TitangrauII530iA

Hi all,

Today I had an opportunity to test drive a fully loaded F10 535iA. I only made 25 kms, because I have ordered my 535iA already last December, but here are my impressions:
The engine and 8speed sport autotranny are incredible, lots of power at all rpms, gear changes are soft&fast at the same time. The engine sound is really nice when revving the engine high - and when cruising, you don't here anything.
The car had adaptive drive and when in sport setting, the car was still far more comfortable than my E60 with MSport suspension. Integral active steering made the car feel like a 3 series, much more agile than my E60. It's really dynamic and comfortable at the same time. The interior was veneto beige, which is not my thing, but it was still nice. One thing was disappointing though, the headliner anthrasite was not made of same type of material as in E60, but looked somehow "glossy" and cheap - I have oredered it, hope that I will get used in it though .

After the test I parked the Space Gray car side by side with my Carbon Black E60 - and all I have to say is that the beloved E60 looked so oldfashioned. And I have to say that even if I have been one to appreciate Chris Bangle's works from very early days

Now I just hope that the remaining three weeks will pass quickly

Regards from snowy Finland!

TGII

Gene

nice review, thanx for sharing...nice pics also

Seems as the f10 starts to hit dealerships and people are able to see the f10 up close and personal and drive...reviews are getting more favorable....can't wait to see one for myself here in the states

TurboT

Nice review. I still need to wait until 520d productions starts on this summer.

How was the interior noice level, was it with studded tyres ?

sdg1871

I loved the looks of my E39 more than the looks of my E60 (which I think looks great but not as much as my departed 540I Sport) so I've really liked the pics of the F10. I too can't wait to see it live.

So what's going to replace your E60 535 Gene?

TitangrauII530iA

Hi,

It was with winter tyres without studs, the noice level was lower than in the E60. The outside temperature was +3 degrees celcius and the car had been out for the night. When cold, the engine noice was there, but when warm , the car was quiet, until I really revved it up to 7000 rpm - the sound was something that I really fell in love with I was not able to regognize any disturbing tyre noice.

Best regrads,

TGII

darkus

excellent review, thanks so much for sharing!

Gene

no idea....

sdg1871

F10 550 with killer tune?

Gene

depends...did you see the current lease rates for the f10's...including options...monthly might be close to an e60 M5

sdg1871

Yes I have seen them and they are not good. They are:

2011 535i Sedan
BMW Buy Rate: .00250
36 Month Residual: 58%


2011 550i Sedan
BMW Buy Rate: .00230
36 Month Residual: 54%


But, shockingly, lease terms on the outgoing E60s are much worse then the new F10's lease terms. In fact, the leftover E60's lease terms as bad as I have ever seen them with money factors of .00240 and residuals for a 3 year lease as low as 40%. By contrast, the lease deal on my 2009 550i was something like 57 or 57% residual and MF around .00160. The current 550i lease terms of 40% residual and .00240 mf means a monthly payment several hundred dollars more than mine was for the same car. Maybe once the F10 rolls into dealerships, BMW will offer better lease terms to move the outgoing E60s. Seems to me that with big cash and crappy lease terms, BMW wants to force customers to buy the leftover E60s because, in 3 years time, the value of E60 lease returns will probably be quite and BMW doesn't want to be stuck with having to move tons of E60 with low values.

Although BMW is offering $5K and $6K factory to dealer cash on these leftover E60s, the horrible lease terms more than offset the big factory to dealer cash. The lease terms (according to Tarry at leasecompare as posted on Bimmerfest.com for March are:

2010 BMW 528i Sedan
24 Month ? Residual 54% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
36 Month ? Residual 50% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
48 Month ? Residual 34% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
60 Month ? Residual 28% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate

2010 BMW 528i xDrive Sedan
24 Month ? Residual 54% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
36 Month ? Residual 50% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
48 Month ? Residual 34% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
60 Month ? Residual 27% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate

2010 BMW 535i Sedan
24 Month ? Residual 52% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
36 Month ? Residual 48% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
48 Month ? Residual 32% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
60 Month ? Residual 26% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate

2010 BMW 535i xDrive Sedan
24 Month ? Residual 52% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
36 Month ? Residual 48% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
48 Month ? Residual 33% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
60 Month ? Residual 26% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate

2010 BMW 535i xDrive Sport Wagon
24 Month ? Residual 52% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
36 Month ? Residual 48% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
48 Month ? Residual 31% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
60 Month ? Residual 25% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate

2010 BMW 550i Sedan
24 Month ? Residual 46% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
36 Month ? Residual 40% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
48 Month ? Residual 28% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
60 Month ? Residual 22% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate

2010 BMW M5 Sedan
24 Month ? Residual 46% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
36 Month ? Residual 40% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
48 Month ? Residual 28% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate
60 Month ? Residual 21% of MSRP ? .00240 Base Rate

Yikes!