I just can’t make my mind up!

[pac1982]

Right having two cars is out of the question and I cant decide weather to spend a few grand getting my E30 back to its former glory, buy myself a nice E36 325i or go for the really sensible option of a E39 530 Diesel??

Now I know the poll results are going to be a bit biased on this forum but what I’m really after is some info on the E39 530 diesel I know its not going to be quick but I’m hoping for around the same performance as my 318is and more MPG??

Also I’m not sure how reliable they are I think I remember reading something about dodgy swirl flaps what ever they are???

Would also consider the E39 525 diesel but I’m guessing these will be woefully underpowered

Any help would be much appreciated especially on the E39, I’ve owned a E36 325 before so kinda know what to expect

BTW i have a max budget of 4k for what ever i choose to do

[jmc330i]

buy myself a nice E36 325i

Really??

or go for the really sensible option of a E39 530 Diesel??

Gets my vote - Around 180bhp and 30 odd mpg

[B7]

I won't click any unles you add 530i

Seriously, the 530d is a nice car but are a liability now when they have a few miles up. Swirl flaps and turbos? Thats why I went petrol 530. terrific car. Quick, Tourqey and reletivelt frugal when you consider what your actually driving?

[pac1982]

buy myself a nice E36 325i

Really??

or go for the really sensible option of a E39 530 Diesel??

Gets my vote - Around 180bhp and 30 odd mpg

According to the parkers guide the 530 diesel has the following stats”¦.


E39 530 Sport (193BHP)

0-60 ”“ 7.6 seconds

Top speed ”“ 143 mph

MPG ”“ 39


E39 530 SE (184 BHP)

0-60 ”“ 7.7 seconds

Top speed ”“ 140 mph

MPG ”“ 39


E39 530 SE (193 BHP)

0-60 ”“ 7.6 seconds

Top speed ”“ 143 mph

MPG ”“ 39

Not sure how much to believe the parkers facts and figures but if there even close to being true I’m pleasantly surprised and have more or less made my mind up, need to look in to the reality issues first though, but a black E39 with some M5 style bits and bobs that was as quick as above and returned almost 40mpg sounds good to me!

I won't click any unles you add 530i

Seriously, the 530d is a nice car but are a liability now when they have a few miles up. Swirl flaps and turbos? Thats why I went petrol 530. terrific car. Quick, Tourqey and reletivelt frugal when you consider what your actually driving?

A 530i would kill me on fuel costs! But I have to admit the reliability of a high mileage DERV does worry me what sort of MPG are you getting from your 530i?

[Jon_Bmw]

Buy a 530d, but budget about £250? to have the swirl flaps deleted. Just the blowing turbo issue to worry about then, but I wonder if the two are more closely related than people think.

For example, the screw on the swirl flap comes loose, bangs about in the piston for a few microseconds, before it escapes out of an exhaust port...then guess where it heads.

Check, and double check everything electrical with e39s. Suspension bushes take a pounding as well, and diesels like a prop coupling.

My 540 is doing between 24.5-27mpg and I have got bored of trying to hold the instant economy gauge above 30 mpg. How often can you get it below 10...frequently. I suspect a manual 530i should acheive 35 mpg on a run and 25 in town. Pretty much what a 540 manual can theoretically do, but the drivers foot has a bigger impact on a 540i. Pratt around and single figures would be a distinct possibility.

[George]

E36 328i over an E36 325i imo...better economy, more power and greater tuning potential. ;)

[pac1982]

E36 328i over an E36 325i imo...better economy, more power and greater tuning potential. ;)

Does the 328i really have better economy?? plus ive heard bad things about the nikosil issues on the 328i's and i seem to remember hearing about problems with the double vanous system but i may be wrong?

[pac1982]

Buy a 530d, but budget about £250? to have the swirl flaps deleted. Just the blowing turbo issue to worry about then, but I wonder if the two are more closely related than people think.

For example, the screw on the swirl flap comes loose, bangs about in the piston for a few microseconds, before it escapes out of an exhaust port...then guess where it heads.

Check, and double check everything electrical with e39s. Suspension bushes take a pounding as well, and diesels like a prop coupling.

