E60 Repeat Buyer!!
08-06-2005, 10:58 AM
#1
Members
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: IL
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2005 545i born July 13, 2005, Jet Black with Black Dakota leather interior, 6 speed manual transmission, with sports package, premium sound package, cold weather package and satellite prep...persistence overcomes resistence!
First, thanks to all that have helped on the couple of quiet threads I had on 04 545 v. 05 545 (pricing/value issue) and SMG v. Stick (transmission pro/cons).
Background: I bought an 04 530 in May (of this year) - it was new, untitled, with 55 mi when I purchased - it had been a left over. It was Jet Black, with black leather (Dakota) interior, premium package, zenon lights, cold weather and satellite prep. I had never owned a BMW and truth be told, I was shopping for an Infiniti G35 (most bang for the buck, in my humble opinion). My wife (if you can believe it) pushed me toward the 5'er (the 525 naturally) - after telling her I wanted something zippy and we couldn't afford it, I went to the dealer to simply get prices -- 3 hours later, they sold me the 04 leftover (mostly due to finally being able to get it well below invoice).
Well, would it surprise some of you to know that as I drove the car and began to fall in love with it I got a bit power hungry...I thought if I could flip the 530 and make a few bucks (in light of the deal I got) and could wait until the 550's were close and could get a deal on a 545, I could move up. Indeed, I closed the deal yesterday (530 then had 10 weeks and 3000 miles), and I achieved exactly what I needed - while the 545 was not as good a deal as the 530, I managed to still get a good chunk under invoice - and this was for the following:
2005 545i (build date July 05, arrived at port August 1, 2005), Jet Black, black leather, 6 speed manual, sports package, premium sound, cold weather, satellite prep (PDC is now standard and zenons already were).
I too have read the posts during the past months and was nervous about the many, many problems being discussed - indeed, my 530i occassionally had the antitrap trip on the windows and roll back down - the dealer offered to swith the 2 front window motors (I declined as it happened only occassionally and I was already thinking of flipping the car). And, in true fashion, as the SA was showing me the new 545, the antitrap tripped on the sunroof as it closed and it bounced back half open. But, as others have said, as long as the problems are fixable and this isn't a lemon, I can more than live with the small bugs (and my dealer was good about being willing to fix them) for what is a fantastic driving experience.
Impressions:
--Rudy, you convinced me about SMG, and there is one 05 545 with SMG (more may be in the pipeline and not yet produced or in country) left in the country - I tried hard, but he was thousands above the local car I bought. As I was value shopping, ordering one wouldn't have made sense - but had the dollars been the same, I would have gone with SMG. Having driven the 530 with a stick all summer, though, the stick will be a blast too.
-- I went with the 05 (as opposed to an identically spec'd left over (i.e., new, never titled, 59 miles) 04 that is currently available), because with the transport costs (as it isn't local), it was only 3.5K less than the 05 - and it's warranty was punched in January 05 - so I thought the exta 3.5K was well worth it to buy the extra 8 months of warranty and maintenance, the 1 year less of depreciation, avoiding the risk of doing a deal via Fedex and truck - and the fact that the 05 arrived off the boat 1 August and had 3 miles on it didn't hurt - no one had ever test driven it (or even sat in it), prior to me!
Have only driven the car from the dealer to home (25 miles or so). A few (very preliminary) impressions:
--the shifter is crisper, a bit shorter, not as rubbery, and lighter (not sure how else to describe it - less effort required) - I don't know if this is attributable to this being a 545 v a 530 or an 05 v and 04 or a non sport package manual v. a sport package manual??
--The active steering takes some getting used to - at one stop light, while playing with it, it almost seemeed that it took more turns going one way than the other to get from one end to the other?? Is that possible?
--The handling is noticeably different - bearing in mind that this has performance, wheels, tires, suspension, active steering and active roll stabilization, one would hope so.
