fivetothree

Hi everyone, long time lurker, first time poster. This past Sunday I retired my e60 in exchange for an e90. I thought I would take a moment to share my experience with everyone here, who I have been reading for the past three or so years.

To set this up properly, I'll start before the beginning. Before I owned my first BMW, that is. I have two very distinct memories, kind of like those memories you have of your childhood when you were 6 years old and had to stand on your tip toes to look out the window to see if there was anyone playing outside and the world looked so different from down there. The first memory was driving home from work on a summer day with the windows down, I think owned an Acura at the time, and pulling up behind a silver 540i at a stoplight. It was in a quiet suburban neighborhood and I could hear the lovely burbling idle of the V8, and thinking to myself... cooool. The next memory was driving home from a dinner night out with my wife, kids at the babysitter, and her for some now forgotten reason asking me "What kind of car do you really want then?" and me answering "I've always wanted a German sedan with a big V8...". That memory all the more remarkable for the fact that my wife, who barely puts up with my automotive obsession, was genuinely interested in the answer.

Fast forward to a winter day at the end of 2005. I'm ready to buy my next car and I've trained my sights on a Lexus GS430. I have stalked and scoped this thing to death. I am all but ready to pull the trigger that coming weekend - I've even lined up a friend of mine who also wants one, with the intent of walking into the dealership and asking for a deal if we buy two GSes on the spot. But some weekday before that weekend, some crappy rainy day and it's late afternoon and dark out, a buddy of mine at work and I are bored and we decide to skip out down to BMW to check out a 5 Series, because I'm saying to myself, if I'm going to spend all that money then I might as well drive all the cars in the class, right? We pile into a blue 530i - they didn't have any 550i's on the lot - and off we go. Maybe we got to the edge of the lot and were pulling out into traffic, maybe it was a few hundred feet down that road, I'm not sure when exactly, but it bit me. The BMW bug bit me. It was just different. It wasn't like any other car I'd ever driven, and I've owned quite a few cars. It wanted to turn and go around corners. It sang to me when I pressed the accelerator. But what stood out the most, what sealed the deal, was merging onto the highway at night in pouring rain in an unfamiliar car and feeling supremely comfortable and confident. There really was a difference between a BMW and other cars. Before the end of the year, I had my 2006 Monaco Blue 550i with sport package and a whack of other options.

I have all kinds of fond memories of my 550i, but the best ones are of bombing up and down I-5 between Seattle and Vancouver, and on one occasion into the mountains in British Columbia, 25 mpg easy. I always thought my 5 felt bored and sleepy until it reached 75 mph, and then it would finally wake up to play. And I always thought it's most remarkable quality was, at any speed or in any situation, you could dig deeper into the gas pedal and get a surge of acceleration, combine it with a smooth wiggle of the steering wheel and you were clear of any slow moving highway clog. This was especially fun on the highway on-ramp on the way home, when some days, if I felt I deserved a treat, I would let the ramp clear and then plant the throttle. Windows rolled down so I could take in that distant mechanical roar. What a sound.

I'm a little ashamed to say that I enjoyed the comments I got, too. Let's face it, with those fancy wheels and all hunkered down on the suspension, the 550i is a cool looking beast. One time on a long drive we ended up stopped in a long row of cars on a two-lane in the middle of nowhere, while a medivac helicopter occupied the highway to load an injured motorcyclist. With traffic completely stopped, everyone got out of their cars and milled about, chatting and taking pictures. A squadron of Harley's was stopped right behind me and they all walked up to see the car. "Is that the, umm, whatchamacallit, M5?" No, it's a 550i, just a V8. How much horsepower? "That is a sweet ride, man."

There are only few things that I would have changed, if I could have. The enormous steering wheel. Active Steering. It was cool, but it took about a year to truly get used to it. The sport seats were OK but didn't agree with me 100%; the comfort seats are outstanding and would have been a better fit. I loved the look of Monaco Blue but the finish seemed to chip and scratch more easily than an E-Class I once owned. Personally, I am a fan of I-Drive - I realize many critics have had trouble with it, but it simplified things for me, not made them more complicated.

