[suhaas307]

This report is undoubtedly the benchmark for all reviews on Team-BHP. The proverbial yard-stick, if you will! Incredible attention to detail aside, there is a sense of emotion that comes through while reading the report and that's what sets it apart from the rest. I've noticed this in only a few other reports off late, namely Frankmehta's report on his GT TSI and Deetjohn's Aston Fiesta Martin.

The 530d is a great blend of plushness, performance and practicality. It's capable of playing several roles. Not only is it a luxury sedan that's perfect for shuttling between meetings, it packs the heat of a sports car, without the nasty drinking habits of either! You could even call it a sleeper! I'm sure you could give a few sports/supercar owners in Mumbai a mild shock when they notice you reeling them in on an open road! Nothing like a bangin' straight six that makes enough torque to tow a small house!

The colour too is very classy, and the black theme going on sets it apart from the rest of the 5ers. The trademark heads-up-display and that lovely steering seals the deal for me!

There is this chocolate brown 530d in Bangalore that I chance upon from time to time and although it doesn't have the subtle body kit that your's does, it wears the same 5 spoke wheels you find on the M5 and I must say, no other set suits the car as much as they do. Please consider smoking your set (gunmetal) if swapping them altogether isn't an option. It will lend a touch of aggression to your Bimmer!

Congratulations once again Rush, and fly safe

[akshay4587]

Congratulations
All this while i had an intuition, that sooner or later, you are going to end up with a Pre worshipped 530D,
and what a review, would have rated it 10 stars if i could.

[petrolhead_neel]

Hi GTO,

You remember this?

Hey Congrats!

Incidentally, I bought a car on the 1st of May as well (also my sister's birthday).

Heartiest congratulations. Drive safe.

__________________________________________________ _____

Its not everyday that a Guru like you buys I car. Believe me, when I found out that you had bought a 530D, I was almost as excited when we were buying our own car. A hearty Congrats on the Bimmer. Wish you lakhs of kms of winding roads. She is a keeper for sure.

Love the way she looks. Elegant, sporty, sophisticated, aah! The black shade just looks stunning. The minor details on the car amazed me. The //M badge on the alloys and the custom sticker on her complete the look.

With so many horses on tap, she must be a hoot to drive.

Then comes the next part, the ownership review. You had me glued Sir! Such attention to detail in an ownership review is unseen of!

Just one request: don't let the Honda go. She is the only petrol car you have right now, and I am sure that often you would get bored of driving diesels and like to take out a high revving petrol for a spin. Just a request.

A question: If you were to pick between the two: your beloved Jeep or your "Beast", which one would you pick? For others, it might be a dumb question, but some of us know how much you love your Jeep, don't we?

Cheers,
Neel

[Turbanator]

Congrats GTO , this is simply awesome , I learnt so many features from this thread to use on my 530 D

Blank metal plate? How does that look? How about some pics of your ride?

Your's appear to be August / Sep 2013 produced as they changed few things in October , this thread has the photos of current one

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...hed-india.html

Does this car belong to family / a friend? If so, can you check on what all major replacements they've had in 1.5 lakh kms?

I must have done a combined mileage of over 3 Lac KM on various Beemers (3,5,X5,X6,& 7) except once none of my cars have been towed till date or have being to workshop for any faults . Even when my 5 had to be towed in 2010 it was partially to do with condition of road and there was a workshop bulletin to change a small pin in some connecting shaft which was replaced in few hours .

I was thinking of listing my 2014 -530D and can surely use your thread to ask for little more given the fine details written by you.

All the best with your new beast , hope you will have a trouble free ownership.

[vinair]

Congrats GTO! That's one lovely review mate!(dare I say it was whole lot better than the some official new car reviews!!)

Amazing machine and a timeless design it is! A mature design and this is how it should be!

[V.Narayan]

Dear GTO, congratulations on your new wheels. Your write up is certainly an example for how a write needs to be written. All best wishes for many miles of trouble free motoring - Narayan

[surgvij]

Great buy GTO and what a write up. This thread will be a bible for not only the present and prospective 530 d owners but to many bmw technicians too as am sure many of them will not be aware of the cars features which you have explained in detail. We too picked up a used 530d msport in January albeit the face lifted one for my father in law. Though I get to drive it less frequently it's the most sporty car I have ever driven and the name beast which you have given her is very apt.

[harsha.muvva]

Congrats on the brutal machine GTO, I am completely glued to this thread. It is the perfect car for me.
Last year I test-drove the 3 litre diesel germans as my dad want to have family sedan with a powerful engine, comfortable rear seat with a german badge and our usage will be limited to 15k kms per year (our beater car is an innova which have done 1.5L kms in the last 3 years and still going on). Among the ones I drove, i liked 530d along with M kit the most and BSI further sweetened the things. But the rear seat totally shocked me with the leg room (in a bad way). So gave it a miss. Also drove the audi A6 3.0L, it comes no where close to the 530 in overall drive experience and also heard many issues with audi after sales. I wish to get a 530d myself sometime later in future.

On a different note, thanks to your civic thread and the other confident inspiring threads about pre-worshipped vehicles. I bought a 2 year old yamaha fz1 loaded with 2L worth accessories for around 65% of price of a new one (this happend 2 years back). Also got a 2007 skoda superb 2.8 v6 petrol with just 8000 kms on odo which is in IMMACULATE condition inside out for around 25% of price of a new one. Plan is to lateral upgrade superb to a worthy replacement as and when we find it (7/S-class? ?)

