jellyfish

Bimmernic, no idea why the car needed to be homologated. My SA said it was due to one of the options but don't know which. I have VDC, sports seats, sports auto transmission and 4-zone air-con but I would expect other cars would have these as well?

What kind of rims are you changing to? I have been on 18" rims and Goodyear F1 Asymmetric on my e60 for close to 3 years and when I drove the F10 on 18" with RFTs, I thought the F10 was a bit more compliant.

bimmernic

Yes, I would be changing to non-RFTs. Tried the 535 with the 18" rims, which was fine by me. However, I will be on the M-Sport suspension so thought that the non-RFTs will give a comparable ride but with better handling. In theory, at least.

Probably need to get something like the Tyre Guardian (http://www.tyreguardian.com/tyre_guardian.html) since there is no spare provided. If it works as claimed, then there is no downside to not using RFTs. Then again, I have (touch wood) not had a puncture in the past 5 years using non-RFTs, even when driving on both the west and east coasts of Malaysia, other than a slow leak (from an embedded nail) sustained in Singapore.

Could have been the VDC. The SAT and the 4-zone climate control are already on the 535 and it is unlikely that the sport seats would require homologation. I could be wrong though...

I am changing the Style 236 to the Style 328 rims. Probably a stop gap measure until Alufelgen can come up with an 18" version of the SF-71 rims (lovely design which appear bigger than their stated sizes and are relatively light weight). They have them in 19" now but I don't want to compromise the ride by going bigger than 18". 19" tyres are a bit more expensive as well (especially if one goes for the PS2s, CSC3 or CSC5, etc. or RFTs) Otherwise, there a lots of 19" after market rims available which I could have chosen.

Will stay with the Goodyear F1 Asymmetric as well. Had them on my ex-ride. Good mixture of excellent grip, comfort and relatively low noise, although a bit "soft" in terms of steering feel and turn-in. Plus, they are a great value for money.

artieguru

Don't bother with Tyre Guardian, just order the Mobility kit from PML

bravojs

Just for you guys info, if you open the driver's door, there is a label that has some descriptions (cant recall offhand now) and the word "Singapore" .

Dont remember seeing the Singapore stamp on previous E60.

Also I have almost 8000Km on the clock , the car drives very well, but I notice that at low speeds the gear change can be jerky. Will get it checked out during next servicing.

For those of you taking delivery of your car soon, it might be worth to pay attention to the reception of your radio. Most of the time i get a faint but perceptible static noise over the radio.

Other than that enjoy your new rides!

Kiasu King

Hi bravojs, thanks for the update on your ride. I think the label is to make sure they mount the 2.5L N52 engine and not the 3L engine for our cars. I understand the PIs bring in the 3L 523i too so do not understand why PML does not.

Radio static seems to be a common problem for the F10 in Singapore. May be we have too much interference from the broadcasting and telecommication towers due to high built density of our city.

Does your car have the Integral Active Steering? If so, how does the car drive and handle with IAS?

bravojs

Hi Kiasu King,

I do not have IAS as my is stock HL specs. But I can tell you that IAS will definately be useful as the F10's turning radius is rather large. I have encountered difficulty making U-turns at some tight junctions. No issue in the past with the E60. I m sure IAS will solve this small problem.

As for the radio static, i ll leave it to the next service to see what can be done.

BTW when is your car arriving?

bimmernic

Hi all

Collected my car last Saturday. 523 but added the Sports Auto Transmission (2T, Sports leather steering wheel/paddles (255), Hi Fi Professional (677) and the M-Sport suspension (677). Drove to Hurry Tyres from PML Bukit Timah immediately thereafter and swapped the standard 17" RFTs for 18" 328 wheels with GY F1 Assymetric non-RFTs. LTA required the car to be homologated since the M-Sport suspension is not on any of the standard trims from PML.

Have not had a chance to really stretch the car but brief impressions follow.

At the risk of hyperbole, the M-Sport suspension transforms the car . There is minimal body roll (but enough to inform you that you are cornering fast) and pitch and roll is non-existent. The ride is firm but still comfortable, with road imperfections occasionally heard rather than felt. Initially, this felt weird when I was trying out that section of Alexendra Road (lanes 1 & 2) between River Valley Road and Tanglin Road, with its raised manhole covers, uneven road surface and patches. When I tested PML's 523 (17" wheels) and 535 (18" wheels) on the standard suspension, the cars would crash and thump quite noticeably on bumps and ruts - not quite what I was expecting from a BMW. The springs on the standard suspension appear to be too soft given the weight of the car. Also, when making the U-turn at the Holiday Inn Atrium junction, there was, surprisingly, lots of body roll on both test cars.

Happily, these issues appear to have been eliminated with the M-Sport suspension. Whether the 18" non-RFTs played a key part in the improvement, I can't tell, but they would not have had an impact on the body roll. However, the 17" RFTs on my car felt very comfortable when I drove it to Hurry Tyre.

