[Alan l.]

Hi guys,

I am going to be ordering my F10 in a month or two and no matter how I try I end up picking almost every option lol. Just wanted to hear from you guys what options are really just waste of money in the real world.

Feel free to post what your favorite options are too

On a side note I already ordered the 3D Design Msport front lip lol. Going to mod this one quick.

Edit - These are the options that I am thinking about for a 535 Xdrive

Space Gray Metallic
$550
Black Nappa Leather
$1,000
Anthracite Wood Trim
$0
Cold Weather Package
$1,450
M Sport Package
$4,800
Premium Package
$2,000
Premium Sound Package
$950
Technology Package
$1,850
Sport automatic transmission with shift paddles
$500
Head-up Display
$1,300
BMW Apps
$250


Thanks
Alan

[vdubturbo]

Rear heated seats. Useless. But you have to get them if you want the heated steering wheel which I love. Grr.

[eskdale]

Not really sure how useful the Lane change warning (Blind spot) is - It's not really intelligent enough.

It goes off when you join the motorway from the slip road (ramp) even if the car is a lane clear of you and also goes off when you pull in after overtaking someone, plus also when you are waiting to overtake and indicate when someone is along side of you. It just goes off so often that you ignore it or it annoys you.

Lane departure warning is OK on the motorway but on the minor roads it keeps activating and if you turn it off, you don't remember to turn it back on.

Night Vision is good but the warnings only work if you have the night vision displayed on the screen should really work if the screen is not active. so many things deactivate the night vision and its not really easy to turn it on you have to find the button down below the light switch each time to turn it back on. If you make or receive a phone call or change radio or music or need the sat nav on then night vision turns off !!

Don't have the rear heated seats but do have the heated steering wheel, atleast they are separate options over here.

[BMWrules7]

Originally Posted by eskdale

Not really sure how useful the Lane change warning (Blind spot) is - It's not really intelligent enough.

It goes off when you join the motorway from the slip road (ramp) even if the car is a lane clear of you and also goes off when you pull in after overtaking someone, plus also when you are waiting to overtake and indicate when someone is along side of you. It just goes off so often that you ignore it or it annoys you.

Lane departure warning is OK on the motorway but on the minor roads it keeps activating and if you turn it off, you don't remember to turn it back on.

Night Vision is good but the warnings only work if you have the night vision displayed on the screen should really work if the screen is not active. so many things deactivate the night vision and its not really easy to turn it on you have to find the button down below the light switch each time to turn it back on. If you make or receive a phone call or change radio or music or need the sat nav on then night vision turns off !!

Don't have the rear heated seats but do have the heated steering wheel, atleast they are separate options over here.

I agree with your observations about night vision. I think the fact that pedestrian detection only works during the night combined with the requirement that the night vision must be active on the idrive completely limits the utility.

I mean really, don't I really need pedestrian detection when I am distracted fiddling with my radio the most? Well, when you have the radio on idrive then the pedestrian detection stops working for some fool reason.

When you need it most the damn thing isn't active.

Night vision does give confidence that the road is clear, but the pedestrian detection is fatally flawed. And I mean that in the pedestrian sense!

[BigKutta]

I like all my options, but then again I stay away from the fancy cruise control, night vision, etc. Most of mine are must haves like tech, premium, comfort access, heated seats, sat radio, etc..

[Bimmernerd]

- Head-up display, great but pricey feature. Pretty useless without Navi though.
- Navi Professional. Use it very often, works like a charm.
- Speed Limit info. Correct in 90-95% of the cases, don't know how it works in the US? Very convenient together with HUD.
- HiFi sound system with 16 speakers, 600 watt. Superior sound vs orig system if you love music.
- Comfort seats, simply the best!
- Panoramic roof, gives a lot of light (I have a Touring)

- BMW Apps, useless, no development?
- Internet, ridiculously slow...
- Heated rear seats (I never sit there...)
- Soft-close for doors, not that difficult to close them yourself
- Rear seat entertainment. With that price tag, are you kidding BMW?

Just my 2 cents!

[darrko]

Personally I think you would have better results if you listed all the options you WANT and members here could tell you the ones that aren't all that awesome. I'm sure everyone here has different priorities when it comes to options and how useful/useless they are. I know members here who swear by HUD and can't dream of not having one, whereas I didn't order it on my car because I drive mostly in the city and was not getting a sat-nav so ordering HUD didn't make sense. Similarly, heated steering/seats may make a lot of sense to some people but I live in a warm region, so I'd say pretty useless for me.

BMW Apps seems to be getting a lot of flak lately, so you may want to re-think about getting that but it may ultimately get fixed and you may miss out on getting it factory-installed. Some members seems happy with the basic sound system, some didn't even like the premium hi-fi option! Black panel? I love it, some wouldn't be bothered. Ambient lighting? I like the way it looks, some may find it OTT. Sports steering? Ceramic controls? 2-zone aircon or 4-zone? Park assist? Surround view camera?

