BMW 5-Series Sedans

jim53 · February 2005

I thought the 545 had Rear parking assist (at least I think it does in the US).

cmnott · February 2005

Personally I would stay away from first year models , but the BMW seems to be the better value. A car that is 14K more should cost $300.00 a month, but BMW has better residual and possible lease rate to make the differnce quite small. You could probably get a 530i for same money.

argelius · February 2005

I've gotten conflicting reports from two dealers. Will the 530xi be available in May or next fall?

jim53 · February 2005

I'm kind of in the same boat. I was going to look at the 545, E500 and RL. I only drove the 545 so far (and my current and last car were BMWs). I priced out an approximate lease on each using the respective captive finance company's residual and money factor and assuming I got each for 2K under sticker. The RL had a sticker that was 11,500 less than the 545 but the lease payment was almost $90 more a month. The sticker on the E500 was about the same as the 545 but the monthly lease payment would be about $155 more a month. The current BMW residual and MF are so aggressive that they make it difficult to justify leasing anything else that is comparable (assuming you like the cars about the same).

cmnott · February 2005

Well you are exactly right. The RL right now is a sucker's car. I can maybe see someone going with the RL over a 530i (personally i wouldn't) but a 545? That is a joke. You must really love the Rl to go with it over a 545 that is cheaper.

I am surprised that that the E500 is so much more, though...

jim53 · February 2005

I think the only reason you would choose the RL over the 545 is if you are buying the car and plan to keep for a long time. It Does cost more than 11K less. As for the E500, the Money factor is 2.5X as high and the residual is lower. Again, if you plan to buy, they are a push on price but not so if leasing.

reefbreak · February 2005

Quickly, props to some of the resident experts who kindly share their expertise and knowledge. The information is much appreciated.

Am looking hard at the 530i, and the iDrive issue comes up in this forum, in the road tests, etc. I can understand why using something new may seem initially difficult (stupid, laborious, etc.), but doesn't the process get easier with practice... and over time?

Would be nice to hear from some actual owners who have spent time with the system.

mark ii · February 2005

I've had my 530i for just over 100 days now. I used the iDrive to customize the vehicle settings - spent a half-day on it. After I did that, I hardly ever got back to it again - didn't find the need to! But I'd like to add that I haven't used yet the trip computation features of iDrive. With no long trips, I haven't found any need to study these trip features yet - but I suspect they would be as straight-forward.

cassidym · February 2005

I've got a 2005 545 Six-speed and have driven it now for 3 1/2 months. Yes iDrive is counter intuitive and a bit annoying at first. But, once you make most the settings you don't need to redo them. And the ones you do use a lot can often be replicated with one of the steering wheel switches.

After a few weeks, I realized I didn't even notice the iDrive and am glad that wasn't a factor in my decision whether or not to buy this car.

cassidym · February 2005

Hi gabman, I had similar concerns to your's regarding rear wheel drive vs AWD. Although I live in Northern Virginia which barely gets a fraction of the snow and ice Canadians have to cope with, I had an 86 325 which was a disaster in the snow. This because it was very light in the rear end and had neither traction assist nor DSC.

In the end, I took the advice of the very helpful members of this friendly forum and bought a 2005 545 six-speed with performance tires. As soon as I got it (Nov 04), ordered a set a snow tires and wheels from Tire Rack and promptly mounted them. Since then, we've had a few snow storms that have given us sufficient accumulation to make driving tricky and which would certainly have made my old 86 slip and slide. Am pleased to report that the 545 with snows was very well behaved. Traction assist and DSC work great.

In fact, I took the car into an empty parking lot with about three inches of snow on the ground and tried to get it to skid or break out and the damn thing just went right where I pointed it.

So, at least for Northern Virginia, the 545 seems like an excellent choice.

Let us know what you do.

BTW, check on the parking assist. If it is available, I've found it very useful on my car.

gabman · February 2005

Thanks for the reply, I already negotiated a set of winter tires into the lease, couldn't get them to throw in wheels so will have to decide if I want to use same wheels or get new ones. In as much as I lease really does not bother me to use same wheels unless of course I will have tire problems.

One question about run flat all seasons that come with the car. I have been reading some negative comments about these tires, do you have them and should I be concerned?

Fully agree with you about parking assist, tried it out on the Infiniti M35X and it worked very well. I am torn over the two cars. The 545i by far is a superior drive over the M35 not to mention it is 8 Cyl instead of 6. I am stuck over all the options that I have to give up that are on the Infiniti. The 545i is a stock car and really does not have any options in it.

Am leaning towards the BMW and will have to decide today.

Thanks again for your input.

shipo · February 2005

"In as much as I lease really does not bother me to use same wheels unless of course I will have tire problems."

