Hello from Ady
02-06-2009 | 01:36 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Members
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: Surrey, UK
My Ride: 525i SE Auto on order
Neptune Blue
Light Poplar wood trim, high-gloss
Comfort seats, front
Seat heating, front
Head-up Display
Bootlid operation, powered
Comfort Access
Sun protection glass
Extended Interior Light Package
Extended storage
Oscillating seat base function
Seat heating, rear
Steering wheel heating
Sunblinds - rear side windows
Ext. mirrors - folding, auto dimming
High-beam Assistant
Lane departure warning system
Active cruise control + Stop&Go function
Beige Nasca leather
Seat ventilation, front
Soft-close doors
Visibility package
Media package
Well I joined the forum a while back while researching my purchase and I finally got delivery of my new car about two weeks ago. Having previously been the proud owner of a Mercedes E-Class I have mixed feels about my new car but overall I am very pleased with my choice.
My only real concern is the harsh ride compared to the air suspension I had before and I am hoping that I will get used to that soon. It wouldn't be so bad if it gave a huge improvement in handling but to be honest the Merc handled very well despite gliding over our pot-holed roads.
The spec is as follows:
525i SE Touring
Beige Nasca leather U6BA
Neptune Blue
Optional equipment
Automatic Gearbox 205
Active Steering 217
Steering wheel heating 248
Bootlid operation, powered 316
Comfort Access 322
Soft-close doors 323
Sunblinds - rear side windows 417
Ext. mirrors - folding, auto dimming 430
Light Poplar wood trim, high-gloss 437
Seat ventilation, front 453
Oscillating seat base function 455
Comfort seats, front 456
Extended storage 493
Seat heating, front
Seat heating, rear 496
Headlight wash 502
Xenon headlights (Part of Visibility package) 522
Adaptive Headlights (Part of Visibility package) 524
Extended Interior Light Package 563
High-beam Assistant 5AC
Lane departure warning system 5AD
Active cruise control + Stop&Go function 5DF
Navigation-system Multi-media (Part of Media package)
Head-up Display 610
Sun protection glass 761
One option I would avoid next time is the High-beam Assistant as it is just a pain. It is very reluctant to dip the lights for oncoming traffic yet dips then quite frequently because of road signs on the left. It feels like it is configured for driving on the right.
On the other hand I would highly recommend the head-up display and the active cruise control with stop and go. I have been in a few traffic jams now and the stop and go works a treat.
I waited for the new multi-media sat-nav to be available and I am really pleased with it. I have uploaded around 1200 tracks so far and it is only 30% full so I will have to buy some more music ;-)
The routing so far has been good and very quick to calculate with precise instructions in good time. The integration with my HTC Touch Pro phone is pretty good although I have had a tidy up of my contacts, reducing them from over 300 to around 60. It did cope with them before but would take about 2 minutes to download them each time. It gets all the numbers for each contact and it gets the address information which can be used for navigation. The only adjustment I had to make was to change the country from united Kingdom to Great Britain for each contact. The call quality is not as good as my Merc was with its integrated phone but it is far more convenient to have just one number.
The voice control is a bit long winded for making a call compared to the Merc and I find I have to speak rather loudly for it to recognise what I say (which keeps my wife awake so she is not impressed). I have found it impossible to enter some road names either by spelling or saying and then had to resort to the controller. Also I have to take my eyes off the road to look at which line number has the appropriate phone number whereas the Merc recognised words such as "mobile", "personal" and "business" for selecting the number.
I am a little disappointed with the fuel economy so far as it is around 7mpg below the book combined figure on my normal journey to and from work, whereas my Merc was pretty much spot on what they claimed. Hopefully in time the engine will loosen up and the weather will improve which might give me a better figure. Despite that I am still pleased I went for the petrol engine this time as it is so smooth and quiet and no turbo lag.
The lane departure warning system is OK but I find the vibration on the steering wheel gets lost amongst the normal road feedback and can go unnoticed unless I am looking for it.
I also think the hype about the efficient aerodynamics is exaggerated to say the least. There is no sign of anything and when I asked the dealer if it had been forgotten when it was built he said it is up inside the air-intake and not visible. How does that effect the aerodynamics? On the BMW website it suggests there are flaps in front of the radiator that stops air going into the engine compartment, etc but there is no such thing on the 5 series.
The soft close doors are really good once you get used to them but most people just think the door has not closed properly and try again.
I hope my ramblings haven't sounded too negative but it is easier to list the few bad things rather than all the good things.
Ady.
