So I was curious to see how the sport package wheels would look on the 528i (seeing as I find the 550i sport package wheels a tad underwhelming) and I was distracted by what is included with the Premium Package (nearly $2,000):

- Ambient lighting
- Universal garage door opener
- Auto dimming mirrors
- Leather

... I know that the 528i is the "base" model, but shouldn't these things all be standard on a car of this cailber? I know BMW has always been one to charge for a lot of little things in the base model, but this seems a little excessive to me.

Before I posted this I wanted to check and see if the 535i is treated the same... and it is! A car that bases at $50,000 doesn't have this standard... asinine.

The worst of all here I think is ambient lighting. Is adequate/cool looking interior lighting seriously an option? Come on.

its like i say to everybody about BMWs and theyre options. pick every option fully loaded. and consider it the base price. problem solved :lol:

Did you not notice that even the E60 didn't come with leather standard? The Premium pkg was required, otherwise you got "leatherette" (a nice way of saying vinyl). On BMW's EVERYTHING is optional. :thumbsup:

BMWs are very option heavy (I get that and that's not really the point here) but I think interior lighting is a ridiculous thing to be called an 'option'. Even the 328i sedan doesn't have interior lighting as an option on its premium package cause it's standard, and rightly so.

Leather is the one thing I can semi-understand because some people don't want it. But on that note some sort of cloth should be offered instead of "leatherette". I'm more kind of surprised at the other things for the premium package. If this was a 3er I would understand.

I think you're a little confused. Ambient lighting is not the same thing as interior lighting, of course all BMW's come with interior lighting, ambient lighting is an adjustable lighting option that is why it is listed separately - they are not the same thing, it's an upgrade to the std lighting.

+1
and vegans like the leatherette, cloth just sucks imo

I'm aware what ambient lighting is. I just think that having more lighting as an upgrade is something that should be standard, especially since it's pretty minor.

I agree, so should iPod connectivity - since it's standard on the Kia Soul for example, but I am not going to go buy a Kia for it.

This is what attracts people to Acura