Drove the new 5

[equ]

The new generation 5er, the f10, was nearby yesterday evening... I drove a a 550i sport, a 535i regular and an e350. The other competitor car they had was an a6, but they must have found the only FWD a6 in north america to bring as a straw man. I didn't bother driving it.

These weren't extensive drives and my butt-o-meter is not really calibrated to feel this size/level of car... I did about a 7-8 mile loop in each, plenty of flowing traffic so consider this a short take.

E-Class: Loves going straight, very spacious inside. A very square angular theme in and out, you see the flat edge of the hood. Bank vault solid and silent, a notch or two beyond bmw/audi in this.. The steering was actually decent but the chassis felt really disconnected. It doesn't make you want to pull any moves. You really end up chauffeuring yourself (not being an S). The 3.5L is a very bad match, car feels strained when trying to merge. It moves the C350 smartly, but not sufficient for this class of car. A straw man competitor if you as me, they should have brought the v8.

550i: The option seats are beyond awesome. Car does feel very big, just like the E. Less seeming room up front, more glove-like, other than width about the same as my a4 up front. Probably oodles of room in the back, I didn't sit there. Gear lever... Stupid bmw overkill, somebody had to explain to me how to go from PRND, do they have to mess with this as well? Feels like a joystick controller.

POWER. This car reminded me of the alpina b7. If you floor it, the acceleration is violent. I guess a turbo v8 is something else. Under less throttle, perfect for luxury duty. It moves and high speeds would not be that noticeable save for the orange HUD display. I found it very distracting and definitely would not want it, more playstation-esque... The steering was hardly memorable. You'd think driving my audi there and then an E, I'd go "Ah, finally in a bmw..." but that moment did not come. It's a very big car with audi-esque, light steering (but it just doesn't get heavy with speed, just light at all times). The chassis is probably decent, I didn't get much of a test for it. It is much bigger/heavier than a e39, but I'm not sure if there is that much more usable space.

535i: It was surprisingly different than the 550i. Felt like being back in a 'normal' car after the spaceship experience of the 550i or the hushed luxury of the Benz. The engine sound seemed loud for this class of car and not in a good way. I left feeling very underwhelmed. I guess driving the 550 first screwed things up, but this n55, in this body, did not feel faster or smoother than my a4 2.0T. It might be, objectively, but the "feel" is all wrong. Far from luxurious and not really sporty either. The saving grace of the 535i was the obvious lighter front and general tossability of the car. I got a bit of squeal from its crap all-seasons. It felt less 'synthetic' to drive than the 550i but it didn't feel much better than my a4 either.

The options/configurations change the character of the car drastically. Not sure if the 550i had active steering or chassis settings or not, I pressed some buttons but I'm not sure if anything happened. From a performance standpoint, the 550's engine was a true standout, it felt like 2 seconds or less from 30 (ramp exit speed) to 65. The n55 seemed like a downer, the 8-speed auto-tragic making the usual slushy sounds.

They made me miss the e39. Even in non-rack & pinion 540 form, better looking and more fun to drive... A better size as well. These cars seem confused. If they are so big (almost 7-er size) why are they not quiet? There is a sporty chassis under there somewhere, but why do the controls feel like game controllers? The one with the nice engine, seats and grip didn't have feel. The one with some modicum of feel, didn't seem to have much over my a4 2.0T. And even the cheap 535 prices out in the 60k+ range. Not how I'd spend my money...

[JST]

Thanks for the review. I started to sign up for this, but when they said they wouldn't have any manuals there I decided not to bother.

A manual 550 might be an interesting used car option in a few years, if you can find one.

[equ]

There doesn't seem to be a manual option for the 550i. If you are careful in how you build it, you could have a nice 550 with a msrp in the high 60's at which point it makes sense, but not in the almost 80k price of the loaded one that I drove. I also saw some 535's optioned to 67 or so. Priced in the 50's with a MT, the 535i may be better, but then it's nothing special. I'd take an s4 or an m3 over it every time, I can't imagine the slight space increase to be that important to me.

With an AT, 550 is the way to go. The AT 535 felt coarser, not faster than my 4-cyl MT...

For someone like me, who appreciates some of the dynamic improvements of the e90 over the e46 (engines, flatter cornering) but misses the spirit of the e46's, this does not bode well for the coming f30... I'm not holding my breath. Almost makes me want to go out and find some older bmw in decent condition to keep. Unlike porsche that among its confusing line-up keeps some core cars, bmw is truly abandoning 'us'.

[SCA]

Great write-up!

