Gents can any of you confirm the engine model fitted to the F11 535i? Are they all N54 or N55 or different depending on age? If I ever manage to find one I would rather avoid all the issues associated with the N54 which seem to suffer all same issues as the N53 (which I have first-hand experience of) with the added bonus of turbos to go wrong whereas the N55 seems to be much more reliable.. Many Thanks
Yes, the F10/11 has the N55 engine. Does appear to be a more reliable engine than the N54, ought to be as a few of the issues have been designed out. I hesitated a bit before getting my F11 535i, haven't regretted the decision thus far, 30,000 miles now on the engine. I've had a recall for the vanos check, understand that is a common recall to check and/or change bolts. Hope your search for an F11 535i goes well. Peter
Thank you for the replies, I thought as much ref the N55 but could not find a definitive answer. Not desperate to change at the minute as the E61 530i is going well and is only up to 60k miles but keeping a lookout for the right car
I was looking for a 535i GT and gave up in the end. There seem to be so few 6 cylinder petrols these days that I resigned myself to derv. Now done nearly 20k miles in it and, dare I say it, it's been absolutely reliable, not one single thing has gone wrong. That is more than could be said for my previous E61 N53! And I'm getting high 30's mpg rather than low 20's of the N53. However I would still like a decent 6 cylinder petrol for my next car.
Hi Ian I was wondering how reliable your 530d had been in comparison to your previous 525i.. I only do about 8-9000 miles a year so if I got a 530d / 535d I would be constantly worried about the dpf as most of my journeys are short with few longer runs. The AUC website has loads of Diesels but 6 cylinder petrol 5 series estates are very rare. No desperate hurry will keep a look out. The twin of Peters 535i F11 would be ideal
I have to say the 530d is the most reliable car I've ever had. I only do 9-10K miles per year but try and do a longish journey every so often to preserve the DPF, so far no problems. It now has 43K on the clock and runs so sweet people think it is a 6 cylinder petrol.
Silly question maybe, but what engine does your GT carry, Ian? I do a similar milage in my E61 LCI (520d). Working from home means it is mostly used on longish journeys. At 74K also no DPF problems or indeed any engine trouble. So far ... Is my car's engine the N54?
I switched back to petrol after 7 years with my 535d, no regrets whatsoever... and no more concerns about a blocked DPF or EGR. I love the smoothness and flexibility of the N55 engine in my 335i. I had it remapped last year which has certainly released some of the potential of the N55, it now puts out 345bhp and 450nm but has not had a noticeable detrimental effect on fuel consumption.
To update this thread I have still been looking for a F11 535i but sadly have not been able to find a decent one yet.. While just as rare I have also been considering a 640i Grand Coupe.. I notice however that the performance stats on the BMW website are significantly better for the 640i over the 535i. Was the N55 engine revised for the 6 series does anyone know?
Looks as if there are 4 variants of the N55 engine: http://mywikimotors.com/n55b30/ (This appears to be a U.S site so not sure if these specs are 100% correct for UK cars) The 640i has the more powerful 450Nm variant, would have thought they differ mainly due to DME programming, i.e boost / fuel rail pressures, etc
Seems to agree with this... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_N55 Different versions in the 5 and 6 series.
Hi Ian That's a little bit more than I would like to spend as prefer to buy outright. This car came up late last week but sadly was sold before the dealer managed to phone me back http://usedcars.bmw.co.uk/5-Series/...75376-605966746-3497117.aspx?srcmdc=se_na_re_ Shame as despite the age seems a cracking buy!
Yes, a shame it's gone, that does look a good car and at a sensible price. Decent spec' 535i models are scarce, my dealer was looking to see if I was wanting to sell mine, had a customer waiting if I did. Keep looking, there may be a another decent one come along. Peter