The BMW 530D M Sport xDrive MHT. We went away for a week so I thought we'd take something a little more comfortable a practical. So I decided the well reviewed BMW 5 Series would be a good companion. We had it for a week. We used for long drives, costal road thrashes, we drove in the sun, and rain or just about every type of road imaginable. And we loaded it up with half a house worths of stuff. The question is, was it any good? Let me know your thoughts if you have one or send any questions over in the comments. Thanks
@@jimj2683 I would love to and I will if I can. The problem is, no manufacturers will loan me anything because of the channel size, I make zero from RU-vid currently so everything is what I can beg, borrow, rent or buy. My pockets aren't deep enough to buy all of those😉 If and when I get the chance I'll jump straight on it. Thanks for the feedback👍
Had the G30 for 6 months now and love it! The torque is sublime. Next is the 540d and I’ll probably work my way up to the M5 until the electric vehicle brigade tell me otherwise.
The torque is impressive, such a good engine. Would love to know what the 540d is like in comparison. And the M5, well that’s just all kinds of awesome from what I’ve heard and read. Yep, got to try to squeeze in as many awesome cars as possible before the fun police ruin it all😉
I chopped in my Porsche Macan for a 530d Sports Edition in Donnington Grey. Love it. The ride is much better than the RFT ten years ago when I binned BMW because of the runflats. The problem is not the car, it's the roads in this country which is shocking. The torque is brilliant and very relaxing. Not sure changing the tyres would make much difference as they will still be low profile. The Dakota leather isn't that nice. The Harman Kardon hifi is amazing, better than the Bose in the Macan.
Great to have some owner feedback, thanks. Agree the roads are terrible and even more so at the moment. Still potholes from the winter everywhere! I'm only going off my previous BMW, when I switched from run flats it made big difference. That was a while ago now though so I would hope the run flats have improved and BMW have developed a better car that works with them more effectively. The car definitely didn't seem to be as impacted by the run-flats as my old car. Great colour choice👍
@@mrw2941 I know of people that have been waiting 6+ months and still nothing. Covid, amongst other factors, has caused a chip supply shortage. And I understand wiring looms come from the Ukraine. Hope you get it soon!
10:50 , going from an f10 to the g30, i am surprised just how much more nimble the g30 feels, even though its a larger vehicle. Wife wasn't comfortable driving the F10 but has no such issues with the G30.
I envy the German autobahns because we could never have that here in Australia. These bogans can't drive at 60 let alone flat out like that. Sad that we can't have nice things. Anyway.. the 530D is a great bit of kit which is probably why NSW Police use them. Strangely though the diesel sounds pretty good too!
I can comment but can't really answer properly from a personal perspective as I've never been inside one so it would be misleading for me to give any serious feedback. Hopefully somebody who has one or has had one will read this and be able to give some feedback. All I would say is I know a couple of people who have them. Both company cars because of the benefits they offer. General feedback is positive. Decent performance, decent economy, good car for eating up the miles, and these guys cover a lot of miles each month. However, both did have a bit of a gripe about the fact that they're plugin hybrids and to get the full benefits, they have to be plugged in regularly. Once you're just running on the engine, the mpg drops significantly, it's a heavy car. Performance is decent but the weight does impact the handling and I've heard the ride comfort isn't as good due to the weight. I think the benefits of the 530e will vary quite dramatically based on your driving style. If you like to put your foot down a lot, then you might find the cars economy isn't all that impressive, particularly on longer drives. In my mind the 530e is geared heavily to the company car market and the tax benefits it offers. If it's a personal purchase, the benefits might not be as significant. And you do pay a premium for them. The used car market is a bit of a mess at the moment due to the supply chain delays so it's difficult to get a proper idea on depreciation. Once the market is back to normal, it will be interesting to see how hybrid values hold up.
