Sluis530

+1 kit or not the body looks great...

jzcrna

Originally, I was not impressed with the looks of the f10. But now, since seeing them more frequently and test-driving, I love the f10 more than the e60. As much as I liked my former e60 535i I don't think that I could go back to an E60. I test drove a new 528i with the sport package and was pleasantly surprised with the performance in the sport mode. and the looks and "solidness" were impressive. There was nothing cheap looking about the F10 (well except for those stupid white lines above the headlights WTF!!!!)

Surfside

Wasn't going to weigh in on this discussion but put my E60 550I in for a 25,000 mile service and brake recall yesterday and guess what they gave me as a loaner? A brand new (242 miles on it) 2011 535... Had asked for an X5 as i had to drive up to Ma to get my daughter from college but when this showed up I said what the h e l l and so ended up putting about 600 miles on it.
Let me first say I love my E60 550I (2008)which I bought CPO. I'm just not saying that because when I set out to replace my 2005 Audi A8L, a 550I was the last the last car i thought of as it wasn't on my radar. Lo and behold I stumble across one at my local dealer and I couldn't be happier with it after about 5,000 miles of driving it around the northeast. I love it's aggressive look (full M package plus just about every option available at the time) and it's performance. I find the car to be extremely quick, handles exceptionally well (a few winding exit ramps on my way home allow me to test car and the size of my... Well lets just say that the car wins every time... )and is as close to an M5 as I will get till the daughters are out of college.

So heres my thoughts on the new F10....

Exterior: Looks alot like a small 7 series in some respects (front end) and I'm not a fan of the new hood lines. Another poster mentioned it was tough to tell the difference between the 5 and the 3 series and I have to agree. I would pull up on a new 3 series and first mistakken it for a 5 till I saw the 3 designation on rear trunk lid. A little confusing as they seem to have all taken on very similar lines. Overall fit and finish is nice but the chrome accent door handles reminded me of a honda so lose the chrome accents... The car didn't have M aero package so not comparing apples to apples to my 550 but would like to see one for real with the aero package to see if my opinion changes on the car aesthetics. Looks nice in a non descript way...

Interior: Not a big fan of the dash design BUT absolutely love the big wide angle MMI screen. New screen seemed big enough to watch a movie and I liked it's size for navigation. Seems the designers took a cue from Audi and replaced the hand brake with a small lever for administering the parking brake system like I had on my A8L. Alot of new buttons surrounding the MMI knob versus everything being done elctronically through the MMI system which seems backwards to me. Remember, I've had the car for a day and a half and so havent tried to figure out every button now clustered around the MMI knob nor on the center consol but it's gotten alot busier than before. I'd rather have all the functionality thru the MMI system versus some of the manual operation via buttons. The buttons themselves seemed cheap to me in look and feel but then again I'm not a big fan of all the button navigation the car had so probably skewed my opinion. Seating was ok and I need to double check but I dont think it had the full range of comfort settings my 550 has but none the less, the car was comfortable.

Performance: Car was reasonably quick but handling in curves a little mushy versus the 550... At the same time, on straightaways it seemed to wander quite a bit requiring constant correction. I found this annoying. I have read here and on other forums it's becuase of new tires etc. so maybe this would go away? Not sure but didn't like how it felt "light" on it's feet versus the glued to the road my 550I gives me. The 535 almost seemed loose and unsure of itself even when put in sport which I did for most of the drive.

Overall: A nice car but I think i will stay with my 550... The new car can't seem to figure out whether it's a real BMW or just another people mover so in opinion, seems the designers have lost their way and have gotten away from sports sedan and made it more genteel for the country club types...

I'm sure I will catch hell for this review but just some honest thoughts after 600 plus miles of driving in one day...

redEYEjedi

I... like... big butts and I cannot lie..

Dantheman

Not in a hurry to change my E60. I didn't like the steering feel on the F10 :thumbsdown:

JeRZee XiE60

Title says "I HATE"


- The fact that I don't have my E60 anymore!

fogger

I don't hate it but it would take some getting used too. When I got rid of my 545i and was lost for 3 months in something else, I test drove a 2007 528i and immediately missed the handling of a BMW. That's when I ended up getting the '07 550i.

So I was in for service this week for that recall on the brakes and had a 2011 535 for a loaner. I do like the look and think it's an improvement. Even though this one didn't have the sport suspension, either did the 528i...the F10 felt a little mushy to me and if I didn't own a Bimmer and was looking, it wouldn't have swayed me...maybe the 3 series would. The wife liked my suspension better...eh, can I get that in writing? Also, the cabin was noisier...I couldn't believe it...maybe the tires were faulty.

The iphone, so easy to sync... Did not care for the dash configuration. I like less not more on my dash...didn't care for the layout. The wife thought it looked cheap...I wouldn't go that far. The cabin is wider...some will like but not me. The car just seems bigger to me, much bigger and I really like the size of the e60.

The tranny acted a bit odd coming out of the driveway but other than that, it shifted very smoothly. What a quiet engine but with it being winter and really questionable road conditions, I didn't really work it out or anything.

I'm guessing that driving a 550i M would be quite different...we'll have to see but for now, still loving the e60.

skelevirus

Nice write up, havent driven one but ill wait for the M5 to reserve final judgement... Everything else u mentioned is what i would assume to be 90% of peoples gripes are

orlovskyy

not even 20% of people can tell an m5 from 550 just by looking at it from 30 yards out.......