Weight
07-20-2010, 08:11 AM
#12
Members
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Fresno, CA
Posts: 206
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 550i
When driving it you can definitely feel the weight gain. I think the complaints of the road feel and all that are mainly due to electronics trying to cover up the immense weight gain... and like sdg1871 said, you can't change the laws of physics.
07-20-2010, 09:41 AM
#13
Contributors
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Posts: 7,790
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: My ex-ride: EU '08 LCI 520dA. Space Grey, Sport Seats in Black Leather/Fabric Anthracite, Sport Steering Wheel, A/C with Extended Features, Hi-Fi Speakers, Cup Holders, Cruise with Braking function, Folding Rear Seats, Xenons, Park Distance Control.
The 520dA gained some + 100 kg's (200 pounds) from E60 to F10 and yes, it feels a bit heavier
but also a lot more classy and safer.
The F10 still has a aluminum chassis (and engines) and but has also aluminum rear doors and trunk.
The E60 has "only" aluminum hood, front fenders and front doors (chassis and engines).
The E60 was a EuroNCAP four star (to begin with only a 3 star!) car as the F10 is the best 5 stars
a car can get, with the new much harder standards.
07-20-2010, 05:32 PM
#14
Senior Members
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Connecticut, USA
Posts: 392
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
My Ride: 07' 550i sport; Sapphire Black/Auburn; sport package; steptronic; navigation with R.T.T.I.; heads up; cold weather package; Logic-7; BMW MOST ipod kit; Motorola V3 snap-in adapter; rear heated seats and rear shades; anthracite headliner; sirrius sat. radio; M-aero kit; OEM style 166 Wheels with 245/35-19 front and 285/30-19 rear Michelin PS2s.
4200+ lbs. for a 550 is hef T! My 01' 740i sport was that weight. My 550i was 3880 and that was near perfect. If you remember BMW used radical bonding technology to fuse the aluminum front assembly to the rest of the frame. Efforts were taken to keep the E60 trim. I read that the cross-pollination with the 7 series in the new car accounts for the disproportionately high weight.
My daily driver now weights in at 3060 lbs. It feels like tire abuse when I drive the wife's X5. There's a limit to how much electronic trickery can be used to circumvent physics (or at least give you that impression).
Haven't driven one yet, but the new 5 seems too tame. Maybe the M sport will sell in big numbers and send a message to the stylists - you can be bold in this segment. It's not a 7....
DRP
My daily driver now weights in at 3060 lbs. It feels like tire abuse when I drive the wife's X5. There's a limit to how much electronic trickery can be used to circumvent physics (or at least give you that impression).
Haven't driven one yet, but the new 5 seems too tame. Maybe the M sport will sell in big numbers and send a message to the stylists - you can be bold in this segment. It's not a 7....
DRP
07-20-2010, 07:12 PM
#16
Senior Members
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Chicago Suburbs
Posts: 639
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2011 BMW 550i; Dark Graphite Metalliic/Oyster, 4.4 TT V8, 8-sp AT, Sports Package, Dynamic Handling, Premium Package 2, Cold Weather Package, HUD
For all the complaints about the weight, the truth is that F10 is still a fast car (in the 550i, it's an absolute rocket, esp. in the Sport/Sport+ mode) and a very capable handler. Recently, I've gone up to 120mph on a stretch of highway and it feels as solid and safe as if it was cruising at 20 mph! I've owned 4 other 5 series in the past 10 years, and to me, my F10 550i is the fastest, most capable, most luxurious, most feature-laiden, and most refined 5 series sedan ever made!
07-20-2010, 08:23 PM
#17
Senior Members
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Seattle, WA Metro Area
Posts: 1,794
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
500 pounds may be a overkill. Is this a fact or...
The 520dA gained some + 100 kg's (200 pounds) from E60 to F10 and yes, it feels a bit heavier
but also a lot more classy and safer.
The F10 still has a aluminum chassis (and engines) and but has also aluminum rear doors and trunk.
The E60 has "only" aluminum hood, front fenders and front doors (chassis and engines).
The E60 was a EuroNCAP four star (to begin with only a 3 star!) car as the F10 is the best 5 stars
a car can get, with the new much harder standards.
The 520dA gained some + 100 kg's (200 pounds) from E60 to F10 and yes, it feels a bit heavier
but also a lot more classy and safer.
The F10 still has a aluminum chassis (and engines) and but has also aluminum rear doors and trunk.
The E60 has "only" aluminum hood, front fenders and front doors (chassis and engines).
The E60 was a EuroNCAP four star (to begin with only a 3 star!) car as the F10 is the best 5 stars
a car can get, with the new much harder standards.
The 2007 E60 530i weighed in at 3472 lbs with the manual transmission and the 550i weighed in at 3803 lbs.
The 2010 F10 528i weighs in at 3814 lbs with the manual transmission and the 550i weighs in at 4343 lbs.
The difference with the I6 engine is 342 lbs and the difference with the V8 engine is 540 lbs. You don't need to add weight to make the car safer. That logic died in the 1970's. Adding weight will reduce fuel efficiency and reduce performance in the twisties.
Fact.
07-20-2010, 11:46 PM
#18
Senior Members
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 400
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
My Ride: 2004 E61 530D - Dynamic Drive - Active Front Steering Sport Seats - Voice Control - Head Up Display - Nav Pro - Bluetooth - Panoramic roof - Front/rear heated seats
Adding weight itself does not increase safety anymore. Adding additional structural rigidity and strengthening components, crumpling zones and airbag associated components do increase the weight considerably... Seems unavoidable without resorting to using more exotic materials.
07-21-2010, 09:39 AM
#19
Contributors
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Posts: 7,790
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: My ex-ride: EU '08 LCI 520dA. Space Grey, Sport Seats in Black Leather/Fabric Anthracite, Sport Steering Wheel, A/C with Extended Features, Hi-Fi Speakers, Cup Holders, Cruise with Braking function, Folding Rear Seats, Xenons, Park Distance Control.
The 2007 E60 530i weighed in at 3472 lbs with the manual transmission and the 550i weighed in at 3803 lbs.
The 2010 F10 528i weighs in at 3814 lbs with the manual transmission and the 550i weighs in at 4343 lbs.
The difference with the I6 engine is 342 lbs and the difference with the V8 engine is 540 lbs. You don't need to add weight to make the car safer. That logic died in the 1970's. Adding weight will reduce fuel efficiency and reduce performance in the twisties.
Fact.
The 2010 F10 528i weighs in at 3814 lbs with the manual transmission and the 550i weighs in at 4343 lbs.
The difference with the I6 engine is 342 lbs and the difference with the V8 engine is 540 lbs. You don't need to add weight to make the car safer. That logic died in the 1970's. Adding weight will reduce fuel efficiency and reduce performance in the twisties.
Fact.
Both F10's are still faster than the E60-version and are more comfortable an economic.
The fact is also that if a 2000 pound car front collides with a 4000 pound car...
Guess who wins.
Racing cars are a fully different story.
07-21-2010, 10:44 AM
#20
Contributors
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: New Orleans, LA USA
Posts: 4,672
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: E90 M3
Model Year: 2011