[sriramr9]

GTO, Could you provide some details on this models exhaust system, does it have a dual cat con unit integrated into it ?

To tell about a off topic episode about a 525D, i happened to witness a 525d parked in a fast food eatery with the owners of the car deciding to stay inside (Of course with Air con ON) and were served snack to their car door step. All the 45 mins they spent their, the vehicle was in idle with its thermostat kicking ON/OFF. I was casually glancing the vehicle and happened to go to the rear side of the car and to my surprise could not experience any tinge of the exhaust gas for example, smell of Sulphur but all i experienced was hot exhaust air smelling like in car deodorizer.

How come a diesel exhaust gas be so clean smelling ? Just wondering how come exhaust gas smell contain a type of dull fragrance to it, when it s all supposed to be made of a concoction of burnt hydro carbons.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Congratulations GTO! Excellent write up and that is one stunner of a car!

Wish you many happy miles in the beast.

Thanks Amitoj!

Originally Posted by karan561

A quick question, Are you following the "Idling Rule" for your 530d ?

Religiously .

- Short idle after startup / before shutdown

- Easy revvs for a little time after startup / before shutdown

- Never driving with the start / stop feature

Originally Posted by sriramr9

GTO, Could you provide some details on this models exhaust system, does it have a dual cat con unit integrated into it ?

Where did you get the information that it has a dual cat-con?

To tell about a off topic i happened to witness a bmw 525d parked in a fast food eatery with the owner of the car were served snack to their cars and the car was in idle for 45 mins. I casually glanced and went to the rear side of the car and could not smell any sulphur from its exhaust but its in car deo like smell.

Come to think of it, I've never seen visible smoke come out of the exhaust. And when parking in the garage, the smell hasn't ever bothered me.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by GTO

Come to think of it, I've never seen visible smoke come out of the exhaust. And when parking in the garage, the smell hasn't ever bothered me.

Believe it or not, I've never seen any smoke from any BMW diesel. Not even a tiny amount when a vehicle downshifts. I've seen smoke on Mercs, Audis, LRs and even Jags. Surprising!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Believe it or not, I've never seen any smoke from any BMW diesel. Not even a tiny amount when a vehicle downshifts. I've seen smoke on Mercs, Audis, LRs and even Jags. Surprising!

As my C220 grew old, I used to see some smoke when accelerating hard (but not when it was new). Lets see how the 530d behaves once she puts on the miles.

Originally Posted by GTO

Additionally, there are a lot of cars that I have to drive for testing & Team-BHP reviews. I'd say the Bimmer will run between 7,000 - 10,000 kms a year tops.

Here's what I meant: This weekend, the 5 will be sitting idle in the garage. Reason = Have to take the test TUV300 out on the highway.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Believe it or not, I've never seen any smoke from any BMW diesel. Not even a tiny amount when a vehicle downshifts. I've seen smoke on Mercs, Audis, LRs and even Jags. Surprising!

I have seen many 320D's smoking like crazy.
Just the other day i saw a 520 smoking a bit while accelerating.
But yes my friends 320 doesn't smoke at all under acceleration.
So i guess it all about how you take care of your car.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

I have seen many 320D's smoking like crazy.
Just the other day i saw a 520 smoking a bit while accelerating.
But yes my friends 320 doesn't smoke at all under acceleration.
So i guess it all about how you take care of your car.

320d/520d are known for blowing their turbo's since the 5 sec idling rule has not been observed. The turbo seals are blown. white smoke means trouble. black smoke means the seals are failing

[sriramr9]

Originally Posted by GTO

Where did you get the information that it has a dual cat-con?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bmw-5-Seri...-/130774063974

I see here two chambers as per above Ad, Maybe i understood it wrong.

Originally Posted by GTO

Come to think of it, I've never seen visible smoke come out of the exhaust. And when parking in the garage, the smell hasn't ever bothered me.

I was pin-pointing to the smell in specific, i never saw a speck of smoke bellowing out, the vehicle was idle all the 45 mins & exhaust gas felt pretty hot but the smell of it was like that of a expensive muted in car fragrance. Could it be because of extended idling i am not sure.

I read you mentioning your vehicle cabin's smell resembling that of a 5 star hotel suite, now imagine that fragrance emanating in a muted way from your exhaust air, that s what i encountered and wondering how can both mix.

Request to please delete this post if it spoiling the relevance of this thread.

