Buying an F10 BMW in 2023. What to look for

It seems that there is a lot of content with generic description of what kinds of issues one may face while looking for a used BMW 5 series, specifically F10/F11. The only problem with those being - they never really show how to check for these issues and unless you are an experienced mechanic, you have little to no chance to figure it out.
I had that issue when buying both of my cars and now when I'm considering a change I decided to make a video about the whole process that would hopefully help you save some money and headache.
Join my Discord and let's share more stuff there: / discord

[@petertattoo]

I am looking at a 2010 520d now....I like video :) helpful for me

[@banzziqui6125]

How much money does it cost you to? . Im looking at one rn and theyre asking for £10,000

[@bushcraftestonia]

Just started looking at the estate version of these for a second vehicle. Excellent video to find!

[@pylyo]

Great job, thanks! Subscribed.

[@bakarimasanga3634]

Thanks for the heads up🎉

[@MrOnlymoin1]

thanks for the heads up.

[@roaksroaks9519]

”Cheap Brembo/ATE” You know ATE is the manufacturer of your OEM brakes?😂

[@asking_for_a_friend]

Keyword is "cheap" ;) There are ATE pads that sell for 40€ and those are nowhere close to the original pads. Same goes for Brembo and many other manufacturers

[@CL4SSiCS]

​@@asking_for_a_friendyes, we got Brembo brakes and discs on our ford edge and they are very squeaky, they are only goodifyou are getting the premium versions

[@alien9114]

Is ate ceramic any good?​@@asking_for_a_friend

[@arm3lit0]

You haven’t created hot water bruh, clearly not the sharpest knife on the drawer

[@lck6331]

Asiallinen Video🤝

[@denys_shvets]

So great video! Thanks a lot. Also I'd like to emphasize your great English but bet you speak one of the Slavic one.) I'm currently own 1-series F20 with the diesel engine and had the same issues with that pipe and it cost me about 70 euros. Now planning switch to either 3 or 5 series F generation. Once again, thank you.

[@swissoutdoor777]

Thank you very much! It helpd me.

[@asking_for_a_friend]

My pleasure

[@tuulik6588]

Very inforamtive video! If you don't mind I have a few questions. I've been thinking of buying a 520d xdrive but I'm afraid it will not be good enough in winter times. I'm from Estonia so our winter weather should be about the same. How does it deal with the snow, does it get stuck easily? How does the battery handle the cold? Does it drain quickly? What has been your overall experience driving it throughout winter? I had a 320 before and it was pretty horrible. Lastly how has the car held up in general? I know its no toyota but has the reliability been what you expected? Sorry I know I asked a lot but I'm genuinely curious what the car is like and if is it even worth buying. Thanks in advance!

[@asking_for_a_friend]

So in terms of snow: Comparing 520d and 525xd back to back I can honestly say that for winters (if you drive a lot of highways outside the city) i'd get an XD. It's a totally different beast in the snow and gives much more confidence in higher speeds, especially in overtaking. If you drive 99% of the time in the city - i'd get a rear-wheel drive. It's much more fun in the corners and I only got stuck once with it over the whole course of winter when the car was parked outside for a week in spring and the snow below it basically turned into perfect ice. Tires will play a major difference here. I used Conti Viking Contact 6 on my XD (no spikes) but I plan to buy Michelin X-Ice North this coming winter to get even better traction. In terms of reliability - honestly, I think F10 is one of those cars that if you take care of it, it will never let you down. I had the car outside for a week without starting when it was -30 on average and it started instantly. In summer I had it parked in the airport for 35 days (note, the battery was 6 years old), and it started instantly. I drove my 525xd in winter from Finland to Austria (14-hour drives, 2 days in a row) - zero problems. No oil leaks, no coolant leaks, zero issues. Everything that I fixed on a car would be the same on any other brand since it's just wear & tear. But the level of comfort is much higher that in any competitor I drove. I think the only thing that actually "broke" was my webasto. But that's a 200€ fix (by the way, I'd highly recommend this option as it makes your life in winter so much more comfortable). My suggestion is as follows: set aside 2k€ when buying an F10, ensure that all of the major issues are taken care of before buying, then take it to a good BMW workshop and fix everything you can. And then forget about any fixes for a couple of years.

