A review of my 2010 F02 730Li

[initialM]

N52 engine debut in end 2005 and N52N is an updated version released in late 2008, to solve the engine lifter tappet noise issue. i am not sure about N52T. yours comes with N52T?

Can the noise reduce by using additive oil ie X1r? Now my style regularly oil change every 5k km.
IMHO M54 is still the best engine and of course my dream is S54. Dunno la can come true or not

 

[EL118]

Can the noise reduce by using additive oil ie X1r? ot

Dun know, anybody tried it?

i heard one way is to change to cyclinder head to new design.

 

[CleanWorldPeace]

Hi CleanWorldPeace,

I think the N52, N52N engines refer to certain emission guidelines. I don't know much about N52T - AFAIK, all N52 designations refer to naturally aspirated IL6 engines.

Hi wobbles,

Thanks for the info. Been reading your posts and seems like you must make a trip up soon to meet all the admirers of your ride!

Got my F02 early this year. One of the courtesy cars during last year's LPGA event in October. No idea who used it during that event! They must have more cars now as BMW also sponsored this year's PGA and LPGA events in KL.

 

[CleanWorldPeace]

N52 engine debut in end 2005 and N52N is an updated version released in late 2008, to solve the engine lifter tappet noise issue. i am not sure about N52T. yours comes with N52T?

Have called the salesperson to check whether it is N52N or N52T. If you go to the bmw.com.my website and check on pre-owned car specs., you will find N52T?!

 

[CleanWorldPeace]

Have called the salesperson to check whether it is N52N or N52T. If you go to the bmw.com.my website and check on pre-owned car specs., you will find N52T?!

Salesman at AB Glenmarie just confirmed it is N52T... He cannot tell me more regarding the difference between N52, N52N and N52T! EL118, can I trouble you to find out? Based on the alphabet, does that mean N52T is another upgrade from N52N?

 

[EL118]

Salesman at AB Glenmarie just confirmed it is N52T... He cannot tell me more regarding the difference between N52, N52N and N52T! EL118, can I trouble you to find out? Based on the alphabet, does that mean N52T is another upgrade from N52N?

best u can check for yourself. log on to www.realoem.com

key in the last 7 digits of the chassis no. the engine type will be shown together with other info like production date etc.

 

[andrewk]

Some info on the N52 on wikipedia.. BMW N52

Doesn't show it with the T or N, but it does refer to 3 versions of the N52B30.

 

[ssmann]

Very nice write up Wobbles!

 

[wobbles]

Salesman at AB Glenmarie just confirmed it is N52T... He cannot tell me more regarding the difference between N52, N52N and N52T! EL118, can I trouble you to find out? Based on the alphabet, does that mean N52T is another upgrade from N52N?

In my opinion, realoem.com is the best guide. Everything I've checked thus far has come up spot on. Word for word match on what I have on my log cards

I had my doubts about the F02 730Li when it was made available in Singapore in early 2010. Around the same time, there was news about how BMW were getting some of the F02s to be made in Thailand. Now, no offense to our ASEAN neighbours, but if I was about to fork out close to $360,000 for a car, I'd rather have that car put together in Germany & shipped over! My sales exec. reassured me that all F02 730Li models imported into Singapore were manufactured in Germany. Given the fact that the F02 740Li had the issue with the HPFP around the same time I was in the market for a new car, I took the sales exec's word for it, and commited to the F02 730Li - in my mind, better to have a Thailand made car, than a car with a faulty engine!

Then, bro EL118 showed me the realOEM.com website - I keyed in my VIN, and voila: it WAS made in Germany, with an N52N engine... I happy liao

 

[CleanWorldPeace]

In my opinion, realoem.com is the best guide. Everything I've checked thus far has come up spot on. Word for word match on what I have on my log cards

I had my doubts about the F02 730Li when it was made available in Singapore in early 2010. Around the same time, there was news about how BMW were getting some of the F02s to be made in Thailand. Now, no offense to our ASEAN neighbours, but if I was about to fork out close to $360,000 for a car, I'd rather have that car put together in Germany & shipped over! My sales exec. reassured me that all F02 730Li models imported into Singapore were manufactured in Germany. Given the fact that the F02 740Li had the issue with the HPFP around the same time I was in the market for a new car, I took the sales exec's word for it, and commited to the F02 730Li - in my mind, better to have a Thailand made car, than a car with a faulty engine!

