Hi all

I've put down an order (& deposit) on a facelifted 530d M-Sport Automatic

I've specc'd it up as follows:

Carbon Black
Cream/Beige Dakota Leather
Light Poplar Wood
19" Mixed 172 Wheels
Sun Protection Glass
Bluetooth Prep.
DAB Radio
Visibility Pack
Heated Front Seats
Folding Wing Mirrors

I'd initially planned on going for the anthracite bamboo wood trim, but a lack of photos dissuaded me, and I've switched to light poplar instead.

I'm being quoted mid-April delivery, so I'm now wishing my life away.

 

You should get the bamboo anthracite - I've seen some pictures and it looks great. Virtually black. Very smart.

I enclose here a pdf file for the UK launch of the facelift. If you scroll through the pictures you will see the bamboo is some of the later ones.

 

Dazza, how much did you have to pay for the 19" 172?!?

 

Are you sure those pics are of bamboo? That never occured to me...
There is a new high-gloss black (similar to piano) and that what those photos look like.
If you look at the X5 forums, there are quite a few pics of bamboo and it looks very, very different.
Of course, the E60 version of bamboo may be different from the X5 but there are no pictures yet.

 

Hi,

Are you sure? I think the trim might as well be the new high glossy black plastic -trim. The bamboo anthrasit should have more wood like texture.

BR

TGII

 

Thanks for the .pdf upload - I think this is the standard (free?) high gloss plastic, which does look remarkably like the individual piano black

The best bamboo anthracite photo I've seen is here

My wife really doesn't like the high gloss black, plus I'm worried about how easy it would show scratches etc.

As for the 19" mixed 172 wheels - the list price is ?780 as an option on the m-sports but I managed to negotiate a double-digit discount

The car at the minute is still spec. changable so I'll get myself onto the X5 forums for a look around. I've seen e60 photos of the cream dakota with the light poplar and it's a combo that both me and my wife like

 

If you are interested... here are a few more shots of bamboo on the new X5 (E70)
Word of warning... there is no guarantee the E60 trim will look the same...

 

Congrats on the order! Fine choice.

IMHO you should make the switch from "brown" wood to a black trim. If your negotiating skills are that good, why not try to get the Individual Piano Black trim for a reasonable price?

 

congrats.

 

After spending most of Sunday evening scanning the web for more photos of bamboo vs. poplar I think I'm going to go with xBMWx 's suggestion of switching to a darker trim. As someone pointed out in another thread the cream beige is a very light colour and I think the photo's I've seen to date of the LCI e60 are based on the old beige leather (which I believe is still available in the US - Nasca leather?)

My worry is that I'm introducing another range of colours (browns/tans) that might not go with the cream leather & black exterior. I also suspect that the bamboo in the UK (Europe?) is a different shade to that which I've seen in the X5 photos. In the X5 brochure the bamboo is classed as dark bamboo, whereas for the e60 it's anthracite (colour of coal) and the option codes are different too (but this might be due to being different series of cars?). It may be that the bamboo for the UK is stained with black rather than dark brown??

So I feel a phone call to the dealer coming on this morning to switch from light poplar to my original spec. of bamboo.

I guess that in a worst case scenario - it would be possible to change the trim to another one albeit at some expense?

Thanks for the suggestions and opinions.