Like BLACKURA_NY I have sadly left the TL owners club for a German vechicle. My German vehicle of choice is the 2012 BMW 535i. I took a hard look at the Audi A6 Prestige, but for me, the BMW appealed to me just a bit more. It is definitely a more luxurious ride than my 2009 tl sh-awd, and has a lot more low end grunt. The tl was a great car and a great value, but the BMW is one sweet ride. Thanks for letting me share.

 

have to agree, if i had a choice between that 535i and a sh-awd.. i would pick the 535.. sadly its more expensive so the tl was the choice i had.

 

Nice set of wheels

 

very nice!

 

Congrats - I don't think too many Aziner's will criticize your choice. Most of us would have seriously considered Beemer's or Audi's had prices been more competitive with comparative equipment to our TL's. That being said, I love my TL and wish you the best with your BMW.

 

Congratulation on your new car.....

This is somethng I would never understand from TL owners.....if you can comfortably afford a TL SH-AWD and you really wanted a 535i you could have get it....as simple as waiting a bit more to afford a bit larger down payment....

I do not think "most" of us TL owners would have gone the Audi or Bimmer route....we even did a poll a while ago...

 

Congrats on your new ride. Would also get a 5'r if I was going to get a 4 door car.

 

Infact, beaten to death...just saying

 

beautiful car! enjoy!

 

It would be gracious just saying “congrats on your new ride” without "just saying" the same old, same old editorial.

 

I did congratulate the owner of the 535 with no further comments and, separately, (as you can see from the included quotes) I did let know the other 2 TL owners that "craved" the 535 that maybe they had options if they really did want that car....

 

its not just the price on the car.. they are 10k at min.. but the fact that bmw's are not the cars to OWN. Once your out of warranty, your forking out a lot more than you really bargain for.

one of the reasons why i went with the TL is its reliability, features, and cost of maintenance.


plus.. bmw charges for every little thing..

 

^^^ Agreed!

 

Beautiful ride man! Opposite of you, i looked long and hard at the 5 Series, but went with the A6

Having a tad buyers remorse... the TL did everything the A6 does... not sure if it was necessary to buy a car that was $20k+ more... but, I work hard.. so I felt i deserved it

Its funny, the 5 series had more low end grunt like you described, but lacked the top end boogie.. where as the A6 is the opposite... I guess that's the real noticeable difference between turbo and superchargers.

If you don't mind, what was the sticker on your car?

 

nice choice! the 5 series looks better than any of the Audi models, including the A7 (eww!) The 5 series is the only car that looks appealing this year to me.

 

Congrats!! I drove the F10 535 a few times and it sure was a great vehicle. The thing definitely has a stronger low end than the TL.

 

Congrats, KC.

I hope you don't have the same BMW experience I had.

 

not a bad choice - i like the lines, but don't care for the wheels. I thought the 535 was a good ride when I went for a test drive, but the cabin wasn't as comfortable for me as the TL. The SH-AWD beat the pants off the X drive as well, and AWD was high criteria for me. I'm sure you'll enjoy it

 

^ i actually like the wheels.... i also like the M Sport F10 Wheels...

 

Very nice purchase! This is what I'm hoping to get into within a year or so....

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by TiggaMan909

Very nice purchase! This is what I'm hoping to get into within a year or so....

And I'm hoping to get into a RLX

 

Thought I would offer my $.02! I had a 530 XIT wagon. It was a great car; handling was out of this world-nice and tight. For 255 ponies, it flew. Loved the car in every way, but in the 20 months that I had it, had several major things go wrong. The rear hatch was an auto up/down; it ended up locking and staying like that, dealer fixed it. The iDrive with navi went out 4 months after warranty; they replaced it with a brand new system. Both of these issues were covered under the CPO warranty, no $ out of my pocket.