My 540 is doing between 24.5-27mpg and I have got bored of trying to hold the instant economy gauge above 30 mpg. How often can you get it below 10...frequently. I suspect a manual 530i should acheive 35 mpg on a run and 25 in town. Pretty much what a 540 manual can theoretically do, but the drivers foot has a bigger impact on a 540i. Pratt around and single figures would be a distinct possibility.

I'll have to have a think i do have a bit of a lead foot which is why i think i'll get carried away in a 530/540i

Theres a really good write up about swirl pots in one of the recent BMW mags i'll have to have a good read see what its all about!

[scootlife]

shame you cant keep the E30. Isnt there another way of keeping 2 cars on the road ?

[pac1982]

No space for a second car, we live in a corner house so have no off road parking and only have room on the drive for one car

[djk]

E36 328i over an E36 325i imo...better economy, more power and greater tuning potential. ;)

Does the 328i really have better economy?? plus ive heard bad things about the nikosil issues on the 328i's and i seem to remember hearing about problems with the double vanous system but i may be wrong?

I tend to think the nikasil thing is irrelevant these days - as long as it runs alright and doesn't smoke, it's probably ok. Also means there are quite a few running around on replacement engines with half the mileage - no complaints there!

Nothing like the potential to go wrong expensively an e39 530d has. What's your annual mileage? If it's anything under 15k, my view is that diesel gives little true benefit - in general, across the entire car market, diesel maintenance costs and increased purchase costs mean that the fuel saving has to be considerable to make for a real benefit - hence the need for a high annual mileage.

You can pick up a really tidy 328i for c.2k now, so they haven't got much depreciating left to do, they're generally diyable when they go wrong, they go like stink and do 30mpg. I just like e30s more, hence why I have them, but the cold reality is that e36s, and especially 328s, do a hell of a lot for not a lot of cash.

[pac1982]

Dont do many miles each year at all, i think the best bet may be to go for a 530i but use my motorbike more for getting two and from work, just means i'll be skint when the really bad weather kicks in as i'll have to use the E39 alot more

[Fushion_Julz]

The E36 328i (manual) will do 30mpg...but not if you make it go like stink (when it will manage around 26mpg)...
The M52 is a better, smoother motor than the M50, IMHO, and it is easier to extract more power should you want to...

However, most 328s have ASC+T and either aircon or climate that add weight and complexity...
A lot of 325s have LSDs and they also have no EWS...

But you can get a decent 328 or 325 for even less than the £2k mentioned (my 328 SE saloon with sports leather, sunroof and no aircon or ASC cost <£1k, but it does need a bit of paint on bonnet and wing).

I'd also say that although they may have more power and even be a bit faster than an E30 325, they feel nowhere near as focused...The steering, especially, feels a bit dead and wooden compared to the E30.

The E39 diesels (530d, 525d) aren't bad engines or cars...until they go wrong!
You'd also be lucky to get more than around 35mpg and diesel costs more (in this country, anyway) making the running costs about the same...

[Nay]

Either do up your E30, buy a 325i and fix that up, or buy a rarer model, like an alpina or something.

The E36s are dull. Good dailys though.

I'd just avoid deisels. Even though they are getting better.... they still run like tractors and deisel engines are horrid.

[Alex]

i'am in a bit of a similar situation

for what i could sell my IS for i could get a decent low mileage 325i or 328i sport e36 with all the goodies, aircon, leather, etc etc

[capri_rob]

Sure I read somewhere - may have even been on here - that in terms of real-world performance /MPG there's nothing in it between the a petrol and diesel 530 - but as already said the diesel has the added potential expense of swirl flaps/turbo's etc etc.

530d's seem to be commanding a premium at the moment but I think its based on the myth that as its a diesel it MUST be far more economical than the petrol equivalent. The gap between petrol and diesel fuel prices also seems to be getting bigger as well as more people switch to diesel cars so any saving you make on fuel is being eroded by the price increases.

If your only reason for wanting a diesel is economy you'd be better with a Golf or Audi as they will do 50+MPG even if you cane it everywhere.

You'll struggle to find a "nice" E36 325i now as they are almost as long in the tooth as the E30.