At the height of gasoline prices, the $80 fill ups started to take their toll. If I drove with an exceedingly light foot, the onboard data monitor would reward me with a 17 mpg average in my daily commute. But, finally, it started to seem like overkill. Why am I driving it if I feel bad when I bury the accelerator? In weak moments I would recall an e90 I had as a loaner while the 5 was in for service. The thick little steering wheel, the coddling seats, the burrrrip of the inline 6, the way I could toss it around that last corner on my way home from work.

Then. It happened. 0.9% financing. It was time.

This past Sunday I said goodbye to my Monaco Blue 550i, and said hello to a 2008 titanium silver 335i sedan sport/premium/yadda yadda. It, too, sings to me, a delicious and obscene roar at full throttle, a hoarse and menacing growl at ordinary speeds. Smaller, yes. Better body control and steering, yes. A better fit for it's main mission, taking me to and from work, yes. Less likely to draw a crowd of bikers? Yes. Oh well. More disturbingly, it doesn't have the magic the-world-is-ploddingly-slow-until-75-mph distortion field. Fast feels like fast. Supremely controlled, but fast.

Bye bye 550i. Thanks for the ride.

MacSid

This is just it, isn't it? Sooo well put.

I drove a friend's E39 520i all of 500 yeards before becoming hell-bent on getting my own 5er.

Good luck with the E90, and enjoy it too!

rambaldi

Have fun, and keep us informed after your first experience with the e90!

wacopolumbo

Man, that was very well put. I felt like I was reading a well written shot story about one of my favorite subjects. Thanks for the nice break in my morning.

I have to be honest, I was torn between my ride and a montego blue 335i fully loaded with the brown leather/black interior. Something about the interior/exterior color combination really called to me. I may break down and get a 3 as an additonal car sometime...smaller and sporty. I love the room and ride of the 5 though.

Enjoy that e90!

Jambers

What a lovely write up...

We in Blitey (UK) pay almost ?80, not USD for a fillup... that's like $150 of your US Bucks...

doug_999

Well written.

How about checking back and giving us an update after 6 months of ownership and possibly comparing the two cars?

PS - congrats

Rudy

Thanks for the write-up. I think I understand what you're saying about the diffences between the 5 and the 3 -- each time my car gets serviced, I get to enjoy a day or so of experiencing a 335.

I'm glad you're happy with your new baby -- enjoy it!

Member545

Very well put. I too made the switch from a 545 to an E92. I was just down at the Performance Center last weekend for the driving school and we drove 550 and 535's. It was nice to get back in the 5 and compare. The 5 is much bigger inside even though on paper it is only a couple inches. I do like the smaller exterior size of the 335 for commuting though. I love the twin turbo engine, but in the 5 with the sport automatic it seemed a little lazy off the line compared to the 550. In my 3 with the stick it seems perfect. Good luck with the E90.

Allen

I do the same...except I always get 325s The biggest difference I find between the 5 and the 3 is the ride higway (95% of my driving) quality. I guess it's the shorter wheelbase, or weight or something that makes the 3 much more "jittery"...bumps transfer through car quicker. If you had a 3 foot long metal pipe and a 5 foot long metal pipe and dropped them both on a concrete floor and observed in very slow motion their movements as they came to a rest, I think this would demostrate what I'm talking about. Basically it's why if all else is equal, a longer wheelbase, heavier car gives a smoother ride. All that said, the 3 is much better for tossing around the curves. The 3's I get for loaners are always 325s...I can only imagine the 300 twin turbo motor from my 535 in a 3 series ...I bet it will haul a$$ and be a blast to drive!!

FiveThirtyI

This is the best description ever to explain how I feel, especially after I went from the 530 to the 535. Sometimes I get so frustrated because I feel like traffic is just chugging along and then I look at the spedo and realize I'm doing close to 80! Excellent write up!

I had a 335 loaner for over a month one time but unfortunately it did not have the sport suspension...BOOO SO I really couldnt compare the agility.

Cheers!