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Comments
Mind me asking what Northern VA dealer you are working with and what kind of a deal you are getting? I previously posted the $49k price on a new 2003 540i 6-speed from VOB in Rockville. That's continuing to tempt me.
Any good vendor recommendations? I live in the East bay in the SF bay area. I was told to call Rocky mountain tinting in Livermore.
Does tinitng affect the rear defrost or radio reception?
Thanks.
Guess I'd give the nod to the xenons, since you use them year-round, but if you park outside in the winter, you'd really like having the CWP.
Given your two choices:
A: Prem Pkg, Sport Pkg, Steptronic, Cold Weather Pkg and Electric sunshade.
B: Prem Pkg, Sport Pkg, Steptronic, split fold-down rear seats, Xenon HID headlights, and Premium Sound.
I'd choose B.
But you might estimate how often you'd use these options. Or what percentage of time you'd use them. Winter is only 3-4 months of year. You won't use CWP for 8-9 months of year. Many people listen to radio, tape player, or CD most of time they are driving. Rear sunshade really only valuable from about May-Aug. That leaves rest of year and you can buy a cheap rear window sunshade. Do you drive much at night? If so, Xenons are nice.
In nearly 2 years and 26,000 miles of driving my 540i6, I've rarely driven her at night. And I don't drive her too much during winter, but when I do I do enjoy the heated seats and heated steering wheel. And I have never used my split-fold down rear seats, though I do have another car with same in which I do use this option. (I tend to use it for bulky items that can scratch or mar interior of car like a TV, ladder, yard waste, etc. I wouldn't do that to my 540i6.) But she is a work car.
-Paul
I've been parking my Maxima under trees here in DC hoping there is still enough Isabel left to froce me to get the 540i!! I had virtually ruled out a 540i after driving the 530i a while back, but at $49k and with no 530i manual transmissioned cars left, it's damn tempting.
I really would like to have gotten another CPO 540i6, say a '00 or '01, but there just haven't been any in my geographic area for past 6 months. Closest my local BMW dealer came was a '99 540i6, but it was an early build unit that would go out of CPO coverage in 12/04 and the original 4/50 had expired due to time, not mileage. (My local BMW dealer won't provide loaner cars unless you buy from him and I live 36 miles away. I hated sitting around while having work done.)
So today I traded her in on a brand new 2004 Lexus IS300 manual (with LSD). Built 8/04. I had been looking for an '03 but this one just came in the truck yesterday. Similar 330i would be about $6,000 more expensive. Even a similarly equipped 325i would be about $2,000 more expensive. Since I drive about 20K annually, I really liked the fact I can buy a 7yr/100K not-quite-b-to-b warranty extension thru Lexus at time of purchase and finance it with purchase (and count it toward tax depreciation).
Also, i'm trading my Saab in. Is there any advice on making this transaction?
Pros and cons on purchasing or leasing? Does BMW offer a 72 mo. purchase? Interest rates any good?
Good luck, Riez.
I'd probably go with the G35 if my car were totalled tomorrow, since it's no longer made with the manual. The IS300 appeared to me to be too much of a boy-racer thing, but I'm not meaning to throw mud. Different strokes, and all that.
I quit following the IS board a couple of years ago, but I may have to re-suscribe. Riez is as interesting as Shipo is kind & polite.
Speaking of which, where's Shipo been?
Wonder if the average BMW dealer low balls trades more than other marques. No firm evidence but my local BMW is notorious for offering the least amount possible on trades. Too bad, or else I might have had a half a dozen BMWs over the past 8 years or so. And I might be driving at least one today.
Snagiel and Shipo and others? Hope not. Your contributions are well received.Thanks.
Getting it tinted froma company called Realtint.com based in San Jose, CA.
Any experience wuth this guy?
Also any downfall in getting windows tinted as far as radio reception etc?
Not my experience. Dealer gave me a fair price right off the bat.
cmr530i... Looked into Lexus CPO program. I was only interested in '02 or '03 IS300 (due to side curtain airbags and some other additions in '02). Couldn't find any '02 or '03 CPO IS300 manuals. If I had, I would've seriously considered. But since I was trading down (I had equity in my trade) and since I could get good financing (3.65 for 60 months on an '04) and since the MSRP for the IS300 is not too steep (mine was only $32,900 even though it is well equipped--full leather, sunroof, LSD, spoiler, & heated seats) and since Lexus dealers were willing to negotiate $2-3K off MSRP, I could get a whole lot of car for not too much money! I could afford to buy new, no problem. Heck, I even sprang for the 7/100 $0 deductible Lexus warranty extension. (Too bad Lexus has such limited free maintenance. Only 1st oil change. Can't have everything!)
