[1HOT BMR]

I took my car to Northern Oregon and back without any problems (1,500+ miles). I was worried about all the issues I had read about and none of them came up. My steering is not pulling in any direction, there is no grinding noise or any other unwanted noises for that matter, and it hasn't burned a drop of oil in the 1,800 miles it has traveled so far. Just perfect! . . so far. I hit a moderately bad pothole at about 55 mph and I didn't get a side bubble on the tire and it didn't damage the wheel. I have the Michelin run flats on mine. Coming back I encountered torrential rain and heavy hail to a point where it scared me into thinking that it would damage the paint so I stopped and parked the car sharing a spot under the pine trees with a black M3 doing the same. In addition to the hail I drove with a little snow on the ground and the car behaved really well in spite of the summer tires on it.

Things that I dislike about the car: The visibility out is very poor mainly because of the high backs on the seats and the small side mirrors. I haven't figured out how to make the steering wheel move up when I turn the ignition off to get out of the car - it's in the way! Maybe it cannot be set to move up and out of the way while getting in and out of the car? . . I don't know. I have had some electronic glitches that perhaps were caused by my own doing or perhaps not. Sometimes the lock button does not lock the car the first time around, even when all the doors are closed properly. I put the keys in the center console getting ready to start the car and the sunroof and all the windows opened like when you hold the button down - it was raining lightly at the time and it has only happened once. My files on my USB thumb drive are not always recognized as music files and I get the "File cannot be played" message but most of the time it plays just fine.

Things I like about the car: Everything else not mentioned above.

Things that I love about the car: It's dual personality with the trick suspension components giving me a super plush and controlled ride in Normal and a Sports Car behavior but with a better ride in Sport. The Comfort setting is useless and it does not give you a better or plusher ride than Normal when the pavement is broken.

I took Highway 1 for a section of the trip - it is a road that follows the coast with lots of curves and a road that I know very well and have travelled many times in my NSX. All the people who have said that the steering is numb, disconnected, not sporty enough, etc. etc. just don't know what they are talking about or they are just parroting the sentiments of the first car magazine reviewer that made that statement. In my view the steering is a perfect example of what a modern sports sedan steering system should be. It is perfectly balanced, it tracks like an arrow, it has just the right weighting and I could feel exactly what the car was doing as I pushed it around each bend. Numb steering? Nonsense!!

The engine is just sublime - the immediate torque at just about any engine speed is unbelievable. The clutch and manual transmission are so good that my passengers did not notice it was a stick shift until I pointed it out to them. This car is that easy to drive smoothly. I read about someone who was selecting reverse by mistake when trying to engage first gear - it is really hard to believe that someone would have that problem, especially when my wife needs both hands to overcome the spring to engage reverse - the shifter feel with short throws and positive engagement is just about perfect for me.

I made the right choice when I bought this car. I only regret not getting the full camera setup to see around the car but I do have the proximity warning and the tilting mirror so it's OK but I would order the cameras if I had the chance again.

My car: 2011 550i with a 6 speed manual, M Sport and Integral Active Steering (IAS).

Average fuel consumption for 1,800 miles is 18.9 mpg. Best mileage was 21.5 mpg on a section of road where I traveled at around 50 to 60 mph in 6th gear for about 180 miles. Worst mileage was the day I picked it up and brought it home - 13.1 mpg.

[svdb]

nice honest posting, thanks

[delvek]

despite my believing the chances of an M3 and a 550 sharing an overpass unplanned, I agree, good review.

Something I want to reiterate, the whole nonsense argument of the steering feeling numb, disconnected and all that jazz, whenever someone says that I really wonder where they get that from, my car doesn't reflect that in any way as well.

[svdb]

Originally Posted by delvek

despite my believing the chances of an M3 and a 550 sharing an overpass unplanned, I agree, good review.

Something I want to reiterate, the whole nonsense argument of the steering feeling numb, disconnected and all that jazz, whenever someone says that I really wonder where they get that from, my car doesn't reflect that in any way as well.