It would be great to learn about your personal preference and we can move ahead from there and help you make the best selection.

[eskdale]

Originally Posted by Bimmernerd

- Head-up display, great but pricey feature. Pretty useless without Navi though.
- Navi Professional. Use it very often, works like a charm.
- Speed Limit info. Correct in 90-95% of the cases, don't know how it works in the US? Very convenient together with HUD.
- HiFi sound system with 16 speakers, 600 watt. Superior sound vs orig system if you love music.
- Comfort seats, simply the best!
- Panoramic roof, gives a lot of light (I have a Touring)

- BMW Apps, useless, no development?
- Internet, ridiculously slow...
- Heated rear seats (I never sit there...)
- Soft-close for doors, not that difficult to close them yourself
- Rear seat entertainment. With that price tag, are you kidding BMW?

Just my 2 cents!

Totally agree with your plus list:

I might add the Powered Tail gate on the Touring together with the comfort access so that you can use your foot to open the tail gate when your hands are full. If you envisage towing the electric towbar is something you can't really add later



but the minus list:-

- BMW Apps, I wouldn't go as far as saying useless but it could be a lot better if BMW released what they promised or even if the released an API to allow other people to enhance it for them. I'm sure if you don't have the option and BMW get off their xxxx and release something you could be sorry as it has a lot of potential.
- Internet is ridiculously slow using the built in data of the car. It should be possible to make this useful if we could get data via bluetooth operational (see my other threads) someone on this forum says they have it working and its as fast as his iphone but he has not said how.
- Heated rear seats agree - I never sit there either !!
- Soft close doors - Now I like these and so does my lady friend and my kids, but I can understand
- Rear seat entertainment - Totally agree

[Alan l.]

The things i'm on the fence about are:

Black Nappa leather (looks and feels awesome in person)
side/top sky view camera
auto/manual rear/side sun shade (not sure if its needed since i'll have tints anyway)
Ceramic controls ($650 for 5 knobs??)

The luxury seating package sounds like and i like the perforated seats but that kicks the price of the car to about 73K for a 535 xdrive. I could get a 550 if i chill out with some of the options.

Alan

[vdubturbo]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

The things i'm on the fence about are:

Black Nappa leather (looks and feels awesome in person)
side/top sky view camera
auto/manual rear/side sun shade (not sure if its needed since i'll have tints anyway)
Ceramic controls ($650 for 5 knobs??)

The luxury seating package sounds like and i like the perforated seats but that kicks the price of the car to about 73K for a 535 xdrive. I could get a 550 if i chill out with some of the options.

Alan

I look at the leather this way... You are sitting in the car every mile you drive it (hopefully). So you will appreciate the seats/leather every second of use. Unlike something like night vision which would only get used on occasion. So I say go for the seats.

Top/Sky view camera is an option I didn't think I would miss but actually do... This might just be me, but I feel the curved lines of the hood in conjunction with the relatively large size of the hood makes judging front/right side distance difficult. And it seems like I'm always parking crooked too. There have been many times I wished I had those cameras to make sure I was a close to the curb as possible without scuffing a wheel.

The others... just personal preference I guess.


PS: Anyone else feel like dock bumpers should be an option for parking this thing?

[Alan l.]

The only thing about the nappa is that it seems fragile. This will be our family car and at some point a baby seat will be in place so i'm more concerned about the leather getting scratched up. I've sat in a nappa leather car and it makes a pretty huge difference in how the overall car looked from the interior

[pharding]

Lane change warning

[stealth.pilot]

Lane departure warning.

[Bimmernerd]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

The only thing about the nappa is that it seems fragile. This will be our family car and at some point a baby seat will be in place so i'm more concerned about the leather getting scratched up. I've sat in a nappa leather car and it makes a pretty huge difference in how the overall car looked from the interior

I get your point, I chose Dakota leather because it seemed easier to maintain (we have two kids, one still sits in a baby seat). I am very pleased with the interior and do not regret my choice. The nappa leather is nice but too expensive IMO. But on the other hand, that's a fact for a lot of the necessary and not so necessary options...

[gunship guy]

I have the Nappa and two kids...they are rarely in the car and when they are the sit in car seats which sit on top of seat protectors which sit on top of multiple big a$$ beach towels. Almost every square mm of leather in the back is covered when they are in there. I love the nappa and it makes the car feel so much more luxurious.

The rest of your options depend largely on your preferences. In my opinion this is a great highway car and not as sporty as the 3 which I still own and drive often, so I went more for the tech/lux angle then sport.

- I didn't get the sport auto transmission and I don't regret saving $500 on something I wouldn't use. (get the 6mt if you want to shift yourself)

- I got the active cruise control and LOVE IT!

- I didn't get the top view cameras and wish I had. It has been mentioned already, this car is huge and tough to park without scratching a rim, so think of those cameras as rim insurance.

- I have the same interior combo that you are thinking about and I love it...good choice. I did however order titanium silver and wish that I had space grey, but then again it may be the other way around if I had ordered space grey at first...these two colors for me were really a coin toss.

