My BMW 520d (G30): Initial Ownership Review

Being used to the lightning-quick DSG of the Passat, I am very impressed with the way BMW has tuned the 520d (G30)'s ZF gearbox.

BHPian rpunwani recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Background

I owned a 2012 VW Passat Highline 2.0 TDi and I was thoroughly enjoying the car. Apart from the usual ABS Sensor replacements (9 sensors were replaced from Nov 2012 to Feb 2021) and the replacement of the rear shock absorbers, the car was trouble-free. All repairs & service were carried out at a VW ASS. I had upgraded the brake rotors to high-performance, slotted & drilled type, which I purchased from ECS Tuning. In addition, some features were enabled with the Ross Tech VCDS. I had also upgraded the internal lighting to LEDs with a kit from ECS Tuning.

Last year, I felt the need to look for an upgrade as the car was 7+ years old; however, the pandemic changed our lives and thinking; forcing me to abandon my thoughts. I even upgraded the RCD 510 head unit with a VW MIB PQ+ unit with Apple Carplay / Android Auto in Sept-Oct 2020. See my post, “VW Passat - Upgrading the RCD 510 to VW MIB PQ". I was a happy man.

In Jan 2021, BMW launched the 3 Series Grand Limousine. This was on my radar ever since I heard the news that this model will be sold in India. Having no intention to purchase a car immediately after the launch (no discounts), I called the two BMW dealers in Mumbai for pricing & test drive. The on-road price for the 320Ld was just shy of 65L. One of the dealers suggested that I look at the 520d as the on-road price difference is <2L after discounts. I was aware that BMW India is scheduled to launch the facelifted 5 series in May 2021. On checking with the dealer and on the internet, I inferred that the external changes are to the headlights (maybe Laser, but loses fog lights), grill, front bumper, rear lights, rear bumper, exhausts. And changes inside will be a larger 12" central information display with Android Auto and possibly connected tech.

Curiosity got the better of me and one thing led to another and I asked for a test drive of the 520d. The dealer promptly brought the car and after having driven the car, I was very impressed. However, I was still not ready to buy a new car as I was very happy with my Passat. Meantime, I test drove the Mercedes Benz E Class & Audi A6 – none matched the driving experience of the 520d, even though they had more features than the BMW and the E Class had much more rear space. Having said that, I was not ready to buy a new car just yet – had planned on buying one in 2022.

A friend in the building knew the GM of Infinity Cars and suggested that I speak with him if I am interested. So after a few days, I casually called the GM and asked him about the 3 & 5 series. To cut a long story short, he offered me a Dec 2020 assembled car in Imperial Blue Metallic & Beige interiors at a price lower than that of a 320Ld. I had originally liked the cognac interiors, but the beige interiors suited the Imperial Blue colour better, however, keeping it clean would require more effort.

I requested him to give me a day to think about it. The next day (on 18th Feb) he called me and I just threw a price at him stating that this is what I am willing to pay for the car and if he agrees, I will come to the showroom and pay the deposit. If he did not agree, I would not have been disappointed as I was not really 100% serious about buying a new car; however, if he agreed then the price would be a real steal for the 520d. He asked for some time to get back to me.

He called me back and agreed to sell the car to me at the price I had offered. So on 19th Feb, I promptly went to the showroom, checked out the VIN and confirmed that the vehicle was made on 19.12.2020. Paid the deposit and asked for BMW Finance. I also insisted that I want to do a PDI as per the Team-BHP checklist, which I did the very next day. I was impressed with the dealership as they store their BMW/Mini cars in a godown, which was reasonably clean, rather than in the open.

Simultaneously, I started asking people about selling my Passat. Luckily for me, my colleague in the office agreed to purchase the car at a mutually agreed price. Deal done!

The finance was approved on 22nd Feb and I transferred the balance amount on 23rd Feb. The RTO formalities were completed soon thereafter, and I took delivery of the car on 28th Feb 2021. I opted for the Service Inclusive Package for 3 yrs/60,000 km as I felt that the Service Inclusive Plus package was exorbitant if the car ran 10k km per year. The Service Inclusive had brake pads/rotor renewal included as well as replacement of wiper blades (once a year). I was also told that the extended warranty (Repair Inclusive) can be availed at any time before the expiry of the two-year manufacturer’s warranty. I have opted for the 5 yrs/2,00,000 km warranty. The warranty for 6 yrs/2,00,000 km is double than that of the 5 yrs/2,00,000 km, and not worth it, in my opinion.

I would like to state that I am in no way connected to Infinity Cars, however, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude & thanks to Infinity Cars and in particular to the GM Mr. Amit Motwani, Salman & Faisal, who was very courteous & efficient. They even gave me a complimentary car cover, original rubber mats and an original key cover.

