hi from down under

Hi guys. I am new to BMW and have just recently bought a 520d here in Oz land. I do envy what prices that you guys can get in the US re the new 5er as the equivalent money I paid for this demonstrator would pay for a brand new specced out 550 there.

I love the drive and am enjoying the great fuel economy at the moment at 7.5L/100km which is roughly 31miles per gallon. Given this was a 5000km demo that had been thrashed a bit with people testing it pedal to the floor. it's supposed to do 45mpg as it hits around 10000km according to the dealer.

It came with a few options:
m sport, sports auto, prof nav, 19" 351, ambient lighting.

The only thing that I would want (actually my wife would want)is the reverse view and side view cameras. I know someone here mentioned that you can get a kit from alekshop.com and get it retro-fitted, but I am worried about the difficulty of installing this and whether BMW would say I voided the warranty by adding 3rd party mods.

If anyone has experience retro fitting the front and rear camera on the F10, can you let me know who easy/difficult this was done and whether this affects the warranty.

Thank you all in advance and I love Bimmerfest for it's very informative nature and helpfulness which allowed me to buy the 5er.

Sorry, I can't help you with the cameras. But, welcome to the 'fest -- congratulations on your new car! Send some pictures including some nice Australian backgrounds .

Thank you markl53.

I promise to post some other pics when i take it up the coast next weekend.

Here are a couple of quick ones from the pics that the dealer had still.

=)

Holy crap they installed your steering wheel on the wrong side!! j/k :-)

Enjoy the ride, looks nice.

What is that underneath the grill? Is that the fins of the radiator? Shouldn''t there be something covering that?

Originally Posted by PsychDoc1

What is that underneath the grill? Is that the fins of the radiator? Shouldn''t there be something covering that?

Part of the whole idea of the M-Sport package is to look mean and racy .

Originally Posted by FastMarkA

Holy crap they installed your steering wheel on the wrong side!! j/k :-)

+1. It always looks so strange when viewing pictures of the "backwards" setup.

Originally Posted by PsychDoc1

What is that underneath the grill? Is that the fins of the radiator? Shouldn''t there be something covering that?

That's the license plate thing, if that's what you mean? haha.

I 'd at "Holy crap they installed your steering wheel on the wrong side!! j/k :-)"

btw, do u guys recommend that i take up the 3yr tire & rim insurance right now or after the current manufacturer's tyre warranty expires in 1yr's time? i'm on the notorious Goodyear 19's...

Originally Posted by PsychDoc1

What is that underneath the grill? Is that the fins of the radiator? Shouldn''t there be something covering that?

That's the front bumper of the M Sport package.

Originally Posted by bkalos

Hi guys. I am new to BMW and have just recently bought a 520d here in Oz land. I do envy what prices that you guys can get in the US re the new 5er as the equivalent money I paid for this demonstrator would pay for a brand new specced out 550 there.

I love the drive and am enjoying the great fuel economy at the moment at 7.5L/100km which is roughly 31miles per gallon. Given this was a 5000km demo that had been thrashed a bit with people testing it pedal to the floor. it's supposed to do 45mpg as it hits around 10000km according to the dealer.

It came with a few options:
m sport, sports auto, prof nav, 19" 351, ambient lighting.

The only thing that I would want (actually my wife would want)is the reverse view and side view cameras. I know someone here mentioned that you can get a kit from alekshop.com and get it retro-fitted, but I am worried about the difficulty of installing this and whether BMW would say I voided the warranty by adding 3rd party mods.

If anyone has experience retro fitting the front and rear camera on the F10, can you let me know who easy/difficult this was done and whether this affects the warranty.

Thank you all in advance and I love Bimmerfest for it's very informative nature and helpfulness which allowed me to buy the 5er.

Welcome! Car looks great!

Originally Posted by bkalos

That's the license plate thing, if that's what you mean? haha.

I 'd at "Holy crap they installed your steering wheel on the wrong side!! j/k :-)"

btw, do u guys recommend that i take up the 3yr tire & rim insurance right now or after the current manufacturer's tyre warranty expires in 1yr's time? i'm on the notorious Goodyear 19's...

Welcome! Is that Dark Graphite I with Oyster/Black?? That's a beautiful combination. I have dark graphite with black dakota, but would have gone with oyster/black if I trusted my ability to keep it clean. A lot of us really wish we even had some diesel 5'ers available here, so don't feel too bad about paying a premium for it.

If you plan on keeping the run-flats, would definitely recommend the tire package. There were a couple discussions on the variability of prices people pay for it, but I don't think anyone was where toilets flush the wrong way Several people have been very happy with the Michelin Pilot Super Sports replacing the run-flats, but then you should probably keep a spare in the trunk. There's a wealth of useful information on the older links, definitely browse around.

Originally Posted by Me530

That's the front bumper of the M Sport package.

Yikes.

Loving the car, but not really feeling the exposed radiator beneath the kidney grill thing.

Originally Posted by PsychDoc1

Yikes.

Loving the car, but not really feeling the exposed radiator beneath the kidney grill thing.

Its not really exposed radiator, it just looks like exposed radiator.

Originally Posted by bavariancraving

Welcome! Is that Dark Graphite I with Oyster/Black?? That's a beautiful combination. I have dark graphite with black dakota, but would have gone with oyster/black if I trusted my ability to keep it clean. A lot of us really wish we even had some diesel 5'ers available here, so don't feel too bad about paying a premium for it.

If you plan on keeping the run-flats, would definitely recommend the tire package. There were a couple discussions on the variability of prices people pay for it, but I don't think anyone was where toilets flush the wrong way Several people have been very happy with the Michelin Pilot Super Sports replacing the run-flats, but then you should probably keep a spare in the trunk. There's a wealth of useful information on the older links, definitely browse around.

It's Carbon Black with Oyster/Black. I'm a little worried abt trying to keep a black car clean and I know it's gonna be very hot in summer. But I cant get enough of a black car.

Decided to go for the insurance on wheel + rim. $815AUS for 3yrs. I rang up a Beaurepairs shop, and they quoted me $950AUS to replace 1 RFT tire including wheel alignment, if I didn't have insurance. That made my decision very easy...

Originally Posted by Me530

Its not really exposed radiator, it just looks like exposed radiator.

If it's not an exposed radiator then why would they put a fake exposed radiator there