I’ve owned my BMW 520 SE since July 2017 and covered 50,000 trouble free miles. This car is extremely reliable, cheap to run and looks the part. It does however have some flaws. Firstly the standard seats on SE models aren’t all that comfortable and should be much better on a car of such a price. The steering is vague and at motorway speed has absolutely no feel to it. The gearbox is a bit jerky and slow to change down especially at roundabouts. The ride quality on 18 inch wheels is very firm and performance is average in the comfort setting but very good in sport mode. The window wipers aren’t great in very heavy rain even on full speed. Interior build quality is good apart from the odd creak from the touchscreen system but this problem goes away once it has warmed up. It’s a very low down car so it’s not suitable for passengers with back pain, physical disabilities etc as getting in and out of the passenger side is very difficult. No such problem on the drivers side. Refinement is very good but on certain road surfaces tyre noise is a problem. Keeping the interior of the car clean is a challenge as the digital cockpit, touchscreen system and gloss black trim are an absolute magnet for dust. I have enjoyed owning this car and it’s great for motorways and not urban driving. No DPF problems whatsoever and adblue consumption of 9 litres per 18,000 miles. It’s now time for it to go. Would I buy another one? Definitely not.

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