Sorry to say so much, but you really struck a nerve with me. I believe certain BMW dealers are arrogant. They think their product is so good, they don't have to give Lexus type service. I believe they are wrong and I believe Riez is proof of that. Riez, you purchased a fine automobile that will certainly be more reliable than anything BMW manufactures. I also believe it will be a hoot to drive.I hope you enjoy your new ride; I believe in our town you made a very good decision! Like the others, I encourage you to stay in touch.(By the way, what is LSD? Not something from my college days, I assume!)
BMW ownership is a trade-off whether you live in LA or Anchorage. Lucky is the person who has nothing to moan about with a bimmer although not everyone is forthcoming about it.
Riez, no one can argue a practical Toyota/Honda purchase. The reliability and economics of these cars speak for itself. Good luck with your new ride. However, I'm wondering if you will admit to synergy withdrawal when it happens... whoa, my apologies... you already did in the first paragraph of your last post. Says here you'll have that M5 sooner than you think. There's no turnin' back and I think you know it. ;-)
I've never met the higher ups at our local BMW dealership. When I have to wait, I walk over to the co-joined Ford dealership and wait there. They have a bigger, dedicated waiting room. I try to blend in over there. Head down, be quiet, read a magazine (I bring a stack with me to keep busy). I don't feel so out of place hanging around with them as opposed to being forced to hang out in the BMW side because I can't get a loaner. (You should see the Omaha & Des Moines Lexus dealerships. They are palatial. Wonderful waiting areas. I can't wait to wait there for my free loaner.)
designman... There is only one E39 M5. The best 4-door sedan ever built. Too bad I can't afford one new! Not sure I'll like the E60 M5 when it finally arrives. Too gadgety.
-Billbrox
Amen.
I can relate to your dealership experiences but from a different perspective. I was shopping for a car Feb/Mar of this year and narrowed my choice to an MB 320 and a 530. The MB dealership was arrogance personified, not just one salesperson but everyone I had contact with. The test drive was a ho-hum affair and when it came to price they tried to severely low-ball me on the trade. When I tried to discuss discounts the sales manager looked at me as if I was a chimp reciting Shakespeare.
I made an appointment for a test drive at my local (to where I work) BMW dealership and was honestly expecting a similar experience. My salesperson was Mitzi Brown and she said that she'd drive first to demonstrate the car. She drove to an empty parking lot and went through a series of very high speed slaloms and emergency stops "see, no brake fade". Probably a combination of a really good driver and a great car but I was amazed and in love with the car already. We switched seats and I drove around while Mitzi answered some pretty technical questions - she really knew her stuff. We set up another appointment for a drive with my wife.
When the time came to discuss price it turned out to be absolutely painless. Immediate factory discount plus a very nice dealer discount (total well below invoice) - all without any prompting from me. I thought "Ok, so they're going to take it out of the trade". Mitzi said that her service manager once worked for Audi (I was dealing a Passat) and "he should be able to get you a good price". The price came back at the high end of my anticipated trade range but Mitzi checked a couple of sites on the Web "just to make sure". I was introduced to at least 6 key people at the dealership who each gave me their card in the event I needed help.
Icing on the cake - last week I went to the unveiling of the E60 at the dealership and ran across Mitzi. "Hi Mike, how are you enjoying your 530?" Just astonishing!
Treat the customer like a Customer and they'll probably drop a pile of cash on your lap, then keep on coming back when the new car itch needs to be scratched. The concept seems so simple yet so few dealerships seem able to grasp it.
To renew some faith in BMW Reiz, this is the best dealership of any brand that I'd dealt with. I'll be back for an E60 once they've re-designed it.
Especially with the popularity of leasing luxury marquees now-a-days.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD
Having a knowledgeable salesperson who knows and loves the cars is an asset. But I also don't mind a newish salesperson who likes cars but quickly admits they don't know too much about a specific car. Credibility is key. Just be honest and upright. No tricks and no pretending.
Not sure redesign does it for me with E60. BMW and MB are just making their cars to gadgety. Pricey. There are so many things on them that I don't need, want, or would even use. For example, even with my "low" tech E39, I never did use the DSP function of the stereo. Just seems to make the music sound artificial. Nor did I ever use any features of the onboard computer other than clock and miles to go before fuel runs out. Heck, I never even tried to learn to use its myriad features. I just didn't need any of that other data.
Your impressions of the E60?
I posted some thoughts on the "Re-design" thread on Tues of last week, you can take a look if you're interested. Overall, not impressed.