- The ceramic controls were not available when I ordered, but I don't think I would have gone with them anyway.

- The HUD is a must too, I love it.

The rest is really just personal preference. Many people on here will tell you that this or that is a must, I would go with what you like the most since you are ordering the car. And since you are ordering if ED or PCD is in any way practical for you go for it...

Good luck.

[MBrown1003]

Originally Posted by Bimmernerd

- Head-up display, great but pricey feature. Pretty useless without Navi though.
- Navi Professional. Use it very often, works like a charm.
- Speed Limit info. Correct in 90-95% of the cases, don't know how it works in the US? Very convenient together with HUD.
- HiFi sound system with 16 speakers, 600 watt. Superior sound vs orig system if you love music.
- Comfort seats, simply the best!
- Panoramic roof, gives a lot of light (I have a Touring)

- BMW Apps, useless, no development?
- Internet, ridiculously slow...
- Heated rear seats (I never sit there...)
- Soft-close for doors, not that difficult to close them yourself
- Rear seat entertainment. With that price tag, are you kidding BMW?

Just my 2 cents!

I would have skipped the heated rear seats, but they came along in one of the packages I wanted. So, in for a penny, in for a pound -- I also specified the four-zone climate control. It made my lease payment go up about $10 or $15, but as a middle-aged person with lots of middle-aged friends, it's worth it to be able to say that if anybody is having a hot flash, nobody has to suffer.

As I've posted here before, one of the things I did while waiting (impatiently) for my car to get to the US after my European Delivery was to create a back seat placard (similar to what you get on a commercial jet) with instructions on the seat heat, climate control, and shades. I printed two of them, had them laminated, and placed them in the two seat-back pockets. My personal one has my name and a picture of me standing next to the car at the BMW Welt. This one is de-personalized to post here.

[Needsdecaf]

Originally Posted by Alan l.

The things i'm on the fence about are:

Black Nappa leather (looks and feels awesome in person)
side/top sky view camera
auto/manual rear/side sun shade (not sure if its needed since i'll have tints anyway)
Ceramic controls ($650 for 5 knobs??)

The luxury seating package sounds like and i like the perforated seats but that kicks the price of the car to about 73K for a 535 xdrive. I could get a 550 if i chill out with some of the options.

Alan

Agree with your statements about Nappa. It transforms the look and feel of the interior.

Side / top camera - are they separate option now? If so, I would skip unless you need them often.

Sun shades - skip if they are a separate option. I have them and use them as I am not tinted, but once tinted they will be useless.

Ceramic controls - same as Nappa, transform the look of the car's interior. Do it.

As for Nappa and kids - I have a 2 year old and a 5 year old and the Nappa is in great shape. And it's Oyster, to boot. You just have to take care of it, but I take care of my leather well anyway. Car has 23k miles on it and it still looks great!

[Needsdecaf]

Originally Posted by gunship guy

I have the Nappa and two kids...they are rarely in the car and when they are the sit in car seats which sit on top of seat protectors which sit on top of multiple big a$$ beach towels. Almost every square mm of leather in the back is covered when they are in there. I love the nappa and it makes the car feel so much more luxurious.

Hope your beach towels aren't thick. Even so, not a great idea. They can introduce slip between the seat and the car seat, compromising safety.

I use seat protectors and things are fine. Then again, I don't let my kids eat anything in the car other than a dried snack like goldfish, which are easily cleaned if (when, really) spilled. No drinks other than water. No candy, no fries, etc.

[JNoSol]

Your list is pretty solid. I don't have HUD, but I've never used it so I'm fine with my F10. The xDrive is something you can opt out, unless you have logical reasons why you absolutely need it. I live in Kansas City, and I get around just fine in the winter without xDrive or winter tires (I use common sense of course). If you do get a lot of snow, just throw in a nice set of winter tires and the RWD F10 rolls around like a tank. (Notice those RWD cop cars are equipped with winter tires, which allows them to drive aggressively during snows/ice. Those Ford Crown Victoria's RWD traction control are not even at BMW's advance level, but they still get around great on snow)

xDrive adds more weight, more cost, and more moving parts to go wrong.

[joey5622]

I wanted to not get the rear seating package.. It comes with 4 zone climate, useless sun shades and heated rear..

Would've spent money on something else like maybe the tech or m sport packages..

No choice tho because family hates sitting on leather when it's cold..

[DentalBoy]

Head UP Display!!! I hate the fact that it only displays mph!? And the navigation only if you put in a destination. With my Old M5 it displayed mph,gear your in and rpms!! I expected the same when I opted for HUD, but am dissapointed!

[Bimmernerd]

Originally Posted by DentalBoy

Head UP Display!!! I hate the fact that it only displays mph!? And the navigation only if you put in a destination. With my Old M5 it displayed mph,gear your in and rpms!! I expected the same when I opted for HUD, but am dissapointed!

The HUD for the new M5 F10 displays all this I think.