It's not the potential for problems that should be your concern, it's the cost. I live in New Hampshire and made the decision to buy a set for my leased 530i after looking at the cost (in both time and money) of swapping tires on a single set of wheels twice a year (and the requisite rebalance). With just the dollar cost alone I was able to justify the new wheels over the course of the lease, factor in the extra time (especially since I can swap my own wheels in about 30 minutes) and the difference in true cost is so large that I was able to justify the second set of wheels in just the first year.

Needless to say, my vote is for you to get a set of cheepie wheels (TireRack has a set of 17 x 7.5 ASA JH3 wheels for $516 USD plus shipping and taxes) for your car.

Best Regards,

Shipo

khoon · February 2005

I am awaiting one as well. Just got off the phone with a NYC dealer who mentioned that they're gearing up to take orders on the 530Xis within the next 10-14 days - but they yet don't have pricing on the car.

They expect incremental price in the range of $2,000 - $2,500 for the AWD, and availability is expected around May - June '05.

Anyone have any updates on this?

djselzer · February 2005

Does anyone know if the 545 will receive the same engine 4.8 liter V8 update that the 745 is scheduled to receive?

sdg380 · February 2005

According to prevailing opinions on www.e60.net, the new 550 will be available as an '06 model in Sept./Oct. I might have to consider 360 hp.

shipo · February 2005

As if I hadn't already been happy with the fact that I purchased a set of winter wheels and tires for my leased 530i, I've just come up with an even greater cost justification.

As my car has just over a month left on its lease, I had it inspected today in preparation for its return to BMW. The inspector tested my summer set of tires and found them to all have more tread depth than the minimum (min=4mm, I had one at 5mm, one at 6mm and two at 7mm), and as such, I won't be charged the $200 per tire (according to the inspector) replacement charge from BMW (I'd be surprised that they'd be that cheap from BMW as they are $191 per tire from TireRack.com plus about $30 per tire for mounting and balancing) at lease turn in. Hmmm, $800 for a new set of summer tires that I didn't have to buy vs. $1,007 for my winter wheel/tire set (including shipping). As if that isn't good enough, my winter tires easily have four or five serviceable seasons of tread on them (they still look new), so I should easily be able to sell them next fall to any E39 540i or 530i driver looking for a deal on a winter set.

Best Regards,

Shipo

nyccarguy · February 2005

do you know if they'll fit the offset on a non-sp equipped E60?

shipo · February 2005

Hmmm, offhand, I would say probably not. Then again, I just looked around on the internet and found that both the E39 and the E60 could/can be had with 16 x 7 wheels with an offset of "ET 20", which is what my wheels are. Hmmm, maybe they will fit. Then again (again), I just called TireRack.com and asked them and the official word is "They are not guaranteed to fit, but they might."

So, it's a definite "Maybe". ;-)

Best Regards,

Shipo

jim53 · February 2005

how does 2,740 off MSRP sound for a 2005 545?

andys120 · February 2005

My Blizzaks proved their worth in last weeks snowstorm/blizzard when I arrived at the bottom of the steep hill I must climb to get to my house.
It was covered with 3-4 inches of fresh snow.

I gunned it and just fed in enough gas to maintain headway as I climbed the steep grade.
My 528iA basically mastered the hill without any indication of the tricky footing underneath other than the traction control light flickering on
for the entire length of the climb.

Piece 'o cake, thank you Bridgestone, Bosch and BMW.

jim53 · February 2005

Any opinion on the deal in post 9912?

sdg380 · February 2005

Jim, I've heard that as a general rule of thumb, a fair price for a new car is 4-6% over invoice. So depending on how well-equipped the car is that you're considering, that reduction off the MSRP may be fair.

If possible, a few hours checking a couple of other dealers for the same car should give you an idea of what the traffic will bear.

Kirstie_H · February 2005

A newspaper reporter wants to talk with current and former BMW owners who either love or hate the brand's new styling. Please respond to jfallon@edmunds.com by Friday, February 25, 2005 with your daytime contact info and a few words expressing your opinion.

stoley · February 2005

Has anybody experienced the clear coat protection that BMW offers in their 5 series accessorty catalog? It looks like Seran Wrap - but it looks strong like it would protect against rocks, etc. My local dealer doesn't sell it...but maybe I can find another that does???

juniorbmw · February 2005

Okay, now I have a real dumb question, but I have to ask it:

On the 05 530i, the manual states that pressing the radio button (the little black knob that sticks out) will turn the radio off.

However, when I press this button, a little icon which looks like a speaker with a slash through appears and then I no longer hear any audio. however, the radio isnt turned off, it is merely muted. the reason I know this is because when Im playing a CD and I hit that button, the music is muted, giving the appearance that the system is off, and the system keeps going through the tracks of the CD.

Does anybody know how to turn off the radio/audio system?

