:D Just to make it short and sweet, I love the car. Looks much better in person. It has the Premium and Sports package and was Blue with beige leather. I took a 90 degree turn without hitting the brakes at about 30 mph and it felt wonderful. Kinda reminded me of the TV show Automan :) Remember him. Waiting for the 535.

Drove a Mystic Blue 530 with Premium and Sport on Wednesday. The acceleration is a tad slow for a $50,000 car but the handling is phenomenal. I was worried that the Sport Package tires would make the ride overly harsh but the experience was far from it. If this car had @ 260HP and a similar torque rating it would be a much more compelling package. As it is, I am still not certain if finding a good '01 or '02 E39 isn't a better deal until the revised engine comes out. Has anyone heard any more details or even firm sounding rumors as to the valvetronic upgrade to the six cyclinder engines.

By the way, I think the car is stunning to look at it in person. An older gentlemen walked up and was having a little bit of trouble with it, but seemed to warm to it the more he walked around. For me, I think the angles, even from the rear, are very good looking. We got plenty of stares wherever we pulled up to a traffic light. By the way, if you are looking for BMW in Central Florida, Mic Romero at Field's BMW is great to deal with.

We also test drove in central Florida Fields BMW the Silver grey Non Sport 5 series they had there and even with out the sport package i can tell the new 5 handles better then then E39 5 also with out the sport package. The new E60 Feels lighter on its feet more like an E46 3 series. I also agree with you that the new 5 for a 51,000 dollar car the 3.0 liter doesn't feel as fast as it should for the price. did not really feel much faster then my 2002 525iA. only thing that bothered me about the car is the it doesn't feel as luxurious or the quality of the interior of the E39 model. even with the premium package the only place you get the poplar wood is on the dash and on the center console, the doors have the titanium looking plastic on the door handles and makes the interior of the doors look kinda plain when compared with the two tone upper and lower parts of the doors on the E39 with a nice long strip of wood. I hope that when my lease is up in 1 year and 8 months that the 2005 models will the door handles in wood. but over all the car does look great in person. very stunning to look at and drives very smooth and solid. tomorrow I will be going back to test drive the Blue 530i with beigh interior they had there so i can tell the difference between the non sport and the sport package. one exta thing.....for the increase in price BMW should really make the Active antiroll bars standard in all models and the base 525i should come standard with 17" rims and wheels not the 16". don't get me wrong the new car diffenetly is still the best midsize luxury sport sedan in the market. :D

E60525i


After your second test drive, I'd be interested to hear what you thought of that colour combo and in particular your thoughts on the beige interior.

Ta

First test drive was with the silver grey with the black leather interior and the poplar wood trim. Loved thge exterior color but thought it would go better with a beigh interior instead. the black interior with poplar wood trim, makes the interior look to plain everything is black except for the wood trim on the dash and the center console. The door handles did not have the wood trim but a plastic looking aluminum trim that looks out of place in this price catagory (my past Audi A6 did a much better job of combining both wood and aluminum). Basically there is just way to much solid black interior trims through out.
Sencond test drive was better but syill not perfect. this time it was the exterior blue with beigh interior and the maple wood trim (Grey Wood). I thought the beigh was a better choice then the black leather interior. there's a few things i would still change. the dash is all Black where as the E39 5 series had a light brown with the beigh interior and made it look much better over all for a color combination. When I saw the Black dash with the beigh I though it looks more like a color combo of the E46 3 series which to me it is like taking a step backwards. over all it not that bad. The Maple Grey wood trim looks very out of place in this interior, making it look more somber. again the doors have the plastic aluminum trim on the handles and should be made in poplar wood to make itlook more rich. and the doors interior is basically all beigh, again the eye has to much beigh to look at the same time to really notice the interior details about the door. The 7 series does a much better job with color combinations then the new 5 does. If it was my take I would change the color interior combinations. also add B-Pillar airvents, like the 7 series and the Mercedes benz E500 has. don't miss out on the trunks interior. the trunks lid on the inside now has a soft fabric that looks more in place with something like a 3 series or a Honda Accord, The previous E39 had both a solid plastic molding and fabric and foldable strut hindges. the new E60 has two solid tubs that are body colored and not even trimed in some high grade plastic or nice soft fabric. take a good look at these changes and tell me if you don't think that BMW is saving money in a few of these places. Over all in my opinion the E39 is still better Interior wise then the new E60, Exterior wise its the revearse, the E60 is now better then the E39 in design.

haha my test drive was Fields BMW in Orlando as well. My ordered car has been at port of entry in South Carolina since 9/22 im gettin anxious) Could be anyday this upcoming week. Fields is not much help on date its arriving best they can say is we will call me as soon as it arrives.

Hey Scork

What options did you order on your 5 series?

Orient blue/w beige interior/poplar wood, Manual, sport pckg, premium pckg, logic 7, adaptive Xenons)

I have to disagree with E60525i on the trunk issue after driving the new five for 2 months.

The change from plastic on the inside of the trunk lid is definetly an iimprovment in the trunk department.
The fabric is much more practical because it doesn?t get all those ugly scratches from golfbags, suitcases etc that you got after some time in the E39. My exprience from two E39 was that this plastic molding usually started to rattle after 18000 miles or so.
I also disagree on the hindges. The new hinges are way better. First of all the hindges don?t get dirty like the hinges in the E39. In fact the new design of not only the hindges themself but also the surronding are around the trunkopening is way better than in the E39 and doesn't collect dirt.
Secondly the trunklid opens all the way by it self when you push the button on the key, nice when you got you hands full.
The new hindges also makes the trunk lid close with a nice "thump" making it feel way more solid than in the E39.
BMW have saved money in some areas of the interior no doubt about it but the trunk is not one of those areas.

In fact I know for a fact that BMW actually conducted research and customer testing with the gold of improving the trunklid and trunk area. Here?s the URL to some internal BMW protocols (sorry only in german). A funny thing is that these could be found online about 1 1/2 years before the launch off the new five.

?berarbeitung eines Lastenheftes f?r die Heckklappe des BMW E60 ( 5er Limousine)

hi, I've noticed what you say about the thump, the same goes for the doors, at least in my opinion they sound more solid than in my E39 520i. Curious the internet site about the E60 trunk-boot

I'm just counting the days until delivery of my new 525i ... ;)

By the way, how is everything going in your car? Thanks

Bye, adi?s :D