wiszmaster

1. Rodney ... thats an awesome picture!

2. i totally agree with the minivan idea. I'd get a minivan, or if you are looking for a little more comfot .. get a Denali ... they are very ncie too. when I head out with the parents ... we barely take my 530i, or my fathers 745Li .. we preferably use the Envoy ... we are 4 (parents, myself & my sister 13) + 1 sometimes 2 small dogs (Shi-Tzus).

unless both the drivers & passengers seats are very far upfront .. i would barely recommend the 5 series for a daily transported of 4 .. let alone 5. NOW if they made the 5 series in a LONG version, like audi does with the A6 in china (only) .. then i'd say yes.

look at the Nissan Quest ... very nice minivan, or the Town & Country.

or as an alternative ..... the new MB R is coming out by the end of the year ... i've seen a few pictures of it ... VERY NICE! - and NO, its NOT a dressed up pacifica - its actually larger!

ch7656

Can't agree more with the minivan comments...we have a new Honda Odyssey that is great (for the kids [2 of them 16 months and 4 years], the dog etc...). I couldn't be happier with our combo of a minivan and a 545. The minivan is great to drive...no one tries to race me...everyone is comfortable and I just cruise...very incognito

Took a little convincing to get my wife in one?but when she wrecked her Audi allroad I put her in a rental minivan?after 30 days in the rental?she was convinced, we sold the allroad (still in the shop wrecked) and bought a minivan.

Also helps that in our kids local swim class there are wife?s of two famous rock stars (on the charts today) with their kids?and they both drive Honda minivans (granted they have other toys in the garage...but so do we)...but when it comes moving kids in comfort and safety you're hard pressed to beat the latest generation of minivans...we've had wagons (Audi and MBZ) and SUV's (GMC, Chevy etc..)

LuvE60

Fellow Members please don't despise me :'( for saying this. But I believe a family of five is better served by a Minivan.

Now if you plan to fill the back seat every day with carseats and family then you will have to get the 550i and live with the tight rear quarters. (Who here wants drive a minivan everyday? )

If however you can limit rear seat use to occasional then you can keep your 330i which you love and get the minivan for the occasion. The Japanese ones are fully equipped nowadays and have just about everything, inluding my personal favourite Run Flat Tires. Nobody wants to have a flat with two Car Seat toddlers and a Pre teen in the minivan with two feet of snow (not a problem I guess where you live) on the road shoulders.

Look through this forum the 545i (and soon 550i) are phenomenal but do you really want to expose your familly to the possiblity of "Warnnig! Stop Car and Call for Dealer to be Towed" or any other "Windows Malfuntion?"

Go ahead spoil yourself but not the kids.
[/quote]

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, everyone is entitled to there opinion, and what you are saying is practical. But come on. A minivan. At the very least recommend an X5. My kids love my E60, and I completely disagree. It's selfish to spoil yourself and not spoil your children. It's a complete double standard. Those husbands who drive a 70K car and send there wife around town in a MINIVAN!!!!!!!!!!!

My 6 year old boys have arguments with fellow classmates about BMW and mercedes (notice no Caps). They already know how to use Idrive for heavens sakes. Give them taste now, and then teach them they have to work hard to get it, thats what I say. I'd rather give up my left nut (No offense to those who have given up both) than EVER drive a minivan( No offense to those that do). My town is minivan HELL. They putt along at 10 MPH below the speed limit and make it impossible to get anywhere.

Heloha, get your 550. I am sure you deserve it. And I am sure your kids don't deserve a minivan.

rodneyremington

Fellow Members please don't despise me :'( for saying this. But I believe a family of five is better served by a Minivan.

Now if you plan to fill the back seat every day with carseats and family then you will have to get the 550i and live with the tight rear quarters. (Who here wants drive a minivan everyday? )

If however you can limit rear seat use to occasional then you can keep your 330i which you love and get the minivan for the occasion. The Japanese ones are fully equipped nowadays and have just about everything, inluding my personal favourite Run Flat Tires. Nobody wants to have a flat with two Car Seat toddlers and a Pre teen in the minivan with two feet of snow (not a problem I guess where you live) on the road shoulders.

Look through this forum the 545i (and soon 550i) are phenomenal but do you really want to expose your familly to the possiblity of "Warnnig! Stop Car and Call for Dealer to be Towed" or any other "Windows Malfuntion?"

Go ahead spoil yourself but not the kids.
[/quote]

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, everyone is entitled to there opinion, and what you are saying is practical. But come on. A minivan. At the very least recommend an X5. My kids love my E60, and I completely disagree. It's selfish to spoil yourself and not spoil your children. It's a complete double standard. Those husbands who drive a 70K car and send there wife around town in a MINIVAN!!!!!!!!!!!

My 6 year old boys have arguments with fellow classmates about BMW and mercedes (notice no Caps). They already know how to use Idrive for heavens sakes. Give them taste now, and then teach them they have to work hard to get it, thats what I say. I'd rather give up my left nut (No offense to those who have given up both) than EVER drive a minivan( No offense to those that do). My town is minivan HELL. They putt along at 10 MPH below the speed limit and make it impossible to get anywhere.

