New to this site just ordered my first BMW!
08-24-2006, 08:10 AM
#11
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My Ride: 2006 BMW 550i "Ben Hogan's 5 Iron"
SilverGrey/Black Sport, L7, NAV, CW, AS, Split FR
2003 Audi A4 3.0 CVT "Part of the Moniker"
Silver/Ebony, Prem, CW, Star 17s
Congrats on your first BMW.
Of course everything is subjective and there are no right choices, only choices.
I consider myself (IMHO) the czar of color picking because I agonized for two months about it. I was like you in thinking beige was best. With the brown maple, it looked the most inviting and not as dour as the black. Trouble was beige didn't go with silver grey, the color I liked the most. End result was silver grey with black with absolutely no regrets.
Deciding factors - 1) Look at black and anthracite wood combo, super unique and a very sporting look. Loads compliments from people with taste and they rub it without fail first time in the car. Pet my monkey.
Tons of cars with brown wood and BMW's maple looks a bit wierd looking. 2) The more you look at the beige interior, the more the plastic colored trim peices and paneling seem too yellowish and prone to showing scuff marks. 3) Thought long and hard about apline white and beige, but couldn't pull the trigger. Yes, silver grey and beige do not match and just think of the look when opening the drivers door. See the pic below. Thought long and hard about that one. BTW, the E60 looks best in lighter colors. If you can't bring yourself to go black leather, then go alpine with beige.
In terms of seats, you'll love the comfort seats. Unless your taking very long road trips, get the sports package. ITS THE BEST OPTION YOU CAN BUY. The bonus is the comfort seats are included. Just a better handling and great looking car.
CVT Benhogan
Of course everything is subjective and there are no right choices, only choices.
I consider myself (IMHO) the czar of color picking because I agonized for two months about it. I was like you in thinking beige was best. With the brown maple, it looked the most inviting and not as dour as the black. Trouble was beige didn't go with silver grey, the color I liked the most. End result was silver grey with black with absolutely no regrets.
Deciding factors - 1) Look at black and anthracite wood combo, super unique and a very sporting look. Loads compliments from people with taste and they rub it without fail first time in the car. Pet my monkey.
Tons of cars with brown wood and BMW's maple looks a bit wierd looking. 2) The more you look at the beige interior, the more the plastic colored trim peices and paneling seem too yellowish and prone to showing scuff marks. 3) Thought long and hard about apline white and beige, but couldn't pull the trigger. Yes, silver grey and beige do not match and just think of the look when opening the drivers door. See the pic below. Thought long and hard about that one. BTW, the E60 looks best in lighter colors. If you can't bring yourself to go black leather, then go alpine with beige. In terms of seats, you'll love the comfort seats. Unless your taking very long road trips, get the sports package. ITS THE BEST OPTION YOU CAN BUY. The bonus is the comfort seats are included. Just a better handling and great looking car.
CVT Benhogan
08-24-2006, 09:57 AM
#12
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My Ride: 2007 E63 AMG | Obsidian Black | Schwarzes Nappa | Black BirdEye Maple | Premium II Package | Electronic Trunk Closer | Parktronic
Engine: RPi/Powerchips custom ECU tune, RPi Ram Air Kit (BMC filter, scoops), RennTech Sport exhaust, secondary cats, charcoal and resonator delete, custom AAA x-pipe
Exterior: 50% side windows / 35% rear window Formula One Pinnacle Series | Flat AMG hood emblem
Suspension: Renntech Lowering Module
Wheels/Tires: Radenergie R10, Falken FK452 245/30/20, Yokohama ADVAN Sport 285/25/20
-----------------------------------------
2005 545i Sport SMG | Ti Grau | Schwarzes Dakota | Anthracite Maple | Logic 7 | Nav
Engine: Custom AFE CAI, Superchips ECU remap, Sprint Booster, RDSport Dual Exhaust Conversion with Quad Pipes and X-pipe, 3 resonators deleted, 90mm tips!
