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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 BMW 5-Series (F10) Forums F10 / F11 5-Series Photos - Video - Media Picked up my new 520D MT
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      09-18-2010, 12:11 PM   #1
karmakal
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Picked up my new 520D MT

Last Thursday I picked up my new 520D I bought in the UK and brought it back home in Belgium.

520D 184 hp 6MT
236 17" wheels
Sophisto grey
Black dakota leather, aluminium trims
Visibility package
Media package prof.
Electric glass sunroof
Heating seats front
Ext. folding mirrors
USB
Hifi prof. (logic 7)

After 500 kms, my first impressions (for what these are worth, I'm an everyday driver, by no means an expert). Previous car : Audi A6 avant.

My Pros
Look
Comfort and quality of the interior
iDrive : BMW really got it right, the interface is smooth and intuitive
Hifi : fantastic sound I must say and I haven't set up the equalizer yet

My Cons

Std direction and suspension : It's maybe early to advance a final judgement and I'm still driving pretty gently until I break 2000 km but the direction is much softer (floating impression) than on my Audi, also the suspension was much harder on my audi. I know I may need some time to get used to it and maybe I could have invested in a dynamic suspension but the result so far is that I feel less connected to the BMW than to my Audi. On the highway though (90% of my driving) it does not matter much.

Pull to the right : I'm experiencing quite a sharp pull to the right on highway. It is comparable to what other users described in this thread :
http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=409049
and to what Bennet64 filmed :
.
I don't notice the pull at low speed on the small roads near my house. Maybe it's just the slope on the highway. I'll be checking this further and possibly compare with my dad's 3 series behavior on the same road.

Spare space in the front : compared to the Audi, I have less space in the front to store small things. I hate to drive with my pockets full of things so I want to be able to easily unload keys, wallet, small change etc. and take everything back with me when I hop out of the car. Now my keys are filling the ashtray (before these would hang next to the steering wheel) and there's not much space left aside from the cupholder (which is really shallow - not sure I could safely fit a 33 cl. water bottle in there).

Overall I must say I'm very happy so far with the car.

Here are some pics.
Attached Images
        

Last edited by karmakal; 09-20-2010 at 05:11 AM.. Reason: adding pics
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      09-18-2010, 12:18 PM   #2
Sonny520
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Why did you buy it in the UK? And I didn't know you can buy a car there with THE steeringwheel on the left?
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      09-18-2010, 12:20 PM   #3
karmakal
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> 20% saving compared to the price in Belgium. But when I bought the UK Pound was about 6% cheaper than now and UK prices may have increased slightly.

Not only is it LHD, lights are also adapted and it is specced as if I bought it in Belgium. Interface / car documention in my language etc. Only the invoice and the CoC (conformity certificate) are in English.
The car after all is built in Germany so it does not matter much whether it is sold in the UK or Belgium.

Last edited by karmakal; 09-18-2010 at 12:26 PM..
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      09-18-2010, 01:48 PM   #4
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Owkay, but I assume that you also had to pay import taxes, transport costs, etc? Concidering that, is it still 20% cheaper?
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      09-18-2010, 02:39 PM   #5
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Congrats on your 520!
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      09-18-2010, 02:41 PM   #6
karmakal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonny520 View Post
Owkay, but I assume that you also had to pay import taxes, transport costs, etc? Concidering that, is it still 20% cheaper?
It's over 20% cheaper after all costs taken into account.
Costs are fairly limited actually. No import tax, you have to pay some 500 pounds for LHD delivery in UK and temporary license plates (until you register the car in Belgium). In Belgium you have to pay 0.10 EUR at the customs for the immatriculation form. Add less than 200 EUR for your trip to UK and back and that's it. The cost of my car above is around 39.000 EUR incl. VAT. Check BMW's website in Belgium and see how much it will cost you for the same spec.
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      09-18-2010, 02:51 PM   #7
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Congrats!!! And thanks for sharing photos.
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      09-18-2010, 03:07 PM   #8
Sonny520
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karmakal View Post
It's over 20% cheaper after all costs taken into account.
Costs are fairly limited actually. No import tax, you have to pay some 500 pounds for LHD delivery in UK and temporary license plates (until you register the car in Belgium). In Belgium you have to pay 0.10 EUR at the customs for the immatriculation form. Add less than 200 EUR for your trip to UK and back and that's it. The cost of my car above is around 39.000 EUR incl. VAT. Check BMW's website in Belgium and see how much it will cost you for the same spec.
Wow thats amazing, you're a smart guy
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      09-18-2010, 03:26 PM   #9
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Holy crap! cheaper in the UK... HOLY CRAP!!! REALLY! GOOD GOD! Am i dreaming... you did say cheaper in this god damn country that rips you off every sodding step of your life... Speachless... i won't be able to sleep now for weeks... you have totally blown my reality... If its cheaper over here.... maybe i am a whale falling through space
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      09-18-2010, 04:05 PM   #10
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Pound used to be worth 1.5 EUR. It dropped under 1.1 in 2009. That's a 27% drop and about my saving. BMW couldn't increase their sales prices by such a margin in the UK.

