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Colt.
Colt.
About driving roads in general, I've found over the years a high correlation between "good driving roads" and scenic highways/byways. Most good state atlases list such roads.
For a good online guide, the Weather Channel of all places has some well-researched suggestions. Click here for the driving homepage (you can search by state). Have fun.
The thrill is driving the Autobahn at over 200 clicks passing cars going 100 clicks. That's thrilling. Unfortunately the Germans have fewer and shorter unlimited speed areas. You see a infinity sign and just as you get a full head of steam you see a 120 click sign.
Interestingly, I go to Europe quite often and while you see police cars, I have never seen anyone pulled over.
Driving a Bimmer or a Benz in North America is sort of a waste. Every Cadillac driver thinks he's your equal. In Germany there is definitely a pecking order. Big Bimmers and Benzs, Porches maybe a few Audis, they're in the left lane and they stay there. Everyone else is in the peasants' right lane with the trucks.
For those of you who go to Europe and buy or rent a powerful car, get up early on Sunday morning and drive on the autobahn. It's better than sex. The truckers seem to work six days a week, but rest on Sunday morning. So the roads are blessedly empty and you can go like mad without the fear of who know what is on your right.
Beware of one other thing. Gas is very expensive and powerful cars use lots of it when you drive fast. It cost about $70 to go about 250 miles between Frankfurt and Munich. But hey, it's worth it. And it only takes about two hours to cover that distance. On Sunday morning that is.
If the economy pick up again next year, I will trade in my 530i for a twin turbo I-6 535 or a 545. It is good to dream for now
Hnn
Mostly major enjoyment, but there is one driveability problem (actually a combination of two flaws) that takes the edge off. Early on, there was a problem with slippage/hesitation in the Step. Throttle response was slow, even for an automatic. The dealer fixed it, but it seems to be coming back. Also, the accelerator is sticky -- it does not move smoothly through its inital range of travel, but moves instead in a series of resistance/release steps. The problem is getting worse in the warm weather. BMW apparently has acknowledged the problem but is not yet retrofitting cars with the fix. The combination makes it hard to drive the car smoothly. The lack of refinement is totally out of character with the rest of the car. On the plus side, the Step's "sport" mode does provide noticeably aggressive shift points for a slushbox.
Other observations:
- It's hard to believe that anyone could have nailed the ride/handling mix of the sport package more perfectly. Same with the steering. If the Pilot Primacies are anything less than great, I haven't noticed it.
- I must really have a tin ear, because I find the sound of the stereo to be fine, and I have the base system! Reception on all but the strongest FM stations is spotty, though, and forget AM.
- I have never been able to get completely comfortable in the standard driver's seat, which is a surprise. I think it may be due to the thin and relatively hard padding. That makes the seat supportive, but also creates a couple of pressure points on my left thigh. One is where my leg angles over the bolster when my foot rests on the dead pedal.
- I recently noticed that I must be abrading the weather seal on the rear of the door jamb when entering the car, to the point where it is worn through in one spot. Does anyone else have this problem?
- Climate control: Quirky, but no big issue.
- Cup holders: I do use them occasionally, but not often enough to worry much about the design.
I am expecting the driveability problems to be fixed, so the next 90,000 miles can be an unqualified joy.
DL
While I’m not sure I would necessarily know the answer, please help me understand your situation a little better, so that maybe I can take a stab at it.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Best Regards,
Shipo
P.S.
I wouldn't complain too much if I got the Dunlops either, it's only the Continentals that I would not want.
Anyone know the system? Sounds like you either order from their "incoming shipments that are still in a status where they can change some features",,,or you order from scratch? How long does all this normally take? And when are 03's expected and ordered?
shipo, with all due respect, it's not like you to throw a comment w/o explanation. Why would you not want the Continentals? What did I miss?
Colt.
I have been contributing here on Edmunds TownHall off and on for almost 4 years, and I have read literally tens of thousands of posts on just the BMW discussions alone, not to mention the other topics that I occasionally track. In that time, I have seen more complaints regarding Continental tires for things like being out of round, noise, lack of traction and lack of tread life than either the Michelin, Dunlop or even Goodyear tires that are also routinely mounted on BMWs from the factory. The only good things I have heard are that they are priced fairly well, and apparently they have extra rubber or something on the sidewall that serves as an extra buffer to protect your rims if you get too close to a curb or other obstruction that could cause cosmetic damage.
