terry79z

My previous ride: riced out Honda Civic(3yrs during high school) & Mustang(4 yrs+ during college & still have it)

compare to e60 which i've been had for only a month now to my old cars:


+: I can feel that girls are checking me out more often with "woooo sexy" expression on their faces, e60 has both sporty and luxury side, big trunk


-: Coming from riced out Civic and Mustang w/ SLP Loudmouth muffler, my e60 is too quite, heavy, & not really fun to drive, parts are too expensive (overpriced) for mod

DynaSpy

You can't really compare a BMW with a Honda so I'm confused at what you're point is here

You can easily swap some parts for a nicer sound but of course it's going to cost a few bucks more than your Civic. Honda parts are cheap because of heavy competition among auto parts makers and the popularity of ricing them out, as well as the overall quality.

As far as the fun factor, the E60 is a sedan and is in a completely different class than the Civic and Mustang. I have an XLR and I enjoy driving the E60 just as much The biggest difference to me is that the XLR feels sportier because you are closer to the ground and can feel the road more directly. This is probably how you feel about the Mustang.

boltoa

I've had, since 1995:
Peugeot 106 1.1. Great first car - giggle to drive. But French.
Subaru Impreza Turbo. Stonkingly good. Bought new, only lost ?2k when I sold it 15 months later. This was when the waiting list was 6 months
Mitsubishi Evo 6. Even better rice-rocket than the Scooby. Unfortunately lost ?13k when I sold it 13 months later. Resolved never to buy a brand new car again. Was doing trackdays by this point, so wanted to get a track car. Ended up buying:
Westfield twin-ZX9 engined mad rocket. 550kg, 300bhp, 12000rpm, sequential 6 speed gearbox, no roof, doors, windows, and ROAD LEGAL
In conjunction with Mitsubishi Shogun LWB V6 auto - dull, but good for towing a car-trailer.
Then got too bored of the Shogun, and bought myself a Subaru Legacy GTB - 2.5l twin-turbo 4WD estate (space wagon). Probably the best ride of any car I've owned - Bilstein/Eibach suspension - superb. And could still tow a car trailer.
Then kids came along, track days disappeared, along with most of my money , but couldn't face boring car - that was the wife's. Bought myself a Mazda RX7. Twin turbo, super fast, RWD, "interesting" handling. Liked it, until the engine died on me 400 miles from home. AA got it back, ?6000 got it repaired, sold for ?8500
Mitsubishi Galant 2.5 V6, old beaten up, and cheap. LPG. Starship mileage. Got me there and back, but my cars lowpoint
Found some money again, 5 year old Audi S8 (for ?10500, new would have been around ?60k, nice). Great. 2 months later, got written off when some dozy 17YO bint in an uninsured Rover 214 T-boned me. Very glad I was in that car - built like a damn tank, but front suspension didn't survive it's sideways trip up the kerb, hence the writeoff.
Finally bought the 530d. Have to say it's the best all-round car I've ever owned. It handles well, it's comfortable, it's damn fast, and it still does 40mpg. Only downside is service/repair cost (?360 to open/repair a stuck bonnet 3 weeks ago). Over here in the UK, Beemers are seriously common these days, so unfortunately no admiring glances from the laydeees .

Andrew

550isport

2001 740i sport (short wheel base, OEM M-technik package) 1st car I hever bought
2007 550i sport (added body kit because it looked too tame, M5 wheels for the same reason and Dinan exhaust because it sounded too tame).

I like the technology in the 550 as well as its cutting edge design inside and out. The amount of power is impressive as well. Sadly, those are the advantages the E60 has over the very special E38 I had.

BMW are you listening:

-The high speed stability of the 740 was light years ahead of the 550 (probably due to the M suspension)
-The gas pedal was razor sharp in the 740, firm and precise. It allowed you to use exactly as much torque as you wanted and was extremely linear. The 550s by comparison is lacking in feel (a bit spongy) and not very linear. I can hit the gas, accelerate and then 3 seconds later, the traction light goes off....not linear.
-The 550's cornering is fantastic steady state on smooth pavement. But high speed lane changes and dips are downright scary. I bet some MB's have stiffer springs than my 550.
- The steering is a tab numb by comparison as well.

The 550 is a good BMW, which means its a really good car, but the 740i sport was a great BMW. I suspect I would habve been much happier with an M5 (power aside), but it was just too much $.

Of course BMW fixed a good number of these issues with the LCI update in March, 4 months after I took delivery Who knew?

550isport

BTW, BMW will not sell us the M sport variation of any E60 in the U.S. unless it has a V10 engine.