Then, bro EL118 showed me the realOEM.com website - I keyed in my VIN, and voila: it WAS made in Germany, with an N52N engine... I happy liao

Did the realoem check and the answer was N52N but AB Glen said N52T!!! The question remains unanswered!

 

[andrewk]

Here's a link which shows the difference between an N52 and N52N - http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52608

 

[CleanWorldPeace]

Here's a link which shows the difference between an N52 and N52N - http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52608

Thanks Andrew. The question is N52T is not mentioned anywhere?!

 

[EL118]

Did the realoem check and the answer was N52N but AB Glen said N52T!!! The question remains unanswered!

I think the salesman quoted wrongly. i have also checked on my friend's F10 528 which share the same engine N52N.

 

[initialM]

In my opinion, realoem.com is the best guide. Everything I've checked thus far has come up spot on. Word for word match on what I have on my log cards

Thats what I like about BMW the VIN No is like the birth cert. No matter how old your BMW u cant go wrong with VIN. Thats why originality is important to me regardless the model of BMW. And my personal preference is BMW fully manufactured in Germany.

 

[wobbles]

Thats what I like about BMW the VIN No is like the birth cert. No matter how old your BMW u cant go wrong with VIN. Thats why originality is important to me regardless the model of BMW. And my personal preference is BMW fully manufactured in Germany.

Hear hear. Now, that is NOT to say that the CKD or SKD models are in anyway 'inferior' - clearly, they are not. From what I've come to understand (after doing some more reading about it), the CKD/SKD scheme is essentially a scheme to allow for 'assembly' in Malaysia, thus attracting lower taxes, which isn't a bad thing, as the most important bits of the car (e.g. the electronics, the ECU, the engine) are all made overseas (Germany, mainly, for BMW) - and only the final fitting together is done in Malaysia.

But, as I said, if I were to be paying through my NOSE for a BMW, let my Bimmer come fully assembled & shipped from Dingolfing (my F02 & my upcoming F13, hehehe)

 

[owner118]

Hi fellow forumers,

I thought it would be a good icebreaker & perhaps generate some discussion with this attempt at putting down my thoughts and impressions about my F02 730Li.

I guess it’s good to start with a little background. I used to come from a family of 3-pointed star drivers. My old man thought the world of the old E-classes, my mom owned one of the (back then really cool) 190E baby C-class. It was therefore only a foregone conclusion and simply an anticipated expectation that I too, would end up being a Merc driver. In fact, it was an ambition of mine that I would purchase my first Merc before I turned 30.

And that's exactly what I went on to do, a few months short of my 30th birthday. A spanking new, cute as a button - with those demure peanut eyes peeking out at me from beneath the bonnet - W203 C200K. That was nearly 9 years ago.

At first, my wife and I loved it. It was our little baby. Then the unthinkable - the unbelievable - happened. The W203 started misbehaving. At first, it was just little annoyances – ESP, BAS failing. Then, the creaks & groans came. Finally, the engine started to shudder at a particular RPM range. And the last straw? The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back? That was when we realised we were spending more time in the courtesy car than we were in our own W203 (which was being housed in Cycle & Carriage’s repair garage – in a vain attempt to nurse it back to health).

In less than a year, I traded in the W203 – and you would think I’d wised up by now & avoided Mercs like the plague, but no… I guess I’m really not as clever as I’d like to think I am. So, we ended up with the newly launched W211 E200K. I have to admit, the four-eyed look did me in back then.

This one was a far better buy. For a start, it drove like a dream. Soft suspension setting, the classic wafting you’d expect from Mercedes – albeit somewhat underpowered (the first iteration only had 168 hp). Then, when the LCI (refresh) model came out, I got the ECU chipped & tuned up to the standard 184 horses, and that kept me happy…

Then, sadly, things took a turn for the worse. Again. There was a factory recall to fix the SBC braking system. After they fixed it, the car kept producing a high pitched whine that refused to go away. Then, there was another factory recall to change the fuel tank. Finally, the hydraulics at the steering column started to fail. All this in a less than 4 year old car with 25,000km on the clock.

