seoulman

I've been wondering which countries other than the U.S., Canada, and Korea get the 528i? Does anyone know?

Ricracing

Not in the EU anyway, I didn't know that they sell the US models (LCI 528i and 535i) the Korea as well.

In the EU we do not have the 528i (but instead 523i, 525i and 530i) nor the 535i, instead it's a 540i with a V8.

See this sites info pages for more details.

seoulman

The only U.S./Canada model we get in Korea is the 528. We get 2 variations. The 528i and the 528i M Sport. I don't think the U.S./Canada gets the 528i M Sport. The other 5 Series available in Korea are:

520i
530i
550i
and the might M5

Ricracing

In EU the M Sport-package can be ordered to any E60 model as the Individual-,
Exclusive-, Sport Edition- and Lifestyle-packages.

The 520i has a 2,0 l L4 engine with 170 hp and 210 Nm.
The 523i has a 2,5 l L6 engine with 190 hp and 235 Nm.
The 525i has a 3,0 l L6 engine with 218 hp and 270 Nm.
The 530i has a 3,0 l L6 engine with 272 hp and 320 Nm.

No diesels in Korea?

seoulman

In Korea, the options list is about the same as in the UK. If you go to the BMW UK and to the Build Your BMW page, you can get a BMW configured just the way you want it. All it takes is money and time.

No diesel sedans yet. Diesels are only available with SUVs like the X6, X5 and X3.... There is some talk that BMW Korea may import diesels in the 3er, 5er and 7er to compete with Mercedes Benz (MB imports diesels in all available models except the CLS), but nothing is confirmed.

seoulman

I wish the 535i was available in Korea. I would have paid the premium to get that car! However, after the 528i M Sport, we get the 530... which (with the M Sport package) is about US$ 24,000 more expensive than the 528i M Sport. An extra US$ 24K for another 42hp was just not worth it for me... I'll use that money for mods!

Ricracing

The 528i is a great car!

But so is the the 520dA, 6,6 liters of diesel per 100 km's.

My car did cost (February this year) about 62,000 Euros ie some US$ 90,000.

The diesel fuel costs over here now some 1,40 Euros a liter
(gasoline about Euro 1,50) so the low consumption is nice.

But I a must pay a stupid "diesel tax" that costs my 500 Euros a year.
Insurance (fully covered) costs are about a 100 Euros / month.

My old 525iA's did use about 11 liters of gasoline / 100 km's

seoulman

In Korea at the moment, the price of gasoline is about US$ 1.80/liter while diesel isn't much cheaper at about US$ 1.75/liter. This is a recent phenomenon. About 2 years ago, diesel was much cheaper. About 30% cheaper, so there was merit in getting a diesel car. Now, there really isn't...

I've driven the 535d on a business trip to Germany and I think it's awesome, but none of the diesels are available here.

Ricracing

The finesse with diesels is the torgue, my small 2,0 l has 350 Nm from 1,750 rpm's.

US$ 1,80 is about Euro 1,20

seoulman

Driving in town, torque is more important than hp. I like the new diesels. IMO they are better than gasoline engines in town.

Fuel certainly is not cheap anymore! But fuel prices in Korea went down recently. 2 weeks ago, it was US$ 2.00/liter for gasoline and about US$ 1.95 for diesel. It looks like fuel prices will fall a bit more. I have my fingers crossed!