I'm sure I would have loved a 550 M sport like I did my 740.....

DRP

eegrad

?93 ? ?95 Used Ford Escort. Piece of junk, but I loved it at the time because it meant I wasn?t taking the bus to High school.

?95 ? ?98 Used Toyota Corolla ? Lets just say reliable transportation

?98 ? ?04 Used Nissan Pathfinder ? Built like a tank. Lasted 150k miles with no issues.

?04 ? ?07 New Acura TSX ? Fun to drive, but it just felt like a dressed up Honda Civic. Too much road/wind noise.

Current Car ? New 525i. Love everything about it except the quality of the stereo and the comfort of the front seats compared to that of the TSX. I really regret not getting both comfort seats and L7 (plan to do this on my next one).

I think that the 5 series is one of the best ?general purpose? cars that you can get.

BigL

5501sport I agree with you on the previous generation BMW's. I owned two e38's The 740il and the 750il. Both cars had much better high speed stability than my 550. I have taken all my cars well into the triple digit range. I can attest the confiedence I had in the larger e38s are surprisingly better than the e60

Russ1974

Me and my wife tend to swap and change cars, rather than having a "my car and her car". The last few, going back 8 years to when I passed my driving test;

Current : E70 X5, E60 535d Sport

Previous (in order, latest to earliest);

Volvo XC90 - great for the kids (3 of the brats) on long journies. But too big to park in the UK and quite plasticy inside.
E60 530d SE - loved it, but not enough gadgets. In fact, NO gadgets.
E60 525d SE - Nice car but had engine problems (used to cut out and lose power nearly causing two major accidents), dealer could not fix it, so swapped it for the 530d.
Audi A4 1.9TDi - Ok, but a bit small, and the diesel technology was lightyears behind BMW. Smokey and loud, just like diesels used to be. I specced this car with ?12k of options, and sold it after just 6 months, losing over ?10k in the process. Meh. Interior was nice.
Jaguar XJ8 3.2 Sport - My first car, and my favourite car. Loved the looks and the prestige, comfort, performance and sound of the engine (ROARrrr). I intended to get the new style XJ but didn't like the looks of the new one. After the 530d, I was very tempted with an XJR instead of the 535d, but decided it was too big and ugly.

DRANGED

'82 Dodge Omni 024- first car, had maybe 75hp, very slow, poor handling but... i was the first one to get my license in my grade, the car wasn't cool i but I was

'91 Isuzu Stylus- Handling by Lotus- 130hp, Lotus tuned suspension, fun car

'94 Mazda Miata- Torsen Gleason Diff, H&R race springs, Koni Adjustable shocks,Jackson Racing cold intake,Greddy Exhaust, BBS RX wheels,most fun to drive to date

'97 Jeep Wrangler Sahara- 31" tires great fun off the road

'90 Chevy Blazer- First child born, short on cash, family transport

'98 Ford Eddie Bauer Expedition- company car, huge piece of SH*T, not fun :thumbsdown:

'86 Jeep CJ 7- see sig. Built!! Summer vehicle, this thing was a monster, 8-9mpg, not too practical, sold it 98% restored

'96 M3- my first BMW, I had been dreaming of this car since it's inception, nuff said

'89 3/4 Ton Pickup winter truck, M3 stored winters

'04 GMC Tahoe Denali, loaded, served its purpose

'03 Land Rover Range Rover HSE- Refined yet capable SUV with car like handling, thank you BMW

'06 550i- nice to be back in a Bimmer

1600

You all can see from my signature what I have had except for four other vehicles. One was a winter car when I lived in Vermont, a 1969 Ford LTD. The transmissions on those things were hopelessly flawed and it needed a ring and valve job. The engine would catch on fire when I stopped and I used to put out the flames with snow. It was quite a thrill to spin out in it on black ice roads. I did several 360s one night. Sold it to a guy who used it for a demolition derby. I paid $200 for it and bought a set of retread winter tires. Total I had in to it was around $750. What a tank. The other was a 1972 Opel station wagon. Bought the thing for around $1600 as another winter car. It ended up lasting around five or six years with no money put into it. It was rear wheel drive, but man, with a fifty pound bag of sand in the back it was a champ in the icy weather. After I moved to NYC, the transmission went one day and that was the end of it. I actually still miss that vehicle. The two others were piece of crap VW hatchback and a new that year 1987 Chevy that had the innards of a Toyota Corolla . I sold that one after one year.
BMWs have obviously been a passion of mine for some time. The new one, the 550i is the best, but my 1976 2002 is my nostalgic favorite.

This a nice thread. I hope I get to read some interesting stories from others.