Is my evidence concrete? No, it is base upon anecdotal stories and hearsay only. That said, I am an analyst by profession, and one thing I notice are patterns and trends, and what I have noticed over the years regarding Continental tires leads me to prefer other brands. If one was to ask me my opinion, based upon nothing other than what I have read from the folks who have contributed here (and on the Michelins that I have had on both of my BMWs) on which tires I would prefer on my car, I would rank them like this:
1) Michelin
2) Dunlop
3) Bridgstone
4) Yokohama
5) Kumho
6) Pirelli
7) Sumitomo
8) BFGoodrich
9) Goodyear
10) Continental
11) Firestone
Hmmm, maybe I should put on my Nomex suit today. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
vic19 - whoa! You're on another level. I may never make it to the Autobahn, but driving at speed like that is something I've always wanted to do. Maybe next time I'm in Vegas I'll rent the big Benz or Bimmer & take a run.
Colt.
Nomex suit? Sorry man, I wasn't trying to flame you!
Colt.
All I can say is that it is a very good thing that I did not post that list over on Bimmer.org, the Nomex may not have been enough. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
The seat looked like it cost about as much as a new Camry.
Michelin is probably the most consistent in quality, though they make a lot of tires that I wouldn't want on my cars.
Bridgestone owns Firestone (and Dayton, which is Firestone's second-line brand.) The top-line Firestones and Daytons are actually Bridgestones made in Japanese plants.
BFGoodrich is owned by Michelin, though my last experience with BFGs was five years ago, and as of that point they still weren't building round tires.
Dunlop has been part of Sumitomo, and is now part of Goodyear. Goodyear's stated intent was that Dunlop should become their second-line tire, unfortunate in that Dunlops so far have IMO been mostly better than the comparable Goodyears.
Right now we've got Bridgestones on the Bimmers, S-03s on the M5 and S-02s on the 540i. The S-03s are nice, the S-02s very grippy but a little less civilized. I made a mistake and put a pair of RE730s on the Saab 9000, they sing like Pavarotti with someone going at his backside with a rat-tail file. That car really prefers PZeros, and if you can put up with the asymmetric tread (I'd never use them on a staggered-fit car) and limited life they do work very well, the asymmetric tread pattern helps a lot with the poor camber curve of Macstruts.
For anything but the absolute top-of-the-sticky-heap I tend to like Dunlops, though this may change if Goodyear cheapens the line.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Does this make any sense?
Best Regards,
Shipo
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The new i-drive is too distracting. You are after all supposed to pay attention to the road while driving instead of doing all these command and menu searching. BMW thinks it is too early to say whether the car design is a sucess. I say it has pushed the envelope too far.
Early lease residue value is putting it lower than outgoing model, and lower than 2 year old design MB S-class. In my opinion, MB is laughing all the way to the bank with new 7 series design. The sick part is that the new 5 series is following the 7 series design. I have seen it AND it is ugly. 97-02 5 series are the ones to have.
The new MB E-class will steal sales from new 5 series. There is no doubt in my mind that it will happen.
BMW is doing great in small and medium cars but it needs something dramatic in the senior series to distinguish itself. At least give BMW credit for taking a chance. MB is a great car, but certainly not inovators in design.
Can anyone give me personal (not anecdotal) comparison to any of the available choices vs. any Good Year tire(i know the F-1's are not even in the equation).
TIA,
metmdx
Many BMWs are raced in one fashion or another, and the racers are highly inclined to use anything that will help their times. I have never heard of or seen anyone using Goodyear tires on a BMW during any such race.
Are Goodyear tires bad? I am sure they are not. Are they as good, dollar for dollar as Michelin? IMHO, no.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Oh you may be saying, what an idiot for allowing himself to be put into such a position, right? When I started off the 15 mile, time constrained trip, the computer stated I had 37 miles left. No problem, right! It went from 37 to --- faster than I could ever imagine.