Heloha, get your 550. I am sure you deserve it. And I am sure your kids don't deserve a minivan.
[/quote]


I think you are perpetuating a myth about who drives minivans. My wife could afford to drive any car she wanted and she prefers the minivan because it's practical for what she needs. An X5?? Gimmie a break. It's got half the room inside that a minivan has. How would that be any better than a 5 series for kids? And I live in California. Not a whole lot of need for bad-weather and offroad capability. It's not about spoiling the kids or who's car cost how much. They are extremely practical and comfortable vehicles. My kids don't need idrive, they want a DVD player and room to move around.

Hey, I like BMW, but they don't make a vehicle for every purpose. I also agree with the Denali suggestion, that is another very comfortable people mover. And a heck of a lot more spacious than a X5.

My wifes' Town & Country has great leather with suede inserts, a stereo that is as good as my Logic7 (and it was standard), surround sound flat-screen television, heated/power everything, power doors and rear hatch and drives great.

And I really don't want my 6 year old to be having arguments about the best luxury cars. I don't raise my kids that way.

LuvE60

Fellow Members please don't despise me :'( for saying this. But I believe a family of five is better served by a Minivan.

Now if you plan to fill the back seat every day with carseats and family then you will have to get the 550i and live with the tight rear quarters. (Who here wants drive a minivan everyday? )

If however you can limit rear seat use to occasional then you can keep your 330i which you love and get the minivan for the occasion. The Japanese ones are fully equipped nowadays and have just about everything, inluding my personal favourite Run Flat Tires. Nobody wants to have a flat with two Car Seat toddlers and a Pre teen in the minivan with two feet of snow (not a problem I guess where you live) on the road shoulders.

Look through this forum the 545i (and soon 550i) are phenomenal but do you really want to expose your familly to the possiblity of "Warnnig! Stop Car and Call for Dealer to be Towed" or any other "Windows Malfuntion?"

Go ahead spoil yourself but not the kids.
[/quote]

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, everyone is entitled to there opinion, and what you are saying is practical. But come on. A minivan. At the very least recommend an X5. My kids love my E60, and I completely disagree. It's selfish to spoil yourself and not spoil your children. It's a complete double standard. Those husbands who drive a 70K car and send there wife around town in a MINIVAN!!!!!!!!!!!

My 6 year old boys have arguments with fellow classmates about BMW and mercedes (notice no Caps). They already know how to use Idrive for heavens sakes. Give them taste now, and then teach them they have to work hard to get it, thats what I say. I'd rather give up my left nut (No offense to those who have given up both) than EVER drive a minivan( No offense to those that do). My town is minivan HELL. They putt along at 10 MPH below the speed limit and make it impossible to get anywhere.

Heloha, get your 550. I am sure you deserve it. And I am sure your kids don't deserve a minivan.
[/quote]


I think you are perpetuating a myth about who drives minivans. My wife could afford to drive any car she wanted and she prefers the minivan because it's practical for what she needs. An X5?? Gimmie a break. It's got half the room inside that a minivan has. How would that be any better than a 5 series for kids? And I live in California. Not a whole lot of need for bad-weather and offroad capability. It's not about spoiling the kids or who's car cost how much. They are extremely practical and comfortable vehicles. My kids don't need idrive, they want a DVD player room to move around.

Hey, I like BMW, but they don't make a vehicle for every purpose. I also agree with the Denali suggestion, that is another very comfortable people mover. And a heck of a lot more spacious than a X5.
[/quote]
I knew I would get crucified for that post. Everything you said was dead on. There is always more than one way to look at it. My wife always says I need to be more practical. I definitely would get the minivan before a Denali right now. I just filled up my tank at $2.89 per gallon.

rodneyremington

That's one of the best things about this forum, luvE60-- people here are grown-ups and discussions are civil. I respect your opinion too and I'm sure you aren't alone in that opinion

LuvE60

Isn't it great. My philosophy on this forum:

If the tone is swaying too far in one direction, the devils advocate in all of us has to chime in to sway it back. Too much practicality, or too little, can cause someone to make a bad decision that they will regret.

I was all set to replace my wifes GX470 with an X5, but your comments have made me slow down a bit, and think about space. I just assumed that it was as big, but you are right, it's not. I just checked.

Thanks.

Where in Cali are you. Are you coming to the meet next weekend?

rodneyremington

I would love to come to the meet, but we are taking a family vacation for a couple weeks in a few days (in the van ) to Canada. Hopefully I can attend the next one.

I live in Clovis which is east of Fresno in the foothills of the Sierras.

kryptokat

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ......... and I completely disagree. It's selfish to spoil yourself and not spoil your children. It's a complete double standard.

[/quote]

Anyone who has been sucessful enough to afford a luxury car has earned the right to spoil themselves. Kids on the other hand need to know not to expect this as their right but learn to earn it.

Whats wrong with that?

Not everybody is into cars. My collegue who easily has twice as more net worth assets than I do drives a 1992 toyota tercel worth 9,500 when brand new.

Merv the Derv

We have 6 year old twins and a 4 year old and and mostly use my wife's ML, , when we all go out, however you can get 3 booster seats across the back seat of the E60. Yes its a pain to put all 3 seat belts on as the back was, IMHO, designed for two large adults only.

We used to have a Ford Galaxy (Minivan) but it was just like driving a van, we couldn't wait to get rid of it.

E60 packed to the roof is the only way to go