Exterior: M-Tech Aero kit | M5 Mirrors | M5 Rear Bumper | Trunk Lid Finisher | Vorsteiner decklid spoiler | 50% Formula One Pinnacle Tint
Suspension and Brakes: Bilstein PSS9 coilovers, JBT BBK: 16" cross-drilled rotors, 8 piston and 15" cross-drilled rotors, 4 piston
Wheels: VIP Modular VR 02 20x9F, 20x10R | Toyo T1R 245/30/20F, 285/25/20R
Lights: PIAA 4150K Xtreme White Plus fog lights, AIB v3
MOST IMPORTANT: Hardwired V1; =)
ED Date: 4/7/05, Re-delivery date: 5/21/05
Yes, yes. I agree with ImolaRedM and CVTBenhogan. Get the Sport Package! Bonus is that it comes with the Comfort Seats. 
I regret everytime I drive my car for long periods of time for not getting the Comfort Seats.
I regret everytime I drive my car for long periods of time for not getting the Comfort Seats.
08-24-2006, 10:48 AM
#13
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My Ride: 2006 BMW 550i "Ben Hogan's 5 Iron"
SilverGrey/Black Sport, L7, NAV, CW, AS, Split FR
2003 Audi A4 3.0 CVT "Part of the Moniker"
Silver/Ebony, Prem, CW, Star 17s
Originally Posted by jiio' post='326332' date='Aug 24 2006, 12:57 PM
Yes, yes. I agree with ImolaRedM and CVTBenhogan. Get the Sport Package! Bonus is that it comes with the Comfort Seats.
I regret everytime I drive my car for long periods of time for not getting the Comfort Seats.
I regret everytime I drive my car for long periods of time for not getting the Comfort Seats.
Yeap those sports seats can hurt. My right thigh aches after 2 to 3 hours of constant driving. I've tried a new move, whereby the front seat is tilted back more that causing the right leg rest more on the seat and seat extension slide (whatever its called). I'll be testing this on the next long drive.
Luckily, my comutes are reasonable at approx 1hr. I still like the sports seats for most journeys and they look great.
I'm getting comforts next time.
CVT Benhogan
08-24-2006, 10:54 AM
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My Ride: 2014 X5 xDrive 5.0 M Package Carbon Black Metallic/2008 M Roadster Imola Red
I would get comfort seats and keep comfort access. I like the gray interior with silver gray and the anthracite wood. What about the sport package? It seems that many get it and like its features and looks very well. I do.
08-24-2006, 11:06 AM
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My Ride: 07 530i|Silver Gray/Black| Premium|Sport|NAV|Auto|PDC|Sunshade|
I have silver gray with black. First I wanted gray interior but it is more like silver and the black is more like dark gray. It is not as dark as I thought. As for beige, it is too light for me and it will show the wear and dirt over time. Since you are leasing it, it really does not matter.
You loaded up with almost everything but Sport Package
You will regret it later. SP is a must I think. The car looks better with the larger wheels and the seats are great. If cost is an issue, I would drop the CA, Cold Weather, Logic 7 and Premium Sounds.
You loaded up with almost everything but Sport Package
You will regret it later. SP is a must I think. The car looks better with the larger wheels and the seats are great. If cost is an issue, I would drop the CA, Cold Weather, Logic 7 and Premium Sounds.
08-24-2006, 11:18 AM
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My Ride: 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera S Convertible. Midnight Blue, 6 Speed.Retired - 2007 997 Carrera S, Midnight Blue, Grey leather, premium audioRetired - 2007 550i, Monaco Blue over Beige, Navigation, Logic 7, Cold Weather Pack, Comfort Access, Sport Package
Model Year: 2008
Just a few observations, good luck with whatever you decide to get
1) The beige interior is great. I had black on my Silver Gray 545 and I probably won't get another black interior mainly because the E60 interior looks just a little dull to my eyes in black (and as others have said the car does get much hotter with a dark interior) but I think both are improved with a lighter leather and lighter colored trim. This one's just taste, there really is nothing wrong with any E60 interior color.
2) Comfort access is much better and more useful than I thought it was going to be. It really ought to be standard, but as an option and in everyday usage it's much more worthwhile than some (who may not have CA) might have you believe. Once you have had it and lived with it you miss it when you don't. I really like it.