-- I was surprised at how smooth the engine is - given that the car had 3 miles on it at pick up, I am well in the break-in period (nothing over 4500 rpm, 100mph, and constantly varying engine and car speed), I wasn't pushing it hard - but I didn't hear much of a difference in the engine sound (maybe later at higher revs I will). However, even going easy with the breakin, the extra 100 horses (the 04 has 225 (the 06 530 has 250 (255?)) and 100 pounds of torque were clearly discernable.
Questions:
--why is BMW still spec'ing the Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST (Front: 245/40YR18 RunFlat; Rear: 275/35YR18 RunFlat) - isn't this the same tire that has caused so much trouble by becoming unbearably loud after 5-6K mi? If you read the reviews of it on Tire Rack (almost all from BMW with sport package owners), they are almost identical - great to 5-6K mi and then horrible. Isn't there a service bulletin on these? If so, do I have to wait until they become noisy or can I go now and have them switched out?
-- As stated above, is it possible that the active steering is not properly "aligned" such that it takes more turns one direction than the other to go to the end of the turn?
-- How much lower is this car than the 530 without sport package? And what does whatever that number of inches mean in real life - don't go near a parking curb? enter mall ramps at an angle?
-- Anything else to be focused on during this initial period?
I think the this Forum is excellent and shows as much sophistication, thought and respect as the product upon which it is based. Thanks in advance for reading this.
EDL
Background: I bought an 04 530 in May (of this year) - it was new, untitled, with 55 mi when I purchased - it had been a left over. It was Jet Black, with black leather (Dakota) interior, premium package, zenon lights, cold weather and satellite prep. I had never owned a BMW and truth be told, I was shopping for an Infiniti G35 (most bang for the buck, in my humble opinion). My wife (if you can believe it) pushed me toward the 5'er (the 525 naturally) - after telling her I wanted something zippy and we couldn't afford it, I went to the dealer to simply get prices -- 3 hours later, they sold me the 04 leftover (mostly due to finally being able to get it well below invoice).
Well, would it surprise some of you to know that as I drove the car and began to fall in love with it I got a bit power hungry...I thought if I could flip the 530 and make a few bucks (in light of the deal I got) and could wait until the 550's were close and could get a deal on a 545, I could move up. Indeed, I closed the deal yesterday (530 then had 10 weeks and 3000 miles), and I achieved exactly what I needed - while the 545 was not as good a deal as the 530, I managed to still get a good chunk under invoice - and this was for the following:
2005 545i (build date July 05, arrived at port August 1, 2005), Jet Black, black leather, 6 speed manual, sports package, premium sound, cold weather, satellite prep (PDC is now standard and zenons already were).
I too have read the posts during the past months and was nervous about the many, many problems being discussed - indeed, my 530i occassionally had the antitrap trip on the windows and roll back down - the dealer offered to swith the 2 front window motors (I declined as it happened only occassionally and I was already thinking of flipping the car). And, in true fashion, as the SA was showing me the new 545, the antitrap tripped on the sunroof as it closed and it bounced back half open. But, as others have said, as long as the problems are fixable and this isn't a lemon, I can more than live with the small bugs (and my dealer was good about being willing to fix them) for what is a fantastic driving experience.
Impressions:
--Rudy, you convinced me about SMG, and there is one 05 545 with SMG (more may be in the pipeline and not yet produced or in country) left in the country - I tried hard, but he was thousands above the local car I bought. As I was value shopping, ordering one wouldn't have made sense - but had the dollars been the same, I would have gone with SMG. Having driven the 530 with a stick all summer, though, the stick will be a blast too.
-- I went with the 05 (as opposed to an identically spec'd left over (i.e., new, never titled, 59 miles) 04 that is currently available), because with the transport costs (as it isn't local), it was only 3.5K less than the 05 - and it's warranty was punched in January 05 - so I thought the exta 3.5K was well worth it to buy the extra 8 months of warranty and maintenance, the 1 year less of depreciation, avoiding the risk of doing a deal via Fedex and truck - and the fact that the 05 arrived off the boat 1 August and had 3 miles on it didn't hurt - no one had ever test driven it (or even sat in it), prior to me!
