A2 BMW

Picked up my new 530xi two weeks ago. Here are my thoughts, comments and complaints (dealer related of course) so far:

Delivery:

I think I have the worst dealer in the known universe. Picked up the car on a Wednesday afternoon and it was delivered by a salesman who I think had been on the job for 5 minutes. The entire sales staff quit the day before delivery, including my salesman! To say they have management problems is an understatement. Anyway, the guy who delivered the car was nice enough - but seemed to know very little about it. He did get my Treo hooked up to the bluetooth (though had no luck with my Samsung A900). Car was clean though not very well polished. No scratches or finish problems though, so that's something.

Drove the car home and immediately put it in the garage where it sat until being delivered to my clear bra installer on Saturday. It was incredibly hard not to take it out for a long drive, but I didn't want to take any chances on stone chips. Spent the three days reading the manual and playing around. Clear bra was put on and I was ready to go on Sunday.

Initial Impressions:

The car is beautiful inside and out. No regrets whatsoever on my color choices. I am really loving the Silver Gray. The interior is a big step up from my '04 330xi. I also did not realize how much larger this car is until I saw them side by side and sat in each. Engine is the usual BMW smooth. Nothing compares, and I have driven a lot of cars. So far very happy.

Problems:

1. My ignorance (and that of the salesman) meant that I didn't realize until after delivery that the parktronic system was not working. So, the first service appointment came early. Seems I had a bad sensor, which had to be sent out for paint. Should be in this week.

2. I also am having them replace the wood trim surrounding the gear shift. Looks like small scratches right in front of the iDrive knob. Service tried to blame it on me, but there are no physical scratches on the surface and since I had had the car for all of a week I argued it must have been a defect in the finishing process. Salesman backed me up, so he is learning. I hope they do a good job replacing this. I assume it is a snap in piece, but I have -0- confidence in the service department at this point (you would think the parktronic would be part of pre-delivery inspection!). Anybody replaced this trim before?

Good news is that they - reluctantly I think - gave me a brand new 330xi to drive for a day while they checked out the parktronic. Nice car, but I am definately happy I went with the 5er this time.

3. Checked the tire pressure for the first time today - 38 all around on the Bridgestone 18" RFTs. Clearly incorrect according to both the manual and the door sticker. Sticker provides for 30 front, 38 rear so I took some air out of the fronts. Really improved the ride. This leads to two questions:

Why is there such a difference between front and rear recommended pressure?
Why didn't my tire pressure monitor go berserk when I drove to work today????? I purposely didn't reset it to check if it was working. You would think the system would notice that I took 8 PSI out of the front tires. Anyone have any ideas on this? How much pressure do you need to lose before it registers?

4. Will it ever stop raining?? I am dying to Zaino the car and it has rained for a week so far and looks like it is going to continue for another week. I will not post pics until my baby is properly cleaned and waxed so don't even ask.

See ya.

wmbiii

That is really too bad. Interesting to hear more from others on the PSI and if that make much of a difference to ride quality. I have not tested mine yet but will if recommended.

My car hit 500 miles today finally. Everything has been perfect (minus nail in run flat with I had patched). Have had good experience to date with my dealership since pick up.

I'm having car waxed and detailed by a local guy (who came highly recommended by autopia.com forum and my national BMWCCA chapter) this Thursday although going to be hard to get the look I had the day she came home.

pbarch1

Why is there such a difference between front and rear recommended pressure?
Simply, tire pressure afects the handling and stablity of your car. and BMWNA has decided how they want your car to handle.
Why didn't my tire pressure monitor go berserk when I drove to work today????? I purposely didn't reset it to check if it was working. You would think the system would notice that I took 8 PSI out of the front tires.
Because The FTM olny knows the difference in the speed your tires are rotating. So if you were to have a flat the tire leaking air would sart to rotate slower, setting off the FTM.
Anyone have any ideas on this? How much pressure do you need to lose before it registers?

blackbird6SPD

Just Curious. Which dealership are you at?