narvselius

To try to see things from a positive side; a good thing with new cars breaking down is that you get a loaner which is different from the car you normally drive, so it widens your perspective. However, this normally means a fairly standard equipped car, but with my history my dealer arranged for a very nice one:
a brand new F11 520dAM, SophistoGrey, black Dakota leather, Satnav, auto adjust suspension, a decent stereo (not good, but decent), bluetooth, Speed-limit info etc etc.

As my car is ready to be picked up, I write this farewell note to the car that currently is parked outside our house, and it's a car that I will miss.

First, the 184 BHP diesel is a masterpiece. I'm a petrolhead and petrol fan myself, but this diesel has really impressed me with a good torque, a well behaved character, and in spite of a cold winter with a lot of traffic jams it can boast an average consumption of 6.6 lit/100 kms! Unbeliavable - what would be the consumption if it was summer and I used it on country roads?!?

I don't like the colour though; it's a dark grey colour that looks dirty grey. Probably very nice colour at the French riviera, but up here... nah.

After a month I have some personal pro's and con's:

On the flipside:
* The "auto-suspension" is great. The weather didn't give me a chance to try Sport or even Sport+, but the Normal ride is lovely with a comfort ride that the E61 never was even close to match. And still, the car feels easy to handle and fairly eager to take on the next curve. Not with the eagerness like my E61, but close. Wow!!! Full marks!
* The sport seats are good and will be enough for most people. Easy to adjust and gives you a good driving position.
* It's sooo quiet in the cabin. I wish my E61 was like this... Especially if you like me are allergic to the diesel sound. From the inside the engine is barely recognisable, and the muffled sound from the diesel is quite nice.
* Lovely dashboard. Can look at it for minutes. Yammy.
* "Whump". That's all you hear when you close the hatch. First time I thought a carpet or something soft had come in the way. Impressive.
* You can now open the rear glass with the key fob - and it will also swing open. Wuu-huu!

However:
* As many of you have noticed. The steering takes away a part of the fun and this is something BMW really have to work on! Is this an A6 I am driving, or...? Do it again, and do it right next time.
* You cannot fasten the children in their child seats without pushing the seat 5-6 centimeters as BMW for some strange reason has decided that the connections should be further away from the center by some centimeters compared to the E61. Totally idiotic.
* Paddles on the steering wheel is nice, but it is so tight between the paddles and the levers on both sides that after engaging the wipers or the indicator by mistake I gave up using the paddles... :thumbsdown:
* With this hugh screen, why must the font size be so big? More info could easily fit on the screen if it was decreased.
* Be careful touching the rear wiper - it will fall off! It's bit weak in its construction and I guess that this will be an issue after some time...
* If you want to have a laugh - opt for the speed limit info! It shows anything and everything, and occasionally the correct speed limit. If you have passengers in the car I suggest you have a quizz to see who will guess which speed limit that will turn up on the dashboard.

All in all, a lovely car that in my opinion still looks better without the M-sport package, a very, very nice car that I reluctantly now will hand back after a very relaxing, comfortable and happy 2000 kms of diesel driving.

narvselius

In the flesh

skelevirus

I like the way the wagon looks! Especially with snow on her

xBMWx

Thanks for the write-up mate -- very interesting to hear a review of the 520d from a petrol E60/61 driver

I probably need to get a test drive in one of those new 520d autos at some stage, they really make a lot sense and seem to be quite a rewarding drive. No doubt even more so if you do most of your driving on busy roads and/or inner-city.

With regards to the poor steering on the F10/11, is that not the same as with the E60/61 where you need the Active Steering if you want some proper fun behind the wheel? My first E60 had normal steering and always felt too light and not very precise, but my last 3 cars had Active Steering and that makes the world of difference.


I hope your 530i is sorted now... and stays sorted!!

lim

very sexy!

Do you know what model number wheels those are?

Those are very nice 5 spokes kind of like on an audi

narvselius

I'm not a fan of the E61 Active Steering as it removes the feel for the road surface. And this "filter" is even stronger in the F11, and this with normal steering. My personal taste is a lot of road communication without having the Audi-effect of having to count all the stones you drive over, and this work fine in the E61. I think it's more fun to drive with the standard steering as I get some sense of what the road conditions are.

In the F11 it's just like a PS3; you turn the wheel an the car follows - what a nice invention! No feedback on how much grip you have.

Something I hope they fix for the LCI in 2014/2015

mmitev

narvselius thank you so much for this detailed and emotional (in a good sense) review

topics like this make this forum unbeatable

PS. I wish my trunk made "thump"... and not "QRATCH-tzk" (or similar) when closed

jmemahoney

Nice write-up, thanks!

I can't wait to get my hands on my baby in Feb/March! My heart ruled by brain though and I spent the extra £9,000 (gulp!) on the 3.0d over the 2.0d...Feeling a little bit foolish but hope the engine lives up to expectations!
J

Scandic24

I bet it does! ...eventhough the 2.0 is a real cracker!