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Comments
Here is the guy who helped us: azamorano@vobbmw.com
and this is what he had 10 days ago (I know one is sold!)
525i:
- Toledo Blue/ Sand Xenon Lights & Premium Pkg.
- Jet Blk/Blk Xenon, Cold Weather Pkg., & Premium Pkg
- Steel Blue/Sand Cold Weather Pkg., Premium Pkg & Sport Pkg.
- Oxford Green/ Sand Fold Down Seats & Premium Pkg.
- Jet Blkw/ Sand Prem. Pkg
- Jet Blk/ w/ Sand Xenon Lights and Premium Pkg.
- Alpine White w/ Sand Xenon Lights and Prem. Pkg.
530I:
- Alpine White w/ Sand Xenon Lights
- Kalahari Beige w/ Sand heated Steering Wheel, Xenon, Premium & Cold Weather Pkg's.
- Blk. Sapphire metallic w/ Blk Pwr. Rear Window shade, Cold, Premium and Sport Pk's.
- Alpine White w/ Snd Xenon & Premium Pkg.
- Titanium Slvr w/ Grey Pwr. rear window shade, Cold Weather & Prem. Pkg.
- Oxford Green w/ Sand Prem. Pkg.
- Titanium Slvr. W/ Grey Xenon, Prem. Cold Weather Pkg's.
- [non-permissible content removed]. Slvr/ Grey Cold Weather Pkg. & Prem. Pkg.
- Jet Blk/ Blk. Lockable fold down rear seats, Xenon, Hi-Fi Sound System, Premium & Sport Pkg's.
- Titanium Slvr/ Grey Heated Steering Wheel, Cold Weather& Premium Pkg.'s
- Jet Blk/ Grey Cold Weather & Premium Pkg's.
- Orient Blue w/ Sand Xenon& Prem. Pkg.
- Blue water w/ Grey Heated Steering Wheel, Cold Weather & Prem. Pkg's.
- Titanium Grey Metallic w/ Blk. Xenon & Premium Pkg.
Two questions:
1- how difficult (or expensive) will it be to make this car handle at the level of the OEM sport pkg;
2- how much do you think it's worth buying for, as is? (invoice on '03s is $37K before the $4K of discounts).
Gotta love watching the windows go down when you hold the unlock button though!
What I'm speaking of by saying "key memory" is the feature of having each key actuate seat memory positions when used to unlock the car, e.g., when your wife uses the car and has her seat at a different position from yours. When she uses her key and hits the unlock button, the seat moves, mirrors, etc.
I'm not sure you are referring to that with your last post.
It works well for both of us and does what it is supposed to do, move seats, wheel and mirror. It is definitely worth a trip back to the dealer till they get it right.
silver or gray
black or gray leather
premium pkg, sports pkg, xenon, auto.
oh well I may have to settle for a 330i.
In addition, the front windows would also open about 3/4". This is indepedent of the seat. The dealer believes after consulting with BMW corporate that the control module in the driver door is faulty. Ordered this part and I am waiting for the replacement.
I have 5K miles on my car, it is absolutely blast to drive and I love it. However, find it a touch concerning that BMW is moving towards more electronics. I smell more problems.. I am glad I have my E39 and couldn't care about the E60.
..g
I'm with riez on this one. I love driving my BMW. Yes it's a top rated car, and I've always wanted one. Having said that, when it comes time, I may move up, down, left or right or stay the same.
To me an appropriate analogy is having dinner at the top rated restaurant in your area that may be rated 5 stars. The next night having dinner at a 3 star restaurant. Both can be good and both can be enjoyed for what they are. The 3 star restaurant may even do some things better than the 5 star restaurant. However when you walk out of the 3 star restaurant you understand why the other restaurant earned it's two additional stars.
Would you care to elaborate on the following?
"but the execution could not be more different from the 5 series."
Is it the build quality, the features, ????
Miata -- Small, light weight (1,500+ lbs. lighter than 5-series) a critical design consideration, hyper-responsive, loud, rough ride, semi bare-bones (few power accessories or other amenities), ragtop of course (manually operated), vast majority have manual transmission, all sport/no luxury (although the mix is a bit changed with current '99+ generation).
5 series -- Bigger, much heavier, great ride quality (even w/SP), fabulous grip, much higher feature and luxury quotient, quiet (though not Lexus-quiet), most are sold with automatic I believe.
