gbrldz

I have a 2005 530i which is my first German car/BMW.

My question is, do these cars normally feel heavy when driving? I'm not quite sure how to explain it. I wouldn't say it's sluggish because when give it some gas, it accelerates pretty quickly. No when you're driving slowly or starting from a stop gradually, I feel like it's pretty heavy/slow to accelerate. The last German car I drove was an early-mid 2000's CLK and it seemed to experience the same thing. Maybe I'm just not used to German cars?

In my Mustang or my girlfriend's Corolla, or any other cars for that matter, I don't experience this feeling at all. I'm hoping it just me and not the car. I am due to change the front brake pads soon, however. But I don't think that should affect it like that. I'm getting decent MPG.

I'm a noob, so be easy on me

audiophool

I've often found with other makes, the throttle is mapped aggressively to give the 'feel' of power - like a snap off the line. The last several of my BMWs have had soft 'tip-in' throttles. Might be what you're feeling.

turboawd

in D the cars starts off in second gear. try moving the shifter to the left DS, then the car takes off in first gear.

550iwa

well the car is heavy with roughly 4000 pounds and basically what audiophool said where you're feeling the not so responsive feeling on the pedal.. I feel that on my 550i and it feels slow and heavy but its actually remarkably really fast(considering i have 360bhp), much faster than my 05 350z(287bhp but light and sporty) which was really responsive and had a airplane feel to it and i indeed thought i was faster than any sedan on the planet at that time until i performed a drag race.. anyway long story short.. simply try out the sprint booster, that will solve your problem.

Boost7

get a sprint-booster to get rid of the laggy-lazy throttle response.

Booyaazaa

+1

Yes our cars are heavy. However after doing the BMW UDE last week our E60's feel lighter then the F10's they had us run through the small auto x course.

plowery21

I think the feeling is normal for german built cars. I have always described it as a "solid" feel, not as heavy. I have driven numerous makes of cars and only get this feel from BMW, Benzes and select euro car models. Now, drive a X6…that sucker is heavy.

As far as throttle response, the BMWs do lack the kick in the seat feel that other makes offer (even though they out perform other 4 door cars)..but a booster or driving in DS/Sport changes that response.

Cricketts

I own a 545I and have owned 8 five and six series before it. Your description is reasonable. On the other hand, the heavy feeling is what the car is all about. At 100 MPH it feels like 60 and your passengers don't realize that you are going that fast. An example: My wife and I had been traveling for hours I 90 from Washington to Great Falls Mt. At some point my wife turned to me and asked can we go a little faster? I said I am doing 95 MPH now, what do you have in mind?? Most of the BMW's I have owned feel a bit sluggish under 2K RPM but become monsters over 25 to 3K . With the V8, you want to make sure the car is aimed in the right direction if you nail it

dingolfing

Be thankful your 530i is 3500 lbs. My 550i weighs in at a portly 4000 lbs, and you can feel every pound of it, especially when you have to one-man push it in neutral.

I feel the throttle pedal hinge position causes differences in desired throttle application. In Japanese cars, the upper-hinged, hanging throttle pedal is, I feel, more natural to depress using just your toes. Germans like to use floor-hinged throttle pedals, which force you to place your entire foot on the almost vertical pedal. I never get used to this, and always find myself using just my toes on the center of the pedal, instead of at the top where the best leverage is found.

That, combined with drive-by-wire throttles, causes the "disconnect" making the car not feel as responsive and therefore, making it feel heavy. No more mechanically-connected throttle cables, where your foot directly controls the throttle body, I miss those.