The biggest item was one day it decided to not start; the day before heading out on vacation to NY/Boston from Chicago. Had it towed to dealer, for 4 days they couldn't figure out was wrong. SA finally calls me and asks if I had spilled any water in the cargo area, I told him I hadn't. He says they found several inches of water in the area underneath the cargo area and that 3 electronic modules are damaged. I asked him how the water got there and they said they didn't know. He immediately tells me BMW won't cover this because it was environmental damage & that I should call my auto insurer & file a flood claim!! That caught my attention so I googled '530 flood issue', lo & behold I get to a BMW forum; turns out the wagons & X5's with panoramic sunroofs have huge flood issues. The night it got towed in Chicago, it rained about 7 inches. Water had no where to go but inside the cargo area. After bringing this to their attention, miraculously, the issue was an out of whack sunroof. They put in a new sunroof and 3 modules, at no cost.

So within 20 months, I had over $10k in issues, thank goodness foe CPO!

But, it was a great car.

 

Before settling for my current TL, I was looking in to 2009 CPO BMW 528xi. I loved the previous generation design from day one and thought this will be my chance. but decided to go with TL because of number of reasons.

The new design, at least for now, does not attract me that much. I think I like the edginess of the previous generation 5-series... who knows, may be my next car will be a 2010 528 xi?!?!?!

Oh, btw, congrats on your new ride KC.

 

Sticker was $63,590. I paid $59,500 for it, including the impact of a $1500 financing incentive. My plan was to trade in the tl and do the rest in cash, but I had to finance $7,500 to get the extra $1500. I will pay it off at the end of the 6 month prepay lockout period. Kind of strange they are willing to provide an extra $1500 to someone to finance the vehicle, but not to someone who is a cash buyer.

And to those of you who expressed concern about the reliability of the bimmer after the warranty period expires..well that was the primary reason I bought the TL. I bought the TL with my head. But for much of the time I owned it, I suffered from a horrible case of BMW envy. So, since this was never about affordibility, I finally succumed. But that TL was a great car. I traded it in on a Saturday, it was on the lot available for sale by the following weekend, and 3 days later it was sold. Someone got a great car.

 

Same here. I went back and forth between msport and sport. It came down to the fact that the car I ended up buying had everything else I wanted, and it was a sport. If it had been an msport, I would have bought it. Difference in price was only $1200, and the msport package is purely cosmetic...otherwise it is exactly the same as the sport.

 

^ Nice. What options did you go with?

The Audi was $60,980.. Ended up paying $58450 (which is a damn good deal on these cars)...Plus I got them to throw in free tints ($500 value)... Sad, I only negotiated 4.5% off the MSRP... I always got between 12%-16% off my TL MSRPs

I had to roll in negative equity on the TL, of $2k... but ended up getting Audi Loyalty cash ($2k), because my mother owns an S5.

I was also worried about reliability, but came to realize, that I never keep a car past its warranty term anyways, so whats the difference? I do, however, need a very reliable car... can't be getting stuck or not being able to get to work.

However, I will probably have to keep this car a little while longer... considering i financed the whole thing, I got a pretty steep loan. I could have put $$ down or bought it outright, but in this economy, I would rather keep all my liquid assets handy.

Good luck with the car! I loved my TL (All 4 of them!), but nothing like a nicely loaded, mid sized german luxury sedan!

 

Say what?!?!?!

 

I had that once. And the one time I succumbed was enough for me--got it out of my system.

 

My 535i was reasonably well equiped. It is black saphire metallic with oyster/black dakota leather, sports pkg, premium pkg, premium sound, sports auto tranny with paddles, and heated front seats. Didn't get some of the other options like HUD, or driver assist. But what I did get covers most of the performance and luxury aspects.

I plan on keeping this car a long time. I have a 94 740i with only 105k miles on it that I bought off lease in 98. My son drives it now. He absolutely loves it. But it is a maintenance money pit. I have probably sunk almost 10k into in the last 3+ years. Suspension parts, steering parts, radiator, hoses...and the list goes on and on. I can only imagine what the 5er will do to me in about 6 years!

