First Person Review – E61, 2010, 535d (Touring)
04-09-2013, 05:15 AM
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My Ride: 535d A SE Touring
First Person Review – E61, 2010, 535d (Touring)
Vehicle:
E61 535d A SE Touring M57 3.0d (May 2010 – 35,000miles)
Automatic (Sport option)
Titanium Silver
Price New -May 2010 £56,433.79 Purchased for £23,800 in March 2013 (Synter Sunningdale)
Options:
Soft-close doors , Ext. mirrors – folding, auto dimming, Comfort seats front, Seat heating front, USB Audio interface, Head-up Display, Night Vision, Exterior Trim. High-gloss Shaddowline, Sun protection glass, Visibility package, Media package, 18 Double-spoke style 247 alloy wheels, Bootlid operation – Powered, Brushed Aluminium interior trim, Black Dakota Leather interior, Sport automatic transmission, Sport Steering Wheel, Model designation deletion
Other included:
12 months MOT
24 months BMW Warranty (to April 2015)
Full servicing till May 2015
3year GAP insurance
Additional Costs
Road Tax (6 months) £118
Insurance (Swiftcover) £260
In 2001 I purchased a brand new Chrysler Grand Voyager 3.3 Limited with extras – it was and still is one of the most comfortable cars I’ve even driven or been in – the “Captain’s Chairs” are so very comfortable. However, being over 12 years old and having done some 170,000 miles, I was due for a change.
In 2007 in an attempt to off-set my carbon footprint of 19MPG for the Chrysler, I purchased (for my wife) a brand new Toyota Prius T-Spirit. I use this car for commuting and get around 42-53MPG depending on how hard I drive. In February this commuting car developed a wheel bearing noise (I was getting 81dB at 70MPH), it was driving me mad, so whilst this was being fixed I used the Chrysler and remembered how comfortable it was to drive!
Well after getting the Prius fixed (circa £400), and using this as the commuting car – I became dissatisfied with the comfort and noise inside the Prius’ cabin.
After a quick Google and reading of some reviews my attention was drawn to the Audi A6 and the 5-Series BMW.
After a quick search, I found from Barons Farnborough 525d m Sport Business Edition Touring (March 2010, 49,421 miles £21k). However, following a test drive I was crippled within 10 minutes – the seats were so UNCOMFORTABLE. Having had a spinal fusion in 2000 seating comfort is critical to me.
The salesperson (James Lewis) got me to sit in a 7-Series that had “Comfort Seats” – well this was a different seat entirely. The almost infinite amount of adjustments that could be made was impressive indeed, and it appeared that comfort could be assured.
I asked James to take the seats out of the Series-7 and put them into the 525d I had just driven, and he would have a sale Of course this could not be done…in fact after conducting a “Dealer-Search” for a 5-Series, Touring Diesel he came up with nothing. It said my specification would be the proverbial “needle-in-the-hay-stack”.
I walked out of Barons disappointed
A very good friend of mine (Rob Bennett) who works for Audi (Sytner Group) said had I tried their BMW Group website? – I had a look but to no avail. Rob then pulled a few strings and I was sent preliminary details on a 535d 2010 E61 with COMFORT SEATS that was on their internal “Coming Soon” list .
Just between you and I…I could not sleep. The big problem was it was about £3,000 over my £21,000 budget.
Having now contacted Sytner Sunningdale, Stella Patterson (Used Car Sales Executive), was happy to bring the car to me at my place of work, so that I could test drive this beast during a time to suit my work – that’s what I call REAL SERVICE. She was very apologetic as the car had just arrived into them, so had not been valeted, and had only been “safety checked”. This made little difference to me, as seeing it in its “raw state” was no bad thing.
Well the seats were outstanding, comfortable and fully adjustable. The next thing that hit me (literally) was the PUNCH in the stomach as I floored the right pedal of the 3 litre, twin turbo, straight-six, on slip road onto the Motorway – I reckon Stella saw my big but nervous smile, and thought to herself “SOLD”. She directed me down some Berkshire country roads and again I was impressed as to how quiet and well-behaved it was when negotiating the roads – it felt like an executive drive.
Sometime later I was back at the office, walking around the car – with Stella showing off the features of the E61.
When she (the 535d E61) left, I was sold on it – but with at £3,000 over my budget, that was going to take some justification…and Stella came up trumps.
The car would come with two years BMW warranty and fully inclusive servicing till May 2015. In addition this car had some £13,000 of extras, and was first built for a BMW executive in York in May 2010. Added to which it had 14,000 less miles than the Barons 525d and was two month newer. A new card application with Lloyds Bank for a 21 month zero interest balance transfer credit card, and the plan, as well as the justification was set. Now the last hurdle – My Wife…SOLD!
Due to my inherent need to get a deal, I tried to push Stella for 12 months Road Tax – No Deal. I tried to get a spare wheel included – No Deal. However Stella of Sytner Sunningdale did get me 3 years GAP Insurance and a waiver of all credit card fees on this transaction – the deal was closed.
The car had quite a few stone chips, the scars of a battle with a Waitrose shopping trolley and a few scuffs on the wheels – to my pleasant surprise all of these were rectified as part of the “BMW Service”.
Now on my list is: (i) Professional Detail; (ii) AlloyGators; (iii) Tuning/Remap Box; (iv) Spare Wheel Kit; (v) Roof Bars (vi) replace Run-Flats.
