Sri Lanka It's Happening

August 16, 2006

Went for a test drive in the 520i on sunday. It was a total disappointment. The car doesn't move at all. Even if you press the gas to the floor it bearly inches forward. You can get better performance out of a nissan sunny. Now this is not an indictment on the E39, 520i. It's just this car, then again maybe not. The engine is probably too small for such a large car.

This is the first time that I have driven a BMW with septronic gears, so I actually asked the owner's driver who accompanied us if the it's equipped with a sports and manual mode selector. He didn't know. I then moved into manual mode hoping to get some reaction out of the car, after flooring it a bit I did manage to make it move at about 80km/h. Then I had to overtake and pressed the paddle again only to see the car automatically downshift even while in manual. That was a nasty suprise.

I then had a chat with Milroy and he said this car had never gone over 60km/h in recent years because the owner hates driving fast!! Why on earth did he buy a BMW? Because the car had been treated in this manner in recent times, there is a carbon build up in the engine, particularly in the injectors and that might have to be cleaned. Even then according to Milroy, a 520 will never be as fast as my 316. You need to go for a 525.

On top of that, the ball joints are said to be worn out and unfortunately with the fives, if you start meddling with it, you might end up doing the whole suspension and the bill will run into several hundred thousands. If I am slapped with such a bill after spending a lot more than I can afford to spend to buy the car, I am sure to end up in the poor house.

So I had to sadly call the owner and apologise for wasting his time.

Posted by raditha at August 16, 2006 1:42 AM