tachyon

The 550 continues to deliver more grins with each drive. The power is so abundant and effortless that I?m having a hard time keeping the RPMs under 4,500 (but not for much longer). This car is so balanced and sure-footed that you have complete confidence it can do anything asked of it ... and it does.

I just logged 6 hours behind the wheel today (Chicago-Indianapolis). Here are a few things I?m surprised by so far ?

Likes:

Power and Grace ? it?s amazing; I?ve never owned anything that can be driven like this.

Brakes ? Yes, they do. Very well, thank you. (but this soft-stop thing ? I don?t get it).

HUD ? I thought this would be somewhat of a gimmick, but I totally rely on it now and I never seem to look down to the speedometer any more. It?s especially cool with navigation commands.

Lighting ? I expected to be disappointed with the lighting compared to my 740 (its lighted exterior door handles are way cool). But the 550 has a fantastic interior lighting package, and I love the puddle lights under the side mirrors. Best of all is the exterior lighting ? nothing on the road looks this cool. And the adaptive headlights actually are very effective.

Comfort seats ? are very appropriately named. After six hours in the saddle today I feel fresher than when I started. Nothing is stiff or sore, and no mid-trip fidgeting with the seat controls was required. The driving position is absolutely perfect. Amazing.

Heated Steering Wheel ? Oh, does that feel nice as the mornings here are getting chilly. So far, this is my favorite trick.

Quiet ? At 95 mph I could hear ? nothing. I didn?t realize I was going that fast until my Limit setting chimed in at that speed. Oopps, I thought I was going about 65. A Lexus could not be any quieter than this, can it?

Gas Mileage ? Cruising along at an average speed of 65 mph I noted that my average consumption was 27.6 miles per gallon. Holy crap! Cancel the Prius order.

Dislikes:

Gas Mileage (city) ? Yikes, I?ve been getting Hummer-like mileage tooling around town (13 mpg).

Chimes ? OK, I?ve had enough of the idiot chimes and Accept screen input already. Get a backbone, BMW, and fire a few hundred of your lawyers before we all go postal.

Electronic Gremlins ? Now that Halloween is over, hopefully Bluetooth with stop being so erratic and my garage doors will stop going up and down on their own whenever I pull up next to the garage.

Start / Stop Button ? I want my key back! This is a really stupid and frustrating feature unless you pony up for Comfort Access.

I expected to like I-Drive (it?s fine), NAV (very good but needs a few improvements), Premium Sound (rocks), and Sirius (less than CD-like sound, but variety of channels make sup for that).

All-in-all, what a car.

znod

I am very glad you are enjoying your new car so much.

Bimmer32

Nice to hear you like your car. If you're cruising at 65, then you are not varying rpm and that's not breaking-in.

jsal

Glad you are enjoying - I know the feeling. Or, I think I remember the feeling.

Don't be fooled by the gas mileage. Mine has never calculated correctly (always about 5-6 mpg better than what I am actually getting, but for the power, I think it is still good.

I-drive: Don't worry, you only have 900 miles. In a couple of thousand more, you will like it.

I am jealous - I want the extra .4l / 35hp.

EBMCS03

Very nice... sounds like you're giving the car honest opinion.

So you didnt opt for comfort access?

amigo525

Why are you so fustrated with the start/stop button?

Elavorate more please. My car will bring it and it does not have c/a.

tachyon

I drove for about one hour at level speed - to see what kind of gas mileage I could get. To your point, the rest of the drive I shifted between M6, M5 and M4 so that the rpms varied between 2,000 and 4,500.

It's annoying to have to insert the key fob, click it in all the way, and then rotate your hand around to lay a finger on the start button. (and don't forget to put your foot on the brake too). Wasted motion, I say - but it's something Rube Goldberg would be proud of. :thumbsdown:

Don Juan

Well I have had my car for 3 days and I'm used to the key/push button thing. I think its cool, and maybe it adds 1 more second to your normal operation of the key but I like it. The amzing thing as tachyon is sharing is that the gas mileage is the same as my old 530 as an average..actually i get better mpg in the highway ..most of my drive is city (70%city and 30% hwy). this last tank full I'm averaging 18.2mpg, 262 miles and still abit less than a quarter of tank to go. easily i think I can get 300+miles of a full tank where my 530 used to do
i think is becasuse the little effort the engine needs to move the car, combined with the 6 speed and valvetronic..the consumption is above average cars this level.
Knock on wood, bluetooth, nav, pdc and everything is working seaminsly.. bo problems what so ever, oh even the voice recogntion (bluetooth using with my blacberry7520) is perfect..i say the whole number in one shot and the sytem captures it..
Summary, this car is AWESOME and can not wait to pass the braking period to rev it a bit more..1000 miles an counting..to 3000 braking period

tachyon

Hey DJ, Congrats on you rnew 550! Have you posted pics anywhere in the forum yet? I would love to see a close-up of your wheels.

E60-550i

The start button works great in conjunction with the comfort access. The key never has to leave your pocket. I like the combination much beter than the key and button arrangement of my 745Li.



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2005 E60 550i, Black Saphire Metallic, Beige Leather, Logic 7, Sport Package, Comfort Access, NAV System, Sirus Radio, 20% tint, Breyton 19s. Took delivery 10/19/05.