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      12-04-2011, 05:17 AM   #1
F10 d
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I want an F10, but which d?

Hi,

I am about to change jobs and am looking at a diesel F10. I will be doing 300 miles a week, 90% on motorway. I want something comfortable, quiet (since I have to take calls in the car) and swift.

Currently I have a Scirocco GT which is very swift but too noisy for the commute route. i don't want to sacrifice performance since it's hard to go back...

This will be personal ownership so tax breaks of no real value.

Due to comfort requirement am thinking SE rather than M. But which engine ?

525d ?
530d ?
535d ?

Thanks for your help !

F10d
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      12-04-2011, 07:34 AM   #2
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I'd say 530 if you want to make the most of your cruising mpg, or 535 if you want a little more oomph and aren't worried about a few quid per tank.

The 525 will be left behind in comparison to Scirocco GT speed - although most people get used to a new car after a few miles so it's not unworkable - but there's a definite difference in motorway driveability IMO..
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      12-04-2011, 10:28 AM   #3
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Thanks Capt,

530d looks to be the best compromise

Any thoughts on the merits of the Integral Active Steering? Not sure I would need the adaptive drive or variable damper control gubbins.

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      12-04-2011, 12:18 PM   #4
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Try a 535d with sport auto; I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
I've had mine since Sep '10 and after 12k+ miles I'm still amazed at the huge, but totally effortless pulling power.
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      12-06-2011, 01:53 PM   #5
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520d with sports auto. Superb economy and plenty of performance in sport mode.

Fuel prices are just going to keep going up and 55 mph on the motorway is not to be dismissed.
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      12-07-2011, 01:47 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shake n Bake View Post
520d with sports auto. Superb economy and plenty of performance in sport mode.

Fuel prices are just going to keep going up and 55 mph on the motorway is not to be dismissed.
I'm sure he'd like to go faster than that.
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      12-07-2011, 11:31 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by xenon View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shake n Bake View Post
520d with sports auto. Superb economy and plenty of performance in sport mode.

Fuel prices are just going to keep going up and 55 mph on the motorway is not to be dismissed.
I'm sure he'd like to go faster than that.
Oops. Mpg. Mpg. Def NOT mph - don't tell plod.
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      12-07-2011, 01:42 PM   #8
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I'd figured it must be mpg not mph ... I'm not quite at the stage of dawdling along in the middle lane !

Jon D, what's the mileage on the 535 really like ? 52.3 mpg is quite a claim
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      12-07-2011, 02:02 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F10 d View Post
I'd figured it must be mpg not mph ... I'm not quite at the stage of dawdling along in the middle lane !

Jon D, what's the mileage on the 535 really like ? 52.3 mpg is quite a claim
Yeah there is no way it does that. With cruise on at 70-75mph my 520d will get 55-57mpg over a 100 mile journey up the m6. At 25-30k miles a year it matters to me a great deal.
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      12-07-2011, 04:57 PM   #10
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I'm sure he'd like to go faster than that.
*grin* My 520d accelerates faster in the midrange than any car I have ever owned. If I had your powertrain I wouldn't cruise any faster than my current speed (which is of course 70mph ), but I would get there faster after every truck pulls out of the way on the A19....
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      12-13-2011, 04:49 AM   #11
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Jon D, what's the mileage on the 535 really like ? 52.3 mpg is quite a claim
I've achieved as much as 46 mpg, but that was on a feather footed long run just to see how much I could get.
The least I've managed was 33, but that was after a morning in sport+ around the lanes including 25 laps on the Knockhill circuit.
Over the last 12k miles I've averaged 39 and that's without holding back on the fun factor. Up here in rural Scotland there's always an opportunity to open the throttle and unleashing the thrust provided by the dual turbo/sport auto is a temptation very hard to resist.
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      12-13-2011, 07:00 AM   #12
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I can't get any better than 24.6 mpg from my 523i f11, so stay well clear of anything petrol......
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      12-15-2011, 05:14 PM   #13
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Really odd figures being quoted. On a 500 mile round trip to Leeds I got 46mpg in the 525i, but usually it sat around 35ish.

