Going to UK for F11 2012-2014 520d advice

[Ghostek]

Going next weekend with friend of mine to get nice F11 520d low mileage.

We are flying to Manchester and then driving around.

Any advice what to look out when looking at the F11 520d 525d ?

[Gavin46]

If you can go as new as a 14 it will mean whatever you buy will have some BMW warranty and you will be able to extend it going forward also check the time from the last service and current mileage lots of small hair cuts going on,the cream leather wares very poorly on these my brothers started to show ware around 20k with a light woman driving it most of the time,enjoy the trip gav

[rebel.ranter]

If you are looking at the 4 cylinder Diesel engines I would be looking for something would a build date after September 2014 that has the newer B47 engine. Timing chains are still know. To fail up to that point, in saying that there's no guarantee that the newer engines will not exhibit the same problems in the fullness of time.

Have a look at the sticky thread on here for buying a new car. There's some free checks you can do and I would go as far as to say do one of the paid checks as well.

[bazz26]

LCI F11 would have been available from mid 2013 and will have better standard spec than the pre LCI model. On the LCI model xenon headlights, sat nav and fully adjustable electric front seats were all standard. These were all optional extras on the pre LCI model. Easiest way to tell the LCI model is by the headlights and the side indicators are now relocated in the door mirrors. LCI M Sport also got the nicer new sport slim steering wheel. Engine wise, the 525d from early 2012 onwards is a twin turbo 2.0 litre 4 cylinder N47 engine rather than the older detuned 3.0 litre straight six from the 530d. From mid 2014 the N47 was replaced with the B47 engine, the B47 520d is 190bhp rather than the 184bhp in the older N47 engine. 8 speed ZF automatic gearbox is a pleasure to drive, so smooth and will be easier to sell on than the manual.

I've a 2014 F10 with the newer B47 engine and it's more refined and quiter than the older N47 engine, has a bit more lower end torque too but don't expect it to win any races in the Fxx series as they are big heavy cars. I get mid 40s mpg from mine which isn't bad for a car that size.

[Ghostek]

Thanks guys.
We will be doing full paid checks online for the cars we are interested in.
So hopefully will tell us a bit of history of the car.
Good to know about the engines. I'll keep this in mind.

[Ghostek]

Just one more question.

Which documents I need to have with the car to be able to register in Ireland ?

[rebel.ranter]

You need the full V5 (registration document), the seller just needs the Permanent export piece. Don't let them post off the V5 to the DVLA like they normally would when selling it to a local resident. Otherwise you'll be delayed by weeks.
You also need a copy of the receipt for the ferry that you took from the UK.

[dergside]

You'll also need an invoice or receipt from the seller of the car detailing the name of the seller, price paid, etc. whether you buy from a dealer or privately.