rsyed

Definitely - huge difference. In long bends, the car does not behave so "nippy" - in the touring it feels like your back end will break away any second. The other point: you hear every single movement at the back of the car, whether it is shopping bags or things moving around because of the open boot. In the e60, the sound is well "protected". Would i take the touring again? yes, but only if i really needed the space...

narvselius

well...

narvselius

Being used to drive Alfas I enjoy a car that is rev-happy; I "treat" myself now and then to full acceleration and I am so happy to have opted for the 530i instead of the 530d; it's smooth, it's crisp and it has a very, very nice sound. And with an average consumtion at 9.0 lit/100 kms (31.4 UK mpg, 26.2 US mpg) I'm also happy at the petrol station.

r.a.i.d

Exactly my thoughts BS

rsyed

have you driven a e60 and a e61 back to back???

r.a.i.d

Yes I have. I dont want to start an fight about the issue, but I just wanted to make clear statement that I totally desagree with you opinion.
If your touring feels like you "can loose the control of you rear end any minute" there has been something very very wrong with your car.

I agree about the fact that your shopping bags tend to fly around in the boot..

V70Cat

The cargo cover keeps the sound down so its really not a issue.

As far as handling, the rear air suspension actually gives the car a tighter feel; are there any back to back skid pad tests of the sedan and the T?
Not sure how different the handling is, a real test vs conjecture would help.

The T gives you about the same space and utility of the X5 and it handles and drives much better.
I just came out of a X5 and this car rides so much better and has more power.

xBMWx

Thanks for the feedback, even though this is meant to be David's thread I'm sure he doesn't mind me sharing

Tomorrow I'm test-driving a 231ps 530dA E61 (Touring) m-sport and a 258ps 530iA E60 without m-sport. I've planned my route; autobahn limited, autobahn unlimited, city, and cross country. I am curious to see how the Touring M-Sport compares to my current E60 M-sport, and how the 530iA compares to the diesels... I will naturally post my impressions of the test drives...

xBMWx

The 530i was sold, so could only test drive a 530dA.

These are my impressions of a test drive in a second hand 530dA E61 Touring M-Sport, 231PS/500NM, first registered Dec. 2005 :
Route: autobahn limited, autobahn unlimited, city, and cross country. Approx 1.5 hours driving in total.

The first thing I noticed was the Panorama Glass Roof. It was simply incredible how much more light it provides in the car. When you put it all the way back, its not far off driving a cabrio! When driving however, you then remember how loud these things are... when they are closed!! Its the same old story as with my previous E60's sunroof; you need to keep treating/replacing the seals to keep them being effective at keeping out wind noise. With the roof-lining panel closed however, you hear no wind-noise. I would say that its (unfortunately) a question of compromise, however definitely worth having on the E61. I would typically drive with it open and at higher speeds when its closed I would simply close the roof-liner panel if the noise bothered me too much. I was advised that you could keep the seals working well by regularly applying silcon spray -- that is something I could live with.

The electric opening & closing boot was a fantastic feature. Now this isn't because I'm lazy or weak, its because it keeps your hands clean ...I normally wear suits to work and hang my jacket up on the hook next to rear passenger window. So if I get a dirty hand from the boot handle when putting luggage/bags in the boot and then have to take my suit jacket off, that's going to be a problem. I had this on previous cars and it really p'd me off, especially during the winter months and wet weather. The E60 has the automatic boot release (open) function and you can swing it closed by gripping on the inside of the boot -- i.e. no dirty hands and a clean suit!

With regards to the question of greater noise from the boot compared to the E60, I did not notice this much. I always drive with the stereo on and would only go for a car with the HiFi or Logic7 stereo set-up. Providing I don't have as much junk in the back of my car as my wife does in her 3er(!), then I don't really see this as being an issue, especially with the rear boot cover closed. That said, this is something that is difficult to really judge on a 1.5 hour test drive where you are focussing on all sorts of different sounds, not just that one.

The handling of the car was slightly different compared to the E60. You could feel that it wasn't as light and somehow different, but it was only marginal and certainly not bad. It was simply different. Traction was a bit of an issue, but this car had 18" 245 RFT Dunlops and I am used to 19" 275 non-RFT Michalin Pilot Sports -- i.e. a different league!! I see this as a tyre/wheel difference, not an E60 vs E61 difference -- correct?? The performance was great and did not subjectively feel slower for being a Touring, however I was comparing it to my current 197PS/400NM (3.0L) 525dA E60 and not a 231PS/500NM 530dA E60.

What was very interesting to experience was driving WITHOUT a Sprint Booster. When I came back from the test drive with the 530dA, I was pretty unhappy because the car just felt slow, unresponsive and did not give me any kind of kick. To be honest I was in dispare with the 530dA being so unrewarding and even started talking to the Salesman about a 535d! When I told him that I drive my car with the Sprint Booster, he grinned... rolled his eyes... and then told me to put it in the 530dA and go for another test drive!! .....and I absolutely loved the drive!! It made all the difference; it was responsive, fast fast fast, and great fun to drive. I came back with a huge smile on my face convinced that the 530dA WITH Sprint Booster was the engine for me. I would not drive the car without the Sprint Booster, no way.


In summary:
The Touring did feel slightly heavier than the E60, however it was still a great drive and handled just as well as the E60. Most of the time I forgot I was at the wheel of a Touring! If you were to really push your car hard through corners and drive hard on country roads on a regular basis, then maybe you would notice the impact of the extra weight, but otherwise its no different than driving the E60 for every day driving and the odd bit of "spirited driving".
** Note: my experience of the Touring is only based upon 1,5 hours of driving.**
For me the Panoroma Glass Roof is a great feature, albeit a compromise because of the wind-noise issues -- you need to decide if you could live with the side-effects long term, otherwise it will drive you mad! The electric opening rear boot is a really great feature and I would see this as a priority option.
I prefer the look of the E60, but must say the E61 M-Sport in Carbon Black with rear tinted windows looked VERY classy & purposeful, and certainly not like your typical practical family car! (I would fit OEM 19s and remove the roof rails to "make it mine".)

r.a.i.d

Thanks for the good summary, I think you had a good survey for the differences of the e60 and e61. Those Dunlop RFT:s might really
be an major factor. I had goodyear RFT and think they were a POS. Just changed mine to Sport Contact 3, front 245/19 and back 275/19 with OEM M166 wheels, and the difference is really noticeable - not have had chanse to do a really good test drive, but from few kms after it feels like a different car now..