523i LCI - Pictures and impressions after first 10 days
04-16-2007, 03:19 PM
#12
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My Ride: 09 - 520d M Sport - Steptronic - Carbon Black - Black Dakota Leather Sports Seats electric- Auto Climate - Piano Black Bamboo - Antracite Headlining - Business Media Kit - Sat Nav - Bluetooth - CD Changer - Auxillary Port and USB - M Sport Multifunction Steering - Lowered M Suspension - 18" Alloys with RFT - M Badged - M Bumpers and Bodykit - Park Distance Control - Advanced Voice Rec - Auto Dim Mirror - Privacy Glass - 5 Year Service Inclusive
Previous -06 - 525 M Sport - Steptronic - Sapphire Black - Black Nappa Leather Sports Seats - Auto Climate - Alluminium Cubed Interior - Anthracite Headliner - Business CD with Auxillary Port - M Sport Multifunction Steering - Bluetooth - Lowered M Suspension - 18" Alloys with RFT - M Badged - M Bumpers and Bodykit - Park Distance Control - Spare Wheel kit - Advanced Voice Rec
Congrats it looks like a nice car. Keep it between the ditches!
Originally Posted by darraghn' post='413998' date='Apr 15 2007, 09:10 PM
Got my 523i LCI 10 days ago - my first E60
Specs:
E60 523i SE Saloon N53 2.5
Colour A52 Space Grey Metallic
Upholstery LCGE Cream Beige Dakota leather
205 Automatic Gearbox
415 Rear Blind - Electric
416 Sun blinds for side and rear windows
481 Sports Seats
548 Speedometer w/ KMH read
USB/audio interface
Bluetooth Telephone Preparation
Hi-Fi loudspeaker system
Luxury Package
Light Poplar wood trim. High-gloss
Love the new gearbox - very fast shifts in Sport or Manual mode, nice and smooth in "D". I chose the 523i over the 520d because of the 6 cylinder refinement and tuneful engine noise (and of course with the punitive Irish tax system my 523i was Euro71,000 - so a bigger engine was even more out of my reach). For those of you in the US who don't get the smaller engines - the 523 has a 2.5l 190bhp engine - not hyper fast but plenty around town. It lacks a little in low down torque but never feels lethargic. I'm trying to keep to the break-in "rules" but it's very difficult
My previous BMWs were an E46 330Ci Auto and an E46 330Ci Auto convertible - baby on the way necessitates more space and comfort
. The new gearbox is a lot better than the E46 box, the engine lacks the punch in the back of the 231bhp 3l, but just as smooth running. My only complaint so far is that the engine is "lumpy" at idle. I am going to bring it in to my dealer soon. The engine seems to idle at 600rpm which is quite low - so perhaps then need to up it to 650 or 700rpm.
One option I was very keen on was the USB interface (see my previous posts). I have attached some images below which show it in operation. Currently I have a 1Gb USB stick (8Gb on the way). It is very fast to move around the menus and Artist / Album and from push to playing takes about 1 second. The car can store the details of up to 4 USB sticks and up to 20,000 songs according to the manual.
The light beige leather is very light and is going to be a bitch to clean (particularly the matching cream carpets) but it looks fantastic. The light poplar wood is a lot darker than I expected - but looks great with the light interior. I didn't go for the Sport suspension - as a result the ride is excellent on the 17" wheels. Body control is still very good and roll is only noticeable when really pushing the envelope.
Thanks to everybody on e60.net for all the info - which helped me to wait for the LCI and chose the right options for me. If anybody has any questions that I might be able to help on - in relation to my specifications - please let me know.
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Specs:
E60 523i SE Saloon N53 2.5
Colour A52 Space Grey Metallic
Upholstery LCGE Cream Beige Dakota leather
205 Automatic Gearbox
415 Rear Blind - Electric
416 Sun blinds for side and rear windows
481 Sports Seats
548 Speedometer w/ KMH read
USB/audio interface
Bluetooth Telephone Preparation
Hi-Fi loudspeaker system
Luxury Package
Light Poplar wood trim. High-gloss
Love the new gearbox - very fast shifts in Sport or Manual mode, nice and smooth in "D". I chose the 523i over the 520d because of the 6 cylinder refinement and tuneful engine noise (and of course with the punitive Irish tax system my 523i was Euro71,000 - so a bigger engine was even more out of my reach). For those of you in the US who don't get the smaller engines - the 523 has a 2.5l 190bhp engine - not hyper fast but plenty around town. It lacks a little in low down torque but never feels lethargic. I'm trying to keep to the break-in "rules" but it's very difficult
My previous BMWs were an E46 330Ci Auto and an E46 330Ci Auto convertible - baby on the way necessitates more space and comfort
. The new gearbox is a lot better than the E46 box, the engine lacks the punch in the back of the 231bhp 3l, but just as smooth running. My only complaint so far is that the engine is "lumpy" at idle. I am going to bring it in to my dealer soon. The engine seems to idle at 600rpm which is quite low - so perhaps then need to up it to 650 or 700rpm.One option I was very keen on was the USB interface (see my previous posts). I have attached some images below which show it in operation. Currently I have a 1Gb USB stick (8Gb on the way). It is very fast to move around the menus and Artist / Album and from push to playing takes about 1 second. The car can store the details of up to 4 USB sticks and up to 20,000 songs according to the manual.
The light beige leather is very light and is going to be a bitch to clean (particularly the matching cream carpets) but it looks fantastic. The light poplar wood is a lot darker than I expected - but looks great with the light interior. I didn't go for the Sport suspension - as a result the ride is excellent on the 17" wheels. Body control is still very good and roll is only noticeable when really pushing the envelope.