Thanks

bartalk3 · February 2005

The iDrive is so complicated we can't even tell how to turn off the radio!! This is progress? Oh, for the good old days when everything was controlled by a button! If it ain't broke, don't fix it. My motto: new is worse.

This is ridiculous. BMW is suffering because of this. Customers are fleeing. No wonder they're making iDrive optional on the coming 3.

eastoncarguy · February 2005

Actually I would appreciate insight on this one too. I have not found a way to actually turn it off either in my '05 530. If you use the knob it turns back on when you restart the car which is annoying if you are on the phone and it comes blaring through.

Don't get me wrong other than that one minor annoyance I really don't think I-drive is that big of deal. I don't even have to look down to use it anymore.

jlbl · February 2005

All I can say is in my car (2004 5 Series) the i-Drive does not function like in yoursor yes?

When I press the radio button while the CD is playing, the CD comes to a stop. Then the screen freezes showing the track number and the time that track has been played. But the CD player is actually stopped, not only muted. There is no advance either in the clock or from the track to the next one; in addition, there is no noise of anything running inside.

Then, if I switch off the whole car by taking out the ignition key (leaving the CD in the player), and then I start the car again, the screen comes in and shows the track number and the time as before. But the CD is not played unless you press once more the radio button to start it. If you press the eject button at any time during this process, the CD is ejected and the screen is reset.

I believe this is the way i-Drive is designed to keep apart the stop-and-eject function (you must press eventually the eject button) from the temporal stop function. This is like any CD player with the reassume function switched on.

IMO, it is the instruction manual which is very poorly written in a very "solid" German way in the 2004-5 BMW 5 Series, at least in its Spanish version. (Things can be always be worst, you may laugh in despair reading instructions manuals translated from Japanese into Spanish; I can imagine the same happens in translations from Spanish into other languages). I find that the i-Drive is (almost) a piece of cake when adequately explained.

Jose

ssingh · February 2005

Thanks. I Just Leased a 525i with Xenon and auto tran base price 44070 got it on a lease for 41000. I had 1700.00 negative equity on my trade..just wanted to know if I got a good deal..
3k down 602.00 a month for 36 months and 10k miles a year.

ksccts · February 2005

Too late now. Enjoy your car and don't worry about your deal.

rich545 · February 2005

If everyone thought that way we'd still be running around in Fred Flintstone stoneage mobiles. If so many customers are fleeing why did BMW just have it's best month sales-wise ever? Sales for 2004 were also higher than for the year before. It's fine if you don't like iDrive or technological advances in general, but to say "new is worse" certainly wouldn't get you hired by many companies in the world. Companies must continue to grow and come up with new ideas that keep them on the cutting edge or else they die. Clearly, BMW is not going to die just because a few vocal loyalists to the old designs can't handle change.

accordfreak · February 2005

Anyone know if the new wagons have an option of a 3rd row seat ala volvo V70? Not looking to carry adults, but the occasional extra two kids in a pinch. Also, I stopped at a dealer yesterday and he said no pricing info yet, but he's expecting his first wagon in May. This was in Central NJ.

shaymasdaddy · February 2005

After a grueling couple of months desiding whether to lease a '05 325i or wait to find the ideal 525i, the wait is now over.....today I picked up my titanium silver BMW certified '01 525i with 51,800 miles for $26K plus TT&L with the follow options:

Premium Pkg
Gray Leather
Premium Sound (DSP)
Power Rear Shade
17in wheels (just like the sport pkg)
CD Changer

Needless to say, the car is awesome!!! Coming from an Acura Integra, I feel like I do have the Ultimate Driving Machine....yeah, my feelings are very subjective right about now

Now, I have nothing against Japanese cars, but there is some german engineering that the Japanese cannot copy/reproduce no matter how hard they try. For example, I drove both the '06 M35 and '06 GS300 on President's Day last Monday. They are fine cars and have the gadgets to keep the techies happy but they still don't match the driving experience I have had these past 24 hours in my 525i. As we have heard before and I will co-sign today that the BMW 5 series sedan is the best sport sedan...PERIOD!!!

cassidym · February 2005

Can't argue with you shayamsdaddy. I bought a 2005 545 Six-speed (NAV, SAT Radio, PDC, HUD, CWP) last October and just took it on its first long trip. I knew I was getting a good car but I didn't know it was THAT good. This is the smoothest, best performing, most responsive automobile I have ever driven or even been in. It flowed through the freeeways around New York City like silk through the fingers of a beautiful woman. I came up the parking lot laughingly known as the New Jersey Turnpike like I was flying (Well, until the NJ State Police forced me down and back to reality...No ticket though; just a warning for bad metaphors)

You want great engineering, excellent ergonomics and useful cup holders, get a Lexus. You want the best driving car on the planet get a 5er.

