needforspeed

My cars been at the dealer today and I think my 'high battery drain' message my finally be fixed.

Turns out that the 'smart nav' system fitted by a previous owner was on an unswitched supply of some sort and that there was a constant VERY low drain on the battery as a result.

Anyway ... they gave me a nice new 06 525d loaner and my instant observation was the lightness of the steering compared to my 04 530d.

It really was a huge difference - have BMW done anything to alter the set up on later models or could this be down to my 19 inch wheels?

I wouldn't have thought the wheels would make a difference with 'drive by wire' type steering ?

Other observations were that the starter button seemed a bit of a gimmick (but would be good with comfort access).

The car also had Sat Nav - which I actually really liked and some other nice touches (presumably as a result) like a much improved park distance display screen.

The 525d was also a LOT quieter than my car and the transmission was smoother - but the car really lacked the 'punch' of my 530d.

Oh ... and the idrive controller had 'force feedback' which was kind of cool, but also slightly pointless (or did I not understand).

I also tried to get a feel for the runflats and my main conclusion was that the car felt slightly 'numb'.

Hopefully someone can advise on the steering question - I am starting to wonder why mine is heavy.

colejl

I'm surprised the 525d was that much quieter etc... Especially as the 525d is based on the 'old' 530d... (The lighter block/piezo injection has only arrived on the latest 530d)

Runflats - well... don't get me started!

needforspeed

I'm beginning to think it MIGHT have had active steering - it was incredibly light - 1 finger to twirl the wheel for parking etc.....

In regard to the conventional steering - I wasn't sure how mechanical the steering linkage was on the e60. Sounds like it is fairly conventional - so the 19inch rims will add some weight to it.

aybeesea

Part of Active steering is the "power steering amplification" but another significant part is at low (eg parking) speeds, the number of revolutions of the steering wheel is reduced from lock to lock.

ABC

nbusbridge

Don't know about steering yet (car arrives tomorrow), but I think the "feedback" on the iDrive controller comes in when you have the Nav setup. Don't know if it's both varieties of nav. On demo cars I tried, the NavPro cars had feedback and the non-nav car didn't.

colejl

Sounds like it did have AS... Different brands of tyre will affect steering feel too!

The AS is fundamentally a physical connection still (thus why it should continue working when it fails) but extra assistance is applied by computer control depending on forward speed...

big_ipaq

I think it would have been a big difference in steering angle not to notice it. At every corner under 60 km/h you should have notice the small steering wheel angles. At higher speeds they are the same. So the lightness is not the biggest difference. When parking you should have noticed something is VERY different in case of Active Steering.

aybeesea

Active Steering

ABC

JWBMW

Autocar and What Car magazines in the UK both commented on the 525D being more refined/quieter than the 530D when it was first released in the UK in 2004. Having driven both I can vouch for the better refinement of the 525D with the low stress on the engine but then as pointed out, it does not have the same punch as the 530D. That said the pick up at 50 mph plus in the 525D is still excellent (400NM of torque) and enough to scare many a youth in their petrol driven hot hatches. Driving in the real world (UK) overtaking trucks, powering out of bends and blasting past slower traffic is what counts, so some interesting stats from BMW UK:

50 - 75 mph acceleration times in fourth gear:

530i - 6.6 sec
525D - 6.5 sec
540i - 6.3 sec
550i - 5.2 sec
530D - 5.1 sec

Thus the 525D was a good compromise between refinement, cost and performance for me.

Ray Hull

My first guess would be different tires. Sporty (read: grippy) tires require a LOT more steering input. I recall first noticing this years ago, when I swtiched from sport to winter tires. The snows practically had the wheel slipping out of my hand they were so "slippery"--owing to rubber compound and tread design.

As for Active Steering, the reduced effort might be that, but there is no mistaking AS, that 18:1 to 10:1 ratio reduction at idle/low speed is very evident from the moment you pull out of the parking space, It is MUCH quicker in turn execution, to the point that you suddenly start worrying about clipping curbs and over correcting when parking in a tight spot--I still do after 6 mos.

One thing I did notice was that after my CIP upgrade, which includes electronic, as well as physical adjustment to steering geometry, my online/centered feeling is MUCH improved. By that I mean when you are going straight ahead, the steering wheel wants to stay straight ahead. This is a significant improvement over the vague center/wandering that I first noticed when I got the car (but became much less apparent the moment I put my snow tires on when it was 3 weeks old).

You could always ask the service manager what the difference is, and if it is from software vs geometry changes?

Cheers,
Ray Hull