A late 328i is still a very good car if you can find an unmolested one - and the Nikasil old chestnut has grown a very long beard now. If it doesn't smoke, starts runs and drives OK it almost certainly is OK.
Alternatively if you get a slightly earlier 328i it won't have ASC but you might get an LSD - my N plate 328i Coupe had one

[Alex]

I’ve owned a E36 325 before so kinda know what to expect

What do you make of them? are they Much better to drive, nicer to be in ?

[pac1982]

They just feel alot more solid than an E30 and everything seems a bit more positive although the handling is more like a nice arm chair than the on it style of the E30, you can also feel the weight of the car when throwing it around where as the E30 feels very light in conparison

I'm being more and more drawn to the idea of a 328i now you can pick them up for as little as £700 for a dog with high miles but i'm thinking of spending more like 2k.

What miles would people consider to be just right when buying a 328i??

[capri_rob]

For up to £2k I'd want no more than probably up to 120k assuming that the car was the right spec and everything worked.

[Rav335uk]

Personally, and many won't agree, spend it doing up the E30.
I'm biased towards the new cars, as i've seen shed loads come into the garage with big faults.
E30's are a good, simple car to fix.

[Morat]

Yep, you can get a lot of work done on your E30 for £4k. Hell, that would get you another engine, box, uprated suspension, disks/pads and still leave enough over for some decent bodywork.

[pac1982]

Problem with spending money on the E30 is that unless you do a full nut and bolt restore you never know what horrors could be hiding away, i could end up spending a small fortune doing it up only to find it has some nasty rust hidden away.

Although i have to admit i've had a good look under the car and it all seems solid, had a real good look around the engine bay when i changed the engine and all was good there but i do need both front wings replacing and theres signs of rust just below the rear quater windows, no bubbling just a browny/red mark on top of the paint.

Also to get my E30 in to a state so i was 100% happy it needs new suspension and bushes all round, alloy wheel referb, a leather retrim and a respray plus a few other bits and bobs like a new dash, steering wheel gear knob etc etc

[Morat]

Also to get my E30 in to a state so i was 100% happy it needs new suspension and bushes all round, alloy wheel referb, a leather retrim and a respray plus a few other bits and bobs like a new dash, steering wheel gear knob etc etc

Suspension £1200 fitted (ish)
Wheel refurb £200 max
respray £2k
Leather retrim £800

The its just the bits and bobs...even a dash isn't that expensive

[pac1982]

the respray i could get done for just the cost of paint as my mates in the trade he could also do the wheels, i can also fit the suspension myself which brings the price down a bit, i also used to be a leather trimmer so i'm sure my old boss would either let me use his workshop or do me a good price.

Having said that its still a fair amount of money to spend on a car which cost me £700

[Jon_Bmw]

Rob, have you looked at petrol and diesel prices recently?

Other than that, spot on.

[capri_rob]

Pretty Sure Ive seen it approaching as much as 10p per litre difference recently - remember thinking that was a lot but admittedly it was a few weeks ago.

[djk]

Pretty Sure Ive seen it approaching as much as 10p per litre difference recently - remember thinking that was a lot but admittedly it was a few weeks ago.

Not round my way - diesel and petrol have been the same price at the petrol stations nearest to me, and I've seen quite a few places recently where diesel has been less than petrol. Diesel prices do fluctuate more seasonally than petrol though.

It doesn't matter though - if the comparison is between a 530i and 530d, you'll pay a premium buying the 530d and it will likely cost more to run maintenance wise. Performance is less too. The only argument for modern diesels if you don't do high miles is to say that you prefer the power delivery and are prepared to pay to have it. This isn't my view, but I can understand some people feeling that way. Frankly the economy of a 530i is impressive - I seem to remember B7 saying he gets high twenties average in his. We're talking about a 200+ horsepower, automatic, nigh on 2-tonne luxury saloon - it's bloody good, and I can't see the diesel being so much better that it cancels out the downsides.

[pac1982]

dont suppose anyone knows the price of a new turbo on a 530d?

[scootlife]

I will find out later for you. Mattsbmw dad had a turbo go on his 530d touring recently so can get a price and post up the details.

[pac1982]

Nice one cheers matey