  We present the first results of an XMM-Newton EPIC survey of NGC 2516, a
southern low-metallicity open cluster with an age close to the Pleiades. The
attained limiting sensitivity is of ~ 2.4 10^-15 erg sec^-1} cm^-2 in the
0.1--4.0 keV bandpass. This has been achieved by summing the data of the MOS
and PN cameras of two distinct observations for a total exposure time of ~ 33
ks and by analyzing the summed data set with the wavelet detection algorithm
developed at Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo (OAPA) that has yielded over
200 X-ray detections. Using data just from a single exposure or from a single
camera would have reduced by a factor 2--4 our limiting sensitivity and would
have resulted in 25--40% less X-ray detections. To date, 129 detections have as
counterparts one or more of the 540 photometrically selected cluster members in
the surveyed region, for a total of 147 likely detected members, with unique
identification in 112 cases. We derive the X-ray luminosity functions (XLF) of
NGC 2516 members of different spectral types and compare them with those of the
more metal rich, approximately coeval Pleiades cluster, finding the NGC 2516
photometrically selected dG and dK stars less luminous than the Pleiades. The
XLFs of the NGC 2516 and of the Pleiades dM stars are indistinguishable. We
compare the XMM-Newton results with those recently obtained with Chandra.