[CarLoverJosh]

Im so sorry for being late to the party GTO, a heart congratulations on your beast. What an awesome engine mated so such a great chassis though if you ask me a 330d would have been something else wouldn't it? Anyways wishing you tons and tons of happy miles ahead with the beast.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

I have seen many 320D's smoking like crazy.
Just the other day i saw a 520 smoking a bit while accelerating.
But yes my friends 320 doesn't smoke at all under acceleration.
So i guess it all about how you take care of your car.

Originally Posted by ajmat

320d/520d are known for blowing their turbo's since the 5 sec idling rule has not been observed.

Definitely down to how you maintain your car. @ Ajmat: guess you meant 60 second rule, not merely 5.

Originally Posted by sriramr9

but the smell of it was like that of a expensive muted in car fragrance. Could it be because of extended idling i am not sure.

Are you sure there wasn't someone with heavy perfume who walked by ? It seems unlikely that the by-product of diesel combustion would smell like a fragrance!

Originally Posted by CarLoverJosh

Im so sorry for being late to the party GTO, a heart congratulations on your beast. What an awesome engine mated so such a great chassis though if you ask me a 330d would have been something else wouldn't it?

Thanks! You can say that again. This engine in a smaller + tighter package would be something special.

[9thsphinx]

Highly recommended a 530d M sport to a friend after going through your comprehensive review and here it is...

He bought it in the trademark BMW Blue with Oyster Grey(?) interiors. Looks smashing!

[super.cars]

Originally Posted by GTO

Come to think of it, I've never seen visible smoke come out of the exhaust.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Believe it or not, I've never seen any smoke from any BMW diesel. Not even a tiny amount when a vehicle downshifts. I've seen smoke on Mercs, Audis, LRs and even Jags. Surprising!

On a lighter note, who knows there could be a dupe device that redirects the exhaust through the side / front or even more conveniently onto the Volkswagen TDI passing by !!

On a serious note, after the recent scandal the respect for BMW has grown in my heart. Somehow i can't say that's true with a Merc.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by 9thsphinx

He bought it in the trademark BMW Blue with Oyster Grey(?) interiors. Looks smashing!

Looks smoking hot . Congrats to your friend. Would be great if you could share some driving impressions & observations from your friend.

Originally Posted by super.cars

On a lighter note, who knows there could be a dupe device that redirects the exhaust through the side / front or even more conveniently onto the Volkswagen TDI passing by !!

On a serious note, after the recent scandal the respect for BMW has grown in my heart. Somehow i can't say that's true with a Merc.

Agreed on BMW. But what wrong did Mercedes do? I'm 100% sure they would clear any emissions test as well.

[super.cars]

Originally Posted by GTO

Agreed on BMW. But what wrong did Mercedes do? I'm 100% sure they would clear any emissions test as well.

It must be my bias towards BMW since i am yet to fall in love with any Mercedes. Mercedes have been the forerunner in bringing high tech to the cars, so i'am sure they must have taken care of something as fundamental as emission norms.

[sandeep108]

Originally Posted by GTO

Agreed on BMW. But what wrong did Mercedes do? I'm 100% sure they would clear any emissions test as well.

Yes, both BMW and Mercedes are not affected because they carry the 'urea' fix at an extra cost per car as well as extra maintenance for their diesels. VW touted the malicious software 'cheat' as an advance they made in their engine tech.

It is supposed to affect almost 11m cars worldwide and about half mil in US alone. The problem is actually even going to be a big headache to fix - if they now reflash the ECM to correctly, their advertised power/torque figures go down the tube and they will be exposed to customer lawsuits. If they do not do this, then in US they can actually cancel the car's registration over pollution norms. If they do the 'urea' fix, that requires additional hardware and software and space to put the hardware in. Most other countries will also now wake up to this. Only probably in India, nobody may be bothered. It is actually a more serious issue than Maggi IMO. You and me are breathing more polluted air with every Audi/VW/Skoda diesel on the roads.

I guess one could see this philosophy in VW in their casual approach to Indian operations across all their companies - Audi, VW and Skoda. Once other countries wake up to this massive scale of intentional cheating and malicious intent by VW, I predict VW is dead and will file for bankruptcy.

[Fullrevs]

Originally Posted by GTO

Hefty kerb weight & mad torque result in a tyre life of merely 20,000 - 25,000 kms. Continental runflats are due for a change soon. I'll be getting regular Michelin / Yokohama tyres:

Hi GTO! Does the flat tyre monitor continue to work if the tyres are changed to regular ones from the run-flats? I am currently running my third set of run-flats on my 525i and am definitely not going to make the same mistake the 4th time. However, if the monitor starts flashing all sorts of errors with regular tyres I may have to re-consider.