bertolli

Hi,

I currently have my eye on a second hand 530d touring (end 04) in combination with a manual 6-speed gear.
My question is: Isn't that a bit too heavy engine to have with a manual gear? I thought normally heavy engines are automatically provided with an autmatic gear. Don't get me wrong I like manuals.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of combination? If so would you be able to share your finding (like for example is the clutch heavy? Would my wife be able to use it as well?)


Thanks for your help

Niek

rsyed

yup, i have had experience with the 6 speed tranny on a 530d, and now have an automatic 535d, so i can really tell you the story from both sides

there are advantages and disadvantages for the manual tranny:
+ which ever gear you are in, you are in that gear, there is no torque converter cheating you of power that you have with the automatic transmission from pre-lci
+ your consumption is a good 2 l / 100km less than with automatic
+ unlike with other diesels, the 530d has got so much torque in the lower gears, you can be very lazy with switching gears. example, you slow down at teh traffic light in the 3rd, you keep in the third, take the left turn and then you accelerate from 1000 revs in the 3rd without needing to change to the 2nd. lots of torque in the lower revs - niiiiice

- the lots of torque has also got a disadvantage. if you are pushing hard on the gas pedal, everytime you change the gear, the difference in torque and no-torque (while you have the clutch engaged) is so much, you see how the heads of your passengers bang back and forth
- the acceleration from 0-100 is never as comfy with a manual tranny as it is with automatic. in fact, you can floor it calmly and before you realize you are speeding wiht highway speeds in the city

somtimes i feel like driving the manual tranny (specially when the automatic is undecided on gears and just revs high to accelerate) but sometimes it is nice to drive fast without being stressed of changing gears - it is more pleasant specially towards your passengers who dont feel the stress of you trying to speed..

hope this was of some help..

gorban

I don't have a 530d but an LCI 525d. I really like the manual gearbox but the car is a little jumpy on 1st and 2nd gear. It's hard to accelerate and pass these gears smoothly compared to other petrol cars that I have driven.

My father-in-law has a 330xdT with a manual and he is very pleased, especially with the performance on low revs as rsyed describes above.

bertolli

Thanks for the reply.
I like the comment about the passengers heads between torgue and no torgue. Haha! In my case I'm afraid that would happen a lot as well
In any case any additional comments on how the clutch operates? Is it heavy?

Thanks
Niek

rsyed

heavy clutch? that was not an issue i could remember...

AlwynMike

Bertolli,

I am biassed, but I would say whole-heartedly; go for the Manual.
I had to search all over for my manual 530d, (an E60). I wanted an E61, but I hadn't even seen a 530d manual in an E61 until I went to pick up my car. By that time, I had done the deal so I had to suffer with the E60, but all is well so far. (I have a dog, so the dog and the wife have to battle for supremacy of the passenger footwell!!)

The clutch is not heavy at all, on the great scale of things. Certainly not as light as a mid-range Japanese hatchback, but similar to Mondeo/Vectra weight.
I had an E46 330d manual, and the clutch was heavier in that than the 530d. The gearbox (a 5 speed) in the 330d was utterly awful compared to the 6 speed in the 530d.

My passenger's haven't complained about neck-bending (yet), but I take the point as the Auto is a little softer.
If you have driven a 530d (or 525/535d) Auto and tried to make a quick getaway from stationary, you will know the problems that occur as the engine software limits the torque to protect the drivetrain - this leads to a slow getaway, (usually when there is a 38-tonne lorry coming towards you). There are simple ways of getting round this, but it is something to be aware of - you never forget that first time that you thought that the car wasn't going to go, just creeping across the road, and then suddenly 200-odd brakehorsepower unleashes itself!!

Mike

rsyed

....oh yes, one thing forget is that with the diesels nowadays, the paticulate filter needs to burn itself free. this is achieved by increasing the temperature. With automatic, what happens is that the burning process is accelerated by the automatic deciding to rev high, change later into the next gear. if you are driving manual, and you are someone who enjoys driving in teh lower revs (like i used to), the burning process would take forever compared to nowadays which is accelerated tnx to the automatic tranny...

the fact that the particulate filter caught my attention last night on my car reminded me to post this here..

bertolli

All

Thanks a lot for your replies. Rely appreciate it. My preference does lean towards the manual gear. So far every time I had the chance to drive an automatic I always felt that it wasn't changing the gears as I wanted/expected it to (so either to much revs or as you say sometimes I had the feeling it wasn't moving at all, particularly at times when I needed to accelerate quickly). That said I do appreciate that automatic gears are improving throughout the years and that it is nice to have an automatic occasionally (especially on the M25).
So thanks for your feedback!

Niek

dalp

Hi, don't worry about the manual gear box, in mine is just allright, the clutch is not heavy, changing gears is not heavy an is not light as for example in my father A6, but this is a BMW and the gear box is always a little bit more heavier than a Audi or Mercedes, this is my experience! I never had any problem with it but you might need some miles to get use to the "head jam" , but anyway, it's a good gear box!

rsyed

sounds like you should once try the sports automatic on a 530d or a 535d - they are available as of june 07, beats anything i have driven till today, whether manual or tranny. have three letters for it. W O W