LogicMan

Lady & gents,
I have been an avid reader of this board for 3 months now ... waiting for the arrival of the e60. Now she's available to a few of us lucky/privilages ones, I must say a big congratulations. I would like to assume that for everyone on this board, there is something much more to a car than wheels, bolts, fabric and a name. It must have that which others seem so hard to comprehend ... a soul!

Honestly ... I did not like the looks of the e60. I joined the wagon and ranted on about "Oh how Bungled it is now" ... surprisingly, it's growing on me. I'm just about getting rid of my lovely 528i e39 with the works ... and really asking myself if there is something I would miss in her? My wife thinks so (She hates to part with things . So for you few that have kept the new e60 in your humble stables, please do give your opinion on this. "Do you miss your previous car in anyway?"

When you sit behing the wheels of the e60? Do you feel the way you used to in the e39? Cozy, safe, bulletproof?
A lot has been said about the handling with active steering, but without it, is she really any different from the e39?
Some interior quality issues have been raised, but I did not see it that way when I inspected a Black/Beige sample. Could be more on layout and colour choice?
The new 530i has the same engine as the 2003 model. Though being lighter ... have you guys noticed any improvement in pulling power?
Lastly, how does she handle bumps like pave stones, rail crossings and potholes if youu dared take put her through such.

Sorry for the long script ... guess because I've been quite all this while.

TRICHMAN

I have 630 miles on my e60 6speed. I was worried about the look before seeing the car in Europe over the summer. But am very pleased and have recieved many compliments. My E39 was a 2000 model. I think Edumunds got it right when they said if the E39 was all 10s the E60 is all 11s. E60 does everything a little better. New cup holders may not be perfect but much better than those in the E39. When you have programmed everything into the i drive you can appreciate the logic of removing the clutter off the dash board.

Two gripes:

1) BMW screwed up the phone options. No one seems to know about bluetooth in USA and motorola option is too expensive and phone is like something from the 80s.

2) Airbag-off light is on when no one is in the passenger seat. I find the location of this light slightly distracting.

Have driven the 745i with sport suspension. This is a truly amazing option. With this option handling would have been even better. Did not want to hassel with snow tires and wheels.

Overall impression:

Farbton

Trichman, agree with you 100%. The airbag light is a real pain. Came up with a very simple fix though. I cut a 1 inch piece of black electrical tape and put it over the "passenger airbag off" light. Did this before with a radar detector to black out an annoying light. Can't even notice that there is tape on the light.

Cheap fix for a $60k car but the yellow light was driving me nuts. I will ask the dealer to disconnect it but they probably won't for legal reasons.

Also agree on the phone. I need the hands free as I travel a lot for business. I am using the phone from my 2001 530i but it is not compatible so I am stuck. No info from the dealer.

If no info by the end of the year I am going solo and getting a phone and having it hardwired for hands free. Frustrating to say the least

Aaron

Just a note about the Airbag off bag. I work on the smart airbag systems and by 2006 all cars will have this feature (most do now). Just lets you know that the airbag is off, and you can quickly see if the person in the passenger seat is large enough to engage the airbag (some people do put children and child seats in the front seat, and it is all for governmental regulations.

Just a word of caution, don't disconnect the LED, because you will then set a fault and that will really annoy you. The black tape was a clever trick!

katmai

My wife's Acura MDX has a similar airbag off light. If a small person or object is in the front seat, the airbag off light would come on. When the seat is empty, the airbag off light does NOT come on. Shouldn't it operate like this. Vacant seat = no warning light (airbag off)? Hopefully, they can correct this via software update. I am assuming this would still comply with federal regulation on smart airbag system.

Aaron

The MDX has a smarter system. I think BMW just detects presence in the seat, but it is also up to the OEM. If they want to display the light all the time, they can. I have seen many trucks that display this all the time, even when the seat is empty. Our system can detect an empty seat and all will by 2006, but right now, that is not a requirement. I think software could be changed to fix it, but I don't know if BMW will worry about it at this time.

segovia

hi everybody from Spain. I had a '98 520i and despite my fears I don?t miss it (or her ) a bit. A couple of weeks ago I took delivery of a 525i. What a change! The extra power is there (42 more bhp), specially overtaking.
The steering (servotronic but no active) is great, softer than the 520i at low speeds and very precise at high speeds.
How do I feel on board? ok overall, the seats (beige cloth with lumbar support) are very comfortable, and the fit and finish, at least on my car, is simply perfect, which couldn't be said about my 520i, although it was good it had some quality problems, for example the glovebox lid never closed properly. I've also noticed that it's a bit more quiet, specially cruising at 70-80 mph (around 140 kph).
Bumps? (standard suspension) it feels a bit harder, maybe because of the wheels and tyres, it has 17 inches with 225/50 tyres, the 520i had 205/65, but nothing to worry about.
Something I don't like? yes, I still can't understand why they changed the windows and indicators switches, although little by little I?m getting used to the new ones.

So you can see I'm very pleased so far, I just hope it will continue like this