Hormazd

Just got my may issue. (Not yet on the net)

CND had a $55K cap. They wanted the ACURA RL in the group. They did acknowledge that they knew that BMWs new 6 cylinder was coming and that it would hav definately bumped up its ranking. They also said that if they could have tested the 545i they would be "telling a different story". Basically the 530i lost out because of its lack of power.

They still despise the I-drive and this is now a complete mystery to me as IMO the ACURA RL has a far more complicated system and they ranked the car 2nd with only praises for its puck oriented system "...simple and intuitive" they wrote. They seem to have a bias against I-drive.

The other very notable comment was on the Active Steering.

"BMW has re-calibrated its active steering system, or have we just become sensitized to it? Whatever the answer is, this car had steering with the bionic sense of BMWs of old.."

The cars were ranked as follows:

1. Infiniti M45 sport
2. Acura RL
3. Lexus GS 430
4. MBZ E350
5. Audi A^ 4.2 Quattro
6. BMW 530i (with pre 03/05 production engine)
7. Cadillac STS V8
8. Jaguar St type 4.2 VDP edition

Guest

I'm fed up with Motor Trend and Car & Driver. They try to imply that their tests are objective but in reality they are totally subjective ratings. I'm tired of hearing about how complicated Idrive is or how BMW is making thier cars too automated. I'll rely on my own judgement when evaluating cars and in my opinion, my 5 series is the best car I have ever owned. I have also driven 530s as loaners and I'll take a 530 over an Acura, Lexus, Audi (and my wife owns an Audi A6) or anything else in that class. BTW, after 15k miles on my car, I love Idrive even more than when I got the car. In fact, I wouldn't want anothe car without it or something similar - nuff said!

Guest

Not surprising to me at all -- check the advertisers in the magazine carefully. More importantly, none of the reports on this auto rag (or its siblings in Motor Trend, Road&Track, etc.) have any credibility in my book if their "benchmark" for evaluating iDrive is their inability to change the radio stations....

BMWs e60 is the gold standard that all competitors (including Acura, Infiniti, Lexus, Audi, Jaguar, MB, etc.) use when they design their competitive models. Lexus freely admits this and you can clearly see the imitations/copies of BMW innovations in each competitive model.

So, the bottom line here is what should influence a sophisticated buyer more -- an intellectually challenged, unsophisticated magazine reporter OR the engineers/management of every major competitor in the premium auto business who has decided to copy BMWs e60?? One thing is obvious -- BMWs competitors are NOT following the intellectually challenged reporters in these auto rags, so why should you or anyone else???

cocogigio

Sorry, forgot to log in - reply two above was from me.

Hormazd

I couldn't agree with you guys more. What really pisses me off is the blatant bias. Maybe BMW decided to stop greasing their palms or the others upped their contributions more so. I can understand the morons fumbling with the first generation 7 series system when there was nothing else like it on the market, but my mother just got and Acura RL. I can assure you I-drive is far more intuitive easier to reach and a cleaner deployment.

swajames

what a total POS. If you set the cap at $55k you do so to keep the 545 out of the test. Anyone prepared to blow 50 to 60 grand on a car is not going to be bothered about the extra 2 to 3 K so why not get the real contenders in the ring. The 530 is a very fine automobile but in a test like this is undoubtedly going to concede some important categories to the V8's. My last two cars were Infiniti's so I like the brand but the M45 could and should only be compared to a 545. Probably no coincidence as another poster pointed out that Infiniti (and Acura) have been throwing a lot of marketing $$$ on the M45 (to a lesser degree with the RL) and there have been a lot of double gatefold and mini booklet ads (read $$) in the car mags of late - not that that would of course influence these guys of course.....

The other thing is that the mags for years have have been accused of BMW bias and keep protesting their innocence - and what better way to show that they are not "biased" than an apples to oranges test like this......... Utter BS.

(edited to add that the iDrive thing also infuriates me - I've used Audi's MMI and the Acura setup on the RL and they are absolutely no more intuitive than on the 5. But the active steering comment is welcome - at least those f***ers over at C&D have seen the light on that)

katmai

No, I-Drive is not complicated, but BMW need to learn "hard buttons" to some frequently access functions are good for drivers. Remember BMW added the air condition knobs, dials, buttons to the dash board after learning from the 7 series (E65).

A few more buttons and dials would address the criticisms. There should be buttons, dials, short cut keys to cotrol radio functions and navigation functions without using I-Drive mouse.

UUronL

I don't know guys. Car and Driver usually gets bashed as BMW fanboys because the 3 series -always- wins the small comparison. I'm just sad they weren't able to look at one with the R6 - this means we probably won't see any coverage on it for a while from them. It's hardly a fair comparison - the 3.5 liter MB engine, the V8 in the M45, same for the GS430, same for the Audi. The R6 could have held its own with them at least...

Delta

But by adding more buttons, I think it takes away the whole idea of iDrive. The point of iDrive is to keep the dash clean of buttons but replace it with one center knob. If you had all the buttons for radio, NAV, and whatnot then there is no reason for iDrive at all.

daydok

i just got my 5 series today, and it took me all of 2 minutes to learn how to add presets to the radio stations. granted that i'm a propeller head, but my daughter (who is 13), was playing with it while i drove away from the dealearship. no big deal. she got the two selectable function buttons to turn the display off and to select the next audio source programmed in no time.

i think these writers tend to copy each other, and when a comment is cemented, they don't bother REALLY trying it out for themselevs, but rather poke a little bit, then agree that's it's a pain. total hogwash.

it makes me laugh when i read these so-called experts lament about technology...they should embrace change rather than shoot it down.

daydok