I bought the pound at 1.14 when I ordered the car to hedge my deal. Now it's back to around 1.2 so the deal is a little less sweet for us on the Continent but it is still quite favorable.
When I see the prices in the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, I wonder why these guys aren't flocking to the UK to buy their cars. It has actually become rather straghtforward since the liberalisation of the car market and the introduction of European certificate of conformity.

BMW has a collection point in Ashford, 18km away from the Chunnel. You can reach Ashford direct by TGV Eurostar in less than 2 hrs from Brussels or Paris. Getting the car back through the Chunnel was a breeze.

Well maybe customers ARE flocking after all, the guy at the dealership said they were pretty busy serving cars to Greeks, Italians and other boys in search for a bargain.

Last edited by karmakal; 09-18-2010 at 04:13 PM..
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      09-18-2010, 04:16 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lukeswarm View Post
Holy crap! cheaper in the UK... HOLY CRAP!!! REALLY! GOOD GOD! Am i dreaming... you did say cheaper in this god damn country that rips you off every sodding step of your life... Speachless... i won't be able to sleep now for weeks... you have totally blown my reality... If its cheaper over here.... maybe i am a whale falling through space
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      09-18-2010, 05:12 PM   #12
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congrats!
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      09-19-2010, 03:48 AM   #13
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If you live in Be or UK you can consider youself lucky, when comes to buying a new car.
There is almost no country in the world where cars are more expensieve then in the Netherlands.
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      09-19-2010, 05:34 AM   #14
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...more expensive than the Nederlands...of course there is!!!. try Portugal
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      09-19-2010, 05:49 AM   #15
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congrats with your new 520. Keep me informed about paperwork and possible constraints. Thx
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      09-19-2010, 10:09 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lukeswarm View Post
Holy crap! cheaper in the UK... HOLY CRAP!!! REALLY! GOOD GOD! Am i dreaming... you did say cheaper in this god damn country that rips you off every sodding step of your life... Speachless... i won't be able to sleep now for weeks... you have totally blown my reality... If its cheaper over here.... maybe i am a whale falling through space
Yes cheaper

Hey OP, Can you please take some closer pics of the coin holder for me.

That looks like a cool replacement for the cup holder.

Kev
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      09-19-2010, 03:59 PM   #17
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congratulations on the car buddy!

Can you comment further on the hifi system... This is the BMW Professional setup? How well does it cope with bass
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      09-20-2010, 04:20 AM   #18
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It's the professional loudspeaker system with Dirac and I love it.
I still have to set up the EQ properly and I haven't tried the std loudspeaker system to compare it with but so far the sound I get is incomparably better than what I had in my Audi. It's light years away. I'm really immersed into the music, even at high speed and on noisy highway.

Last edited by karmakal; 09-20-2010 at 05:01 AM..
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      09-20-2010, 04:23 AM   #19
karmakal
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@Lacster : what do call the coin holder ? I have an ashtray above the stick + cup holder under the iDrive knob.
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      09-20-2010, 04:26 AM   #20
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Congrats. Nice car
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      09-20-2010, 05:26 AM   #21
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Congrats. Interesting story about buying it in the UK. And with the car comes the GB licenceplate as well? Is that allowed in B? Not in NL I think.
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      09-20-2010, 05:30 AM   #22
karmakal
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These are temporary plates valid for one month. Until I get my Belgian plates.
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