 

One of the things I always liked about this forum is that almost without exception, the posts and responses are classy. I come on here showing off my new BMW and not one of you gave me shit. When I started posting on a BMW forum and mentioned I was driving an Acura TL but considering switching to a new 5 series, you should have heard the crap I got about driving a Honda. The most obnoxious comment, that in retrospect was kinda funny, was that it was clear in developing the Acura engine, that Honda had learned a lot from their years of experience builing lawnmower engines.

Anyway stay classy!!

 

You hit the nail on the head when it comes to the BMW crowd. In 2008 I was shopping around for a car and tried considering another BMW. I had a 1986 325 for 9 years and the experience soured me but I was intrigued with the newly introduced 335i. So I visited some of the BMW forums to study up on whether or not reliability had improved. The folks there were the biggest bunch of snobs and boors I ever ran across. I don't mean they were snobby to me but to each other. I recall one guy getting dumped on by the 335i owners because he opted for a 328i. It was gruesome over there. Once I found out the numerous problems and defects with the 335i, I was happy to leave.

 

This is my third BMW. I had an 87 528e and have a 94 740i. Both are still in operation (the ex has the 528e).

So this purchase was made with eyes wide open. They are costly to maintain, but if you do maintain them, they will offer years of pleasureable service.

 

That behavior does not surprise me in the least, the reaction you get from badge concerned people, however you kind of feed that sentiment on the BMW forum when you use the expression "But for much of the time I owned it, I suffered from a horrible case of BMW envy"
I don't know how a TL SH-AWD driver could possibly feel "envy" for a 528-535 (i can understand a 550), I don't.
Yes you can get few extra gadgets if you spend 20K more, that's about it...

Luckily I do not hang around idiots like the kind of folks you see at the BMW forum and when very rarely i meet someone even hinting at that kind of remark I quickly demolish him with a little technical exposition....usually badge snobs are not good automotive technical connoisseurs....

 

Yup, $10k! That's why I bought the extended warranty on my 2010 TL & 2007 MDX. With today's electronics, I just feel peace of mind.

I bought the BMW knowing they were expensive cars to maintain, but I felt a little easier buying a CPO. With the exception of the sunroof issue, the locking hatch & iDrive could have happened to anyone.

They are great cars to drive, I can't fault the OP at all.

 

I don't think I was feeding anything. Those were just my personal thoughts and feelings, shared only with my wife and family. Not badge thing either.

 

I wasn't questioning the $10K for repairs. I was questioning your following that statement with "But it was a great car"--really??

 

I did not mean that you shared your "envy" in the BMW forum...but the fact that you felt "BMW envy" means that somehow the badge has appeal to you......you say "not a badge thing"....well why would you feel BMW envy then when you already drove an overall comparable car?? You may say you like the 5 better but it is different than being "envious".

I may be jealous of someone driving an M5 or an E63 AMG and so on...a 528 o 535 definitely no.....

 

More & more of the long time members of Acurazine are moving to Audi, BMW & Mercedes even as Honda has decided you can’t break into the prestige first tier market with a 4 cylinder economy car platform. With the stated goal of becoming a “First tier prestige market” player was Honda trying to become a badge to desire & envy?

Honda made a huge gamble on getting to the badge thing level with the 4G & lost its chips. When the car lost over 50% of its sales from year one with the 4G model Honda did what any car company that wants to survive does, it bailed out to try a new direction.

Despite what Honda has said about overreaching the second smartest group of people in the room just think the the rest are just too dumb to realized what a wonderful car it is & that it should not have tanked the way it did. The smartest people in the room think we should all be in a Prius or Volt.

 

Doug-let me elaborate-it was a great driver's car, a blast to drive! I realize the reliability wasn't the best, but that's why I bought the car as a CPO, to have piece of mind.

Even with the issues I had, I still loved driving the car

Nick

 

Congrats on your car, it's gorgeous. 535 seems to be the sweet spot.

Hope you have the same ownership experience as I did with my BMW.