot!

What's your mileage? Do you really need to go diesel? A '00 523i with extras would not be much more than half that price. Think about it...

lomb

unkel wrote:

Fine car. €26k for a 5 or 5 and a half year old 530d is still a lot of money. Make no mistake, if you keep it for say 3 years, you will not get more than ballpark €10k for it. So we are talking more than €5k per annum in depreciation only. That's a lot!

What's your mileage? Do you really need to go diesel? A '00 523i with extras would not be much more than half that price. Think about it...

unkels right, its too dear for a nearly 6 year old car, any saving on diesel will be wiped out several times by the insane depreciation that u will suffer.

AlanD

interesting comments lads, thanks very much. I do a fair amount of driving and do need a diesel. I have it pretty accurately worked out. However, if a petrol car could be got cheap enough to offset the cost of extra fuel, it'd make sense too.

The plan is to buy and keep for one year only. Sort of a get it out of my system purchase until something newer comes along. We need a new car and it needs to be diesel. So top of the list was the new Passat, but given that you'll pay €32k or so for a miserable 1.9 tdi engine and some nice spec, I wouldn't give VW the pleasure of taking my money. Next on the list is the new Laguna which is very well specced with a nice engine for €28.5k. If I could get one, a 2.0D new style S40 would be up there too. So since, I'm ruling out the passat, the laguna is the most affordable, but I'm a bit apprehensive. I don't want to spend close to 30 grand on a car for it to break down. Although I'm sure Laguna's are more reliable these days.

So the plan is, and I know it's a bit hair-brained, pick up something like a 530d, which I'd love, and keep it for a year to trade in against a 2.0 tdi passat if one was available second hand. The big depreciation on the 530d would be a worry though. I'd hardly drop €5k in just one year would I? I understand over 3 years you'd have the equivalent of €5k a year depreciation.

Thing is, I'd need to go drive one to see if I want one at all, but I've tailed a few and found them impossible to keep up with. The power seems amazing.

Oh and on further discussion with the seller, I'd get it for €24,500 which is a bit better.

Thumper Long

if you think the depreciation on the BMW is heavy, dont even ponder the thought of a Laguna its residual values are atrocious

SouperComputer

hmm what about an Octavia TDi?

AlanD

oh tell me about it, but then I don't want to hand over money to those over pricing VW folks for a car that's not really worth it. Although where it would be worth it would be in resale value. I'm still not paying over 30 grand though for a 105bhp 1.9 tdi engine.

AlanD

SouperComputer wrote:

hmm what about an Octavia TDi?

sorry, should have mentioned that one. Drove the 1.9 tdi with DSG and thought it was amazing. Drove the 2.0 tdi and thought it was amazing too. Loads of power. But the seats are not comfortable at all, so it was relegated to the bottom of the list which is a pity.

lomb

what about a s320cdi say a 99 one, u could have one in from the uk for i reakon 31-33000 euro inc VRT, thats really a hundred grand car.

also DAVEG has a 2000 audi a4 1.9d (the 90 bhp one) for 10500 for sale this week, u may b able to get him down to 10250 if u pm him today

Bluehair

The Octavia while a damn fine car just doesn't come close to the Skoda Superb.

The tdi would be in your ballpark too (new at around 28k?), take one for a test drive and be ready to be surprised.

css

Alan you also gotta factor in the extra road tax, you're gonna pay up on 800 extra p.a. for the 530d, having said that it is a damn fine motor.. Worth looking into the S-class if you're into a luxobarge too though.. It's another fine cruiser..

Guys, he's looking at a 3L diesel, so stop mentioning those puny 1.9 p!sspots.. They aren't even in the dugout never mind the playing field with the bigger diesels..

AlanD

lomb wrote:

what about a s320cdi say a 99 one, u could have one in from the uk for i reakon 31-33000 euro inc VRT, thats really a hundred grand car.

also DAVEG has a 2000 audi a4 1.9d (the 90 bhp one) for 10500 for sale this week, u may b able to get him down to 10250 if u pm him today

No to both....

as for the Superb, I drove a highly specced 1.9 tdi 130 bhp with tiptronic gearbox. Loved it. Gearbox was poor enough though. But yeah twas a nice car. Loads of room in it. Wife doesn't like the interior though

AlanD

css wrote:

Alan you also gotta factor in the extra road tax, you're gonna pay up on 800 extra p.a. for the 530d, having said that it is a damn fine motor.. Worth looking into the S-class if you're into a luxobarge too though.. It's another fine cruiser..

Guys, he's looking at a 3L diesel, so stop mentioning those puny 1.9 p!sspots.. They aren't even in the dugout never mind the playing field with the bigger diesels..

I've factored in the extra road tax alright and since I plan on only keeping it for a year, I don't mind that cost. As I said, I'd trade it in after a year for something newer and more sensible I'm not necessarily looking for a 3.0 litre diesel though. That 530d caught my eye cos I love the last 5 series with the M-tech body kit. I love the sound of that 3.0 diesel too. So it's just this specific car I'm interested in for now. The S320....I'm too young for it.

The way I look at it, if I paid 24k for it today, 12 months down the road with an extra 20k on the clock, I'd probably get 20k for it. If I buy a new car, I'd take that hit anyway and I'd prefer to buy a passat with the 2.0 tdi engine or an S40 with the 2.0 diesel engine. It's definitely risky I know. But I'm sure the pleasure of the car would far outweight the pain of the cost!

css

Why not just buy it and drive it!! feic it.. why the 1 year btw??