@@RemoveBeforeLaunch thanks for this. The car is for personal use. Plugging in daily wouldn’t be an issue. I may look at the diesel options as I do a fair amount of mileage. I have been told that the 520d is under powered, but I don’t have enough information to go on. Thanks again
Good question. So, I did drive the 520d for a few days. Annoyingly, the content I got was a bit pants so didn’t post it up. It was the MSport MHT although it wasn’t the XDrive. I found the performance to be pretty impressive considering it was the smaller engine. And it returned significantly better fuel economy. So it really boils down to personal preference. If performance is your main criteria then I’d push up to the 530, it does have some pretty impressive stats and a decent sound track to go with it. However, if you want a balance between performance and economy, the 520d with MHT tech does strike a really good compromise. With regards to investment, there will be less 530’s, they tend to have a higher spec. and a lot of people will like the performance it offers. From experience, performance diesel BMW’s tend to be popular. They’ll probably hold their value well. After the initial big drop you get with any new car that is. However with fuel costs the way they are and the way they’ll probably be in the future, this could be a factor and impact things. The 520 with decent spec. will probably be the more popular choice for a lot of people. I really liked both cars, both impressed me, really comfortable, awesome cruising companions, and I had fun in both on some twisty roads. Try both if you can, you’ll know pretty quickly which one you want. The caveat to all this, I don’t know what the Xdrive 520d is like. That could impact things from economy, more weight so less nimble but more grip and stability🤷🏻♂️
Hi. I think it's a solid choice. Drove a 520D MHT for a few days, and it was a smooth ride, thanks to the same drivetrain. The MHT tech makes the start/stop feature smoother and adds a bit of extra oomph when you need it. But remember, the battery isn't going to run the car all by itself. If you're doing a lot of short trips, I wouldn't expect a massive change in your diesel bill. The MHT isn't like a full-on hybrid, even BMW's stats don't show a huge difference on longer runs. But every little bit helps, especially with fuel prices these days. Only thing that threw me a bit was the braking. It feels a bit off because of the energy harvesting when you brake. You'll notice it more when you're pulling up to junctions, I didn't really notice it when I was pushing on. Oddly, it felt less noticeable in the 530D I'm driving here. But, don't let that put you off. It's a small thing and definitely doesn't spoil the overall great drive. So, yeah, I'd say go for it! Any other questions, just let me know.
I averaged about 35mpg but that was a real mix of driving and pressing on quite a bit at times. I would expect a better return with regular day to day driving.
Good question. BMW claim up to 10 years and then it could be in the region of £5000 to replace the batteries. However I have seen some specialists state that you don't need to change everything, some components can be used with the new batteries so the costs would be less but still several thousand pounds. My concern with Hybrid and electric is, nobody really knows yet as the cars haven't been around long enough. But we do know the batteries are impacted by a number of factors so I'm not sure I'd fully believe the manufacturers figures. It will certainly impact the used car market as these cars get older. However, as we know, manufactures don't want you driving around in 10 year old cars.
It’s quoted at about 5.4 to 5.6 dependent on which magazine you read. I hit it at 6 seconds. Surface was damp and not great so I could see it being just under 6 on a better road.
@@mrw2941 so it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped but I was doing all sorts of driving and had a pretty heavy right foot. Mixed driving averaged about 35mpg. A long cruise about 55mpg. So quite a bit off of the 520d but then the performance is strong and the extra grip from the xDrive was always going to make it a bit thirsty.
Tricky. I've not had the chance to drive a recent A6. From previous experience I've always tended to prefer BMW as the setup suits my driving style a little more. However there is no doubting the interiors on the Audi, they're usually a great place to be and I know that specific model is supposed be a really nice drive, loads of room and a solid engine. My guess, there wouldn't be that much in it and it would boil down to what means the most to the individual, their driving style and what they prefer to look of. Now if Audi or somebody could lend me one I'll give a proper opinion 😉
Currently have one as a courtesy car from Bentley. Very impressive indeed, but the godawful digital dash ruins the car for me. What on earth was BMW thinking of?
Interesting to hear you’re impressed, considering you’re used to a Bentley. Now you mention it, the dash wasn’t the best, it can bit a bit fussy IMO. Is there something specific you dislike or just the whole layout in general?
@@RemoveBeforeLaunch It's too dark. It's way too fussy. The "dials" are too spidery. It's just diabolical, and given the clarity of previous BMW's dashboards (like my 1991 E30 convertible!!) it seems crazy they should produce the crappiest digital dash in the industry. It's remarkably refined however and I'm very impressed with the ride, given it's on run flats. It crashes less than the Bentley (though mine is a V8S, so has a lowered, tauter suspension). Has the same fantastic torque my old 640 Gran Coupe 3.0D had, but sounds a lot sweeter. I might be a little sad to take it back tomorrow......until I start up my Conti!!