[@tuulik6588]

@@asking_for_a_friend Thank you so much for the very detailed reply! That's very helpful! Good to hear that they aren't that unreliable, I guess it really does come down to how well has the car been taken care of maintenance-wise. I'll only buy it when it has full-service history, not gonna take any chances with that. Going with the XD for sure with some decent tires. I'll try to find one with Webasto too. I'll also try to set aside as much as possible for repairs and hope it won't bankrupt me :D

[@asking_for_a_friend]

@@tuulik6588 full service history is great, but remember, that BMW has an electronic service book so most of the basic repairs are never reflected there :) I would try to find one from the owner that kept all of the service receipts to prove that for example oil change was done more often than every 30,000km (as BMW suggests). If you buy a car with less than 150k milleage, official dealer's history and regiment would be ok, but get ready to change all of the technical liquids (e.g. gearbox oil, transfer box oil, etc.) as these are not part of BMW official service. If you go for more than 150k - better find a car that had a fanatic owner that changed oil every 10k, maintained the car well and kept the receipt :) This would save you a lot of effort and cash. My previous 520d (2010) I bought with 210k on the clock, but with rear-wheel drive there are less potential issues. I drove that one for 15k, replaced front suspension as it was basically dead, as well as most of the parts mentioned in this very video. So you could say I spent extra 3k€ to drive 15k :) Not the cheapest purchase. I'll make a cost breakdown for 1 year of ownership in a couple of weeks to summarize how much did it cost me to own this for the last year.

[@YOCOSMINMAX16]

Thank you!!

[@raalaa121]

Picked up a 520d M Sport F11 wish me luck ... my last BM, X6 E71 40d died from a hpfp failure and BMW wanted 12k to change complete fuel system so I had to sell it as a non runner, made an absolute loss on that car around 10k GBP.

[@asking_for_a_friend]

I feel your pain. I'm now collecting all the data for my annual "cost of ownership" and I can honestly say that it would be comparable to leasing a new 530e :) But with only 15k kilometres per year instead of mine 40k.

[@raalaa121]

@@asking_for_a_friend Not what I want to hear to be honest. If that's the case I will be leasing to save my self the headache of buying used in the future. Time will tell, I am hoping I can get 3 years "cheap" use out of my 520d F11.

[@asking_for_a_friend]

@@raalaa121 if your goal is 1-2 years of ownership and 15-20k drive you will definitely be able to have it on absolute minimum cost. For example in my car nothing actually broke, all of the maintenance was preventive. I guess I could’ve saved 4-5k easy if I “waited” and sold it in the end of its lifespan :)

[@DieselPurge]

BMW has alot of plastics on it's engines and over time they all crack.

[@dimsheks]

That’s true. However, in most cases these are very small repairs (unless it’s something major that’s causing leaks, but those you will see regardless)

[@psq007]

Bubble of rust wont appear on fender, its aluminum😊

[@asking_for_a_friend]

That’s what I thought. However, it seems to be a factory defect since BMW has an official manual on how to fix these. They mostly appear in cars with silver color and I must admit that the car I currently have has it and it’s going to BMW to be fixed

[@lockettlv]

ATE are good brakes along with TRW, they don't squeal. I dont know where are you pulling prices from, but demfer for example is not that expensive, INNA which is a good manufacturer will cost yout 140EUR which is not a lot and is cheaper to change even you do it every 100k km.

[@asking_for_a_friend]

Off the shelf cheap ATE brakes are crap. I had them on 2 cars and they always squealed in winter. Can't say anything about ATE Ceramic, I heard good things about those but didn't use them. There are spare parts where you can save money and there are those where you shouldn't save money. I don't put off-the-shelf parts that are under heavy load on my cars. But every time I buy a car I have to fix everything that went wrong because the previous owners had a philosophy of "this is just as good as an original". Might work for some people, doesn't work for me. This is not a video about "what's the cheapest way to own a BMW before it falls apart". It's about how to maintain its original condition as well as I can.