I sat in a black F10 535i, SP while I was at the dealership picking up the E90 battery. I was amazed at how big a 5er is now. Seriously... from a distance I thought it was a 7. I sat in the front and back. The front seats were very comfortable and I was delighted to see the new dash layout, especially when compared to a E60. At 5'11" I was cramped in the back seat when my 6'1'' CA adjusted the drivers seat to where he would have it positioned. The trunk is fairly large and under the hood I noticed lots of thin plastics to hide/cover things up, too much in fact. Two of my CA's frequent customers have new 5-Series in route, one a 535i & the other a 550i. The 535 ordered = lower $70's and the 550 is pushing $80k.

[SARAFIL]

Originally Posted by equ

There doesn't seem to be a manual option for the 550i. If you are careful in how you build it, you could have a nice 550 with a msrp in the high 60's at which point it makes sense, but not in the almost 80k price of the loaded one that I drove. I also saw some 535's optioned to 67 or so. Priced in the 50's with a MT, the 535i may be better, but then it's nothing special. I'd take an s4 or an m3 over it every time, I can't imagine the slight space increase to be that important to me.

With an AT, 550 is the way to go. The AT 535 felt coarser, not faster than my 4-cyl MT...

For someone like me, who appreciates some of the dynamic improvements of the e90 over the e46 (engines, flatter cornering) but misses the spirit of the e46's, this does not bode well for the coming f30... I'm not holding my breath. Almost makes me want to go out and find some older bmw in decent condition to keep. Unlike porsche that among its confusing line-up keeps some core cars, bmw is truly abandoning 'us'.

Manual is available on the 550i... not sure if the configurator is having bugs, but they do offer it.

BMW has dropped the relative price on the F10 compared to the E60, mostly in response to Mercedes-Benz very aggressively pricing the E-class last year. You can get a nicely equipped 535 (sport, premium pkg 2, etc.) for $60k and a nicely equipped 550i (sport, prem pkg 2) for mid $60k range, both MSRP. A 535i MT on ED might not be a bad deal.

I wonder what options the 550 had. Also, regarding the steering I wonder if the "sport" button would change the feel. On my MINI, the steering feels over-boosted until you hit the sport button and then it becomes much heavier and more responsive.

[SARAFIL]

Originally Posted by SCA

Two of my CA's frequent customers have new 5-Series in route, one a 535i & the other a 550i. The 535 ordered = lower $70's and the 550 is pushing $80k.

Crazy? Yes.... but those customers are probably crazy too. They must have just checked every box on the list. For comparison, this is a nicely equipped 535i at $63k MSRP. To get to $70k+ you need to check all the "waste of money" electronic gadgets (night vision, active steering, active cruise, heads up display, electronic trunk closer, lane departure warning, blind spot camera, you are too old to drive detector, etc.) The package options are below... everything checked is included in the $63k price.

For comparison, a close friend had a 2008 535i that was about $61k new 3 years ago and it did not have premium sound, sunshades, sat radio, PDC, or rear-view camera. The 2011 is actually a slightly better value overall.

[wdc330i]

Saw a 550GT at the dealer today while picking up the X. Looks HUGE. Like a lowered X6 might look.

[Sharp11]

Originally Posted by SARAFIL

Crazy? Yes.... but those customers are probably crazy too. They must have just checked every box on the list. For comparison, this is a nicely equipped 535i at $63k MSRP. To get to $70k+ you need to check all the "waste of money" electronic gadgets (night vision, active steering, active cruise, heads up display, electronic trunk closer, lane departure warning, blind spot camera, you are too old to drive detector, etc.) The package options are below... everything checked is included in the $63k price.

For comparison, a close friend had a 2008 535i that was about $61k new 3 years ago and it did not have premium sound, sunshades, sat radio, PDC, or rear-view camera. The 2011 is actually a slightly better value overall.

A stick in a 550 seems silly to me, reminds me of the old george gobel line about wearing tennis shoes with your tux. Yeah, I know, a lot of guys in their 30's buy old 7's and stick manuals in them - do I understand why? No, not a clue.

As for the "too old to drive" options, a couple of them have appeal to me: the heads up display is especially nice as my near-sightedness makes looking at the displays, then the road a more difficult adjustment at night.

In general though, as BMW's get heavier, larger and more luxurious, I'm becoming less interested in them - I think Lemming bought the best of the new bimmers.

Ed

[equ]

Good points, Fil... I didn't know about the 550i MT possibility, I really didn't spend THAT much time building this car. Hmm, that could be intriguing, but it's so powerful, would require a lot of attention to preserve clutch/tranny.

Yeah, I'll need to figure out what the sport/steering/susp. stuff do. I am invited to another drive in a few weeks, I just might try them again.

Ed, I really HATED the HUD. If I wanted to see my speed, there is a gauge just like in any other car. I found it distracting and strange to see it and focus back on the road. You know, the actual cars, people and stuff around you..

[JST]

Ed and I will jus have to agree to disagree on the stick thing. Fwiw, the auto 5er holds so little appeal to me that I'd much sooner just buy a SHO Taurus.