Advice needed for 523i (PI unit)

[wanaka]

Dears, it's been a while! My last beemer ride was a soft-top z4 3L. Just back from a long work stint overseas and looking at rides now. After driving several conti brands, I still miss beemer handling and performance.
I saw a couple of used 2012 Bmw 523i (PI) in sgcarmart at quite reasonable prices. I am a noob to PI cars but except for warranty, I reckon quality shouldn't be different to that from ADs for the same specs.

Can anyone advise how best to assess PI units, in this case 523i, and if it's best to do a health check prior to purchase, where are good workshops and contacts to do these checks? Thanks in advance and much appreciated your thoughts and best practices.

 

[ac323]

Dears, it's been a while! My last beemer ride was a soft-top z4 3L. Just back from a long work stint overseas and looking at rides now. After driving several conti brands, I still miss beemer handling and performance.
I saw a couple of used 2012 Bmw 523i (PI) in sgcarmart at quite reasonable prices. I am a noob to PI cars but except for warranty, I reckon quality shouldn't be different to that from ADs for the same specs.

Can anyone advise how best to assess PI units, in this case 523i, and if it's best to do a health check prior to purchase, where are good workshops and contacts to do these checks? Thanks in advance and much appreciated your thoughts and best practices.

Hi wanaka,

welcome back..


cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers

 

[sszone]

u have to be careful abt the specs, most PI models looks same on the outside but things such as lights, idrive might differ.
we have for instances, noticed that some of our customers PI F10 had projector headlights which they happily approached us to change to whiter lights but when we opened it, it was on halogen h7 bulbs and not xenon headlights.
For AD f10s, its all on xenon headlights.

u can approach any of our site sponsor workshops to do a pre-purchase check, if car dealer is agreeable.
cost abt 80-120 bucks. STA grading is meaningless and pre-purchase check with the dealer's ws is also of not much use as there's vested interest. best to get a neutral party ws to check.

 

[wanaka]

u have to be careful abt the specs, most PI models looks same on the outside but things such as lights, idrive might differ.
we have for instances, noticed that some of our customers PI F10 had projector headlights which they happily approached us to change to whiter lights but when we opened it, it was on halogen h7 bulbs and not xenon headlights.
For AD f10s, its all on xenon headlights.

u can approach any of our site sponsor workshops to do a pre-purchase check, if car dealer is agreeable.
cost abt 80-120 bucks. STA grading is meaningless and pre-purchase check with the dealer's ws is also of not much use as there's vested interest. best to get a neutral party ws to check.

Thanks sszone. I will make sure to do that. I also read about F10 is quite a sophisticated car in terms of software and electronics and that PML charges 'adoption fee' for PI cars before servicing them. Will you see software /code updates an issue for PI cars?

 

[Codewerx]

Depending on where the PI ride is from - the foreign Navi maps can be converted to the local maps.

Personally - Software updates is not going to be a problem.

But many PI cars are retrofitted with options outside of factory specs so PML can't handle it anyway so no point paying for the adoption.