3) I agree sport is a very worthwhile option for the reasons others have said but at the risk of being considered a heretic the difference in handling between sport and non sport is certainly apparent but isn't quite as night and day as you might think. If you did go with the non sport, especially on a 530 which is lighter up front, it will still be a fine handling car (and you may or may not like the look of the shadowline trim with a lighter body color, on a dark E60 shadowline looks great). Sport wheels tend to be better too.
other than than it looks like you've got a great spec!
1) The beige interior is great. I had black on my Silver Gray 545 and I probably won't get another black interior mainly because the E60 interior looks just a little dull to my eyes in black (and as others have said the car does get much hotter with a dark interior) but I think both are improved with a lighter leather and lighter colored trim. This one's just taste, there really is nothing wrong with any E60 interior color.
2) Comfort access is much better and more useful than I thought it was going to be. It really ought to be standard, but as an option and in everyday usage it's much more worthwhile than some (who may not have CA) might have you believe. Once you have had it and lived with it you miss it when you don't. I really like it.
3) I agree sport is a very worthwhile option for the reasons others have said but at the risk of being considered a heretic the difference in handling between sport and non sport is certainly apparent but isn't quite as night and day as you might think. If you did go with the non sport, especially on a 530 which is lighter up front, it will still be a fine handling car (and you may or may not like the look of the shadowline trim with a lighter body color, on a dark E60 shadowline looks great). Sport wheels tend to be better too.
other than than it looks like you've got a great spec!
08-24-2006, 12:21 PM
#17
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My Ride: 2007 530i Silver Grey, Beige Interior, Comfort Access, Comfort Seats, PDC, Premium Package, Nav, Sirius Sat, Power Sunshades, Cold Weather Package, Steptronic Auto Trans.
Thanks for everyone's input on the color and the packages. I know this isn't a popular and I don't mean to blapheme but i didn't care for the sport suspension. There I said it. I liked the slightly cushy ride on the non sport. Plus I would rather have the all weather tires.
As for the color combo, you're all right the black looks the best in the color combo, but when inside the cabin I do prefer the beige as it's brighter. However, I do agree that the beige plastic parts don't look as good. And the dark dash doesn't look good against the light beige. But that being said I think I'm gonna stick with the beige interior. Even my wife who's favorite color is black agreed with going wit the beige seats.
I just got off the phone with my dealer and added the comfort seats. They added $30 a month to my payment. I think I might nix the comfort access to keep the payment the same. Just curious though, with the comfort seats, besides the sides and head rest do you get more padding in the bottom of the seat and the seat back? Or is all the upgraded padding just on the sides of the bottom and the sides of the seat back? My salesman didn't know. He is starting to annoy me!!!! If you're in sales you need to know what you are selling!!!!!
As for the color combo, you're all right the black looks the best in the color combo, but when inside the cabin I do prefer the beige as it's brighter. However, I do agree that the beige plastic parts don't look as good. And the dark dash doesn't look good against the light beige. But that being said I think I'm gonna stick with the beige interior. Even my wife who's favorite color is black agreed with going wit the beige seats.
I just got off the phone with my dealer and added the comfort seats. They added $30 a month to my payment. I think I might nix the comfort access to keep the payment the same. Just curious though, with the comfort seats, besides the sides and head rest do you get more padding in the bottom of the seat and the seat back? Or is all the upgraded padding just on the sides of the bottom and the sides of the seat back? My salesman didn't know. He is starting to annoy me!!!! If you're in sales you need to know what you are selling!!!!!
08-24-2006, 01:08 PM
#18
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My Ride: 2007 530i Silver Grey, Beige Interior, Comfort Access, Comfort Seats, PDC, Premium Package, Nav, Sirius Sat, Power Sunshades, Cold Weather Package, Steptronic Auto Trans.
Thanks again everyone for the input. I might dump the comfort access after all. Funny my payments seem to have grown exponentially by taking out the Comfort Access and adding the Comfort Seats. There is only a $200 Msrp between them. Seems like the dealer is some how cranking up the payment on me. What? Do they think I'm stupid? 
08-24-2006, 03:27 PM
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I bought without sitting in the comfort seat, but I knew it had to be better than the regular seat. Comfort seats are great. Comfort Access is also very nice, and after having it I would definately order it again.
