[MalithS]

Update:

Finally after waiting weeks and weeks managed to collect the car last night

It was due early last week but there has been a bottleneck at the docks and BMW took a long time to clear and it seems my car came to Southampton so dealer had to get permission from BMW and go collect it from there rather than wait for the delivery to be arranged.

I will post some pics as soon as I get a chance to take some proper photos. It was a bit sad parting with the old car as I've got a little attached over the last 3.5 years and it has never let me down.

First impressions of the new car... wow the 30d is amazing. Its so smooth and refined over the 20d. Havent had a chance to drive it much only 10-15 miles so far. Feel like doing a long road trip this weekend This is my first brand new car so I am also trying to take it a little easy for the first 1k miles or so just to let the engine loosen up. I know there are all sorts of views on this. Dealer said drive it anyway you like but the user manual still states dont take over 3.5k revs etc for the first 1200 miles or so. New nav is very nice and the HUD is just brilliant. Pity the sunroof isnt very useful on a day like today. The only thing nagging me now is if I should have got VDC......

Thank you for all your advice and helping with my decision making.

[The Beast]

Congrats and welcome to the 30d club, a 20d can't compare imo...

3.5k revs is going to give you pretty much most of the power this engine has btw. I would drive it progressively and use the revs a little but not be too hard on it in terms of snap aggresive acceleration (if that makes sense!) for the first 1k or so personally

[AP]

Congrats and await the photos. In terms of running in I would follow the advice in the manual, if BMW put it in there , they must know best as they built it!.
The HUD is a great feature and agree on the 3 litre
engine, it much more refined

[MalithS]

Hello All,

So after a few days the car has managed to get about 250 miles on the clock. Did a bit of a drive today and to my surprise I managed about 44.8mpg over 90 ish mile drive (half motorway half a road) and the Mrs managed 45.6mpg on the way back (she always manages better and makes a point to remind me ) Very impressed as I suspect I wouldnt have got a lot more out of our old 520D. I was trying to stretch the engine's legs a bit by reving upto 3.5k and very often found my self glancing at the speedo going woah as I was getting carried a way a teeny bit

1. HUD clarity/focus
My wife and I both find the HUD a tiny bit fuzzy and no its not our eyes. What I found was that if I raised my head about 1-2 inches it becomes sharper however at that point I had a seat at the highest setting. I've tried playing with the rotation/height adjust but it doesnt really fix this. Could the hud not have been calibration/adjusted properly? Surely BMW would design the system to suit people who are different height. Any one experience anything like this? I thought it was my eyes till I noticed that it becomes sharper when I raised my head a little so maybe its just a little bit out of alignment or something.

2. Audio (Loudspeaker BMW Advanced)
So this system is supposed to have an Amplifier and 12 speakers right? I can only count 10. 2 in the rear parcel shelf, 2 under the front seats, 2 front door, 2 tweeters on front doors and I believe 2 more under the central grill on the dash, right? Are there supposed to be 2 more speakers on the rear doors or have I missed something here? I just feel that the sound from the rear is just somehow not quite right (the balance between front and rear). Does this upgraded sound system have any extra menu features on the iDrive because the controls looked exactly the same as my previous F10 with the standard system.

Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated.

MalithS

[The Beast]

I think that you will find the rear parcel shelf has four speakers, 2 mids and 2 tweeters under the two grilles. Does this system have an eq? I have the hk and that has an eq in the settings where bass and treble adjustment is found, this allows me adjust the system exactly how I like it for the type of music I listen to.

In terms of sound quality I remeber from my days installing systems as a teenager that it would take up to 10 hours of playback for speakers to reach their optimum sound. I wonder if this is still the case with modern speakers...

[MalithS]

Originally Posted by The Beast

I think that you will find the rear parcel shelf has four speakers, 2 mids and 2 tweeters under the two grilles. Does this system have an eq? I have the hk and that has an eq in the settings where bass and treble adjustment is found, this allows me adjust the system exactly how I like it for the type of music I listen to.

In terms of sound quality I remeber from my days installing systems as a teenager that it would take up to 10 hours of playback for speakers to reach their optimum sound. I wonder if this is still the case with modern speakers...

Thanks. Ah ok then if the parcel shelf has 4 that makes sense. I cant really see through the mesh to see if there are 2 speakers inside.

There is no EQ. I only get treble, bass, balance and fader on the settings same as the standard audio.

[texasjohn]

Interesting to read this thread, as I am just about to purchase a used F10.

Some of the cars I am looking at are LCI.

I drove an LCI 530d today, lovely and refined. Is the 313PS 535d much quicker in the real world?

I have my eye on a car in Moonstone with Adaptive Drive and M Sport Plus pack at the moment (535d).

Just missed purchasing by minutes a 60 plate ex marketing car which had everything on it except adaptive cruise. Soft close doors, sunroof, individual leather and wheels, the full monty. Shame about that.

[morellomax]

Originally Posted by texasjohn

Interesting to read this thread, as I am just about to purchase a used F10.

Some of the cars I am looking at are LCI.

I drove an LCI 530d today, lovely and refined. Is the 313PS 535d much quicker in the real world?

I have my eye on a car in Moonstone with Adaptive Drive and M Sport Plus pack at the moment (535d).

Just missed purchasing by minutes a 60 plate ex marketing car which had everything on it except adaptive cruise. Soft close doors, sunroof, individual leather and wheels, the full monty. Shame about that.

What you'll probably notice is that the 535d has better low end pickup, always feels effortless. Both the 30d and 35d are more than powerful enough when worked hard of course...

