Wife’s F10 520d M Sport.

[Alastair.]

So, the Mrs did not like her RS220 Clio and wanted to go back to a german car again.

Criteria, German, White with black wheels, thats it

Always fancied a 5 series again after i bought one years ago off @Daniel

Anyhow, stumbled across a lovely 520d with decent spec, wheels just powder coated, new MOT and a fully stamped and up to date service record. Annoyingly it was 170 miles away. Placed a deposit and headed over to collect.

On arrival the car was presented it absolutely immaculate condition and i had no hesitation bringing it back with me.

Ideally i wanted a 530d but to be honest i will rarely drive it so the 4 pot is fine for the wife.

Drives amazingly well, gearbox is an absolute dream.

Pics on collection day, Feb this year.

 

[Alastair.]

Next day i gave it a quick wash to put my mark on it.

Shame about the dog s**t tyres, as new though and drive fine on them.

 

[Alastair.]

Noticed a slight burning smell occasionally a few weeks into ownership, the common rocker cover was weeping and dripping onto the dpf.

Booked it in at a BMW specialist who also noticed the oil cooler and oil filter housing was weeping as well.

Luckily the garage i got it from were absolutely sound and paid for a new rocker cover gasket, oil cooler, oil filter housing and all gaskets.

Get a call half way through when they had the rocker cover off and i knew what was coming, Mr Bailey, your timing chain is loose af they wanted £2,000 to do the job. Not a chance i was paying that!

I said do the oil leaks and i will get the chains done elsewhere.

 

[Daniel]

Big big fan of these in PFL. I hate black wheels but other than that, Sterling chariot.

(Good luck with the chain! )

 

[Alastair.]

Spoke to the garage again i got it from, again, absolutely sound and contributed to most of the cost involved in getting the timing chains done.

After some research i booked in with BMMINI TECH in Colchester!

200 miles each way, i arrived there at 7:45am. The car went in at 8am and by 8:40 the engine was out, never seen anything like it!

 

[Daniel]

Where did you buy it from??? I want to buy my next car from there.

 

[Alastair.]

New genuine chains and guides/tensioners fitted.

 

[Matt Cup]

The difference before and after is staggering. Can’t believe how sloppy that chain was without it actually failing.

 

[Alastair.]

Got talking to them about a gearbox service, said they can do it there and then so i said go ahead

Genuine zf gear oil, new sump pan and filter, filled correctly as per the ZF instructions.

 

[Alastair.]

All this done and i was back on the road before 12:30, absolutely staggering!

Nearly 400 miles, left on a full tank, just over half left.

Drives absolutely mint, no issues with any of the work they have done and i am one fussy b*****d.

 

[The_Pirate]

Where did you buy it from??? I want to buy my next car from there.

Aye, its usually a “what the fk do i do here” type post on these things, rare to hear!

 

[imprezaworks]

Did you speak to the garage toy bought the car from regarding the belts etc

 

[Alastair.]

Did you speak to the garage toy bought the car from regarding the belts etc

Yes, a real decent garage who honoured their maximum claims limit within 3 months of purchase.

 

[AdDaMan]

Serious going from them that is!!

 

[Daniel]

That’s mental, fair play to them. They’re obviously very good at what they do.

 

[Alastair.]

That’s mental, fair play to them. They’re obviously very good at what they do.

They do around 7/10 chains a week, thats why they’re so bloody quick.

 

[Alastair.]

Couple more recent pics from the last few weeks.

 

[Daniel]

They do around 7/10 chains a week, thats why they’re so bloody quick.

It’s good to see - what was the bill going to be if you had to pay it?
It’s making me want to buy a 320d for my wife. I want a 330d but I can’t afford it and there are loads of cheap 100k mile 320’s around. But the chains put me off. This could be the best solution!

 

[MLB]

That looks great in white, even with the black wheels. All the big jobs sorted straight away as well

 

[Alastair.]

It’s good to see - what was the bill going to be if you had to pay it?
It’s making me want to buy a 320d for my wife. I want a 330d but I can’t afford it and there are loads of cheap 100k mile 320’s around. But the chains put me off. This could be the best solution!