AlanD

css wrote:

Why not just buy it and drive it!! feic it.. why the 1 year btw??

see note above. Need new car now, but not interested in what's available in my price range now. So I'm thinking of buying this for now until something better comes along. Who knows, I may not get rid after 1 year.

Driving it will be the key. Noone has come up with bad stories about them (apart from depreciation).

HashSlinging

A remapped 1.9Tdi 150bhp is more powerful than the 3.0D in the '00 5 series.

Here are the stats :-

bmw 530d
184 PS 390 NM

Remapped 1.9Tdi 150bhp

182 PS 425 NM

css

Which is more likely to blow up i wonder? :rolleyes:

If you're gonna remap something I'd prefer a remapped 3.0 than a puny 1.9..

ds20prefecture

Bluehair wrote:

The Octavia while a damn fine car just doesn't come close to the Skoda Superb.

The tdi would be in your ballpark too (new at around 28k?), take one for a test drive and be ready to be surprised.

New Octavia renders current model Superb obsolete. Nicer inside, as much legroom, better engines, less money.

HashSlinging

Ehh the BMW will blow up. They don’t remap well. I know of a heavily tuned 150 with 200k miles on the clock, no problems and the engine is operating well within its capacity.. next?

michaelanthony

The 530d will return ~29 mpg for normal driving. It's a very heavy car and has a drink problem if you drive it hard.

css

HashSlinging wrote:

Ehh the BMW will blow up. They don’t remap well. I know of a heavily tuned 150 with 200k miles on the clock, no problems and the engine is operating well within its capacity.. next?

You are comparing a 5 series (mid range exec car) to a mass produced car that's built to be as cheap as possible. No comparison when it comes to comfort.

Incidentally you can remap that 530d to 220bhp/500Nm, if that's your fancy. You might as well buy the engine to do the job, than wasting money on stupid remaps that'll leave the road behind you like a WW1 battlefield..

kdevitt

The 530d got a revised engine in March 2000 - 193BHP and 410 NM as standard, and a combined 39MPG - I've never read anywhere of one returning anywhere near under 30MPG. Its lardy enough at 1700kg but will still hit 60 as quick or quicker than most hot hatches.

As css said, you might as well buy the engine to do the job, but if chipping is your thing a tuning Box for €600 or so will free up 39BHP and 80NM, without blowing the car up. The ones that blow up after a remap must be specific to this forum...

unkel

AlanD wrote:

I'd hardly drop €5k in just one year would I? I understand over 3 years you'd have the equivalent of €5k a year depreciation

LOL, depreciation per annum in absolute terms (in €xk) is always lower any year the car is older. So if you accept the depreciation over 3 years is €15k, the distribution is not €5k, €5k, €5k (for first, second and third year) but more likely something like €7k, €5k, €3k

unkel

Oh and HashSlinging, don't loose the run of yourself there comparing your (no doubt fine and very tuneable) car to a BMW 530d

AlanD

unkel wrote:

LOL, depreciation per annum in absolute terms (in €xk) is always lower any year the car is older. So if you accept the depreciation over 3 years is €15k, the distribution is not €5k, €5k, €5k (for first, second and third year) but more likely something like €7k, €5k, €3k

Oh I understand that alright, I know it's not an absolute figure, I was trying to fit in with someone else point. I've been watching the depreciation of 530d's over the past couple of years and it really hasn't been that serious. €2k per year or so. Do you really think that if I bought that 530d now, it could drop €7k in 1 year? Personally I don't think so, but I could be wrong of course. But I do understand what you mean when you break it out like that, depreciation levels off or reduces the older the car gets.

Also, I'm not in to tuning so I wouldn't even consider it.

unkel

AlanD wrote:

I've been watching the depreciation of 530d's over the past couple of years and it really hasn't been that serious

So have I and I agree with you. The one thing that is going to be different now is the age though. It was introduced here in '99 and in a few months time that will be considered 7 years old. This is older than most people would consider buying a car. It has nothing to do with the quality of the car, just peoples behaviour. Hard to flock a 100k+ miles car in this country too

AlanD wrote:

Do you really think that if I bought that 530d now, it could drop €7k in 1 year?

Yes I do if you pay €26k for it. Depreciation on the older models ('99 and '00) will be harsh and steep for a couple of years

AlanD

unkel wrote:

So have I and I agree with you. The one thing that is going to be different now is the age though. It was introduced here in '99 and in a few months time that will be considered 7 years old.

This is true. One thing strikes me though is that for some reason BMW prices in this country for cars like this stay very high for longer than expected. I've rarely seen them plummet unless they were wheezy petrol models with rubbish small engines.

unkel wrote:

Hard to flock a 100k+ miles car in this country too

This particular car has 60k on the clock which isn't too bad. I'd only be looking to put another 20k on it and then selling it on. So I'd have no intention running it to 100k.

unkel wrote:

Yes I do if you pay €26k for it. Depreciation on the older models ('99 and '00) will be harsh and steep for a couple of years

I know what you mean. If I could get a '01 or '02 for close to that price I'd be better off. But I figure I could get this one for about €24k or less. He's offered €24,500 already which is a lot better. If I could get it for €23,750 I'd be happy.

I'll just have to drive one and see first though. Someone mentioned 29mpg? That's pretty poor. I remember alright when that engine upgrade came in for 2000 so I would presume that the engine would be more efficient. Any comments from actual owners?