That’s when I decided to break away from the time honoured family tradition of the 3-pointed star, and aimed my sights elsewhere. And, as luck would have it, my class mate from primary school was in the hunt for an E92 M3 coupe round the same time as I started getting the itch to shop for a new car.

So, we went over to Performance Motors and sat down and did a double deal. He got his M3, and I walked out with my first ever BMW - an E65 730i. It was as comfortable (if not more comfortable) as the ride of the old W211, and it felt immensely more planted on those 19” standard rims. Power wise? 258 horses never felt so good. Amazingly, the handling was taut and precise – yet, the ride quality was refined and cosseting. Wife and I were totally taken in.

All this while, I had the impression that if you wanted a car to trash around on the roads, with a harsh ride and violent acceleration, BMW was the way to go. And if you wanted a stately elegance, a cocoon to buffet you from the bumps on the road, you’d go for a Merc. Well, I frankly didn’t think the BMW E65 could take the best elements of both aspects and meld it into one successful product. But it did, and we were hooked.

Fast forward 2 years, and the E65 was still performing its duties manfully. However, it was nearing the end of its lifecycle, and the new F02 was on its way. I would have loved to keep the E65, but another factor we Singaporeans have to live with is the price of the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) – and that was rapidly climbing skyward.

The new F02 also had major technological advances that the older generation E65 lacked. While our trusty E65 came with decent specifications, the F02 blew it out of the water. Comfort seats, 10.2” LCD/TFT screen, hard drive GPS, Bluetooth, Comfort Access, HDD music, Integral Active Steering, Dynamic Drive Control with Adaptive Dampers (essentially you could ratchet up or down the throttle response & gear shift points, and even ‘tune’ the suspension to your likely), reverse camera with guidance … it even came with a (IMHO somewhat redundant) sunroof! The option list just went on & on!

We reluctantly bade goodbye to the still solid E65 and bought the F02 at the end of 2010. Around that time, there were some reports of high pressure fuel pump failures in the 740i/740Li models in the States, so to be safe, we went back to the trusty N52 engine & locked in the 730Li.

However, this time, the car didn’t feel as comfortable (to my wife) as our old E65. Sure, it had oodles of power, and the creamy smooth inline-6 was just as we remembered, but for some reason, the ride wasn’t as supple, and the car, for want of a better word, felt ‘frisky’.

This went on for a couple of months – and then, the penny dropped. There was nothing wrong with the car – the only thing that changed was the fact that the new 7 all came shod in runflat tyres! God, my backside hated the runflats!

Out went the standard 18” rims and I ordered new 21” babies with proper tyres. And the wife stopped complaining almost overnight. The only trouble is I have to keep going back to this one station to get nitrogen pumped into the wheels, but that’s a small, small price to pay for a far, far more comfortable ride.

So, it’s now coming up to just under a year of running the F02. We’ve clocked only about 4000km (yes, yes, Singapore’s size is pathetic), and we’ve yet to let the F02 stretch her legs up the PLUS North South Highway, but in the time we’ve owned our second 7 series, we’ve experienced nothing but (to steal BMW’s tagline) JOY.

Thank you for reading my review of the F02. With my new baby (the F13 640i M-sport coupe) coming next year, I’d be sure to update fellow forumers with the drive experience then!

Wow you have a very nice car!!!
To me, the E65 was not as durable as the Mercedes equivalent. Bad roads can cost malfunctions unlike the Mercedes from personal experience so must take extra care. Electronics replacement was very costly due to modular packaging availability.

 

[wobbles]

Thanks for the comments, bro owner118 ... how come your nickname is so similar to bro EL118 ah? relatives ah hehehe Welcome to the forums!

 

[EL118]

Thanks for the comments, bro owner118 ... how come your nickname is so similar to bro EL118 ah? relatives ah hehehe Welcome to the forums!

he is from the 3 pointed star group, i am in the turbine roundel camp.

 

[andrewk]

he is from the 3 pointed star group, i am in the turbine roundel camp.

Your alter-ego perhaps? hahah! Summore, profile pic also JDM MPV!

 

[EL118]

Your alter-ego perhaps? hahah! Summore, profile pic also JDM MPV!

Hi bro, i noticed u hv driven a E34 525 Manual before, how was it like ?