Things I like

• Fantastic driving dynamics
• 360-degree camera makes parking a breeze
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• 16-speaker Harman Kardon speaker system
• Cabin insulation is excellent, can barely hear the engine when cruising at 80 km/h
• Wireless phone charging
• 4-zone Airconditioning which cools really well
• iDrive 7.0 which is very responsive

Things that I miss/dislike

• Cooled & heated front seats
• Lumbar adjustments for front seats
• Massage function for Driver
• Conventional style Tacho & Speedometer
• Split Rear Seats
• Doors feel quite light when compared to the Passat
• Spare donut eats into boot space
• Adaptive Cruise Control

Features added to the new 5 series launched in June 2021

• 12.3” central touch display replacing the 10.25” central touch display
• Reversing Assistant (remembers last 50 m of the drive when done under 36 km/hr)
• BMW Laser Headlights (only on M series)
• Wireless Android Auto

Safety

The car has front airbags, side airbags, head airbags & a knee airbag. Plus, it has ABS, Brake Assist, DSC, DTC which stabilises the car under all conditions.

The LED Adaptive Headlights are very useful when driving in the dark; the beam automatically switches between low & high depending on the oncoming traffic which is sensed by a camera mounted on the front windshield.

LED Adaptive Headlights

Kms at the time of writing the review

As of date, I have driven 2694 km.

Usage pattern

Approx 120-180 km per week, with occasional long drives once a month. Due to the covid situation, we have not travelled beyond Pune. Hopefully, the situation will change in due course and we will be able to go on longer drives.

Exterior styling

The car is well proportioned and l personally like the aggressive front. The crease lines contours on the car are just right. Pretty much a timeless design, in my opinion.

Build quality, fit & finish

The build quality, exterior fit & finish are excellent with very even panel gaps. One would expect that from the BMW stable.

Wheels & tyres

I got Michelin Primacy XP Run Flat tyres 245/45/R18 100Y. Before buying the car, I had a lot of apprehensions about Run Flat Tyres; however, I got the wheel & tyre replacement in my insurance package. After driving the car (mostly in the Comfort mode), I am happy with the tyres. I am sure that if regular tyres were fitted, the ride would be more pliant.

Interior design

The interior is plush with the top of the dashboard finished in soft-touch Sensatec (artificial leather). The beige seats have Dakota leather with special stitching & piping. The bottom part of the dash is also soft-touch as are the door panels. I love the way the dash is tilted towards the driver. The ambient lighting looks classy and there are 6 colours from which you can choose and the intensity of the lighting can also be adjusted to your liking.

Interior space & comfort

The interior space is good. With the driver’s seat adjusted to my driving position, a 6’ person can sit comfortably in the rear. It is quite easy to adjust your driving position and use the memory setting. The front seats are wide and comfortable. The rear seat is wide enough for 3 persons but the middle passenger has the floor hump and the centre console in the way. The centre armrest in the rear seat contains cup holders. 3-point seatbelts are provided for three passengers in the rear.

A large sunroof is provided.

Driving position, controls & Drive

The driving position is good, one is seated a bit low (when compared to the Passat). The front seats are electrically powered with the driver’s seat having 2 memory settings. The steering wheel is electrically adjustable for reach & rake. The memory setting once saved adjusts the seat, steering wheel & side view mirrors to the individual settings.

One has to get adjusted to the long bonnet, it took me a few drives to judge the front end of the car. Till then I was extra careful in keeping a safe distance in the front.

Visibility & mirrors

The rearview mirror is virtually frameless & is auto-dimming. The side rearview mirrors are adequately sized. The driver’s side mirror is auto-dimming and the passenger side mirror has an auto dip function to show the kerb when the car is put into reverse to help when parallel parking.

Airconditioning & cooling

The 4-zone climate control is super, the car cools quite fast. Blower speed adjustment is touch controlled and individual for the driver & front passenger, the temperature can be adjusted with the rotary knobs. One nifty feature is that you can turn off the passenger side blower if you are driving alone in the car.

Audio system & sound quality

The Harman/Kardon 16-speaker sound system is super and 600W of power with surround sound, which is customized for the vehicle. There is a tweeter & midrange in each of the four doors and on either side of the rear parcel shelf, plus another Tweeter & midrange in the centre of the dashboard, in front of the touch control display. This adds to 14 speakers. There are 2 subwoofers under each front seat. Total of 16 speakers with 600W of power. If BMW had provided the Bowers & Wilkins speakers, the sound would have been even better.

Speaker in the Dash - Tweeter & Midrange

Speakers in the Front Door - Tweeter & Midrange

Speakers in the Rear Door - Tweeter & Midrange

Speakers in the Rear Parcel Shelf - Tweeter & Midrange

The Gesture Control is quite nice and works well most of the time. The BMW Virtual assistant is a gimmick and has very limited functions like playing a particular radio station, increasing/decreasing the volume and a few others.

My car came with wireless Apple CarPlay and I am very happy with it since I use an iPhone. The newer cars have wireless Android Auto as well. Hopefully, the global update for iDrive 7.0 will have Android Auto.

