thevikas87

iTrader: (2)

Finally a worthy 5 series ever since they began making the disgraceful E60...and the end of the great e39...

of course I'm not biased at all.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I don't know. I loved the facelifted E60 535i too.

jim165

Wow, I still can't understand the hatred to the E60. Sure it was polarizing at first, but I think it became quite handsome over time.
For those of your gawking at the sticker shock, if this new 5 series is anything like it's predecessors, depreciation is your best friend...

brizey

Yep. CPO one coming off a three year lease. These aren't boy racers, so are not likely to be beat up. I'd only own it while under warranty, though.

dom

+1. Loved that cars styling.

thevikas87

iTrader: (2)

Well the styling wasn't so much an issue for me as it was the disconnect between the driver and the car. Visit any of the bimmer forums and you'll see rant after rant about how the car is taken over by technology.

I have yet to test drive the F10, but am looking forward to doing so. I understand that in years to come, obviously the amount of tech will rise, but the driving experience shouldn't deteriorate because of that.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

^ Aren't all the newer M line cars have electronic nannys as well?

I'm not trying to be a dick about this, just curious, that's all.

thevikas87

iTrader: (2)

I'm not particularly sure to be honest, regarding the newer M line. I have all these test drives I want to go on and just not enough time at the moment. However, the e46 M3 was always a pretty nicely balanced car IMO.

I also happen to be satisfied with my 540i for now...hah

I'll probably be in the market by the end of this year when I graduate. And I would definitely like to consider any clean M's that happen to come my way.

Crazy Bimmer

They do but you can fully turn them off. Its scary when you do.

speedemon90

nice, I havent sat in the new one. My uncle should be taking delivery of it in 6-8 weeks, so that when I'll be able to see it.

edit: cool thing is he bought a new s550 last year, so I'll look forward to comparing those two

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Gotcha.

The E46 M3 is my all time favorite car.. My friend had a 6MT one and I drove it down the hill on Big Bear Mountain once.. AMAZING experience it was..

And yeah, your 540i is a sweet looking car for sure.

jealous...........

vwong

Welcome to the world of BMW!!!

I really like the F10 535i except for the lower grill area of the front bumper. I'm not a fan of that design. Hopefully the M-Sport package coming out later in the year will fix that.

I actually find myself drooling over the F11 touring even more.
http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=361552

MyCarIsntInMyWifesName

Unfortunately we aren't likely destined to get the Touring anymore.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

oh gawd!!! that's beautiful...........

Sclass88

I'm doing European Delivery in a few years with my best friend, we both plan on getting BMW's. Undoubtedly, I will be picking up the new 5. It's gorgeous and I'm sure it drives unreal...

MyCarIsntInMyWifesName

OP make sure you get one of these two available wheels:

chiawei

Well, i spend more time with the F10 550i today (had extended test drive at higher speed and cornering).

My impression on the F10 has changed somewhat for negative.

Cars-
F10- 550i with Sports package and Dynamic handling package.
E60- M5

Steering Response-

This is a huge negative for me. The power steering boost is none linear on the F10. At low speed, the power steering boost is way way too much. As speed builds up, the power steering boost gets less. But the transition is not smooth nor linear. At higher speed, the boost is just right with excellent road feel. Below 25 mph, the steering wheel behave like a camry. Hated it.

I don't recall the base E60 sports package cars has this issue. No even comparable to the E60 M5 , where the steering response is just great.

Steering wheel-
I hated the F10 sports steering wheel. Its too thin and does not grip well in my hand. The E60 steering wheel is thicker and grips very well.

Chassis-
Taking the F10 through corners at high speed, you can feel almost no flex in chassis. The car feels very solid. This is where F10 chassis blew even the current E60 M5 out of water. The chassis is better, simply put.

Power Train-
I have got to say. The 550i V8 is just beyond sweet. So much torque at low end, such a blast to launch. Where my V10 fall flat on the face, this thing shines. I love the twin turbo V8. The 8 speed is a gem. Just nice.

Ride-
Even at sports + setting. F10 rides less stiff than E60 M5 in softest setting. But cornering capability is not too much off. Nice job on 550i suspension tuning.

Interior-
F10 blows E60 into pieces on this. No comparison. While the M5 benefited from Alcantra and full leather all around. The design of E60 is beyond crap against F10.

Space-
Although the car is wider, the interior room still feels cramped. Credit that to the huge transmission stack in the middle. The leg room is even smaller than E60. This is not good.

I-drive- Huge improvement. E60 system should be banned.

Noise-
There is less instrusion of mechanical sound into 550i cabin than my M5. But i did hear more wind noise on the F10.

