[sunny310c]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

My car has arrived at the dealer's yard and should be home sometime this week!

Had a question in the meantime for BMW gurus. The spec sheet from BMW says the model I have gone for (530i sportline petrol) says it has "Steptronic Sport" Auto transmission whereas the 520D has just a "Steptronic" automatic transmission. The 530D, on the other hand also has the "Steptronic Sport" Auto transmission. Curious about what is the difference between the two. At first I thought it was about the presence or absence of paddle shifters, however, it turns out the 520D also comes with paddle shifters.

Eagerly awaiting pictures of your car and of course, you ownership experience. Given the impending hike in prices due to the amendment to GST for luxury cars, and the fact that the 530d will take at least 2.5 months for delivery according to my dealer, am wondering if I should consider the 530i instead and save a good 15 lacs on the 530d, post GST hike.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

By the way, are there still F10s left in dealer's stock?

Inifnity Mumbai had some in stock a month ago - won't be surprised if they are still in stock given the amazing pricing of the G30.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by sunny310c

Eagerly awaiting pictures of your car and of course, you ownership experience. Given the impending hike in prices due to the amendment to GST for luxury cars, and the fact that the 530d will take at least 2.5 months for delivery according to my dealer, am wondering if I should consider the 530i instead and save a good 15 lacs on the 530d, post GST hike.

Good idea! I took a long and hard look at the features and performance I would miss going in for the 530i vis-a-vis the 520D and 530D.

• Auto Parking and Remote Control Parking - Would be useful in case I have to regularly park in narrow spaces, which I do not have a need to.
• Performance: The 530i is going to be 1.5 seconds faster to 100 than the 520D. Yes, it is going to be 0.5 seconds slower than 530D but I can live with that!
• Four zone climate control and entertainment units in rear seats - It is going to be 90% owner driven (by me!), so the rear seat features do not matter to me.
• 360-degree surround camera - This might be useful once in a while, but I am not sure it is something I will need on a daily basis
• A better Audio System - Good to have for sure and maybe missed, however, the standard system in 530i seems to have pretty good spcs too!
• Head up display - Since I have never used one, I don't think I will miss it too bad.
• Wireless charging - Maybe useful a few years down when iphone gets this feature and I get that iphone!

The rest of the differences are mainly cosmetic and in a driving machine, may not make a great difference.

Performance features such as Launch Control and Sport + transmission are going to be present in 530i and 530D, so I will not be missing these.

Last but not least, I would be worried about plonking down money on a diesel car when the whole world seems to be turnign against Diesel, puttign in a link to my post on the 330i thread about this

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post4247195

[Turbanator]

Performance: The 530i is going to be 1.5 seconds faster to 100 than the 520D. Yes, it is going to be 0.5 seconds slower than 530D but I can live with that!

Ok, I don't know if you actually drove 530i but from my recent experience here in Canada, this feels far better than 520-D, it won't be close to 530-D in terms of the Kick you get from a 6 Cylinder but it never felt slow.

Head up display - Since I have never used one, I don't think I will miss it too bad.

Ok, honestly you will miss, in fact, I no longer look at the dash on the models where I have HUD and the one on the new 5 series is much larger and better. But then again, there are so many things missing on Indian variants that it should be ok to miss an additional spec.

I would be worried about plonking down money on a diesel car when the whole world seems to be turnign against Diesel

It's not going to happen so fast, don't know about the south but up here in North, single most factor deterrent of buying Petrol cars is resales. However, if you are buying for self-use and want to keep it for 4-5 Years, 530 i does make a sensible choice.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

My car has arrived at the dealer's yard and should be home sometime this week!

Congrats! Eagerly waiting for your ownership report.

The spec sheet from BMW says the model I have gone for (530i sportline petrol) says it has "Steptronic Sport" Auto transmission whereas the 520D has just a "Steptronic" automatic transmission

AFAIK, the Sport transmission has a more aggressive map / software that brings faster shifts. I believe it can be added in the after-market (via a software update) by tuners too. It's a <5 minute job.

[Yeldo]

Originally Posted by GTO

AFAIK, the Sport transmission has a more aggressive map / software that brings faster shifts..

Doesn't it also mean an extra Sport + mode?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Yeldo

Doesn't it also mean an extra Sport + mode?

Thanks for pointing that out! Yeah, I believe so. Take a look at the 520d's modes in this post - no Sport+.

[sunny310c]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Good idea! I took a long and hard look at the features and performance I would miss going in for the 530i vis-a-vis the 520D and 530D.

Last but not least, I would be worried about plonking down money on a diesel car when the whole world seems to be turnign against Diesel, puttign in a link to my post on the 330i thread about this

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post4247195

If you don't mind my asking, are you going with the 360 degree program with the assured buy back after 4 years?

As for the features, aside from the stonker of an engine in the 530d with 620 NM torque, I think the HUD and 360 degree camera are the big misses in the 530i.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by sunny310c

If you don't mind my asking, are you going with the 360 degree program with the assured buy back after 4 years?