For me, the M-Sport suspension really adds to the sporty driving experience and is, perhaps, a more cost effective option than dynamic damping control. While I understand that the M-Sport is tuned to be in between the Normal and Sports setting of the dynamic damping control, the key here may be the thicker anti-roll bars (and possibly higher spec bushings).

The difference between the standard and M-Sport suspension mirrors my experience when I tested the 3-series coupes (325 on 17" wheels and standard suspension and 335 on 18" wheels) on Rifle Range Road, with the standard suspension being somewhat soft and wallowy with noticeable body roll and the M-sport suspension being more firm with less roll and much better body control.

As for the steering, the 2TB option does appear to be beneficial to the weight and feel of the car. When I tested the standard steering on PML's 523 (base), it felt disconnected, very light and lacking in feel. For lack of a better word, it felt artificial. The steering really didn't inspire confidence. Perhaps it was due to the servotronic kicking in at low speeds but the steering on my car on its Normal setting is heavier even at parking speeds. The steering on the 535 was much better, even on the Normal setting. There does not appear to be any information on whether the steering on the Normal setting on the 2TB is the same as the standard steering but it certainly feels different, and better. Having said that, it could also be due to difference in the wheel sizes (17" vs 18").

Its surprising how a 2.5L, 204Bhp/250Nm engine can hustle the car along but it really needs revs to get up to speed. There is some lag in the throttle response and nothing much happens below about 2,000 rpm . Once you get into the powerband, its quite easy to exceed the speed limit since the sensation of speed is not quite apparent, in a good way, due to the refined way that it handles speed. There is little road noise and, due to the high gearing, engine noise. My passengers perceive the speed to be lower than it is . Will probably chip up the engine at some stage, if only to get rid of the lag in throttle response and to increase the low end torque.

BTW, when taking collection, do take time to check the paintwork on the car as well as the rims. Mine had two sections where dust particles appeared to have been trapped beneath the paint - looks like raised dots. PML offered to respray the section but I don't think that I will go for that since it will involve stripping down the factory paint and I have this fear of a paint mismatch and, in any case, the dots can be mistaken for metallic paint flakes in bright sunlight. Saw this on some other units at the delivery centre as well. Ask for a LED torchlight to do the inspection. Also, when I changed my rims, there was one piece with a similar issue - a raised dot.

jellyfish

Bimmernic, congrats on getting your new ride after all the waiting. The crashing and thumping you experienced is most likely from the RFTs. It was the same with my e60 so I had the RFTs ditched for the GY F1 Asymmetric and that seems to have fixed things. The crashing you mentioned is back again and I am contemplating dropping them for non-RFTs but was thinking of waiting till it's time to replace. Did Hurry give you a good deal on the trade-in?

Seems like the throttle lag is a common "feature" in the 5 series. Same experience as you, both in the e60 and now F10...

Sorry to hear about the piantwork. Can't believe with all the premium pricing involved that BMW produces this kind of workmanship - and all those orange peel!!

Was surprised to find that the car came only with a quarter tank of fuel, no 3M car mat, no welcome bag of BMW car care products, no umbrella - even the key fobs and manual now come in a cheap white cardboard box instead of the classy black box from before. Well that's PML for you but don't let all these detract from enjoying the ride!

bimmernic

It appears that there may be a software update that may help with this:

https://5series.net/forums/topic/972...st__p__1219382

Does PML charge for software updates?

I did notice faint static over the radio initially but this seems to have gone away. For now, at least. Could be a possible flaw in the hardware, since I have not encountered this in other cars in Singapore. Rather unacceptable for something so basic.

bimmernic

Many thanks, jellyfish. In the short ride from PML Bukit Timah to Hurry, the ride with the M-Sport suspension on the 17" RFTs was very good, somewhat soft even. Unfortunately, I did not really have a chance to explore further with less well surfaced roads but it did certainly feel better than with the standard suspension. So, its hard to say if the improvement was due to the M-Sport suspension or the non-RFTs but I am more inclined in favour of the suspension.

Hurry gave me a decent deal for the trade-in, better than quotes provided by others like Coco World, etc. Their prices are normally quite decent anyway and they had the 328s that had been traded in by someone else immediately after delivery. With the GY F1 Assy, I paid less than half of what it would have cost me to upgrade to the 18"s when I ordered the car.

The throttle lag is rather frustrating since the response is more linear with Sport mode selected on the DDC. Makes it rather annoying to drive in start-stop traffic in town.

Seems that the orange peel is common, even for the 7-series... The paint defect isn't critical since its no bigger than a metallic flake. My SE was quite apologetic about it. At some stage, the bodywork is going to be dinged/scratched by some careless/inconsiderate door opening moves, especially when parked at Shaw House :thumbsdown:

Yes, the collection process was rather an anti-climax, and there was no sense of occasion about it. Plus, PML Bukit Timah was rather dusty due to the ongoing renovations. No ribbon cutting ceremony (as practiced by SM Motors, apparently). Also, the PDI/prep was not quite what I expected (unlike Stuttgart/Trans Eurokars ). PML only gave one (!), non-OEM, leather key fob cover .