doug751

I own a 545i auto and thinking of getting a 530 XI Sedan or Wagon with a manual trans. Has anybody driven one? Can it be driven smoothly? Can you lug it around in traffic in 2nd gear without any funky driveline crunching or binding?

Does it feel adequate power wise? How is it in the snow with the regular all season tires? How about performance winter tires (h or v rated)? Thanks!

-Doug

das

Yes, I have a 530xi 6-speed manual. It definitely can be driven just as smoothly as a non xi, and I don't have any problems with it in 2nd, though 3rd is usually my city-driving gear. It's a very manageable manual.

I feel it's more than adequate, power-wise. All season tires aren't the best for snow, but it's great if that's a compromise for you (I like Pirelli PZero Nero M+S). On winter performance tires (Dunlop Winter Sport M3), it's stellar, and loads better for getting started from a stop and managing power on slippery corners than any rear-wheel drive car. Some here will say that AWD is a poor tradeoff for non-inclement weather, but I personally think that's rubbish: on dry pavement, the xi performs and feels like a RWD car. And in bad weather, it can't be beat.

What you lose with the xi is:

Active steering and active roll stabilization
About 1-2 MPG
The ability to get sport suspension (and the car is 14mm higher than a non-xi)

But I love the thing. Here's mine on 18" Style 124s:

http://das.doit.wisc.edu/bmw/530xi/

dgjk

I have driven one for the past 10 days and love it. The coolest thing by far is the brake staying on for 2 sec before moving forward so there is no rollback at all. I know some of you will claim that you drive a stick and have no rool back now - but I have always had a manual transmission and am very good at it and would have said I had no rollback before, but this is different. Theonly motion you sense when starting is forward.

As far as driving smooth - no issues - power a plenty with a wide range -so it really does not matter where you shift

I do not have a single gear I drive around town in. I shift a lot. What gear I use depends upon where I am, how fast, slope, speed, etc.

But if you wnat a do it all gear I agree with das - third is better - can almost slow to a stop in third and accelerate as much as you want without an issue.

I have the all season tires on it and no problems. Of course the snows would be better, but I have tried to break the car loose in bad weather and you really can not. As a matter of fact our neighnorhodd was icy a few days ago and I tried to slide around corners and could not. Driveway is steep uphill and was covered with ice and got up without any problems. I have never noticed the 4wd kick in or the power vary from the front to the back. It is seamless.

Obviously xi does not make a difference in stopping.

Anyway - love the 6-spd and love the awd
but those were the two reasons I bought the car

rhnorb

[
Yes, I have a 530xi 6-speed manual. It definitely can be driven just as smoothly as a non xi, and I don't have any problems with it in 2nd, though 3rd is usually my city-driving gear. It's a very manageable manual.

I feel it's more than adequate, power-wise. All season tires aren't the best for snow, but it's great if that's a compromise for you (I like Pirelli PZero Nero M+S). On winter performance tires (Dunlop Winter Sport M3), it's stellar, and loads better for getting started from a stop and managing power on slippery corners than any rear-wheel drive car. Some here will say that AWD is a poor tradeoff for non-inclement weather, but I personally think that's rubbish: on dry pavement, the xi performs and feels like a RWD car. And in bad weather, it can't be beat.

What you lose with the xi is:

Active steering and active roll stabilization
About 1-2 MPG
The ability to get sport suspension (and the car is 14mm higher than a non-xi)

But I love the thing. Here's mine on 18" Style 124s:

Das

It looks like you have the non xi 124s since you seem to have a wider track than I do...I have the xi 124s with 245/40s all around. When I switched to the 18 inch 124s from the stock 17 inch wheels and tires, I noticed my spedometer reads a little faster than my actual speed. With the stock set up the speedometer was dead on. That plus the extra clearance between the wheel well and the tire on the xi makes me think that the better tire choice would have been 235/45-18s. Perhaps your 275s did not result in a speedometer error.

twh

I have had my 530xi with manual transmission since July. It replaced a Nissan Maxima, also with manual. The 530xi with manual is awesome. You can drive the car as smooth or as aggressive as you want. I was holding out for an AWD, luxuxy, performance sedan when BMW announced the 6 speed xi. At first I was a bit afraid to go with BMW, fearing quality problems. So far, other than a few iDrive bugs like, this car is flawless and I just love driving it as much as I can.

2MANYCARS

Quick question, do you have 18x8 all around or 18x8 fronts with 18x9 rears? I notice you can apply 18x9 for rears on an xi.

cgfrendly

Doug: it WILL be smooth, but not at first; it took mine a few thousand miles of breakin.