Well, my car is still on order , but after reading the "steering posts", I went for a second testdrive, and looked for imperfections in the steering , and when I looked I found, and felt the "electric" feeling iso of the hydrolic feeling. But it did not bother me at all, and did not affect my decision to buy a 5 series.

The only thing I noticed is that since reading these posts , I also noticed some imperfections in the steering of my E91, that I did not notice for 4 years !

So all I want to say is : don't exagerate with the steering issues...

[Kev131tc]

As someone about to pick up his F10 in about a week it's quite encouraging to read this review so thanks for going to the trouble of sharing your experiences.

On one small point, I thought that the 550i was only available with auto..? Maybe that's just a European restriction.

Is Highway 1 referred to... the road from LA to SF? If so I had the motoring pleasure of driving this road in September - Highly recommended to anyone who is a fan of driving holidays. As an aside, I thought we were quite exclusive driving around in our convertible Mustang but we must have passed at least 40 other similar cars in one day on Highway 1 - Seems it's very popular with tourists.

[delvek]

Nice pic, but ...

Was in Sardinia last month, drove the Western coast line down from Alghero to Bosa, most incredible coastal drive I have ever seen, highly recommend.

[Kev131tc]

Originally Posted by delvek

Nice pic, but ...

Was in Sardinia last month, drove the Western coast line down from Alghero to Bosa, most incredible coastal drive I have ever seen, highly recommend.

I've had 5 driving holidays in Italy and am planning one for 2011 (in the new F10 incidentally) but I've never been to Sardinia. Thanks for the recommedation.

The west coast of Italy is a very rewarding drive though especially the Amalfi coastline - This pic is from further south.



Apologies for hi-jacking the thread.

[delvek]

Amalfi is gorgeous but really check out Sardinia, imo more dramatic but very close to Amalfi, you can take a ferry from Genoa to Northern Sardinia then drive down, fully recommend. I spend a lot of vacation time in Italy, will be in Cinque Terre for 10 days in April.

To note, Stintino (northern tip of Sardinia) is a must see and as of today my recently appointed #1 retirement spot but am still searching.

[Mr. Magic]

Maybe you saw me parked around the next curve on HWY-1?

[delvek]

Nice pic Magic, congratulations you must be very proud!

[1HOT BMR]

Originally Posted by delvek

despite my believing the chances of an M3 and a 550 sharing an overpass unplanned, I agree, good review.

Something I want to reiterate, the whole nonsense argument of the steering feeling numb, disconnected and all that jazz, whenever someone says that I really wonder where they get that from, my car doesn't reflect that in any way as well.

You meant disbelieving, right? Yes, it is true, it was a parking lot next to the road and he was under one pine tree and I another. Thanks for your previous comments regarding the so called "steering issues", your impressions were mine too.

Originally Posted by Kev131tc

As someone about to pick up his F10 in about a week it's quite encouraging to read this review so thanks for going to the trouble of sharing your experiences.

On one small point, I thought that the 550i was only available with auto..? Maybe that's just a European restriction.

Is Highway 1 referred to... the road from LA to SF? If so I had the motoring pleasure of driving this road in September - Highly recommended to anyone who is a fan of driving holidays. As an aside, I thought we were quite exclusive driving around in our convertible Mustang but we must have passed at least 40 other similar cars in one day on Highway 1 - Seems it's very popular with tourists.

I'm glad to help. I don't know about the availability of the manual in Europe but here in the US a manual is available, although it is hard to find one available for a test drive and almost impossible to find one with IAS.

Highway 1 covers a lot of ground along the California Coast - here is a descripton: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_1 I usually drive the Northern section between Sonoma and Humboldt Counties. BTW, when I spot a Mustang Convertible with the top down around Sonoma (Wine Country here) I "know" they are tourists We love our tourists, they make the city of Sonoma a fun place to visit every time.