So, I've had my new BMW545i for a week and a half now. It has Stepronic Tranny, Sports Package, Active Steering, Dynamic Drive, Pro Nav, Voice Control, Heads-Up-Display, Park Distance Control, Logic7 w/ extra 6 CD changer. I've posted some pictures below. My previous car was a Volvo S70 T5 (235hp). Here are my initial impressions moving up to the BMW545i.

- The handling is awe inspiring! You can take corners in this thing so fast and so flat that it scares you. Very precise. Due to the weight distribution, suspension and the Dynamic Handling no doubt.

- The sports package stifffens the springs, lowers the car, and puts on wider tires. No doubt contributes to the handling being so amazing. Not at all a bumpy ride, though. Car absorbs the bumps easily. Sports package is a no-brainer. Wife won't even notice it!

- Acceleration is fantastic, and I have not even tried kick-down yet.

- Dunlop run-flat tires are working fine so far. Not loud or at all uncomfortable.

- Tramlining is for sure there, no doubt due to the extra wide tires. It's easy to cope with though.

- Stability at highway speeds is fine. Under windy conditions you should let the active steering do the corrections for you and the feeling of that is great. It's not at all obtrusive and does not detract from the driving experience (as I feared it might).

- The automatic transmission is very smooth. Big difference in shiftpoints in D and DS mode. Manual mode is very responsive and fun to use.

Hard to get a smooth start in D mode. It seems to start you off in first gear which is heavily optimized for acceleration I think. So very small accelerator pedal modulation jerks you around. In manual mode, car can easily start from 2nd which is much smoother and still accelerates well. I have learned to do smooth starts in D, but other drivers haven't yet (..jerk..jerk..).

- Brakes are amazing. Stops "on a dime". Great feel. No problems controlling them when coming to smooth stop, but can be a bit tricky.

- Fit and finish are fantastic.

- Loads of back-seat room and trunk space. My (big) kids are very happy with their new abode.

I found the the comfort seats to be not so comfortable initially, but now I have them adjusted well by not using the thigh extender (I'm big, but the gap bothers me) and by deflating the lumbar support completely. Feel I'm not getting my money's worth somehow.

The turn signals are a mis-design, no doubt. The flicking sound is too dim to be heard when the radio is on. The indicators in the cabin are blocked by the wheel. There is no tactile feedback to indicate the flicker is on. Horrible design! I got used to it already, though - one more driving "skill" to add to my resume!

- The active steering is loads of fun. There's never any question of mis-steering. Amazings things the human brain! Allows for you to turn the wheel as fast or faster than the car deserves, weaving in and out or around tight corners easily.

Under certain conditions, the active steering whines at you as your speed changes. I notice this only at sub-20km speeds inside enclosed parking lots with no radio on.

You do feel a little bit disconnected from the road as compared to a smaller sporty car because this is a big, heavy beast, very well put together. Given its "luxury" appeal, though, you do get a lot of road feel.

- The Nav system is great. Excellent job navigating me around. Perspective view is fun and would be useful except that there are very few street labels in this mode.

- iDrive is fine. What's all the fuss about? The one thing you need to get used to that you ought not to have to is the mis-design in moving up/down sometimes by clicking the controller in that direction, and sometimes by twisting it. Gets one cognitively confused although you get used to it.

- My iDrive controller has force feedback. Gives you a bump when you hit the end of a list. Works great and is useful.

- Voice control is fun and useful. Allows you to navigate the iDrive menus without taking your eyes off the road and do simple tasks such as choosing CD 3 Track 5 entirely by voice.

- Heads-up dispay works very well and is very useful. Having the speed up there should be done in all cars. Having nav instructions there is extremely useful as well. I only wish the tach was there as well.

- Park distance control combined with the tilt-down passenger side mirror are great features. Combined with the active steering, you can really squeeze this car into tight spots without worrying about bumping anything. the PDC beeps from the speaker nearest the obstruction and shows a nice colorful display as well.

- Logic 7 in concert hall mode is a big improvement over traditional stereo sound in a car. Both my wife and I can now hear a properly imaged soundstage. It's done very subtly and good for all kinds of music.

Here she be:

 

Congratulation on the new ride and welcome to the best E60 forums on the Internet I am loving my 545i so far too

 

Congrats & welcome!

 

I have a 545i with the same exterior/interior colors and close to the same options showing up in the next few weeks. After seeing your pics, now I am really excited. I wish the West Coast were closer to Bavaria. The extra month of waiting is hard to take. :'(

 

Congrats....beautiful car.

I just picked mine up 2 days ago and am having a blast trying it out. You hit the nail on the head with your review. Great job.

 

A lot of good points, congrats on your new 5