UK 5 Series

I like the look of the exterior of the M Sport but am taking the advice of 'What Car' magazine and going for the SE as the standard suspension with 17" wheels suit the poor UK roads better as it gives a better ride quality which is far more important to me.

Also, I don't like the M Sport interior, prefering a dark exterior with a light interior & wood trim - the SE model suits this preference better.

I wouldn't be without runflats as so many people get killed on hard shoulders of motorways and having had a puncture with a runflat, I wouldn't have known had the warning chime not alerted me to the fact. With standard (non sport) suspension, the ride quality isn't deteriorated at all with them.

UK 5 Series

No I didn't try a 523i as I figured that for the relatively small additional cost, it was a no brainer to go for the 525i. And to confirm, the 523i has a 2.5 litre engine, whereas the 525i has a 3.0 litre engine. I did consider a 530i but didn't think it warranted the extra cost as the 525i had more power than I needed anyway for traffic clogged UK roads.

colejl

Indeed, the 525i and 525d are probably the pick of the range now they're based on the 3.0 litre engines...

Scooter

Different specs in each country are interesting.

Here we can have whatever interior coulour combo we want in the MSport. For example my MSport interior is beige leather with poplar wood trim. The only difference re interior colour on MSport version here is that all MSports have the dark roof liner.

ressla

Oi ! My cars debadged and its not a 520d....



Good write up anyway. Only criticism is that nobody should take the "combined fuel consumption" figure seriously, and has been pointed out already it should be taken as a guide for comparison against other cars.

I dont think the manufacturers even have a say in how the combined figures are arrived at, as there is some complex testing and calculation that goes on independent of the car maker.

ressla

I'm 99% sure you can specify any colour combination available on the msports here too. You just cannot specify a "non-sports" steering wheel and things like that which are part of he msport package.

ressla

Thats a great idea that sounds like common sense , and is a totally workable and understandable concept.

Which means BMW would never go with it.

UK 5 Series

You can get light interiors on M Sports in the UK (although I don't think it looks right), but you have to have anthracite headlining (which I dislike) and sports suspension (standard suspension suits me better).

Also, as I am adding so many options (including Comfort Seats), I would only really 'gain' the bodykit and 1" bigger alloys so, much as I like the look of the M-Sport, it's not worth ?3,200 ($6,000 US) premium over the SE model. I'd rather put that money towards a bigger and better engine. You also lose all the chrome window trim with the M-Sport and I wouldn't want to do that as it stands out nicely against dark paintwork colours. I also like the silver bar that runs along the front skirt of LCI models (that you also lose with the M Sport).

UK's 'What Car' magazine prefers the SE over the M Sport for UK roads as they claim that the combination of sports suspension and bigger alloys deteriorates the ride quality. Having driven both I agree with them, but it's all down to personal taste in the end. I've equipped mine as a 'luxury' vehicle, not a 'sports car'. That's the great thing with BMW's - you can do either with the same vehicle!

Lord Monkey

Great write up and a good spec choice. Perhaps you might also want to consider adding the USB option to your order, I would not be without it now as it gives you so much more flexibility to listen to different types of music through an MP3 player.

I also have an SE on 244 wheels and can confirm it rides really well even on poor surfaces.

LM

pimm

A very good write up.