Lotus99

Wow, they sure made it complicated on the E60! On my other car, an 08 335, it's a simple dial on the middle of the dash that you slide to the left or right! I prefer that actually, than having to go into iDrive, with all the extra hassle and steps involved. One clear example to me of when KISS works perfectly fine! (keep it simple, stupid)



The "turn signal" feature you found is actually the parking lights. Lots of German cars come with that feature, since in Europe, people like to leave a parking light on for the side of the road their car sticks out, to make sure oncoming drivers see their parked cars. Useful on a dark road, but I don't think it's meant to be left on overnight.

TwoPedal

Ah yes, good old fashioned buttons. While for the most part I like iDrive, it is overly complicated for operations that most people (I'm assuming) use frequently and are unaccustomed to using with a menu system. The best air flow system I've ever used is in my Volvo XC90- select the desired airflow destination from the picture of a seated person. KISS in its best form.

Thanks again for the information, Lotus.

vkhong

When I park parallel on the side of a street, and it is dark, I use the parking light feature.

TwoPedal

I can see its usefulness in certain situations. I've never felt comfortable battery-wise leaving it on in my Mercedes. I've only ever seen such a function in those two brands. I do wish BMWs had rear fog lights, though.

TwoPedal

Three things have popped up that make me question ownership. Has anyone had or know of a fix for these problems?

1) Its rainy here in Boston and the power tailgate will not open completely. It goes up less than half way and freezes. It will not shut itself unless it gets help. Turning on the car, using the remote, in car button, and trunk button all end up the same. And closing it by hand it hard as it resists being shut manually. Is power trunk failure common or do they not work well in the rain?

2) When braking from highway speeds the steering wheels will sometimes shake back and forth and the stopping travel is not smooth but rough.

3) When going over bumps large and small, a distributing rattle comes from the front suspension.

What gets me the most is that none of these problem occurred during inspection or test driving and naturally the dealership is quite silent.

Lotus99

For 1, I assume you've checked the maximum opening height setting in iDrive? You say it doesn't open completely, but then you also say it won't shut itself (which you can only do with the use of the button on the trunk lid?). So you have two problems?

2 - Rotors? Maybe they can be resurfaced? How many miles on them?

TwoPedal

Thanks for your continued help, Lotus.

1) Yes, iDrive is set for maximum opening. Right now it barely opens and does so with groaning sounds. It won't close itself either. So far in this condition it has done so only once. My only alternative to getting anything in or out of the trunk is to push it up and down myself, but the resistance I get makes me think it isn't set up to have me push it. It will pull itself closed when I push it down to the latching point but auto up/down isn't working at all.

2) I'm hoping it isn't the rotors. 70k miles US on them but the dealer insists they are fine. I have an appointment this Thursday with another garage.

I'm still researching this point, but two or three times now when I start the car the clock has reset itself and the display says that the battery had been disconnected, which I know isn't true. I have yet to test how tight the terminals are, but I've hit some bumps whilst driving that should have popped off a loose connector. I have not been given the "high rate of discharge" message- just the "battery has been disconnected, please reset time." The date is unchanged.

Having owned this car for just about a week I'm not sure what to expect from it.

Lotus99

Bummer, sucks to buy a nice car like that and so quickly run into issues. I guess it isn't CPO certified.

I just got ours a few weeks ago, though it only had 12,000 miles on it, and 2 years warranty still left, which gave me some comfort in case something goes wrong, and already, the comfort access has been acting up, and it's due to have some work done on it.

Good luck and hope they don't end up being major costs.

Some used car places have a return type policy, I wonder if you could use that as leverage to get something out of them.

TwoPedal

Thanks, Lotus. It is irritating to run into so many little issues. Its not CPO- I wanted a city/daily driver wagon that wasn't Swedish and could take door dings without me wincing each time I see one. My SL was next door to the dealer for a new top and I wandered into the the BMW dealer and wandered out with what seemed like a great deal.

The trunk door is working properly again. I have a sinking feeling that something is up with the battery. I don't think the terminals are tight enough and I wonder if it is the original battery and if it is nearing the end of its ability to supply steady power. My leverage over the dealership is the apparently all important rating that BMW North America is sending me to rate the dealership/salesman/transaction.

My impartial independent mechanic is going to go over the car later this week. I think any problems I'm having are most likely age related maintenance that was not disclosed to me by the salesman. I hope your comfort access gets fixed properly.

Patrick E61

You can have mine... They're useless!