[@duyanhnguyen8579]

4:43 damn my car rocks a little when shifting between R-N-D (in whatever order)... should it be serviced immediately or should I monitor whether it gets worse over time? and how expensive fix are we talking about?

[@asking_for_a_friend]

The spare parts are quite cheap. We are talking about 200$ worth of spares. But the total cost will depend on your location and the price of work. Replacing the rubber bushings for the final drive takes about 3 hours if done right by the service that did it before. In Finland I did it twice, once it took the service 4 hours, the other - 5 hours. And that’s the main cost in my case 😅 But I suggest taking care of it asap since every time you push the gas pedal - you increase the risk of the rubber mounts (differential and final drive) snapping

[@duyanhnguyen8579]

@@asking_for_a_friend thanks a ton! yep I noticed you live (or lived) in Finland, so do I, warm greetings xD Another phenomenon that I've noticed is there's some lagging between when I press the gas pedal and when the power actually kicks in, ~0.5second, it used to be immediate on my previous manual cars... is it something normal?

[@asking_for_a_friend]

@@duyanhnguyen8579 Does it have the same behaviour if you put your gear selector in Sport mode (pull the selector towards you when in D)? If yes - then it's an issue. If not - most likely its a lag since gearbox adapts to your driving and if you don't often push it too far, it becomes "slow" and reacts slower to the gas inputs. Usually in the Sport/Manual mode it's much more responsive so check it our first

[@duyanhnguyen8579]

@@asking_for_a_friend in sport mode, it seems more responsive but still not as immediate like how I used to drive manuals.. I understand if the RPM is low on comfort mode and that it takes time to accelerate to a certain speed, but unresponsive power input gets me a bit worried..

[@asking_for_a_friend]

@@duyanhnguyen8579 since the whole concept of "feeling" is subjective by default, it's hard to guess what could be an issue or even if there is any. I don't know what kind of cars you drove previously, but if they had similar power units (turbo-diesel engines) - then you are comparing apples to apples and one easy way to check whether your car is ok is to find a similar car at a local dealership and take it for a short test-drive. If, however, you drove naturally aspirated gasoline engines before, then it's a totally different feel. Turbo's take time to spool and naturally there is a turbo-lag in the low RPMs before your gearbox shifts to a lower gear. One easy fix (if everything works fine) is to install XHP Stage 3 software for your gearbox, it tunes the gearbox to be much more smooth in comfort mode and makes it more responsive in sports mode. There are plenty of places in Finland that could do that for you

[@dan8789]

What do you think about the led headlights compared to the xenon ones? As someone else said the xenon’s are actually better at night Thanks

[@asking_for_a_friend]

I had xenon on a previous car and I can say that adaptive LED (make sure it’s original as many owners put Chinese replica instead) is hands down one of the best options you can get. It’s extremely bright, very good adaptivity of high beams and as a small bonus it also makes the car look better :)

[@laurentium3337]

Regarding the rust you're mentioning on the front wing in the turn signal area - aren't most of the body panels made from aluminum except for the plastic bumpers? Technically it shouldn't rust since aluminum doesn't really rust, no?

[@asking_for_a_friend]

It’s a BMW mystery. Yes, it’s all aluminium but for some reason it also rusts. I assume it has something to do with the paint they chose or painting technique. I just picked up another F10 and it has rust in the door corners under the paint (going to the workshop to fix that)

[@laurentium3337]

@@asking_for_a_friend A mystery indeed. Looking forward to see the new car in another video.

[@Shortclipz446]

The video only applies to 2l engines? Or some them go with the 3l as well

[@asking_for_a_friend]

Same things apply to 3l engines. But with 3l you should make sure that the oil change intervals were short over the period of its lifetime (at least every 20tkm, but better every 10tkm) because N57 engines have a well know problem with the bearing failing. It’s more common on 535d (2 turbos) but still. Also, make sure to check the xdrive condition since with 3l the torque is much higher but the car is using the same parts (more or less) as the 2l. Go to an empty parking lot, turn the wheel all the way to one side and press the gas pedal. If you hear clicking noises from the front wheels - a very expensive fix is coming your way (around 800$ per side if you do it right, or 450$ per side for a “temporary” fix)

[@fisher_price]

Good video

[@xL33Gaming]

Whats the name of the heated pipe you changed twice?