In the 520d, driving like a FAIRY if I'm in economy mode, I almost never see 50mpg unless I'm driving slower in traffic/roadworks or something, it's usually 46-48 at an indicated 75-80mph. On country roads I have to try if I want to get anything above 40ish whilst making progress. Turning aircon off and using the paddles both make a noticeable difference in economy..

Key point - If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have bought the 3l engine and had the exra performance for little loss in economy.
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      12-30-2011, 02:57 AM   #14
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Also consider the new 525d with N47 (4 cylinder) engine. Its emission and consumption is very close to 520d but gives you a great performance of 218hp, which is the same as the horsepower I get out of my E60 530d!
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      12-31-2011, 02:53 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Chaos View Post
Really odd figures being quoted. On a 500 mile round trip to Leeds I got 46mpg in the 525i, but usually it sat around 35ish.

In the 520d, driving like a FAIRY if I'm in economy mode, I almost never see 50mpg unless I'm driving slower in traffic/roadworks or something, it's usually 46-48 at an indicated 75-80mph. On country roads I have to try if I want to get anything above 40ish whilst making progress. Turning aircon off and using the paddles both make a noticeable difference in economy..

Key point - If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have bought the 3l engine and had the exra performance for little loss in economy.
That's weird. I have done 22,000 miles in 10 months and lifetime avg is 45mpg. Motorway runs on cruise at 70mph returns 57mpg everytime. I do that every week. Includes all gadgets turned on.

With cruise on at 80 I will get high-40's mpg. driving like a tool returns low 40's
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      01-03-2012, 04:20 AM   #16
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my 520d so far averaged 47mpg... which will go down again as I'm liking the sport+ mode...
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      01-03-2012, 06:15 AM   #17
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On a drive from Bristol to N London, mostly motorway and inc three 50mph zones for road works I managed to get 52mpg but I had to constantly think about the mileage and getting off the gas to try and maximise the mpg blah blah blah.

On more normal-ish driving I get 42mg. Well my 335d was returning 39mpg and I enjoyed driving that! Might as well have got the 530d as this car seems pointless if it can't return great mpg figures without really trying...
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      01-05-2012, 04:48 PM   #18
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Sport+ mode seems to make almost no difference to consumption on mine, though using paddle mode makes a noticeable improvement - in fact D mode seems to be more thirsty unless you're in cruise on a motorway. Probably fits as it always seems laboured when it tries to hold the revs as low as possible.

Did a 240m round trip today and had the cruise on 80 all the way (maybe 5m tops of non-dual carriageway driving) apart from the 50/60mph variable M42. Averaged 66.3mph at 46.8mpg, which is higher than usual but still less than I'd want from a 2 litre diesel (albeit a ~2 tonne one). I've never seen higher than 52mpg and that was in a massive 50mph roadworks section...

Lifetime average (7k) is 40mpg still, and I'd say 90% of that has been in max economy mode - the same mode I got 39mpg with the 335d and the reason I sold it (so I could drive without thinking about it and get much higher figures - WRONG!).

Maybe I'm after too much? Others do seem to get better figures though, and I can't work out how the 525i turned back such comparitively strong figures.

TBH my curiosity is currently whether I've got a thirsty engine or if something's tight/out and causing issues, but it pulls fine and sounds perfectly normal, so I can't reason it and checking it into a dealer is therefore likely to just result in a wasted day of them thrashing it around and telling me they can't find anything...
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      01-09-2012, 05:45 AM   #19
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interesting Captain C - I will do some more home work. Sport+ for starters though changes down a gear - that should have some effect?

I agree that a 335d is nicer than a 520d of the same fuel consumption...

My lifetime consumption is around 40mpg and I do anything but economy mode....
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      01-11-2012, 01:55 PM   #20
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Hi there, I just got the 520d M Sport Auto this week... fantastic car... chose to remove the Sports Suspension.... I also have 8 spd Sport auto... my advice is if you can afford the Variable Damper control, make that a priority... I couldn't (company car limit)... but I did test one with it and it is much much better....

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