Now I can see myself going only via pre-worshipped route because with little efforts and a proper approach we can find very good cars for lot less money!

Regards,
Harsha

[Hayek]

Congrats on the fantastic ride and the ultimate initial ownership review.

Seems like the ultimate drivers car. The only thing I don't get is why the rear seat room is so poor. I test drove a 5 series back in 2012, and I must say I felt that the rear seat room was rather poor even back then. If it has reduced further, that would put this car out of the selection set for several folks (perhaps that is why all the new E segment luxury cars I see nowadays are either E Classes or A6s).

[BlackPearl]

Congratulations GTO!! You have got a stunning pre-worshipped vehicle. The review is as good as it gets Wish you many miles of happiness.

[PravStar]

@GTO

what a absolute blast of a ( I would call it ) " heart touching story " by an passionate and enthusiastic person.

The level of details and the minute explanations given by you as regards your " heart on wheels " is simply outstanding. This review can be qualified to be counted in the " WORLD REVIEWS HALL OF FAME " if ever there was such a thing.

I am simply not bragging or flattering but your review kept me up till 3am last night and has successfully made me a BMW guy.

Kudos to you and your newly possessed steed. The spirit must live on and so does your stories.

so expecting you to enthrall us time and again by transcripting your long drives here so as to enable us thorough insight on the long term capability and held up of the vehicle.

Your in depth analysis with passionate views and suggestions for future buyers have made me to shift my boundaries of my dream car which was earlier in the range of around 15 lakhs and now have almost tripled it. But those boundaries and dream will be achieved with hard work thats for sure.
So all in all thanks for igniting the passionate spark amongst us once all over again.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Incredible attention to detail aside, there is a sense of emotion that comes through while reading the report and that's what sets it apart from the rest. I've noticed this in only a few other reports off late, namely Frankmehta's report on his GT TSI and Deetjohn's Aston Fiesta Martin.

So true, there are other detailed reviews here but that emotional connect is so evident in here. And another point to note is that this car (and the other two examples you mentioned here) have that ability to derive that connect - a perfect combination of man and machine!

[AutoInt]

Congratulations GTO on your stunning pre-worshipped 530D bimmer. Wishing you millions of happy miles with the beast.

As someone has already said earlier, it may be long or may not have a chance to own one, but the review has brought out the experience of owning a bimmer and really understand what BMW 5 Series offers

I am a fan of timeless design and your new steed looks great in Black.

This thread also has changed my view on pre-owned cars and I could have this also as an option.

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by GTO

Very rare, as the market is driven by diesels. BMW doesn't even sell the 5-Series with a petrol anymore. I think you should consider a 6-cylinder diesel. Trust me, it'll plaster a smile on your face like no petrol would be able to.

Well, I had a ride in an old M6 (very much petrol) back in the day that definitely was good for a lot more than a little grin... That was a 1989 model my BMW tech friend had picked up very cheap second-hand (<10,000USD, if I remember right).

In North America in those days, (1980's), the ONLY diesel BMW had on offer was the 524d (zero 3/7 series options) - not very popular, but those who owned them loved them - very quiet, very efficient, and reasonably well-performing. I looked for one second-hand but never found one with a manual trans. Rare. And why?

Unfortunately, General Motors messed up royally with their first diesels around the same time. They tried to convert what had been a very good and robust Oldsmobile petrol V8 into a diesel - a complete failure due to broken crankshafts and IP problems - both caused by minor engineering mistakes (a too-small radius here, an inferior-material washer there) sorted out only when it was too late. They had sold quite well in the post-oil-crisis environment, but were failing left and right at under 50,000km; Thereby the American appetite for passenger-car diesels was almost completely ruined (even Mercedes eventually gave up), leaving only VW's TDI cult intact.

Several years ago, the same BMW technician friend in Alabama was sent to Germany for factory training, and after getting the chance to do laps at Nurmbergring in a 3-series diesel he was amazed - and left wondering why on earth they weren't being offered in the U.S. It seemed like such a perfect car (though in truth I doubt the smile was a broad as what the M5 had provided). Now finally a few diesels are trickling in - the 328d and X-series variants, and in the 5-series, the 535d (&x-drive variant). Don't know the sales figures there vs. petrol, whether they've found success or not. Guessing it remains a small-ish fraction of sales, but seems it would be a good option there for those old enough there to possess sufficient funds, yet young enough to have missed the past pains of North American dieseldom.

As an aside, kind of painful reality is that a brand new 535d is running only 36.5L there. In the Indian scenario, I'd say you did the best thing by getting something nearly new at around that rate. It's really more in line with what the cars are actually worth, in terms of engineering, quality, and performance.

-Eric

[baskar]

What an ownership review. !! I was reading it like a thriller novel from page to page, gluded to the minutest detail of the car. We, in the Team-BHP community , are aware of the high standard that you set when you review cars and provide your analysis of the car sales figures. But this was on a higher level, perhaps being your own car , brought out greater passion in you. The attention to detail, especially the ones that matter most to the common man, is simply outstanding.

Wishing you many more happy miles with the car and thank you for spending so much of your time to get vicarious enjoyment of owning a BMW.