[@asking_for_a_friend]

Not sure if I know the right name of it, but this is its OEM number: 13718516240. That's for the heated one. The non-heated one costs 12€ from BMW :)

[@xL33Gaming]

@@asking_for_a_friend Thanks alot! I guess heated ones have the electric connection in it?

[@cairnhill64]

how did you retrofit the tweeter traingles in your car?

[@asking_for_a_friend]

So even in the base audio you already have soft foam inside the triangles that should hold the tweeter in place. So even if you order a chinese Harman Kardon replica from Ali you would be ok. But I decided to order original HiFi triangles with new foam for this. The easiest way that I found to remove these is as follows: open the window fully, use a thin plastic trim removal tool and try to stick it between the triangle and the plastic door frame from the inner side of the door where the it would normally meet the pillar. Just press it in and you will see that is starts to come out. Then it's easy, just take it off and replace with a new one. The only tricky thing is installing the outer side of this triangle as there is a small plastic "hook" that has to go in perfectly in order for the triangle to fit.

[@steliofrasco3455]

On the 2l d version how often did you change the timing chain or at least the plastic guids and tensioners

[@asking_for_a_friend]

Haven’t changed it even once. Checked it at 180k when I cleaned the intake and engine block from all the grime and the chain was in a very decent shape. As far as I know it doesn’t make too much sense to only change the guides, but rather change it all at once. The job is the main cost in the process and if you do all the work might as well replace the chain :) As far as I know, my old 2l diesel is now at 235k km and the chain doesn’t show any signs of giving up yet. If the oil change intervals were around 15k or less for most of the car’s life, the chain can easily go for 250k. I know some people with 2l diesels who never changed it until 290k and it was still silent on cold starts with -20 outside

[@steliofrasco3455]

I have a 2009 320d with 170, 000km all bmw service till 150k so they change oil every 25,000km only. I have herd lots of issues with timing chain on this N47 2l d

[@asking_for_a_friend]

@@steliofrasco3455 if the service was done every 25-30k then yes, big chance of issues at around 200k. But my first BMW was the 2010 F10, 520d, bought it with 212tkm, had for a year and sold with 224tkm. Zero problems with the chain over the very cold winter (no noise, rattling etc)

[@laurentium3337]

How smooth is this automatic transmission? Do you feel it slightly when it upshifts or when it downshifts from 3-2-1? Basically is it completely smooth in all gears or not entirely and you do actually feel it a little bit?

[@asking_for_a_friend]

There was a very slight "kick" when going from 4 to 3rd but nothing else. Compared to how Mercedes of a similar age drives, I'd say shifts on the ZF gearbox (mine is the 8HP45) are much more noticeable. I have heard that with higher series (8HP70/75 etc) versions it may act a bit smoother but can't confirm from my own experience. I did the gearbox oil change (as well as all other technical liquids in the car) immediately after I bought it with 172k at the meter which helps a lot. One way to get rid of these kicks (at least it worked for me very well) was to instal XHP Stage 3 gearbox software. The car started to drive much smoother in the comfort mode

[@laurentium3337]

@@asking_for_a_friend thank you

[@steliofrasco3455]

Wow, you only kept your car for 10,000km. 😊

[@asking_for_a_friend]

Yes 😊 It was my first BMW so I didn’t know what I missed or what I wanted, wasn’t acquainted with options etc. it was a rear-wheel drive car and all the fun it brings to the table - I hated driving it in snowy highways so my goal was to replace it with xDrive before the following winter. And that xDrive is what you see in this video

[@MecanicDeWeekend]

You speak so much rubish jezus ...

[@asking_for_a_friend]

You sound constructive and right to the point. Say hi to your mom from me.

[@smiIingman]

Its pretty crazy how many insanely expensive 'common' faults BMW 5 series have of this year model. Being a volvo guy for 10 years ive been looking at the 5 series and mercedes 250cdi from 2012 and it seems the merc is the superior car in terms of failure points, alot less on it. Id stick with my 2012 xc60 but damn i cant find it comfy to drive at all despite it being in perfect condition, a shame really.

