.....expected. Funny thing happened on the way there. I am driving North on the Garden State Parkway to BMWNA headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, and coming down the Southbound lane is an E60 with all of the usual tape in the same places!! It took me about two seconds to figure it out when I realized what the car was. They must have had some kind of pre-determined tape-job set up for every disguised E60 as it was exactly the same as the spy pics.

Anyway, the E60 was under a sheet initially, right in the entrance. After a lot of good food and a 90 minute presentation there was a Q&A session. The head of marketing Rich B. (forget his last name) fielded the 5 Series questions in place of Martin Burkmann, the actual 5 Series product manager. He avoided many important questions and wouldn't talk to me about engine changes or pricing. I referenced the engine change in the 3 Series Coupe after one year's production, but all he could say was that if I bought the car now or next year, I would still get that engine (which could mean no engine upgrade 'til March 2005, most likely). He said that SMG will be available from the start on all models (525 & 545 late October). And ventilated seats are part of the comfort seat option, they are not a stand alone option(in case your listening Jaime).

There must have been at least 50 of 60 more people @ this meeting than expected, and I knew why. After the sheet came off, no one I spoke to had a negative thing to say. You really need to see the thing in person. The overhang is extremely short;;it is the bulging part of the hood immediately following the windshield that disguises this;;the car's hood & front fenders look much longer than they really are. Same goes for the headlights;;in the pics they look like they travel a good distance along the fender, but they do not;;maybe less than 6 inches away from the point where they turn frontward. Thats why the car looks better in the photos from straight on;;from the side the dimensions become confusing and the pics of both the front & rear lights look much more exaggerated in size than they are. The car's other dimensions in person make the details of the lights look miniscule in comparison to the way they look in the photos.

On another note, the I-drive seemed very easy to use. We changed radio stations quite easily, but we didn't mess with much else. The car is quite roomy in the back compared to the E39 & the front-seats were specially designed with a large portion cut-out to facilitate whatever improvement was made in this area. While the E-Class has a tad bit more back seat knee-room, I am certain that the other back-seat dimensions in the back are no smaller than the E's. Interestingly enough, the car has a standard strut tower brace (which I was surprised to see) secured in three places. All of the strut towers and just about all of the other components under the hood that are now made of pure aluminum were pointed out to us. Truly amazing.

I have to say that the car was very good looking and if it drives the way I think it will, the E60 will definitely be a hit.

Thanks very much for the summary, RichReg! So far everyone who saw it in person have said it looks great.

I drove by my dealer today because I got one of those "test drive a BMW and get a pair of sun glasses free" card. My dealer said that they can start ordering E60 now, including 545i. SMG is not an option yet, but will be soon. Since I am waiting for navigation and HUD, I have to wait anyway. But as of today, you should be able to order a 520i, 530i, or 545i at your dealer today.

RichReg, which exterior and interior colors were on display last night?

Yes, I had the same impression after visiting a pre-launch about a month ago.

Right now I?m looking forward to test driving the new five within 2 weeks. :D

:rolleyes: Litster: Yes, dealers can order the 525 as well, but no 520 for us in the U.S.

To answer your question, the E60's color and interior were the same as my own 323Ci;;;titanium silver w/black leatherette.

Yes, I meant 525i :P

Yesterday, I saw an M3 convertible in titanium silver under the rare Seattle sun. It was beautiful. Very shiny. I think I am getting my 545i in titanium silver. RichReg, was the black interior nice? My current has black interior, so may be I will switch to a different interior color this time. Thanks!

:rolleyes: Well, as I said earlier, I own a Titanium Silver & black leatherette combination currently. The only thing different I think I would prefer at this point is that new Silver Grey exterior color.

I've never really bought into a lot of the options that they try to push on these cars and leather seating is no exception. The black leatherette on this car was exceptionally nice and with the standard power seats;; I was loving it!!

Here is the actual car from the meeting:

http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e60/f...=3402772&page=1

and here is the actual interior:

http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e60/f...=3405429&page=1

I think the picture shows, that this car has the 8.8" display. It?s bigger than on other pictures!

:blink: Yes, I believe you are correct.

:lol: WOWWWW......I don't have words to describe how awesome it's the new 5 (E 60)..I've been checking photos and all that stuff and it's a lot more different than the 7 series.....Specially I like that the Idrive feature it's a lot more easy to use....I already know that the new will be an undescriptible car...

:ph34r: see ya!

Question for RichReg:-
At the BMWCCA (which I'm presuming is a BMW customer clinic), the aluminum front end structure was mentioned. I'm interested to know exactly how much of the vehicle is aluminum. Did they give any details? Thanks.