acorradi87

I have seen more than a few threads on here devoted to write-ups on impressions of the F10s at the Ultimate Driving Events, but I just felt compelled to do one myself as a current 08 550i M Sport driver testing the F10 550i. I did the drive at 11am this morning at Weatherford BMW in Berkeley, CA (which, even though it's 3 miles from me, is not where I get my service done so I'd never been there before.) I know you all are aware what it looks like (in detail, no doubt =) but this is just a quick picture I snapped on my phone:



Exterior:
When I first got to the dealership, I walked into this area that had a lot of BMWs parked, and there was a row of 3 F10s... at least I thought until I looked closer. From a distance (without being able to see the shape of the taillights) the F01 7 Series and the F10 5 Series are so similar it seriously confused me. When I was looking at them head on I couldn't tell right away, before I realized that from now on when I see one on the road from the front I'll be able to tell cause the plasticky headlight 'eyebrow' thing on the 7 has a chrome piece that says "BMW Dynamic Xenon", and the lower fascia has one continuous silvery strip all the way across whereas the 5 has two. Other than those small details, however, they were extremely similar which somewhat irritated me. I believe that while the BMW design cues should look similar across the range, you should be able to differentiate the models. This also means that not only did they look similar design-wise, but that (as it seemed to me) they were also similar in size.
I don't have an issue with the dual grilles being so large, but I think they could be raked back a couple degrees. If you are looking at the front of the car from the side, they are so pushed forward that they almost clash with the rest of the front. The whole time I looked at the exterior I had to realize that this was did not have any M Sport aero upgrades so I decided not to be too harsh on the fact that it looked like an older person's car (I am 23 and I can honestly say that this car just looked to old for me). I believe the wheels could have been a little more attractive (I think the 535i's sport package wheels are better looking) but they're not awful. The silver/chrome strips on the door handles aren't bad either but it seemed to add to the older-person's car look. I think my favorite angle on this car is the back, because everything seems in proportion and I like the clean taillight design. I didn't notice that the ride height/gaps between the tire and wheel-well were particularly high but it the car overall didn't have the sitting low feeling that mine does.
The exterior was Dark Graphite metallic. I thought it was a nice color, just extremely metallic, LOTS of silvery-gold flakes. I prefer the Platinum Gray color of my car as I think it has more depth to it.

Interior:
The interior quality definitely says more "luxury" than my car does. The materials are very nice and much more to what this car needs to compete at this price point. The center angled towards the driver is also a nice step back to the e39 (still never understood why the e60 and even the current e9Xs did away with that...). Compared to my car, the interior just felt bigger, and I don't really mean interior volume. I mean the center stack and the way the iDrive screen is mounted (which is a much better/bigger screen) was wider and made the car seem a lot bigger from the driver's seat. I have to say I found this to be a slight negative because it felt like I had stepped up from a 5 to a 7. iDrive is pretty awesome now and I'm sure everyone knows that so I won't go into detail about it. Overall, the interior was very nice.

Engine:
When I first pushed the start button I was disappointed at the lack of engine noise. Then when I accelerated I was disappointed at the lack of engine noise. Then I put the windows down and I was disappointed at the lack of exhaust noise. This car has lost so much of it's raw-sportiness! I use the term 'raw' loosely because my car is very smooth I would never really call it raw per se, but mine certainly felt that way driving home after driving the F10! The transmission is definitely a step up, it's nice to have all of those gears, and despite my fears it doesn't hunt for gears like I've heard about in other 8 speed transmissions. In general it just seemed very subdued. I was content with the low-end torque due to the twin turbos and flat torque curve but once the RPMs got above 4,000 it felt just like my car... and frankly with 40 more horsepower and 90 more lb/ft of torque I was a little disappointed. I think I was subconsciously lightfooting it cause it was a new car... although it did have 1,600 miles on it so I probably could have been a little more brash and that may have changed the way I felt. I don't want anything to think I'm being too tough in my review of this car, but as a lifelong die-hard BMW fan I feel I need to be honest.

Ride:
The car definitely sit higher than mine did, even when I put the seat pretty low, which is how I sit in my own. I like the feeling of being low to the road, and this just didn't give me that feeling. The way it felt, however, was totally fine. The adaptive ride functioned as promised. When in comfort setting felt like I was in a Mercedes or Lexus. When in Sport/Sport+ it firmed up and I could feel the road much more. It stayed flat when I took a quite curved onramp onto the freeway but it almost felt strange to me because the car just seemed so big!



In all, I think the F10 5 is a nicely done car, but I just feel as if it's lost some of it's driving edge. When the woman was giving us an introduction to the car before we drove, one of her first statements she made (as 2 of the men in the group are current Mercedes owners) was "first and foremost BMWs are drivers' cars. We have all of the luxury features and technology, of course, but that comes second." This is exactly how I feel BMW has been and should be but the F10, to me, didn't deliver that.

I was afraid when I went to the event that when I would get in my car to leave I would be wanting the F10... but I got in, pushed the Sport button, floored it to get on the freeway and had a huge smile on my face. This is how a driver's car should feel.

kscarrol

Thanks for the write up! I'm headed back to my dealer tomorrow to drive the M3 and the F10 again. I've only driven the F10 535 for a too short test drive, will expand that tomorrow and hopefully drive the 550. We'll see how it goes but my first impression of the F10 535 was really more more like the 7 series, both in styling and handling...

sdg1871

Excellent write up.

Richard in NC

Those were similar to my first impressions. A very nice, very good car, but it just doesn't excite me the way I hoped. I like smooth quiet power but I want to hear it when punched.
I drove an X5 5.0 the same day and the 4.4TT V8 could be heard in it.

keith84_uk

Thanks for the write up and pretty much agreed with you in every aspects reagrding the F10.

F10 definietly has better interior, better ride and quieter than our E60, a more grown up car i would say,
but it is not the best drivers car in its class ANYMORE, if i want comfort, why not buying the Merc instead?

All new BMW also using the new type electronic steering wheel, which handles well but no road feedback at all,
Seems they had put all time on interior and ride and forgot the fundamental things why people buying BMW.

Thats why you can see the "Sheer driving pleasure" slogan has gone and replaced with "Joy" :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

Richard in NC

So what car in its class would be better?

keith84_uk

Well...I wont say which is the class leader cos its very personal view
at least its not a "clear" class leader anymore "in my opinion"

Maybe i was influenced by the reading from autocar UK

nomis_nehc

Very nice write up/review! It sounds like my sentiments is shared by many. I think a lot of us are not thrilled by its exterior, but can say that the interior is much nicer than E60.

sdg1871

Sounds like a RPI exhaust will be a necessary mod for the F10.

Rudy

Thanks for the write up!

I agree that coming from an LCI 550i to an F10 550i will be pretty different from the perspective of agressive looks (especially considering the E60 LCI 550i sport wheels and aero package) and the engine/exhaust note.

Keep in mind, however, that the 2004 E60 didn't have those types of things at it's introduction either so it's very likely that the F10 will evolve, as did the E60, over time.

For me, I still love my E60 but am excited to move to the F10 and explore what it has to offer. I'll probably miss my E60 a bit more than I did my E39 but I doubt I'll be disappointed with the F10 once I get used to it. The other nice thing, at least for me, is that in three years, I'll probably be looking at a new F10 and by then, there may be an LCI version or, at the very least, a exterior sport kit like we have for the E60...