Welcome back everybody. It's Mark with
Exotic Car Play Place. Thanks for coming back everybody, great to see you here, and today we're gonna have another little treat for you
in a long series of reliable BMWs. You guys have been asking for the best cars
available on the used car market, well today we're going to talk about the best,
most reliable 5 Series BMWs available today. The focus today is not the fastest
car, it's not the cheapest car, it's the most reliable BMW car. Now let's get started. The first one happens to be the 2010 to
2011 f10, but it's the 528i specifically, because if you go a year newer, all of a
sudden, BMW switched things up and they use the turbocharged four-cylinder motor,
but in these particular cars, in these two generation, in this generation those
2 years, still feature the inline 6 engine. This still features the n52 or
n53 inline 6, normally aspirated motor, depending on if you're talking the
European version, or the Canadian/US version, they are very close in design.
The European version produces 255 horsepower at 229 pound-feet of torque,
while the Canadian or US market version produces 240 horsepower, with about 221
pound-feet of torque. Both engines either way create a very
lively driving experience, so performance isn't necessarily something you've given
up, but these engines have a long record of reliability associated with them.
While they're not flawless, they are a very, very sturdy design. The second most
reliable vehicle in the 5 Series models goes to the e39 525i. Now why is that
such a great car, well again we talk about it's the good old fashioned inline
six, the two and a half litre inline-six engine that's been known for its
reliability. This is actually the m54 b25 engine that has been around for a while and if I can make a recommendation, I would say stick with the 2001 to 2003 model years, because that car also went through the
lifecycle impulse, or the LCI updates, so it was a little bit updated in terms of
the overall styling. It was a prettier car, but it went through all the more
recent changes, but it still maintained that overall reliable two and a half
litre inline-six engine that produced 189 horsepower and a hundred and
eighty-one foot-pounds of torque, which was more than enough to light up your
day. It had a revised intake, used a fully electronic throttle with no mechanical
backup, an aluminum block, and aluminum heads, which was very important as these
cars developed, they become a little bit lighter, and a little bit more reliable,
it also had a 6,500 rpm red light, and the dual Vanos. Now the Vanos of course
variable valve timing creates a more drivable car through the rev range
because you're varying the timing of the ca.rTthat would be the only part of the
engine that is a little bit more maintenance intensive, but again overall
this two and a half litre inline-six is a very very reliable machine. Now my
third choice goes to a little bit older car. It's the e34 525 IX, and why is
this car so special? Well firstly, understand it is the two and a half
litre, inline-six engine, this one did not use the double vanos yet, but what's
special is this car was produced in relatively low numbers, and around
the tune of under 10,000 cars for the year, but it was the first car and only
model in that five series that utilized all-wheel-drive, which was a great thing to have for those people that wanted the extra
traction for poor road conditions. Maybe living further in the north they found
this very, very practical, it wasn't an intrusive setup, it wasn't a particularly
unreliable setup, and overall if I can suggest the 92 to 96 model years for
this car is where you want to be. So this was the M50 b25 engine, so that's B25 being the two and a half liters, but the m50 motor, which was in I
block single overhead cam engine, two and a half litre inline-six, that utilize
knock sensing plastic intake, with ten and a half to one compression ratio and
a 6,500 rpm redline. It was still able to muster up a hundred
and eighty nine horsepower and about a hundred and eighty pound feet of torque.
Now the fourth one on my selection or on my list happens to be the e39 540i now
who said every car that has to be reliable also has to be slow, and this is
a great example of that, because the 540 was built between 1995 and 2003, and
actually utilized the 4.4 liter v8 engine that produced 282 horsepower ,and
about 320 pound-feet of torque. Now if you coupled this with a manual
gearbox, you had a car that was very, very comparable to the m5 of the e39
generation, some of the other reliability concerns that you would have
with the m5, the 540, was a more practical version of an m5, and was how we say
de-tuned, possibly it was an entirely different engine, but it really it was
largely a performance car. That being said, other than typical things like
water pumps, and the oddly key item, you know it was actually a very reliable car.
Yeah now because they're getting older, you're gonna find more issues in the
suspension, and bushings, and struts, and water pumps, and leaky valve cover
gaskets, pretty routine stuff, typical BMW, but overall for a performance car,
it was very reliable. Now you have to understand some of these e39 cars were
built in Germany, some were built in Russia, and some were built in Mexico, so
take that for what it's worth, but anyway, either way, my recommendation for number four is the 540i with a manual transmission. And so my fifth choice goes out to a 2007 E60 528i. While generally speaking the E60s
weren't the most reliable generation of all the five series cars that BMW has
ever produced, the 528 brings back a touch of practicality as well as
reliability to the whole line. If you want reliability my recommendation is
stay away from the diesels, stay away from the m5, and even stay away from
anything of the larger V8s. or the 535, with the wonderful n54 motor,
that had a host of issues for reliability. Stay away from those. If you
want reliability, you like the Chris Bengal era, by the 528i,
it was very straightforward engine that produced 240 horsepower and about 230
pound feet of torque. Of course it was a normally aspirated inline 6, but it was
so far refined already, it was a great crisp performing engine with large
amounts of reliability still associated with it. Now understand the early
generations, the reason I would say go with the later the better 2007 to 2010
of the m-52 B30 engines, the reason I say go with the later stuff, is because
the earlier ones, there were some lifts or related issues in the engine due to
the head design in the engine. It basically had some lifts or problems and
you don't want engine for issues of any sort. Outside of that, the later models of
this engine design we're improved and overall this car, the 528i in the E60 was a very reliable late model BMW that you can enjoy and not have to worry
about a lot of issues along the way. So everybody, I really hope you enjoyed that
latest list, that is my top 5 rounding off of the most reliable 5 Series cars
that you can find on the used car market today. If in fact you realize that maybe
the 5 series isn't for you, because of course some people like the smaller
sportier cars, of course I created videos for the most and least reliable 3
series cars available as well, but hey if you guys have any other ideas or any
other recommendations, love to hear it below in the comment section below.
Please share that with me, so all the other readers and Watchers can certainly
capitalize on some of those benefits. Thanks again everybody. I hope you
enjoyed that. We'll talk to you real soon. See you then. Bye-bye.