hpowders · February 2005

I have had 2 BMW 3 series since 1993 and the driving experience has been incomparable. Only one problem in 12 years-right front passenger airbag opened for no reason in 2002.
Would like to move up to a 2005 530 or 545 this August.
Have you had any mechanical issues with your 545?
How does it perform in typical slow-moving every day traffic situations? I believe Edmunds said something negative about this vehicle's control in slower situations.
Thanks for your input.
hpowders

big_jim · February 2005

Ahhh the agony. After months of research & test driving, I think the 530i is the winner. But then I hear that the 2006 with larger HP engine is soon to be available. I can probably get a decent discount today on a 2005, or wait for the 2006 and pick it up in Germany in May. Since pricing and options are not announced, this is a tough decision. Being a first time luxury sedan buyer, can anyone make this decision easier for me?

shipo · February 2005

He he. That's an easy one. Do the ED thing and pick it up in Germany in May. Not only will you save considerable amounts of money (even compared with a "good deal on a 2005"), but you will get to drive one of the greatest driving machines in the world in its native environment.

I did the ED thing on my 530i and I can tell you first hand, "It Rocks!" Oddly enough, we just had a little thread creap over at BMW 3-Series Owners: Problems & Solutions, if you want to give it a look. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

big_jim · February 2005

I am leaning towards ED (my wife is too, of course), but it just seems odd after having driven the 2005. To make a decision sight unseen on a 2006 is proving hard for the ex anal accountant that I am. Obviously I will be thrilled with either, as I am currently driving something made in South Korea....

shipo · February 2005

Hmmm, well, here are a couple of points for your brain:

1) You will probably save an easy $3,500 (less airfare) on the ED 2006 vs. a good deal on a domestically sourced 2005.
2) The difference between the two model years is primarily the engine, which produces an extra 30 HP in the newer car, while achieving greater fuel efficiency at the same time.
3) A vacation in Europe in a 5er is something that cannot be valued very easily. For Mrs. Shipo and me, it was priceless. ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

cassidym · February 2005

Hi hpowders. Absolutely no problems yet with the 545. I have 7K miles on it and commute 50 miles a day round-trip, about half of which is stop-and-go with the rest at freeway speed. I've experienced no problems (apart from low morale) at slow speeds. The car is obviously designed to cruise at 80 (ooops, er, officer, I mean 65) but seems to do fine at lower speeds.

My last car was an 86 325eS which I bought new and picked up in Munich (as I did my current one). Loved that car and felt a little heart tug when I sold it but quickly forgot that as soon as I started dring the 545.

hpowders · February 2005

Yeah cassidym. I know what you mean. It's going to be tough to give up my 2002 325i in August. But the timing happens to be great. New 3 series with bigger engines. New 5 series engines.
I really do want to move up to the 5. 530 or 545. Was even thinking X5 4.4 but wouldn't really have that "ultimate driving machine" handling I got used to.
Regards and thanks,
hpowders

cassidym · February 2005

hpowders, I was going to be conservative and get a 530. Afterall, I am a responsible citizen who always drives the proper speed (pay attention NJ State Police) so I wouldn't need the 545. So I took a 530 out for a long test drive and, to my astonishment, my wife, when I asked her what she thought said, "This is a great car; it's just not fast enough". She was right. This car needs the speed of the 325 engine. Now that i have it, I'm really pleased with my decision.

Consider European Delivery. I've done that twice now and have been very pleased with the process. And on the 545, I saved $5K.

hpowders · February 2005

Well cassidym-just blew my cash on 2 weeks in Hawaii so ED is out for now.
Since my 325 lease is up in August, I should be able to drive the upgraded 530 before then. I want to be able to compare it to the 545. The 530 should be a major improvement. I'm pretty sure the new 330 will be a dazzler with its improved power and new options.
Yeah, August should be a great time to shop for a new BMW!

argelius · February 2005

Does anyone care to comment on their experiences (positive and negative) with either Perillo and /or Fields BMW dealers in Chicago, from both a buying perspective as well as service post-sale?

Assuming I could get equivalent deals (on a 2006 530xi)m which dealer would you recommend?

Thanks !

ewoq · February 2005

Here is a review of the 530xi

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/ly/06_530xi.htm

rich545 · March 2005

Here's a good comparison of the new M5 and Merc E55 AMG:

http://motortrend.com/roadtests/luxury/112_0412_bmw_mb/index.html

rcf8000 · March 2005

I have read in a couple of places, but not in bmwusa.com, that you can't get both nav and satellite radio in a 5 series. True?

rich545 · March 2005

That was only on 2004 models. You can have both on 2005 models.

big_jim · March 2005

Looks like the bmwusa public site now has 2006 pricing and engine specs. As everyone predicted, it appears that only changes are the engines and standard xenon headlights...

Time to go negotiate for my 2006 530i !!!

kyfdx · March 2005

Looks like a $500 increase on the 525i..

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