BMW F11 530d M Sport review

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flango

Hardcore MB Enthusiast
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Jun 10, 2008
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Well i've been in Germany a few days and had the above as a rental car. Well I never thought I would say this about a BMW but I was glad to give it back.

Firstly the I6 3 litre engine is still as good as ever and the ZF 8 speed auto box with steering wheel paddles is good but its still an auto. That said I think the MB diesel engines now have the edge they may still not have the economy or be as refined as the BMW but they have more bottom end grunt. My main issue with it was the handling and this had the adaptive suspension pack on so even with it set as hard as it would go it was very nervous through the corners and more than once the back end slipped out on me with no intervention from the electronic systems. It's no where near as composed as my Volvo V70 or an E class estate. On the autobahn things are no better over 200 kph and its still very nervous and does not fill you with any confidence at all.

Inside the build quality is no where near that of the Volvo or MB speaker grills were cut short and did not meet the door trim properly, there was a very annoying rattle from the dash and as for the sat nav/i drive combination it makes command look like a system from the future, it's totally bloody useless with no detail to the display at all.

Even with active headlights the output is not great and maybe I'm spoiled by the Volvo but in the country you have to reduce your speed as you can't see as far as you would like even on main beam so cant make the most of the car

The sound system is good and ipod integration is perfect and classy, seats are disappointing and don't offer that much support for spirited driving, in all its a bit of a barge with a total lack of sporting feel, maybe its the autobox or maybe they have just got it wrong but this package definitely does not work

I've never been more disappointed with a BMW in my life which is a shame as I've always had a soft spot for the marque.

Afraid this doesn't work for me 4/10 BMW must do better
 
Fook, 4/10 seems harsh f1. By 'all' accounts this one & the F10 are meant to be the dogs nuts?
 
Do you want to post that review on a BMW forum and copy us into the responses?!
 
Do you want to post that review on a BMW forum and copy us into the responses?!

My nephew is a mod on bimmerforums and he did post it, not seen the replies yet :eek:
 
Mmm, slippy slidey back end on a 5 series.. that takes me back 25 years or so to an E12 525 - that car taught me all I needed to know about oversteer :)

Cheers,

Gaz
 
Are you sure the car was in good fettle? we have 500+ F10/F11 at work and a lot of my colleagues run them - nervous has never been the feedback?
 
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Are you sure the car was in good fettle? we have 500+ F10/F11 at work and a lot of my colleagues run them - nervous has never been the feedback?

Perfect only had 600 km on it. Thats about the fifth 530d or 535d I've driven but this test was the longest for 2 days all it has done is confirm my initial thoughts that all the high power BMW's are nervous which is not something the 520d's suffer from :dk:
 

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