[mro77]

Hi everyone.

First post here, but I've been reading the forums for some time now and find them incredibly useful. Hoping I can start giving something back and wanted to share details of my recent acquired 525d M Sport Touring.

It was an ex-demonstrator purchased from Sytner Newport, five months old with approx 7,500 miles on the clock. A few more miles than one would expect to find on an ex-demo car but I absolutely love it. I've come from a space grey E61 520d M Sport Touring, which in comparison didn't have anything close to the options that this one has. The difference between the two is incredible, particularly the build quality. The build date is July 2011, registered September 2011, so this is one of the last 6 cylinder models before BMW changed the engine in the 525d.

In an ideal world I would have liked to have chosen my own spec and purchased from new, but £12k off of the list price was hard to turn down for a 5 month old car. And the spec on this one really stood out over all of the other fives I looked at.

Anyway here are a few pics, more in my album. Full spec in signature. Looking forward to being a part of the community.

Cheers,

Matt.

[eskdale]

Hi MRO
Nice Vehicle. I looked at that one as well. When did you pick it up? It was still there when I picked mine up 2 weeks ago. I was only looking for the 2.0d that one is the 3.0d where as the current 525d is a 2.0d. I purchased a new one in the end as I wanted some of the options such as Active Cruise control and comfort access but that is a nice car. I'm up and down the M5 regularly so may be if you see another White F11 Touring with the panoramic roof flash you - its probably me. Welcome to the forum.

[mro77]

Hi eskdale,

I picked the car up on the 27th January, so yes it should have still been there when you picked yours up.

I was initially a little concerned about losing out on an extra 10mpg by opting for the 3 litre engine, but it really is much smoother than my E61 520d and I don't tend to drive it hard. I've heard great reports of the new 2 litre engine in the Sept 2011 525d as well, but overall I'm happy to have one of the last 3 litre models.

Thanks for the welcome. See you on the M5.

[eskdale]

A couple of pictures of my F11 so you recognise it when you fly past it in the 3 litre!! Its got the chrome surround around the windows unlike most M sports. Reg plate ends in 1D

[mro77]

Cool!

There can't be loads of M Sports with the chrome window trim. I'll keep my eye out.

Not sure I'll be flying past you though. My E61 looked like someone had taken a machine gun to the bonnet! So taking this one a bit easier to avoid the dreaded stone chips.

[bimmer man]

Hello mro77 congratulate, looks good.

[remmib]

Congrats, great looking F11.

Did you put on the black grill, or was it already on? Looks smashing on AW.

[EdM5]

Congrats!
AW+F11+M sport=

[Bimmernerd]

Enjoy, very nice looking car! M-sport rocks!

[mro77]

Cheers everyone.

I had the BMW Performance high gloss kidney grills installed at my local dealership last week, they didn't come with the car. To be honest the only reason I considered them is because the stock grills had already started to tarnish and they didn't look great like that. I could have had them replaced under warranty but thought I'd opt for the black ones instead.

Wasn't too sure whether I'd prefer them to the stock grills but I think I do, and I'm glad I went for them.

[Kev R]

Welcome to the forum...very cool looking car I could have had the option of the F11 but never considered it, must be honest I think I prefer to the F10 now.

[MalithS]

Hello mro77

Welcome to the forum. Great looking car and superb set of options. The 6 cylinder must be such a smooth drive. Wish I had gone for one instead of the 520.

[mro77]

Cheers guys.

Kev - I've always preferred the 5 series touring over the saloon, on both the E60/E61 and the current model. On top of that, my other half drives a 1 series convertible so one of our cars has to be practical for trips etc. You can barely fit one suitcase in her boot never mind four!

MalithS - Yes, it's definitely smooth. But I only have my previous E61 520d and my other half's 120d to compare it to. Never owned a 6 cylinder before, but I can see why they're often preferred over the 4 cylinder engines. Bit thirstier than my 520d though, and quite a bit thirstier than the current 520d.

[PeterF11]

very nice. The AW made my second guess my choice more than once

[datbimmerdoe]

beautiful. congrats, m-sport ftmfw!!!!!!

[kave]

Great looking car. It's amazing to see the huge difference the 19" makes. 100% better looking than the ugly M-sport 18"'s.

[mro77]

Cheers guys.

I do prefer the 19s, but not the cost of the tyres!

Will probably fit standard rubber and get a space saver or mobility kit when they need changing. Still undecided though.

[the_rangdo]

+1 on the cost

With my SE suspension on 18s I'm happy enough to stay with RFT but boy does your wallet know about it when you need to replace them

[eskdale]

I too love the look of the 19's but prefer the ride and costs of the 18's. Also having read how much more susceptible to pot hole damage the 19's were I opted for the 18's. Would have liked 5 Spoke 18's they would look better than the 7 spoke 18's but then I guess BMW wouldn't sell so many upgrades !!! . By previous car Ford Galaxy didn't have run flats and didn't have a spare either just an inflater although I did spec it with the Tyre pressure monitors which I think was worth while as you knew if you had a slow puncture and could sort it out immediately without having to change the wheel. My Motor Home is the same as well no Run Flats or spare.
Have spec'd the BMW with Tyre Pressure Monitors so that when the RFT's are replaced I will have some comfort if I use non RFT's.

[the_rangdo]

Apart from the ride quality of 18's I actually quite like to see a bit of black rubber, stops the wheels dominating the look of the car.

And I'm on 17" winters at the mo, black rubber pr0n

[mro77]

Agreed, the ride quality and costs of running 18s over 19s are definitely worth considering. I had the standard M Sport 18s on my E61 but I can honestly say that the ride quality of the 19s on my F11 doesn't feel much different. Possibly down to an improved ride generally over the older model.

Aside from that I just love the way they look! I think it's one of those cases where the heart ruled the head.

Putting the cost and ride quality to one side, the five spoke design is much easier to clean/seal than the 18s were on my E61. The standard M Sport wheels on the E60/E61 were a pain to clean.

[Matt01]

Currently running 18's on my f11, my brother is running low profile 19' RFT's on his f10... one month he had to replace all 4 and 2 rims.... Me only one puncture (his are Goodyear and mine are michelin)