Have only driven the car from the dealer to home (25 miles or so). A few (very preliminary) impressions:
--the shifter is crisper, a bit shorter, not as rubbery, and lighter (not sure how else to describe it - less effort required) - I don't know if this is attributable to this being a 545 v a 530 or an 05 v and 04 or a non sport package manual v. a sport package manual??
--The active steering takes some getting used to - at one stop light, while playing with it, it almost seemeed that it took more turns going one way than the other to get from one end to the other?? Is that possible?
--The handling is noticeably different - bearing in mind that this has performance, wheels, tires, suspension, active steering and active roll stabilization, one would hope so.
-- I was surprised at how smooth the engine is - given that the car had 3 miles on it at pick up, I am well in the break-in period (nothing over 4500 rpm, 100mph, and constantly varying engine and car speed), I wasn't pushing it hard - but I didn't hear much of a difference in the engine sound (maybe later at higher revs I will). However, even going easy with the breakin, the extra 100 horses (the 04 has 225 (the 06 530 has 250 (255?)) and 100 pounds of torque were clearly discernable.
Questions:
--why is BMW still spec'ing the Dunlop SP Sport 01 DSST (Front: 245/40YR18 RunFlat; Rear: 275/35YR18 RunFlat) - isn't this the same tire that has caused so much trouble by becoming unbearably loud after 5-6K mi? If you read the reviews of it on Tire Rack (almost all from BMW with sport package owners), they are almost identical - great to 5-6K mi and then horrible. Isn't there a service bulletin on these? If so, do I have to wait until they become noisy or can I go now and have them switched out?
-- As stated above, is it possible that the active steering is not properly "aligned" such that it takes more turns one direction than the other to go to the end of the turn?
-- How much lower is this car than the 530 without sport package? And what does whatever that number of inches mean in real life - don't go near a parking curb? enter mall ramps at an angle?
-- Anything else to be focused on during this initial period?
I think the this Forum is excellent and shows as much sophistication, thought and respect as the product upon which it is based. Thanks in advance for reading this.
EDL
08-06-2005, 11:15 AM
#2
Senior Members
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Norway
Posts: 723
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Slightly OT: But when it comes to posting in this forum, and replying to a message like this, why the heck does sombody INCLUDE the ENTIRE posting that they are replying to? It is completely unnecessary, especially if the post replied to is long or contains a lot of images. In case of the latter - it slows down the time it takes to load the thread, and requires a lot more scrolling than what is amusing 
I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, in some instances it's necessary to include parts of the post, and in some instances it may even be necessary to include an entire, long post.
I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, in some instances it's necessary to include parts of the post, and in some instances it may even be necessary to include an entire, long post.
08-06-2005, 11:19 AM
#3
Contributors
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: So Cal, USA
Posts: 14,776
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 545iSMGSilver GrayAuburn Dakota LeatherLogic 7 Premium SoundSports Package
WOW congrats!!! that sounds very good! Very nice write up. I enjoyed reading it.
Well I believe you have the new "redesigned" Dunlops so you shouldnt have a problem... Just drive it and see.. see if it will get louder later... I'm waiting for mine to so i can get new tires LOL but I've been watching it and its wearing VERY evenly... guess no free tires for me.
As for AS I dont know... I've never tried doing a lock to lock turns while at s stand still to know if one side takes more turns than the other... Maybe someone can chime in.
If I remember correctly I think you can BARELY clear a curb with the OEM 545 sports package... go outside and test and make sure... I know I cant now with the new M-Tech bumper... I get sooooo scared parking and driving up steeper driveways... Price you pay for nicer looking bumper.
Nah not much to focus on... you know waht you're doing!!
CONGRATS!!!!!
Well I believe you have the new "redesigned" Dunlops so you shouldnt have a problem... Just drive it and see.. see if it will get louder later... I'm waiting for mine to so i can get new tires LOL but I've been watching it and its wearing VERY evenly... guess no free tires for me.