N47 timing chain, all genuine parts, new oil, oil filter and air con regas is £1,099 inc vat

Gearbox service was £449

Whilst you wait service as well

The 3.0 diesels also suffer as well, they do loads, look them up on facebook.

 

[Daniel]

Including vat??? f**k Me. No wonder they do so many.

Sorry to keep asking questions, but this is blowing my mind. How many of them worked on it?

 

[imprezaworks]

Bargain

 

[leeds2592]

Was the chain rattling?

I do like an F10

 

[Alastair.]

One chap

Including vat??? f**k Me. No wonder they do so many.

Sorry to keep asking questions, but this is blowing my mind. How many of them worked on it

One chap on his own did the whole thing, drove it in at 8am, into the waiting area, 8:30 thought id go get some fresh air and the engine crane was attached, walked back in 10 mins later and it was out.
Bloody magicians

All come from a BMW dealer background, guy who owns the place was a master tech at BMW for many years.

 

[Alastair.]

Was the chain rattling?

I do like an F10

Nope, no rattles, engine was silent. They said some rattle real bad and some are really quiet like mine. Some snap on 50k some 150k, just never know when they're gunna go they said.

 

[Yarp]

All this done and i was back on the road before 12:30, absolutely staggering!

Nearly 400 miles, left on a full tank, just over half left.

Drives absolutely mint, no issues with any of the work they have done and i am one fussy b*****d.

View attachment 1697902View attachment 1697903View attachment 1697901

I can vouch that the engines on these come out a piece of piss. Only 2 mounts on the engine, drop the box support so the whole lot can swing, disconnect the coolant and fuel lines and yark the c**t out. Only about 8 bolts to undo in total.

There’s plenty of space in the bay with the 3.0 in there so there’ll be s**t loads with the 2.0. Still a very impressive effort.

 

[Rich-D]

I was about to say timing chain, then read further down LOL

Good old N47, amazing it hadn't snapped yet being so loose, but a great result with garage contributing to having it replaced, massive win!

 

[leeds2592]

Nope, no rattles, engine was silent. They said some rattle real bad and some are really quiet like mine. Some snap on 50k some 150k, just never know when they're gunna go they said.

Very surprised that wasn't rattling it's tits off but at least you've sorted it for many more trouble free miles.

Very envious of the mpg, I can only dream of that in my X5!

 

[JimF]

Love these. Can see myself in a 530d in the future.

 

[imprezaworks]

Was behind a 530d yesterday, he wasn't hanging about lol

 

[Gally]

Nice buy, also dislike black wheels but lovely bus! Great news on the peace of mind work carried out!

 

[Scrooge]

Great customer service! The car looks decent too

 

[Alastair.]

Aliexpress wireless CarPlay kit arrived so got it fitted, amazing bit if kit for £95. Runs off the original screen and headunit.

 

[Alastair.]

Another job sorted today.

New crank pulley
New aux belt tensioner
New aux belt
New balance shaft seal

All completed in under an hour

 

[Cookson]

It's bonny looking thing that

 

[Alastair.]

Christmas eve fuel filter change today

 

[Alastair.]

Couple bits done recently, swapped the grills out for some gloss black ones, for £15 they actually fit amazingly well.

Not sure to keep them on or go back to the originals, thoughts?

 

[Alastair.]

I have also been chasing an annoying fault since the start of Jan, Low fuel rail pressure under load, code 247500 which knocks it into limp mode at 3,000 rpm.

Spent ages pissing about trying to find the fault, replaced the rail pressure sensor, rail pressure regulator, hpfp fuel flow valve, fault still persisted.

Took a gamble yesterday and bought 4 used injectors from another 5 series that had been rear ended, from a chap local to me on fb marketplace.

Got them fitted today, coded them in with my icarsoft scanner. Fired up within a few cranks which was a relief! Road test 20 miles, no more low rail pressure faults!

So glad that issue is sorted, injectors were only £100 for the set which was a bargain considering BMW wanted £450 per injector!

 

[MLB]

Couple bits done recently, swapped the grills out for some gloss black ones, for £15 they actually fit amazingly well.

Not sure to keep them on or go back to the originals, thoughts?

View attachment 1730462View attachment 1730463View attachment 1730464

Works well with the rest of the black trims and wheels

 

[Daniel]

Black grills look mate.