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please help!!!!
Hope that helps.
George
Anyway, I've had my 540i for six months now. Absolutely love the car. Hit 120mph with the family on the way back from a trip. It felt like only 40mph until my wife made notice and demand to slow down! hnn.
caused by the plastic components in the dash and other materials inside a car. I, too, decided
to use Vinylex and have not experienced any windshield "filming" and that has been at least three months.
Thanks.
Mike
I have taken it on one trip in the snow - up to Vermont the first weekend in April. I had no problems. Another guy with us has a Mercedes C43 AMG and couldn't get it all the way up the mountain. His car has rear wheel drive, the sport package and extra wide tires, so he had a lot of problems. I had none. I was pleasantly surprised, since I didn't know what to expect.
I may have to go for service because I heard something about a recall on 5-series BMW's made in early 2001.
I believe that if you have the low profile sport tires, you will have a problem in the snow. If you have the regular all weather tires, you should do fine. My daughter's '99 328 with the regular all weather tires and DSC does fine in the snow. If you used winter tires you would have absolutely no problems.
1. Sport suspension on your car; do you have wide, low profile tires?
2. Do you put snow tires on in the winter? If so, what size?
3. And finally, how much snow do you get in a season?
Thanks.
Thanks
Designers are thought to be at work on the next
generation of BMW’s midsize sedan and wagon, but
that’s a couple years down the road. For 2002, Sport
Premium and Convenience option packages are gone,
and an in-dash CD player is newly standard.
The current 525i sedan and wagon come with a
184-hp, 2.5-liter six-cylinder engine, while the 530i
sedan has a 225-hp, 3.0-liter six-cylinder. A 4.4-liter
V-8 powers the 540i sedan and wagon, which was
given a boost this year to 290 hp.
I have seen steering recall on the 3-series, but not 5-series. Also, why do you have to wait until September? I think your dealer is giving you the run-around.
I'd be happy to relate my personal and subjective evaluations, but please remember, that's all they are. To each their own. I am still considering the 5-series for late winter/early spring purchase. I evaluated, but have since ruled out the E-calss sedans. I would still consider an E320 4-Matic Wagon, if and when we decide to replace our family SUV. Here are what I believe to be the pros / cons of the 5-series and E-class, in no particular order.
"Driving enjoyment": All the marketing hype aside, if there is a better handling, more enjoyable mid size sedan to drive than the 5-series, I haven't found it. Test driving a 530i equiped with a manual transmission, sport package and sport seats, I had to look in the rear view mirror to remind myself there really was a back seat. Any car in this price range feels pretty good on a straight highway at 70 mph. The BMW stands out the moment the curves come. Within the 5-series, I found the 530i to have good power and great handling, the 540i to have great power and still great handling, although I could feel the extra engine weight up front. The M5 is a two-ton pleasuredome. I drove one last November and still haven't caught my breath. I absolutely could not believe how well it handled and the acceleration after I was already going 70 in 3rd gear. I believe they could forget to put the 6th gear in the car and very few people would ever find out.
The E-class is, in my opinion, a nicely refined "luxury" ride. Good power in both the E320 and E430, but no match for the BMW in handling precision. Their sport package is all aesthetic and does little or nothing to improve performance.
Size: Mercedes beats BMW in back seat room and comfort. A friend has an E420 and my wife and I don't mind being chauffered in the back seat. On the other hand, I'm solo or two person driving 80%+ of the time and the 5-series seems to fit like a glove. I could almost be tempted by the 3-series, but that's cutting it a little too close. We have two young kids.
Reliability: No difference, as best I can tell from friends, associates and Edmund's Town Hall.
Resale: Again, in percentage terms, Mercedes may have BMW beat. The 3-series is BMW's resale value king. But, based upon my analysis, if you plan on keeping the car for 5+ years, the difference becomes less significant.
Deal availability: Who doesn't want a good deal? With planning and patience, one can get a 5-series through (discounted) European Delivery for at or below US invoice. Prior to this year, forget much dealing on the E-class. Now that it's about to be replaced (2003 model), I have heard of some good deals. I am still figuring I can get a very well equiped 530i sport for about $42k, plus tax and tags. Around DC, you could almost pay that for a C320.
Conclusion: The 530i is the front runner for me at this point, but the finish line is still 4-6 months away. I'm on the list for a C32 and M3, but they are fading as I think more practically. Why not the 540i 6-speed? Who knows, I'll probably test drive it again when the 2002's arrive. But if I can justify $10-$12k more for the 540i, why not add another $18k on top of that for the M5 and get the ultimate sedan. It might be easier to "just say no" than start sliding down that slippery slope.
Odd Caveat: I really liked the E300 turbodiesel. It accelerated reasonably well, got great gas milage, lasted forever with minimal maintenance and had it's own cult like uniqueness. If you ever wanted to justify spending $45k as a "frugal" investment, this was the car. I'm almost glad I don't have that choice anymore. I might have felt guilty about getting anything else.
Good luck in your shopping.
Talk about ruining my weekend.....
chesdin2 - Would love to hear from you if you know what happened in Kenosha.
It's not magic. You can do it, and you'll amaze yourself.
Thanks,
Vince
This is with 65% city / 35% hwy driving, with manual transmission and Sports Package
Also, in Northern Calif
George
Pricing: I have been calling BMWNA but each time they tell me "definitely by next week" they will have the prices. The fact is BMWNA is totally useless source of info. But it has to be prior to the first week of production in Sept.
I decided to go with the 2002 - only have to wait a couple more months to get a later model.
Shaker- Sorry to hear about the scratch, if its deep enough, I would have a body shop inspect. You may consider a paint touch-up. The last thing you want is that scratch to turn into a rust spot.