I will keep this post up dated.
Regards
ANDREW
E61 535d A SE Touring M57 3.0d (May 2010 – 35,000miles)
Automatic (Sport option)
Titanium Silver
Price New -May 2010 £56,433.79 Purchased for £23,800 in March 2013 (Synter Sunningdale)
Options:
Soft-close doors , Ext. mirrors – folding, auto dimming, Comfort seats front, Seat heating front, USB Audio interface, Head-up Display, Night Vision, Exterior Trim. High-gloss Shaddowline, Sun protection glass, Visibility package, Media package, 18 Double-spoke style 247 alloy wheels, Bootlid operation – Powered, Brushed Aluminium interior trim, Black Dakota Leather interior, Sport automatic transmission, Sport Steering Wheel, Model designation deletion
Other included:
12 months MOT
24 months BMW Warranty (to April 2015)
Full servicing till May 2015
3year GAP insurance
Additional Costs
Road Tax (6 months) £118
Insurance (Swiftcover) £260
In 2001 I purchased a brand new Chrysler Grand Voyager 3.3 Limited with extras – it was and still is one of the most comfortable cars I’ve even driven or been in – the “Captain’s Chairs” are so very comfortable. However, being over 12 years old and having done some 170,000 miles, I was due for a change.
In 2007 in an attempt to off-set my carbon footprint of 19MPG for the Chrysler, I purchased (for my wife) a brand new Toyota Prius T-Spirit. I use this car for commuting and get around 42-53MPG depending on how hard I drive. In February this commuting car developed a wheel bearing noise (I was getting 81dB at 70MPH), it was driving me mad, so whilst this was being fixed I used the Chrysler and remembered how comfortable it was to drive!
Well after getting the Prius fixed (circa £400), and using this as the commuting car – I became dissatisfied with the comfort and noise inside the Prius’ cabin.
After a quick Google and reading of some reviews my attention was drawn to the Audi A6 and the 5-Series BMW.
After a quick search, I found from Barons Farnborough 525d m Sport Business Edition Touring (March 2010, 49,421 miles £21k). However, following a test drive I was crippled within 10 minutes – the seats were so UNCOMFORTABLE. Having had a spinal fusion in 2000 seating comfort is critical to me.
The salesperson (James Lewis) got me to sit in a 7-Series that had “Comfort Seats” – well this was a different seat entirely. The almost infinite amount of adjustments that could be made was impressive indeed, and it appeared that comfort could be assured.
I asked James to take the seats out of the Series-7 and put them into the 525d I had just driven, and he would have a sale Of course this could not be done…in fact after conducting a “Dealer-Search” for a 5-Series, Touring Diesel he came up with nothing. It said my specification would be the proverbial “needle-in-the-hay-stack”.
I walked out of Barons disappointed
A very good friend of mine (Rob Bennett) who works for Audi (Sytner Group) said had I tried their BMW Group website? – I had a look but to no avail. Rob then pulled a few strings and I was sent preliminary details on a 535d 2010 E61 with COMFORT SEATS that was on their internal “Coming Soon” list .
Just between you and I…I could not sleep. The big problem was it was about £3,000 over my £21,000 budget.
Having now contacted Sytner Sunningdale, Stella Patterson (Used Car Sales Executive), was happy to bring the car to me at my place of work, so that I could test drive this beast during a time to suit my work – that’s what I call REAL SERVICE. She was very apologetic as the car had just arrived into them, so had not been valeted, and had only been “safety checked”. This made little difference to me, as seeing it in its “raw state” was no bad thing.
Well the seats were outstanding, comfortable and fully adjustable. The next thing that hit me (literally) was the PUNCH in the stomach as I floored the right pedal of the 3 litre, twin turbo, straight-six, on slip road onto the Motorway – I reckon Stella saw my big but nervous smile, and thought to herself “SOLD”. She directed me down some Berkshire country roads and again I was impressed as to how quiet and well-behaved it was when negotiating the roads – it felt like an executive drive.
Sometime later I was back at the office, walking around the car – with Stella showing off the features of the E61.
When she (the 535d E61) left, I was sold on it – but with at £3,000 over my budget, that was going to take some justification…and Stella came up trumps.
The car would come with two years BMW warranty and fully inclusive servicing till May 2015. In addition this car had some £13,000 of extras, and was first built for a BMW executive in York in May 2010. Added to which it had 14,000 less miles than the Barons 525d and was two month newer. A new card application with Lloyds Bank for a 21 month zero interest balance transfer credit card, and the plan, as well as the justification was set. Now the last hurdle – My Wife…SOLD!
Due to my inherent need to get a deal, I tried to push Stella for 12 months Road Tax – No Deal. I tried to get a spare wheel included – No Deal. However Stella of Sytner Sunningdale did get me 3 years GAP Insurance and a waiver of all credit card fees on this transaction – the deal was closed.
The car had quite a few stone chips, the scars of a battle with a Waitrose shopping trolley and a few scuffs on the wheels – to my pleasant surprise all of these were rectified as part of the “BMW Service”.
Now on my list is: (i) Professional Detail; (ii) AlloyGators; (iii) Tuning/Remap Box; (iv) Spare Wheel Kit; (v) Roof Bars (vi) replace Run-Flats.
I will keep this post up dated.
Regards
ANDREW
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