Agility- F10 feels less bulky than normal E60. But not as easy to toss around than the M5 and I am already complaining how fat and how slow the E60 M5 is to toss around. Improvement of regular E60. But still weighs too much.

Overall impression-
Driving the 550i reminds me of the W211 E55 that I used to own. The cabin is quieter, ride is similar. But somehow just not much fun to play with. May be its my fault comparing to my M5 back to back. At end of the day, I will not get out of my current M5 to get into F10 550i as stop gap car.

Driving the M5 today, reminds me how fun a car should be. Power is nice, but weight and agility still kills me. But F10 does have a great stiff chassis. Interior material is excellent. The basis for an amazing M5 is there. But 550i still has long way to go and not really suited for me at this moment.

Be-in my TL

BMW changed full load pressure from 200 bar to 180. Also, at idle, it runs at 30 bar instead of 50. It has helped a lot.

Be-in my TL

The DCT(Sequential Manual) is a dual clutch design.

mrmako

Feck, the options on the 535ix run $17K..... thats the price of a Honda Fit..... Ouch.

But if it's what you want, cheers.

MyCarIsntInMyWifesName

I would've known what DCT was, but on the Build It part of BMW's site the transmission option is listed as "Sport automatic transmission with paddle shifters" and the description expands on it not one bit. LOL

But that's good to know if that's the case.

chiawei

unfortunately I think F10 is even more about technology. It even more disconnect than E60.

Crazy Bimmer

Isnt that how it goes for each generation? Newer ones always feel less "raw" even in M-trim.

As far as your complaint about the steering, i totally hear you on it. It took some time to get use to it on the M3 which sounds like it has the same feel as the F10. Hell even my E90 328i had a nice heavy steering feel.

But in the end of the day i have gotten use to it and dont really need to fight the steering wheel when trying to park. It does well on a track/spirited driving so thats all i am concerned about.

chiawei

I think it is also the main reason that I really have not warmed up to the E93 M3 that my wife has now. That steering response really bugs me. It just seems to me, the M is getting more and more soft.

To be honest. I really feel that the best raw BMW that offer in US shore is the 135i M-sports. It just felt so right. I am probably the minority but i really am not liking the direction BMW is going.

NwTSXmt

Put a fat steering wheel on a vehicle and people go ape over it...to each his own

Saintor

BMW still rules. I wished that they would have designed this front end more aggressively.

TS_eXpeed

Seems like you had some valid concerns, but is it really fair to compare the F10 550 to the E60 M5? Wait until the new M5 comes out, then compare that with the E60 M5.

docboy

Thanks, good to know.

chiawei

I agree. I have to wait until my F10 M5 arrives.

Hodog16

I rode in the back of the 2011 550i a few weeks ago during a test drive as a family member is in the market to upgrade from a 2002 530i. Pretty nice car that's for sure.

speedemon90

So despite what great stuff Azine is saying about this new Bmw 5 series, I recently got my car and driver magazine and they had a comparo between the 535i, M37 and A6. Guess who got last! Thats right the BMW

speedemon90

I know technically that doesn't make it a bad car, but still I was kinda expecting it to get 1st after what I've been reading on here.

Fossil_TL

how A6 gets rated above BMW is beyond me, unless the 3.0T engine is a beast otherwise I dont see how a platform from 6 years ago can deliver a better driving experience than the new F10

speedemon90

They complained about the F10's steering feel a lot. Also the suspension a little.

Saintor

Yeap. Like the other poster above said 2 wks ago.

Will test by myself.

MyCarIsntInMyWifesName

Is the new 5-Series available with two steering systems though? I know the current E60 had the traditionally awesome standard steering but the available speed-sensitive assisted whatever that was an option was terrible. Magazines usually noted this same thing as well.

Hopefully that's it....

speedemon90

No, I think its just the new power steering in general. I also know bmw has that speed-sensitive steering, but I dont think its that. Could be wrong though.

speedemon90

Ohh I didnt know someone said that...

calgary2800

In Seattle we have the event on 7/28 and guess what? Your truly got an invite by email and within hours I was on the phone say YES! I want In. They asked which car and I knew I wanted the 535i because the 3 series is cramped even for a midget like me 5 feet 6.

I took the A6 vs 535i event or car choice or whatever its called. I guess I get to to drive both. Its a dream come true if I get to drive both. Lets face it a guy like me who makes 21 an hour only gets to drive these type cars in my dreams.

CANT FREAKING WAIT till the 28th. If youre there say Hi to the Short Asian guy with spiky hair around 400pm in the 535i.

MrX123

For 67k, I'd buy a black or silver E550 with the AMG sport package and call it a day.

Wouldn't even need to drive any of the competition.