[@asking_for_a_friend]

@@smiIingman before my first F10 I was very close to getting a 2010 XC70. Almost pulled the trigger on it but then tested an F10 (520d from 2010) and changed my mind immediately. I bought a V50 Volvo recently as a spare and I can say that it’s whoever designed it was not thinking of self-service. Basic maintenance of the BMW engines is super easy, anyone can do it (oil, filers, etc). On a Volvo it takes time and dedication :) as for the failure points, 95% of BMW owners never notice these. But if you want to really experience a car the way it was designed - these have to addressed. I’d say Volvo is a mean of transportation, BMW is a car I truly enjoy driving. It’s 100% subjective and my opinion might be the opposite of yours, but we are all entitled to have one :) PS. Mercedes is usually 50% more expensive in terms of spare parts since there are way less aftermarket producers and you are very limited in options for many of them

[@smiIingman]

@@asking_for_a_friend Thanks for the reply, i never found the volvos i own to have been tricky to service tbh, ive a 940, -00 s70, 2005 v70 d5 and now the xc60 but i guess when you've been with a brand long enough anything on it starts to feel pretty simple so im likely just biased here. That is indeed one thing i was thinking of with the merc, they are far more rare and uncommon on the roads than BMW's. Theres a guy who lives just short of 20km from me whose whole job is to take apart BMW's and sell them for spare parts, guy makes a great living that way. The best volvo in terms of drive feel ive driven is my good ole turbo 940, the s70, v70 and xc60 all share similar characteristics, pretty basic at the end of the day, my xc60 does have a software update to where it theoretically has 240hp and it definitely is *fast* but the 4wd isn't working because the thing that converts power to the rear has had its splines sheared. But yeah, ive been eyeing high miler 5 series because my reasoning is that surely a high miler would've likely had many if not all type-faults adressed and i hear the diesels last just as much as volvo and merc diesel engines.

[@asking_for_a_friend]

@@smiIingman You are 100% correct, live with something long enough and you will become an expert :) I never had a chance to drive an older Volvo, even though there are tons of them here in Finland, I assume heavily modified by young drivers (based on the turbo spooling sounds :) My ultimate goal is to get an old 635i and do a resto-mod with it. But that's a 50-60k€ project so I will have to wait for a while

[@smiIingman]

@@asking_for_a_friend Only the ones with the turbos are actually fun to drive when we're talking older volvos, very simple to just up the boost pressure to just shy of 1bar and you got yourself a very fun car since you dont become blind to the speed of it like you do in newer cars, specially volvos. I too live in finland and one thing which bugs me about the things ive read about 2011-2014 bmw 5 series that apparently the webasto isn't actually heating the engine, only the cabin. I find that to be insanely weird design, my xc60 has remote function for the webasto which heats engine and cabin and man i do feel spoiled by it.

[@asking_for_a_friend]

@@smiIingman there might be a slight misunderstanding of how webasto's work there. From what I know, webasto is only heating the coolant of the car and it is usually connected to the climate control so it heats up the interior, yes, but it also warms up the engine. I had a webasto on my 525xd and the coolant was always warm (which is very important since oil warms up faster). On my current 530d I have the "engine heater" but it's kind of useless since it takes 2-3 hours to warm up the oil due to its inefficiency and it has to be plugged in the outlet to do so. On a webasto-equipped BMW I warmed up the car in 30 minutes when it was -24 outside :)

[@bogdanobretenov6960]

I will recommend if the car is with ADAPTIVE DRIVES suspension to take a look at the front and back suspensions because they are really expensive and hard for installation. I have this trouble and will cost me like 1k euro only for back pair of suspensions without the work!

[@asking_for_a_friend]

I agree, suspension overall is tricky, especially EDC. Mine has EDC and it will cost few thousand when it's "done". But if you live in the area with nice roads and test the car in warm weather, unfortunately it's not easy to check the condition of the suspension elements by driving the car for 30 minutes on the highway :) Unless it's completely destroyed, of course. Otherwise you need a lift or a stretch of bad road to "rock" the car side to side and feel the work of the suspension