Live and learn to keep it> 1/4 tank.
The Firestone SZ50 is made by Bridgestone in Japan, it's a good tire, probably the only Firestone-branded tire I'd buy. Only complaint I've ever heard of it is slightly short life.
235/45-17s I've owned (I don't buy all-season tires, I live in California and have relatives with Land Cruisers for any snow trips):
Bridgestone S-02PP: super sticky, great steering response, good ride but a little noisy, short life.
Bridgestone RE71: the best tire of its generation, still very grippy but a little uncivilized by present standards.
Dunlop SP2000E: a good daily-driver tire, not the stickiest but good steering response, civilized, long life.
Dunlop SP8000: great all-rounders, better IMO than the SP9000.
Sumitomo HTR Z: ~4yr ago, similar to the old Dunlop D40M2 that was OEM on the original M5, maybe a great tire by 1988 standards but by any later yardstick a hard, gripless rock.
TIA,
metmdx
I agree with shipo's observation regarding the advantages of using tire wheel combinations that are generally consistent with the development engineers' design intent and the nature of the vehicle. Tire / suspension design reflects a number of compromises, and the tire types fitted as OE oftentimes provide a balanced means to achieve the suspension engineer's performance targets.
Taller / high center of gravity sedans with fairly soft spring rates and roll-bar rates generally work better with higher-profile tires that accomodate both the amount of body roll that occurs during higher rates of lateral acceleration as well as the jounce-induced camber changes that the suspension type and geometry might provide. Accordingly, high center of gravity sedans that have the inexpensive mcpherson strut front suspension (thus not having an material camber change to somewhat offset body roll during jounce) are more likely to lift the inside edges of a low profile tire during periods of very high lateral acceleration as compared to using a taller high profile tire. Cars like the Camry and the 5 series are good examples.
On the other hand, there are ways to mask some of the geometry disadvantages of some mcpherson strut equipped cars. The active roll bars used on the new 7 series or the clever magneto-rheological struts used on the new STS sedans are both effective means to reduce lateral acceleration induced body roll, thus permiting the more successful application of low profile tires for those vehicles.
As for my ancedotal experiences:
I've had multiple problems with lateral tread run out and belt delamination with various Bridgstone products. I've had generally good luck with Michelin's high profile tires in sedan applications, but have had tread seperation problems with their lower profile speed rated tires on sports car applications when driving at high rates of speed in very hot weather. The warranty paid for the tires, but didn't reduce the great "fun" of seeing 2/3 of the tread peel away from a front tire at 200 km/hr !
For very heavy duty SUV's (C-K 2500 or Surburbans) used for very high load / high temperature towing, the high-end goodyears, inflated in the 60 - 75 lbs range ( 5 lbs below their load limit recommended inflation level), and Michelin tires have provided excellent results.
On an older 5 series, I've prefered the balanced behaviour of higher profile 65 series tires. that tall sedan's large amounts of body roll caused the low profile tires to transition from 6 inches of tread on the road to a couple of inches (it would seem from inside) when cornering near the limit of adhesion. The surprise transition from 6 to 2 inches of tread was always exciting: whoa, it's understeer city ! I liked the predicable breakaway of the taller tires, in that application.
I've been pleased with the overall behaviour of some OEM Goodyear RSAs on my wife's softly-sprung sedan (nice balance of wet/dry traction, NVH, 'nibble' resistance, etc,) , but have found the tire wear rates to be greater than expected. I anticipate having to replace the RSAs at around 35k to 40k miles.
Lastly, I achieved 70,000 miles on a set of OEM Goodyear GSCs on a C4 Y-body, in spite of regular use of that car's 300 hp on the transition ramps around my area and daily stop/go surface street driving. Extraordinary. The double-a arm front suspension / multi-link rear suspension, combined with aggressive spring and roll bar rates enable that car to fully take advantage of the tire's very low profile. Through trial and careful observation, I settled on keeping the GSCs @ 40 lbs, with the tread depth checked monthly to confirm proper wear patterns. The GSCs have been recently replaced with Goodyear F1s, so far to good effect.
$40,070 for domestic delivery
$37,400 for European delivery
FWIW, while those prices are not impossible to negotiate, it should be easier to negotiate the European delivery price than the domestic one.