As for AS I dont know... I've never tried doing a lock to lock turns while at s stand still to know if one side takes more turns than the other... Maybe someone can chime in.
If I remember correctly I think you can BARELY clear a curb with the OEM 545 sports package... go outside and test and make sure... I know I cant now with the new M-Tech bumper... I get sooooo scared parking and driving up steeper driveways... Price you pay for nicer looking bumper.
Nah not much to focus on... you know waht you're doing!!
CONGRATS!!!!!
08-06-2005, 11:25 AM
#5
Super Moderator
Join Date: May 2004
Location: FL
Posts: 18,253
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: F02 LCI Individual
Model Year: 2013
Originally Posted by paasan' date='Aug 6 2005, 09:15 PM
Slightly OT: But when it comes to posting in this forum, and replying to a message like this, why the heck does sombody INCLUDE the ENTIRE posting that they are replying to? It is completely unnecessary, especially if the post replied to is long or contains a lot of images. In case of the latter - it slows down the time it takes to load the thread, and requires a lot more scrolling than what is amusing?
I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, in some instances it's necessary to include parts of the post, and in some instances it may even be necessary to include an entire, long post.
I'm not saying it shouldn't be done, in some instances it's necessary to include parts of the post, and in some instances it may even be necessary to include an entire, long post.
[snapback]156648[/snapback]
He's a troll!
Just registered and is spaming the forum with his stupid posts.
Admins will delete it soon and ban him, I guess.
EDIT:
You gotta love our admins!
Allready cleaned up, thank you das!
08-06-2005, 11:37 AM
#7
Super Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Posts: 17,310
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
Congrats on your upgrade! It's too bad you couldn't swing the SMG deal but there's no doubt you won't be dissapointed in the traditional manual.
As far as the Dunlops, I agree that you probably got the redesigned ones. If not, don't sweat it, you'll basically get a new set free if you end up with a noise problem -- at the price of these tires, it might actually be a good thing if you got the old Dunlops so you can have around 10,000 free miles on them...
You asked if there was anything else to worry about during the initial period and I have just one thing:
Try to wipe that silly grin off your face!!
As far as the Dunlops, I agree that you probably got the redesigned ones. If not, don't sweat it, you'll basically get a new set free if you end up with a noise problem -- at the price of these tires, it might actually be a good thing if you got the old Dunlops so you can have around 10,000 free miles on them...
You asked if there was anything else to worry about during the initial period and I have just one thing:
Try to wipe that silly grin off your face!!
08-06-2005, 11:40 AM
#8
Super Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Pittsburgh, PA USA
Posts: 17,310
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
Originally Posted by Iceman' date='Aug 6 2005, 03:25 PM
Admins will delete it soon and ban him, I guess.
[snapback]156656[/snapback]
http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showuser=2776
(check out his member group)
Thanks das!
08-06-2005, 01:18 PM
#9
Members
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2005 545i, Black on Black, cold weather pkg, Logic 7 sound, steptronic.
I too made a repeat E60 buy, from a 12/03 build 530i to an almost identical (looking) 5/05 545i. Like you, I'm thrilled with it.
It had an early issue -- the transmission slam -- but once that was corrected this car has been perfect. And I LOVE being able to blow everyone away at both stop lights and at high speed acceleration.
I know, I sound like a 16 year old.
It had an early issue -- the transmission slam -- but once that was corrected this car has been perfect. And I LOVE being able to blow everyone away at both stop lights and at high speed acceleration.
I know, I sound like a 16 year old.
08-06-2005, 01:48 PM
#10
Contributors
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Dallas, TX USA
Posts: 4,144
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by edl' date='Aug 6 2005, 01:58 PM
-- How much lower is this car than the 530 without sport package?? And what does whatever that number of inches mean in real life - don't go near a parking curb? enter mall ramps at an angle?
[snapback]156639[/snapback]
Congrats on your strategic trades.