stavros

I have owned two E39's (refer to sig), and while I thought they had a beautiful and timeless design, I was under a spell when I saw the E60 back in 2003. I thought the E60 was super modern and radical, I was obsessed with its stying and loved the interior design too but still admire the E39 when I see them. I cannot make a fair reliability comparison between the two as I had purchased the E39's at higher mileage and used them as daily drivers, and so had more wear and tear issues with them, particularly the cooling system, i.e. radiator, water pump, thermostat. But in driving terms, the E60 feels alot sharper than the E39's felt and I love the active steering. I have experienced all 5 series apart from the E12, and have enjoyed all of them for their merits.

BMRMEUP

I don't think it's about money either. I've had both designs and from the minute the e60 came out, I wanted one, I thought it was so beautiful. Now that I have one, I can see that each had it's relative merits. The e39 was more aerodynamic, and the ride was more forgiving, yet more spirited than the e60 I have now...in short, more fun to drive. In part this is due to my e60 being an xi and also having different tires, which puts it at a disadvantage. e39 however, was also more quiet...no wind noise from the sunroof! But the seats! oy vey! And that D#$% plastic cover over the seat controls that kept breaking!

I am so much happier with the interior of my e60. It is truly comfortable and beautiful. One of my favorite things about it is when I open the door and the smell of the leather wafts out.....happiness

spiros

That review had some valid points and also had some remarks that were quite biased in my book. You really cannot say the e39 is more refined that the e60. The moment i've read that i couldn't consider that review unbiased. Same thing goes for steering feel and grip, the e60 has definately an edge. There is practically nothing major mentioned that the E60 is better at, not true at all...
For me it is a silly biased comparison to show that "their cars" are better than "our cars" and honestly i find it pointless and childish.

Richard in NC

I've had two E39s and now the E60. It's tough for me to directly compare them. I had a '99 540i, an '02 M5, an '06 650i, and now the '08 550i. I really like the 550i and think overall it is better than the E39 but there are pros and cons to both. Here are my capsule summaries of each.

'99 540i - The E39 was vastly superior to its competition in ride/handling and the luxury/sport equations. Truely the best sport sedan available with few flaws. I really enjoyed that car.

'02 M5 - A remarkable car. I still think one of the best ever. The ONLY flaws ever discussed on M5board.com were the cup holders, clutch life, oil usage, DSC sensitivity, and propensity to understeer (which could be fixed with mods). It had it all: great styling, ultimate luxury, every known feature for its time, incredible performance with every day usability, impressive handling yet a decent ride, decent fuel economy when cruising (25 mpg!), and a relative value especially considering the lease rate. I smiled as much when driving it after 75k miles as when new. And when I dusted a Mustang or hung with a Vette on track, it was a grin ear to ear.

'06 650i - I only had this car for a year because it just couldn't compare to the M5. No full leather, a harsh punishing ride, a bucking bronco throttle response, and many other little annoyances.

'08 550i - By 2007 I warmed to the E60 styling, especially the 550i with the Mtech bumper. The LCI interior refresh was an improvement in quality and materials IMHO as well (not quite to E39 levels but close). I like the modern features (bluetooth, iPod integration, some aspects of iDrive, adaptive headlights, HUD, etc), the Sport Automatic, the active roll stabilization, handling balance, DTC mode, comfort seats, quietness and additional refinement, and more. On track, thanks to the ARS and handling balance, I am as fast with the 550i as I was with the M5, despite lower speeds in the straights. Downsides to the E60 are a more 'disturbed' ride (not harsh but you feel every disturbance), cruise control location, lack of any temp guage or indication, lack of upper vent temp dial, door armrest design (sharp forward edge), comfort seat headrests, and increased price. I am paying more per month for the 550i than I did for the M5.

I would be thrilled with an E60 M5 for awhile but it's a significant price increase for the amount I could actually use its additional power and I can't justify it. Plus there's the downside of the poor fuel economy no matter how driven.

Bottom line: Both are great cars in their own right. Both have flaws. I hope the F10 fixes the E60 flaws and won't add new ones as I would likely go for one if it's out by next October. Or do I go for an E90 M3?

E60BEEMER

i thought we all were friends and had the best machines

wonder if a new F10 driver will frown me now??

E60714

I didn't buy my car, so I won't comment on people's financial situations, but I do find the E39 M5 incredibly appealing. The more and more I see the E60 M5, though, I lean closer and closer to that. I never had a problem with the E60 designing, save for the rear, which I feel ends really abruptly. It's not a smooth transition and looks like someone took a saw straight down the back. Similarly, the E90 M3 looks awesome, sounds awesome...everything's awesome. But given the choice, I would go for an E46 M3 over any of the M3s. I really don't like the E30, which seems almost blasphemous to say, but I don't.

Car aesthetics take some getting used to. I longer fear the F10, and the F01 really looks alot better than the day it was actually revealed, and very little has changed since that day. We'll just have to wait and see.

Rob Hall

The e39 was always going to be a hard act to follow, but i think the e60 raised the game in every way, the styling looks great from any angle, my only dislike of the e60 styling is the 1in step down between the wing/bonnet and door line.

zen68

Scott,

Get Sprint Booster .

Mohamed (bimmerturn) also complained about the delay until he got Sprint Booster.

http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=...=sprint+booster

rrnag30

all matters of perspective,
the e60 has grown on me, just like i'm sure the f10 will as well (from what i have seen it is ugly, exactly what i said when e60 came out --- what am i driving now??)
I used to love the hard lines on the german cars (I agree with Krozi E46 styling was amazing!), didnt like the asian curve direction bmw has been going in, but we are all BMW fans deep down, regardless, the rest is just our urge to vocalize our opinion...and that is all it is, especially when one of the positive qualities for e39 is "makes you feel better"

skylolow

Another thing they like to bring up is we got an E60 so now we don't know how to use a wrench.

I've always love the styling of the E39 but just in the past year or two its really starting to look dated driving down the road. I think it has more to do with the rear styling then the front. My kids always comment on it when we see one in front of us. They always ask how old is that BMW in very blah way.