As for the features, aside from the stonker of an engine in the 530d with 620 NM torque, I think the HUD and 360 degree camera are the big misses in the 530i.

Hi, I am not going for this program, since I plan to keep the car for longer, at least till the end of this model cycle. BMW comes out with a new generation of the 5 series about once in 7 years, so I will plan to keep this car for that length of time.

I have not purchased any extended warranty/BSI packs, which is something I have to now study and contemplate.

Agree HUD and 360 degree cameras will be a miss. However, the price difference between 530i and 530D is already Rs. 15 lakhs and I am somehow not sure of the future of Diesel over a 7 year horizon. If BMW had bright in the 540i, with similar features as the 530D m-sport, I would have given it serious thought - Zero to Hundred in about 5 seconds !!

[HentaiDesi]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Hi, I am not going for this program, since I plan to keep the car for longer, at least till the end of this model cycle. BMW comes out with a new generation of the 5 series about once in 7 years, so I will plan to keep this car for that length of time.

I have not purchased any extended warranty/BSI packs, which is something I have to now study and contemplate.

How long is the wait for the 530i and 520d? I heard from dealer that 530d has a 3month wait period.
Is there a possibility for any discounts on this car?
The car looks great in person and the feature set is much better of F10 and petrols are sweet in BMW

[androdev]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Hi, I am not going for this program, since I plan to keep the car for longer, at least till the end of this model cycle. BMW comes out with a new generation of the 5 series about once in 7 years, so I will plan to keep this car for that length of time.

I have not purchased any extended warranty/BSI packs, which is something I have to now study and contemplate.

Agree HUD and 360 degree cameras will be a miss. However, the price difference between 530i and 530D is already Rs. 15 lakhs and I am somehow not sure of the future of Diesel over a 7 year horizon. If BMW had bright in the 540i, with similar features as the 530D m-sport, I would have given it serious thought - Zero to Hundred in about 5 seconds !!

If I am in the market, 530i would be my pick too. I am perfectly fine with the power of even 520d but it is a very rough engine that diminishes the luxury aspect of the car. I can't justify paying 15L more for 530d if I can get equal refinement and adequate power from 530i. People buying 520d over 530i need to get their head examined, just my humble opinion

You can certainly hope to keep this car for many years. I am not saying because of reliability but these cars age extremely well and the changes would be very evolutionary. You will know what I mean if you compare F10 vs G30 (esp interiors). Unless you are flush with funds to deal with maintenance costs, strongly advise you to take extended warranty and covers-all insurance. Just one incident can compensate for 6 years worth of cost of these covers.

[4x4addict]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thanks for pointing that out! Yeah, I believe so. Take a look at the 520d's modes in this post - no Sport+.

My understanding is that Sport+ has been replaced with "Adaptive" which basically becomes whatever beast you want it to tame or wild. Even the new 530d has only Adaptive after Sport rather than Sport+.

[manishk123]

Heard from a company source they had not anticipated this kind of demand for the 530D hence very few kits were allocated for the Indian market. Cars booked in end July are likely to be delivered only in December!

That combined with the threat of hike in taxes, I'm thinking of switching to the E class. Although I really had my heart set on the 530d M sport. What to do 😫

[sunny310c]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

Hi, I am not going for this program, since I plan to keep the car for longer, at least till the end of this model cycle. BMW comes out with a new generation of the 5 series about once in 7 years, so I will plan to keep this car for that length of time.

I have not purchased any extended warranty/BSI packs, which is something I have to now study and contemplate.

Agree HUD and 360 degree cameras will be a miss. However, the price difference between 530i and 530D is already Rs. 15 lakhs and I am somehow not sure of the future of Diesel over a 7 year horizon. If BMW had bright in the 540i, with similar features as the 530D m-sport, I would have given it serious thought - Zero to Hundred in about 5 seconds !!

The way I was explained the buyback program was that at the end of 4 years (or whatever term you pick), you can either choose to give the car back to BMW, or you can keep the car by paying the buy back value of the car. The buy back value depends on the term of the buy back (4 years being the longest), and the annual mileage (20K KM/year being the highest).

Now, the program only helps if you are planning on taking a loan for the car. The way it helps is that the buy back value of the car is taken away from the total price of the car, which means, the loan that you are taking is for a much lesser value, which means your monthly installment is lesser. At the end of 4 years, if you choose to retain the car, you can get another loan for the buy back value, at existing interest rates (because this would be considered a new loan), and continue paying EMI for the new loan.

You can find a basic calculator at http://bmw360.in/calculator

As for the extended warranty, use some of that 15 lacs that you are saving and get the warranty mate. It's money well spent.

[Turbanator]

the loan that you are taking is for a much lesser value, which means your monthly installment is lesser.

Yes, but remember you are paying Interest on total Financed amount ( Cost of car Minus margin Money)

Given the high rate of interests in India, to me, this whole 360 program looks fad to me