My only real concern is the harsh ride compared to the air suspension I had before and I am hoping that I will get used to that soon. It wouldn't be so bad if it gave a huge improvement in handling but to be honest the Merc handled very well despite gliding over our pot-holed roads.
The spec is as follows:
525i SE Touring
Beige Nasca leather U6BA
Neptune Blue
Optional equipment
Automatic Gearbox 205
Active Steering 217
Steering wheel heating 248
Bootlid operation, powered 316
Comfort Access 322
Soft-close doors 323
Sunblinds - rear side windows 417
Ext. mirrors - folding, auto dimming 430
Light Poplar wood trim, high-gloss 437
Seat ventilation, front 453
Oscillating seat base function 455
Comfort seats, front 456
Extended storage 493
Seat heating, front
Seat heating, rear 496
Headlight wash 502
Xenon headlights (Part of Visibility package) 522
Adaptive Headlights (Part of Visibility package) 524
Extended Interior Light Package 563
High-beam Assistant 5AC
Lane departure warning system 5AD
Active cruise control + Stop&Go function 5DF
Navigation-system Multi-media (Part of Media package)
Head-up Display 610
Sun protection glass 761
One option I would avoid next time is the High-beam Assistant as it is just a pain. It is very reluctant to dip the lights for oncoming traffic yet dips then quite frequently because of road signs on the left. It feels like it is configured for driving on the right.
On the other hand I would highly recommend the head-up display and the active cruise control with stop and go. I have been in a few traffic jams now and the stop and go works a treat.
I waited for the new multi-media sat-nav to be available and I am really pleased with it. I have uploaded around 1200 tracks so far and it is only 30% full so I will have to buy some more music ;-)
The routing so far has been good and very quick to calculate with precise instructions in good time. The integration with my HTC Touch Pro phone is pretty good although I have had a tidy up of my contacts, reducing them from over 300 to around 60. It did cope with them before but would take about 2 minutes to download them each time. It gets all the numbers for each contact and it gets the address information which can be used for navigation. The only adjustment I had to make was to change the country from united Kingdom to Great Britain for each contact. The call quality is not as good as my Merc was with its integrated phone but it is far more convenient to have just one number.
The voice control is a bit long winded for making a call compared to the Merc and I find I have to speak rather loudly for it to recognise what I say (which keeps my wife awake so she is not impressed). I have found it impossible to enter some road names either by spelling or saying and then had to resort to the controller. Also I have to take my eyes off the road to look at which line number has the appropriate phone number whereas the Merc recognised words such as "mobile", "personal" and "business" for selecting the number.
I am a little disappointed with the fuel economy so far as it is around 7mpg below the book combined figure on my normal journey to and from work, whereas my Merc was pretty much spot on what they claimed. Hopefully in time the engine will loosen up and the weather will improve which might give me a better figure. Despite that I am still pleased I went for the petrol engine this time as it is so smooth and quiet and no turbo lag.
The lane departure warning system is OK but I find the vibration on the steering wheel gets lost amongst the normal road feedback and can go unnoticed unless I am looking for it.
I also think the hype about the efficient aerodynamics is exaggerated to say the least. There is no sign of anything and when I asked the dealer if it had been forgotten when it was built he said it is up inside the air-intake and not visible. How does that effect the aerodynamics? On the BMW website it suggests there are flaps in front of the radiator that stops air going into the engine compartment, etc but there is no such thing on the 5 series.
The soft close doors are really good once you get used to them but most people just think the door has not closed properly and try again.
I hope my ramblings haven't sounded too negative but it is easier to list the few bad things rather than all the good things.
Ady.
02-06-2009 | 01:45 PM
#2
Contributors
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,998
Likes: 1
From: St. Louis Burbs, USA
My Ride: 2007 530i. Purchased 6/28/07. Titanium Silver Metallic, Black Dakota Leather, Dark Poplar Trim, Steptronic, Premium Package, Cold Weather Package, Bluetooth, Adaptive Control Xenons. 10/30/07 Added OEM 124s with 245/40/18 & 275/35/18 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires. Installed red Cal Covers� from BavAuto. 11/21/07 Added OEM all-weather floor mats (for winter, carpet in summer) and coat rack. 6/26/08 installed M5-style rear spoiler. 6/30/08 put on red reflectors. 8/22/08 Euro turn signal stickers applied. 3/20/09 Installed Shadowline Trim. 3/27/09 Added Matte Black Kidney Grilles from Trinity. 4/03/09 Installed Bimmian Shadow Matte Black 530i Badges. 4/04/09 Installed LED license plate lights from Trinity. 5/01/09 Installed Brabus Interior LED Kit and White Angel Eyes. 5/02/09 Put in Brabus 6K Fogs. 5/14/09 Removed charcoal filter. 5/15/09 Installed light smoke LED side marker lamps from Trinity. 5/21/09 Sprint Booster. 6/12/09 Painted exhaust tips flat black. 6/13/09 Pulled red Cal Covers and painted calipers low gloss black. 6/27/09 RPI Ram Air Scoop from Trinity. 8/15/09 Installed Brabus's silver invisibulbs front and rear. 9/24/09 Installed R-Dash license plate LEDs from Brabaus (John).