The other thing is that you're much more likely to find a car with adaptive drive if you include the 35d in your search, and the heavy discounts on these from new do seem to mean the premium on used ones isn't all that great, especially when the spec tends to be higher anyway.

p.s. that car in moonstone looks good. Has the service pack as well. Has adaptive drive and the HK stereo, I would want comfort seats but getting all 3 of those options is like finding the holy grail. If you find the standard M-sport seats comfortable, and many people do, then it looks like a good bet.

[morellomax]

Texasjohn - I've just had a look at your 335i which had the oyster leather: are you tempted to try and find an F10 with the same ? It does look fantastic, with a black/grey/dark blue exterior.

[texasjohn]

Thanks, I didn't recall it had service pack but have just double-checked.

Well I am very tempted by a 35i or 50i (MPG is acceptable to me) but they're just few and far between, particularly in the right specification.

[texasjohn]

Originally Posted by morellomax

Texasjohn - I've just had a look at your 335i which had the oyster leather: are you tempted to try and find an F10 with the same ? It does look fantastic, with a black/grey/dark blue exterior.

I'd go for Imperial Blue or Carbon Black with brown leather given the choice of new.

The 335i Coupe had beige which I didn't mind, as long as it's not beige with aluminum.

I had a 335i Saloon with Oyster, I found it got dirty quite quickly.

[gspannu]

Originally Posted by texasjohn

Interesting to read this thread, as I am just about to purchase a used F10.

Some of the cars I am looking at are LCI.

I drove an LCI 530d today, lovely and refined. Is the 313PS 535d much quicker in the real world?

I have my eye on a car in Moonstone with Adaptive Drive and M Sport Plus pack at the moment (535d).

Just missed purchasing by minutes a 60 plate ex marketing car which had everything on it except adaptive cruise. Soft close doors, sunroof, individual leather and wheels, the full monty. Shame about that.

The 535d will be slightly quicker at the low end and lets you hand on to the higher revs for longer.

On Adaptive Drive, if the choice comes between 535 and Adaptive Drive - I would go with the Adaptive Drive and choose the lower engine.

If you can get both AD and 535d - go for it

[The Beast]

I have owned both forms of these engines in various cars, the 30d in the current F10 and the 35d in my previous E70.

Although the 35d is quicker from 0-60 I think that the main difference is toward the upper end of the rev range. The 30d has a single turbo and this is great in the turbo rev range, however the 35d has two turbos and these provide a lot more acceleration in the upper end of the rev range. Floor the 30d at 80 mph plus and you don't really feel a rush of acceleration as you do at lower speeds, floor a 35d at the same speed and it is just bonkers and keeps pulling.

I wanted a 35d but settled for a 30d with a BMW Performance Package as this car had the options that I wanted so I sacrificed the extra power. Do I miss it, not really as most of my driving is around town so don't get to use the extra benefit it would provide regularly enough. Would I have a 35d if I had the choice again and could find a car with the right options, hell yeah!

[texasjohn]

I'm going to miss out on Adaptive Drive entirely guys. I have just bought this:

http://usedcars.bmw.co.uk/5-Series/4...cmdc=se_na_re_

[Gordon4499]

Originally Posted by texasjohn

I'm going to miss out on Adaptive Drive entirely guys. I have just bought this:

http://usedcars.bmw.co.uk/5-Series/4...cmdc=se_na_re_

Miss out on AD but think you got the rest covered

Bet this is a dream to drive, enjoy.

[texasjohn]

I figured that if it is really bad I can fit 17s!

[morellomax]

Comfort seats, decent hi-fi option. Ride will probably be improved no end by ditching the runflats, especially on 19s, but I'll have a set of 17s with non-rft sportmaxx rt's going spare if you want !

[texasjohn]

I'm not sure if 17s fit, that said. Standard size is 18...

On E60 the 50i and 35d shared same size brakes and 17s possible. Hence my initial assumption.

Will change to non RFT when the tyres need changing though, regardless.

[Johnny Grabble]

17s should fit, they do on a 535d...

[MalithS]

So finally after 3 weeks I got a chance to wash the car and take some photos.
I'll put up a bit of a review when I get a chance.

[Pottsy]

Originally Posted by MalithS

1. HUD clarity/focus
My wife and I both find the HUD a tiny bit fuzzy and no its not our eyes. What I found was that if I raised my head about 1-2 inches it becomes sharper however at that point I had a seat at the highest setting. I've tried playing with the rotation/height adjust but it doesnt really fix this. Could the hud not have been calibration/adjusted properly? Surely BMW would design the system to suit people who are different height. Any one experience anything like this? I thought it was my eyes till I noticed that it becomes sharper when I raised my head a little so maybe its just a little bit out of alignment or something.

I am pretty sure this is just the wobbliness of the windscreen glass. As I move my head around, I can see the HUD image distort (especially obvious if you use a test pattern).

I guess the only recourse is a new screen if it's really bad.

Quick gif, moving the camera vertically (but set at a wide aperture which shows how the focus point moves - not an effect you see with the naked eye):

[remmib]

Originally Posted by texasjohn

I'm not sure if 17s fit, that said. Standard size is 18...

On E60 the 50i and 35d shared same size brakes and 17s possible. Hence my initial assumption.

Will change to non RFT when the tyres need changing though, regardless.

Originally Posted by Johnny Grabble

17s should fit, they do on a 535d...

550i (and M550d) needs 18".

Originally Posted by MalithS

So finally after 3 weeks I got a chance to wash the car and take some photos.
I'll put up a bit of a review when I get a chance.

Very nice, I rarely see a luxury line here, pretty much all m-sport.