Thanks to everybody on e60.net for all the info - which helped me to wait for the LCI and chose the right options for me. If anybody has any questions that I might be able to help on - in relation to my specifications - please let me know.
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04-17-2007, 01:13 AM
#13
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My Ride: F10 530d Deep Sea Blue, Oyster/Black, Auto, Dynamic Pack, Professional Sat Nav, Professional Hi-Fi
Thanks for all the comments guys.
In response to questions above:
The wheels are Type 243 7.5J 17" - very nice. 18" would look better but the ride would start to suffer on Irish roads.... For those that are interested there is decent rubber "protection" around the wheel which should minimise the chance of kerbing them.
The gearbox is fantastic. D is smooth and controlled, but S mode feel like a different car altogether. Given that the 523i "only" has 190bhp - the box has to work hard when pushing-on but it does a great job. Haven't used kickdown yet - trying to break her in gently....
Got a brand new 8GB USb drive yesterday. Loaded 5GB of WMAs (at 256KB/s) onto the drive and connected it to the car. It loaded the drive in about 4 or 5 mins. The drive has a Read/Write spec of something like 11/7 MB/s. Was driving to work today and it played music from the stick for about 30 mins but at the end of one song it came up with an error message - something like "Unable to read data from drive". USB stick works fine at work. I'll try it again tonight and see if the problem re-occurs. It was inserted firmly into the socket, but the read/write light on the drive stopped working..... Drive was from a reputable supplier (http://www.mx2.co.uk/prodpage.asp?type=sea...hwhat=pen%208gb), so i don't think it is a duff drive. I'll keep you posted.
In response to questions above:
The wheels are Type 243 7.5J 17" - very nice. 18" would look better but the ride would start to suffer on Irish roads.... For those that are interested there is decent rubber "protection" around the wheel which should minimise the chance of kerbing them.
The gearbox is fantastic. D is smooth and controlled, but S mode feel like a different car altogether. Given that the 523i "only" has 190bhp - the box has to work hard when pushing-on but it does a great job. Haven't used kickdown yet - trying to break her in gently....
Got a brand new 8GB USb drive yesterday. Loaded 5GB of WMAs (at 256KB/s) onto the drive and connected it to the car. It loaded the drive in about 4 or 5 mins. The drive has a Read/Write spec of something like 11/7 MB/s. Was driving to work today and it played music from the stick for about 30 mins but at the end of one song it came up with an error message - something like "Unable to read data from drive". USB stick works fine at work. I'll try it again tonight and see if the problem re-occurs. It was inserted firmly into the socket, but the read/write light on the drive stopped working..... Drive was from a reputable supplier (http://www.mx2.co.uk/prodpage.asp?type=sea...hwhat=pen%208gb), so i don't think it is a duff drive. I'll keep you posted.
04-17-2007, 03:02 AM
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My Ride: F10 530d Deep Sea Blue, Oyster/Black, Auto, Dynamic Pack, Professional Sat Nav, Professional Hi-Fi
The are in UK and Ireland (and were standard before the LCI) - not sure about Switzerland.....
04-17-2007, 04:09 AM
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My Ride: F10 530d Deep Sea Blue, Oyster/Black, Auto, Dynamic Pack, Professional Sat Nav, Professional Hi-Fi
It does look a little out of place. I don't know why they couldn't just have a smaller hole in the wood so the "metal" gearstick base sits on top of the wood. Having said that, it doesn't bother me too much. It might look worse with the Grey High Gloss or Aluminium trims.
It would have been nice also if the aluminium on the pistol grip was wood where wood was specified for the rest of the car. Wouldn't make sense for gloss trim though.
It would have been nice also if the aluminium on the pistol grip was wood where wood was specified for the rest of the car. Wouldn't make sense for gloss trim though.
04-17-2007, 04:46 AM
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My Ride: Currently Audi -waiting on E60 LCI 520d - end April'07
Originally Posted by darraghn' post='414691' date='Apr 17 2007, 01:09 PM
It does look a little out of place. I don't know why they couldn't just have a smaller hole in the wood so the "metal" gearstick base sits on top of the wood. Having said that, it doesn't bother me too much. It might look worse with the Grey High Gloss or Aluminium trims.
It would have been nice also if the aluminium on the pistol grip was wood where wood was specified for the rest of the car. Wouldn't make sense for gloss trim though.
It would have been nice also if the aluminium on the pistol grip was wood where wood was specified for the rest of the car. Wouldn't make sense for gloss trim though.
Hi Darragh, good lookin' car - enjoy!
I am waiting on Space Grey 520d (next week??!!), just wondering do you know if USB can be retro fitted by dealer?
04-17-2007, 04:54 AM
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My Ride: F10 530d Deep Sea Blue, Oyster/Black, Auto, Dynamic Pack, Professional Sat Nav, Professional Hi-Fi
Hi wicklowc, I believe from reading other posts that it is unlikely to be an easy option to retro-fit - unlike the iPod interface retrofit which mimics the CD Changer. It's worth asking your dealer - but expect strong push-back 
04-17-2007, 05:11 AM
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My Ride: 530D , Msport, Deep Sea Blue , Cream Beige Dakota , Due April 2007.
"standard cupholders" jeeezzz the luxury , USA members must think we do bad eh 
Cupholders loaded with VRT
Welcome WicklowC , a few Irish here we should have a meet and greet says he who's car has yet to arrive 
Darragh i'd say there's a chance of a bumpy start with the 6FL becuase its the first release ( i'm open to correction on that mabey its on other models already).
C.
Cupholders loaded with VRT
Welcome WicklowC , a few Irish here we should have a meet and greet
says he who's car has yet to arrive Darragh i'd say there's a chance of a bumpy start with the 6FL becuase its the first release ( i'm open to correction on that mabey its on other models already).
C.