BTW I should plug the dealership - Town & Country BMW, Hwy 407 & Kennedy in Markham.
I have only spent a few minutes in a showroom, but the overall build quality (those that you can see anyway) seems quite good. The material used in the interior "looked" better than those found in E39 to me, at least. Leather feels softer, and the color of the wood was darker on this particular example, I liked it as well. The seat was the "comfort seat" in the front and felt better than most I have tried up to this point. The only time I sat in an automobile seat and felt that good right away was in a Volvo V70, strangely enough. I still like the dash layout in E39, but the new one will look better if you like simple style. It looks much "cleaner". The rear seats, to me, did not look any more comfortable than those in E39. I am only 5'11' and do not have long legs.
Trunk with the wide opening will be handy, and it did have a space for a spare tire. However, as far as I know, most with 17+ inch rims will have run flats. The stereo will play mp3 according to the one of the reviews I read.
I, like many of you, do not like the exterior much. The rear seems ok after a while not that it looks great, but in a non-offending way. The front, well, where do I start. I did see a spy pic of M5 and the M5 looks slightly better with the additional body work. I also saw AC-Schnitzer (www.ac-schnitzer.com->Models->E60) version of E60, and the front looks better, but the rear is too busy for my taste.
Also, I cannot for the life of me decipher the table (either in the book or on the door-jam) for tire inflation. They are very confusing as regards inside/outside US. I have the 235/45R17s with Y speed rating.
One of the cast things is probably the key for your locking wheel nuts. If you look at your wheel nuts you'll find one on each wheel is a plastic cap. Take a plastic cap off and all will be revealed!
The other cast thingy is probably your towing eye. The plastic cut out panels on your front and rear bumpers cover a screw hole, your eyelet screws into this to enable your car to be towed (hope this is never necessary).
The extra tire pressures seem to be a mystery to almost everyone. I use the European pressures plus 1 to 2 lbs.
thanks
As far as the tire pressures, I'm not sure I can deduce which pressures are for Eur and which are for US, let alone which are for which tire size. The left (tire size) column in the manual is straightforward enough, but the resultant data doesn't seem obviously match anything. And the placard in the car...it is even more cryptic. I think I have it down to either 29/33 or 33/41 for the front/rear tires respectively. How could the choices be so disparate?
Some impressions:
1. THE RIDE
Because the dealer is not near a highway, I couldn’t get over 35 mph. However, at low speed the ride is virtually the same as E39 and is typically BMW. I thought it felt a bit tighter perhaps due to the Active Roll Stabilization but I need to drive it faster and harder in order to judge it properly. Active Steering with the sports package is EXREMELY noticeable due to the low steering ratio at low speed. Don’t care for it and find it unnecessary. It’s one of those things that will assimilate but wasn’t worth the technological effort. And for all the hype about weight savings the 66/33 lb savings with automatic/manual is a grope. To me the car feels more massive, probably due to the increase in size... something I don't find appealing.
2. TRANSMISSION
Both cars had the Step. Drove them in D. Would like to have taken it from 0-70 and felt the dynamics and transition of the 6-speed, particularly in S. However, it felt bimmer smooth, no better or worse than E39.
3. ADAPTIVE HEADLIGHTS
Glad I came at night or else this would have been missed. This is not technology, it’s showmanship. What’s more, I found it to be distracting.
4. ERGONOMICS
Some advances, namely window controls/armrest. iDrive is very low tech, cheesy... similar to TV controls, not computers... clunky, convoluted graphic interface--they went overboard with color and detail. Voice rec will be progress, iDrive is not. Speedo/tach are smaller, harder to read, similar to former M series from which it takes design cues.
5. INTERIOR
The biggest improvement is the added legroom for the driver. Could never figure out why the previous 5 series had less driver legroom than the 3. It’s the biggest compromise I had to make with E39. Also comforting is the leg and headroom in the back, even with the front seats extended to their limits. In spite of what you may have heard, the leather appears to be the same--hard. The dash at night has lost some of its ethereal quality due to smaller dials, scarcity of controls. I do like the thicker wood panel on the dash. Console is bigger, stark and ugly imo... serves only as an armrest for iDrive. I find the cabin tolerable, if only as a respite from the exterior.
6. EXTERIOR
You guys who say it looks better live, I can’t figure out what the influence is. To me it’s the same ugly duckling as in photos, in some ways worse. Up close the doors have about the same mass and appeal as a refrigerator. The wheels on both packages are grotesque... have the scale and countenance of a manhole cover or woodmill ripsaw. From the happy-hooker headlamps to the WRX butt, through its intrusive seems and concave cuts, this guy finds the new 5 painful to look at.