Welcome aboard Ady!
02-06-2009 | 04:07 PM
#4
Contributors
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 2,341
Likes: 0
From: SFV California
My Ride: 2006 530i Alpine White on Black interior, Sport and Premium Package, Steptronic, Navigation, Xenon Adaptive Headlights, Mtec V2.1 angel eyes,Hoen Fog Lights, Full M-Tech kit, ACS pedals, LED plate lights, CF Steering Wheel badge, CF Titanium trim, OE
and congrats on your new purchase!! 
02-06-2009 | 04:18 PM
#5
Contributors
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 11,084
Likes: 0
From: Thousand Oaks, California
My Ride: 2008 550i Jet Black on Black Leather, SAT with Paddles, Logic 7, Comfort Seats, NAV, Sport Package, PDC, Xenons, Sirius, Trinity 12W LED Angel Eyes, RPi GT Exhaust, M rear spoiler, ACS Roof Spoiler, Tinted Tail Lights, Bimmian Carbon Fiber Pillar Trim, Bimmian Shadow 550i emblem, RPi Scoop, E60 Forum Cling, Mtec bulbs in fog lights, Mtec 2W LED for License Plate Light Bulbs, K&N Filter, Bimmian LED Smoked Side Markers, Blackout roundels, Carbon Fiber Kidney Grills.
Retired Rides - 1989 325i convertible, 1995 M3, 2002 X5, 2005 545i, 2008 X5 (Lemon)
Congrats on the new car and enjoy the forums!! 
02-06-2009 | 10:09 PM
#8
Contributors
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 3,561
Likes: 0
From: Milky Way, Earth, N. America, CA, San Jose, 95136, Latitude N 37� 16.837, Longitude W 121� 50.461
My Ride: 2004 530i | Sapphire Black | Sport | Premium | NAV | Logic 7 | DPE R07 Variant S Gloss Black with Polished Lip 20x8.5 front 20x10 rear | Falken FK452 tires 245/30/20 front 275/30/20 rear | H&R Coilovers | Smoked Tail Lights | M5 trunk spoiler | AC Schnitzer style roof spoiler | HID 8000K headlights & foglights | 35% tint all around | Sprint Booster | Speed Innovation ECU tuning | M5 trunk finisher | M-Tech body kit | Remus Quad Exhaust | AC Schnitzer style pedals | Euro Stickers | RPi Ram Air Induction | Smoked LED Side Lenses | AC Schnitzer style e-brake handle | AC Schnitzer style shifter | AC Schnitzer style iDrive knob | AC Schnitzer style carbon fiber diffuser | carbon fiber hood/trunk/steering emblems | carbon fiber grilles | carbon fiber door pillars | MTEC v2 Angel Eyes | Hamann style carbon fiber splitter
congrats on the new purchase!
02-07-2009 | 08:27 AM
#10
Contributors
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 4,533
Likes: 0
From: HK (N.T), UK (Surrey)
My Ride: BMW E60 530i , Silver with leather Air Con iDrive 17" Breyton Rims with Dunlop Sp Sport tyres (M-Tech Bodykit and rims WANTED)
Alfa Romeo 147 TS1.6 , Black with Air Con 17" Multi Spoke alloys with Bridgestone RE040 tyres
Toyota MR-S 1.8 VVTI , Lagoon Blue with Red leather Air Con 15" standard alloys with Toyo tyres
Toyota Celica 1.8 VVTI, Lagoon Blue, Air Con, 16" Standard alloys with Kuhmo KU31, EBC Green Stuff
Welcome to the forum Ady!
You MPG will be improve over the time since your car is still new and will take sometime to run in
Where about are you in Surrey?
I were in Guildford and now back to HongKong
You MPG will be improve over the time since your car is still new and will take sometime to run in
Where about are you in Surrey?
I were in Guildford and now back to HongKong