Interior storage & boot space

There is a small storage compartment on the right side of the steering wheel, mainly for small items like wallets, etc. The glove compartment is average in size and has a damped opening and is felt-lined.

The central console has a compartment forward of the iDrive Controller. This is opened by pushing the lid in front of the iDrive controller. Inside is the wireless charging base for mobile phones, cigarette lighter and cup holders and one ashtray. The front & rear door pockets can hold a 1L plastic bottle and maps and are felt-lined on the inner vertical side.

The boot space is reasonable and has the spare donut tyre housed in a molded box. The box along with the tyre can be removed to increase the boot space for airport runs. The boot & doors can be opened by waving one’s foot under the rear bumper.

Engine performance/NVH

Being a diesel, the initial torque is great. The engine is rated at 190 BHP / 400 Nm, which for my driving style is more than adequate. There is a slight lag when you floor the accelerator, but the surge of power that the twin-turbo delivers is surreal and brings a smile to your face. I was offered the 530i M Sport but chose the 520d as diesels have better economy.

I was pleasantly surprised by the average fuel economy to Pune & back, 17+ km/l and 18+ km/l respectively. The BMW engine has 20 BHP & 50 Nm more than the Passat’s 170 HP & 350 Nm ratings. The fuel economy is much better than what I have averaged in the Passat (16+ & 17+). Guess it is due to the twin-turbo in the BMW.

The car is very easy to drive despite being nearly 5.0 m long. However, one has to crawl over speed breakers, else you will scrape the belly.

Last month (June 2021), I made another trip to Pune and managed to cross the 200 km running-in period. On the way back, I left Pune at 6:30 am and sedately drove back to Mumbai. Achieved an average of 23.0 km/l over the 168.7 km drive. That’s an amazing economy!

We took a short mid-week break to Lonavala and the car returned similar figures on the return trip to Mumbai.

The fuel economy ex-works is 14.6 km/l (at present).

Fuel Economy - Ex Works

The NVH levels are excellent, one can hardly hear the engine when driving at speeds up to 120 km/hr, there is slight road noise when driving at high speeds on concrete roads like the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. On smooth tarmac, the car is very quiet. I have not driven the car beyond 120 km/hr.

Gearbox

The ZF gearbox is an absolute joy. Being used to the lightning-quick DSG of the Passat, I am very impressed with the way BMW has tuned the ZF gearbox. The gearshifts are very smooth and barely noticeable.

The drive modes Eco Pro, Comfort & Sports alter the engine and chassis characteristics as the car has adaptive suspension.

• In Eco Pro mode, the car coasts and the air conditioning reduces a bit
• In Comfort mode, the car coasts but retains full air conditioning
• In Sports (Sports+) mode, the adaptive suspension stiffens up and the gearbox holds onto the gears longer. Road imperfections are easily felt in this mode, especially at low speeds.

Most of the time, I have driven the car in Comfort mode, switching to Sports mode on the Mumbai – Pune Expressway for short periods of time. Since I generally drive within the stated speed limits and prefer sedate/defensive driving, the Comfort mode is more than adequate for me.

The Paddle Shift work very well, too. Have tried it on a few occasions, however, I prefer to drive in Comfort mode.

Gear Selector & iDrive Controller

Braking

The braking is excellent, with no perceptible fading. The brake lights flash on hard braking.

Ground clearance

One needs to be extremely careful and come to a crawl when driving over speed breakers, there is a tendency for the car to bottom out, more so, if there are 4-5 persons in the car. The almost 3.0 m-long wheelbase also contributes to the bottoming of the car. I did manage to scrape the bottom on 2-3 occasions after taking delivery as I was used to the Passat; have learnt my lesson the hard way. I understand that the ground clearance specified is 158 mm.

Wipers

The wipers are automatic with 4-step sensitivity and cover the windscreen well.

Steering

The steering wheel is chunky and great to hold. At low speeds, one cannot feel the size of the car as the steering feels very light. However, it nicely weighs up as the speed increases. In sports mode, the steering gets a bit harder. The controls on the left side are for Cruise Control & Speed Limiter and the right side controls the volume, up / down, next / back & phone (Siri).

Steering Wheel Controls - Left

Steering Wheel Controls - Right

iDrive 7.0

The iDrive 7.0 is fantastic, very comprehensive and the digital instrument cluster & central console have very good resolution. BMW has added a neat touch to these displays – the external colour of the car is displayed. You can see, my car is Imperial Blue colour, which is shown on the displays. Waiting for the upgrade to the iDrive, which has been announced by BMW but not yet assigned to my car. Hopefully, more features will be added, including Android Auto.

Welcome screen

Home screen

Instrument Display - Standby Mode

Instrument Display with Map

Acknowledgements

Huge thanks to the Mods, specially GTO, for guiding me to write my first comprehensive ownership post. Their untiring efforts in ensuring that posts follow guidelines and have quality content, is beneficial to the entire fraternity.

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