Best Regards,
Shipo
The comfort seats, on the other hand, have somewhat less side-bolstering, but offer adjustable lumbar support (I find the sport seats' lumbar adjustment perfect to begin with) and an "articulating shoulder" support, which basically means you can adjust the angle of the upper half of the back of the seat independently.
My suggestion is to go test them both out at your dealer and decide for yourself whether the comforts are worth the added expense.
Any input would be appreciated. I really need to wear a belt most times in the cars to keep my pants up and I'm not willing to shove towels, etc back there to prevent. Thanks.
Also, does anyone remember the name of the clear strips that can be applied to the leading edges of the hood to protect from chips and other road debris?
My ED 530i, 5-sp, Toledo, Sand, PP, CWP, DSP will be in the port in 10 days and I want to be prepared.
-Patelli
-Patelli
Given that you live in SoCal (hence, no need for All-Seasons), the stickiest tires available for your car would be the Michelin Pilot Sport tires, which other than their high price ($189 per tire) have great reviews.
Next in line would be the Michelin Pilot Primacy (which I have on my 530i SP, and find to be a delightful tire), this tire is a little less expensive at $183, and has a little more life expectancy (Treadwear of 240 vs. 220).
As for the bottom end of the scale that I would be inclined to use on a 530i, Michelin makes the Pilot HX MXM4, comes in Zero Pressure VR/VR/HR ratings, priced $197/$170/$115. This tire will also have the longest life of the above tires with a treadwear rating of 300, although, probably hot quite as much grip.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I have been thrilled with your discussions this is a great site. I am in a big dilemma so please help me.
I am planning to purchase a BMW in Sep. as my lease ends and I have been debating between getting an E39 or waiting for the new E60.
I know that this article was discussed on your board before but my situation is a little different I recall "shippo" saying "I am not crazy to be the first one to drive the new BMW in the block" but to me it means alot it is like childhood dream come true.But from the other hand I am a little scared because the bugs of the first year production you reffered to, I am planning to keep the vehicle for at least 6 or 7 years and I do not want to be disappointed with taking it for service alot so can anybody tell me how serious can first year production "BUGS" be. I recall reading about the problems with the elder version of the V8 mounted on 94 & 95 models of the 540i especially in North America but I am hoping that BMW will still use the current 3.0L in which I am planning to get my biggest fear is what I read last week BMW might get a turbot charged 3.0L Oh No!!!
What are other "BUGS".
Thank you,
That said, I was one of the first on my block to drive the (then) new E46 328i, and other than a couple of $1.00 taillight bulbs, the car never had a single bit of problem. Of course, one can contrast my experience with my 12/1998 build E46 with the early 1996 E39 (5-Series) owner’s experiences, which by many accounts were fairly bad.
Just to set the record straight, I am not all that leery of a first year car, I have had several over the years, and they have all been great. My primary reason for getting a new 2002 E39 530i was because I really like the look of the current car, that and the look of the new car seems to be fairly "Butt (as in Bangle Butt) Ugly" and I am not sure that the styling will ever grow on me.
Regarding the "turbot charged 3.0L", ummm, it seems to me that that would attract LOTS of bugs (and maggots and such) if left out in the hot sun for a few hours. ;-) In all seriousness, a "Turbo Charged" 3.0-liter engine sounds wonderful to me, and if, sometime in the future I decide that I can live with the new E60 styling, that's what I will want to drive.
Best Regards,
Shipo
called ScotchCal which is a protective laminate 3mm thick which can be applied to the
leading edges of your car to protect against bugs, stones and other flying debris. It is
supposed to last 3/4 years without yellowing. I have no personal experience with it but I
did read a post by Dave222 a long time back describing his application and at the time
he was very satisfied with it, would be interesting to find out if he is still happy. BMW
applies a material very similar to leading edges of car for approx. $100. Cheers.
http://www.motorhead.net/cgi-bin/viewproduct.exe?1014908&pdetail.htm
I really like all these Wurth products, the cockpit cleaner is great, etc....
anyways thank you for your opinion in which I respect alot.
waiting for more opinions.