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.