Ew same here... It was ugly. I drove the Merc and the Audi A6 at the ultimate drive and first hand can say the A6 is no where near as good as the 5. The interior looks like a KIA's.
Really? When we test drove the A6 before getting our 535i, my wife and both felt that the A6 schooled the E60 in interior design and quality, something that I've also read in all the magazine reviews. In the end we liked the dynamics and performance of the 535i better (why we got it) but the A6 was a close second. I've only seen the new 5 in the showroom and it looked pretty nice inside, definitely nicer than the E60 so I would have to look at a 2011 A6 to make a fair comparison. I love BMWs (we have had over 11 in the past 26 years) but I have to admit that interior quality is not their strongest point. Just today I rode in a friend's 2002 A6 with well over 180K miles and the interior of her car still looks good and is as tight as a drum, not a rattle or squeak anywhere, I was pretty impressed.
Ed, I have a 2001 S4 with 155k miles on it now, and it has held up very well as you describe. Interior is tight, quiet, no squeaks, etc. Compare that to my E39 with its squeaky door seals (common problem, tried all the "cures", just need to replace them now at 55k miles but they've squeaked/creaked off and on since 20k miles). The major thing C&D punted about the new F10 5-series is the steering. They said something to the effect that BMW had really screwed up steering feel with the new electronic power steering. They likened the whole car as heading down the luxury path as opposed to what BMW's have traditionally been know for, so they were very disappointed.
I dropped C&D two years ago in favor of R&T. I tired of the smartass 'answers', the kiddie editorials and the number of factual errors in each issue. For members out there who are dismayed with HPFP (or other) BMW problems, I have two buddies who would gladly trade their A6's (and probably some money) just to get out of their constant relations with their Audi service managers >). IMHO, Audi makes a gorgeous interior and a fine AWD system. FWIW, I get kind of tired of hearing that old refrain about how the last 'good' BMW was made in the 1970's. Times change, and the marketplace speaks. Don
That's a shame. I haven't driven the new F10 but the steering feel (non-active steering) on my wife's sport package equipped E60 feels pretty good. It's nicely weighted and provides really good feedback. I actually like the feel better than my mom's 335i, which feels a little too light for my taste. I guess, like Don said, the marketplace speaks and the times when BMWs were owned mostly by nutty enthusiasts are over. BMW is another luxury brand no different than Mercedes Benz. Gadgets, gadgets, gadgets!! That's what sells.
Don, I think the last good BMW was made in 2003 for the 5-series, the E39 M5. In all seriousness though, it is a strange predicament BMW finds itself in with the new 5-series. It was designed during the largest credit boom in the history of the world, when the next generation car needed to be bigger, heavier, faster, more features, etc, etc. So much so that the new F10 has a longer wheelbase than the 735iL/750iL E32s did, and it is a bit wider than those 7-series cars too. It has gained a few hundred pounds over the E60 also. I don't know...seems a bit like the wrong formula for looking out into the future from here, but it is what it is.
Not biased or anything Speaking of 4 door BMW's I'd have to agree E39 M5 is king. Reading through the mag, I can't believe they placed it where they did. Every other mag I have read (mostly euro - EVO, CAR, etc) have loved the new 5.
Hello to All, This is my first post and my first BMW. (2011 550i w/sport pkg) If I'm not mistaken, C&D was testing the 535 so my comments may be a bit off base. I love my 550. I was blown away with the way the car performs in all conditions. After 2 days of test driving 6 or 7, 5 series cars ( 535 Touring Wagons, 535 Gran Tourismos, X6s). It was when I drove the redesigned 2011 550i that it was the car that really woke me up and made me pay attention. IMHO it is an "Ultimate Driving Machine. With a normal and 2 sport modes to choose from, it gives the driver some variety to the driving experience. An avid M car owner (M3 & M5) I know, was impressed with the new 5 and it took me a couple hours to detail the car after he drooled all over it. HA HA! As I said, I know it's not the 535 but it's still a 5 and I do want folks to go out and see for themselves prior to casting judgment on the new BMW.
M y mind is going soft. . . What did we have for the Roundel story, 535i or 550i? Whichever, the steering seemed fine to me---probably Active Steering, but not with the Seven's rear-wheel addition---and we were hauling the poor thing around a race track at a pretty good clip. (You know the drill: Somebody else's car is worth at least five seconds a lap.) I can tell you that if I'd pulled the same lame-assed crossed-up sideways maneuvers in an Infinitive or a Howdy, I'd've rolled the damn thing.
I gave up reading R &T, C/D, and Automobile when I discovered BMW for myself I got tired of the incessant fawning over Pacific Rim automobiles at the expense of German cars, although I was pretty turned off by C/D ruining their review of the F10 5-series by their choice of the Audi as the preferred choice in this month's midsized roundup.