It's not a matter of build quality - BMWs feel super solid, Miatae have a great reputation for reliability.
5 series = Fun, but serious
Miata = Fun, but fun
Since buying the Miata in late August, I drive it top-down in the same heat/humidity conditions that equate to windows up and A/C fully cranked in the 530i. The cars complement each other nicely, and I consider myself lucky to have both.
Curb weight on base Miata = 2387lbs. , 530i = 3494 lbs. for a difference of 1107 lbs.
I enjoyed your commentary. One of the things I like about the 5 series is that they have many features, seat 4 and carry some luggage while keeping the weight reasonable.
Jack
Thanks for the commentary. Now I can understand what your original comment meant. I haven't tried a Miata yet, but in the past I did own 2 Fiat Spyders (a 124 and a 2000) and can relate to the Miata. Except the Fiat's were very civilized and were not very noisy but were also not very reliable.. But also tons of fun as are the Miata and the Mazda MX-6 I owned some years ago.
When you say the 5 has "great grip", are you saying it will outperform the Miata on cornering g-force? That certainly could be possible since my MX-6 would out-corner the Fiat spyders.
Ciao or "Harry Vaderchie" (from I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners...)
My Advice? Well, these cars were built with maintenance in mind. Find a good BMW mechanic to assist you. They will advise you to keep the fluids fresh: engine, trans., diff., coolant, and brake fluid. Also, seals are prone to leaking. Main and cam seals last 40 - 60k and 4 - 6 years IIRC. Fuses and the ground on the rear lights can be problamatic. Learn to troubleshoot these items yourself. Buy a little box of every fuse size used. Learn which circuits are grouped together to help troubleshooting. Use OEM or equivalent parts for any engine, trans, driveline, cooling, or braking system repair.
Maintained properly, your 87 will handle and stop better than all the brand new "sport sedan" pretendors.
Happy Motoring,
Jack
PS: Miss that ole 86.
Has anyone had the same problem? Any fixes?
Simon16 -- The 535i sounds like a find. I've always liked the E28. One caveat: Determine how it was stored. Was it taken out and exercised regularly? Or, if kept in cold storage, was it put up properly? An improperly stored car put back into service can experience more failures than a car of similar vintage, but higher miles, that has been driven and cared for.
I think the key is not having an exterior standing antenna. BMW using less effective in-glass antenna. May look nice not having an antenna flying, but they don't capture radio signals at all well. (Remember a friend of mine long time ago had a '70 Chevelle. GM used in-glass antenna. You couldn't get hardly anything.)
But don't worry, AM radio will be barren after the WS as Rush will be indicted soon!
MB failed badly as ALL E-class, with and without a CD player in the trunk, give almost non-existent AM reception. I didn't have a CD player for the first year I had my E320 and the AM was just as bad then as it is now with the CD player.
I suspect that BMW had the same problem with the 5 series. Maybe they use the same or similar radio chassis??
In any event, here in NE, the only AM stations worth listening to are the news and talk stations. I do miss the news stations, but otherwise FM is for me..
Within past year or two, Car & Driver ran a test on about 4 or 5 cars. Used various octanes. In most cases, they found that using a lower-than-specified octane led to decreased engine output and lower fuel economy and the decline more than offset the lower price of the fuel. You might save 10% at the pump but lose 15% fuel economy.
But octane is a different issue than detergents. Most modern fuels bought from reputable chains (e.g., Shell, BP/Amoco, etc.) are high quality and contain sufficient detergents. Not sure about independents. I avoid the el-cheapo gas at run down stations. I religiously run BP/Amoco Ultimate (the "clear" gasoline) in my cars that require premium fuel.
Here in midwest we are fortunate to have the additional option of 10% ethanol-blended fuels. Often cheaper than regular but with a higher octane. Most in my area are 89, 89.5 or 90 octane and are plus or minus a couple pennies of regular 87 octane. Even though manuals say it is OK to run ethanol, I don't. (Mainly for tax reasons. I'd rather the tax money go to DOT to build and improve roads than the tax subsidy money go to Archer Daniels Midland and other ethanol producers. But that is just me.)
If this sort of event is scheduled near / convenient to where you lice, I would suggest that you look into it.
(see: http://www.thenew5drive.com )
- Ray
Go Red Sox . . .
Red Sox/Cubs would do it for me.