[Bmwlvr60]

Colors:
I'll take pics with a good camera of mine and post them in the near future. The entire car has 3 basic colors that compliment each other extremely well: Gray, Black and Brown with some aluminum. The M Sport Line comes with a black headliner, black carpet and black dashboard. BMW calls the headliner Anthracite, but it's black. Anthracite trim actually has browns, grays and black in it- why does the BMW Marketing Department confuse people like this? There's some aluminum trim, but not much in the dashboard/armrest and the new style awesome steering wheel- believe it's from the 6 Series. The wheels are beautiful alloy and happy that the black tires are made by Continental.

Mocha has some burgundy in it which rich brown colors many times have. Think "cordovan" leather- more the type of leather, than the color. It looks like an old briefcase of mine and a current wallet. Cordovan leather is made from the butt of a horse- it's the most durable and arguably the highest quality leather that one may buy. It looks like cordovan leather, it obviously is not.

Now that the 2014 5's are arriving, do yourself a favor and go check it out in person. I'm a lousy photographer and even the professionally done BMW pics that I and others posted won't do this handsome color justice. It's difficult to capture exact hues and textures on the Internet even if the pics are well done.

Steering Wheel:
BMW lovers have strong opinions and the M Sport LCI steering is quite different from the 2013, but for me it's so much nicer. It easy to see the dashboard controls, the feel and size is ultra sporty and luxurious. Just a tasteful amount of aluminum mostly along the bottom.

LED Lights:
Love this option. Bright and a bit more obvious than the 2013's, but not the bling that M-B now carries and even more subtle than the Audis.

Technology:
Lane Departure Warning- steering wheel vibrates and yellow lines in dashboard. Blind Spot- amber triangles in side view mirrors. Collision Mitigation- audible beeps and red lights in dashboard. Extensive Outside Cameras- backing up into a space has never been easier. Active Cruise- haven't even used it yet, but know that distance from forward vehicles may be set. Luxury Seats- cool or warm air through driver's and front passenger's seats; active massage, wow- feels great even on short trips; feel more relaxed after sitting for a while. HUD- helps keeps eyes on the road.

Luxury Front Seats don't have the stitching across the mid-back. These are in the rear. Not sure why some don't like this- very tastefully done. Multi-Contour option or Luxury option will give you: electric side bolsters and thigh supports; makes the seats more comfortable- well worth it. My X3 has the side bolsters (electric) and thigh supports (manual)- I'd miss it if I didn't have them.

Trunk lid opens and closes by merely holding one's leg under trunk and in front of sensor. A one legged inward motion activates this. It's a conversation feature and does help if one's carrying packages.

Navigation:
New larger dial with the optional drawing of commands is something I'm getting used to- just another tech toy to play with. " The only difference between men and boys are the price of our toys". 2014 Nav is an upgrade over 2013- better than the one in my 2013 X3. Voice commands work better than my retired 2007 Acura RL.

Phonebook/Bluetooth:
Connecting with both my cell phone directories is automatic- one phone at a time. Super convenient.

H-K Stereo:
I hope that the people complaining about this sound system are total audiophiles. It's only a $875 option- well worth it for 95% of us. The B&O systems are the only ones that I've heard that are noticeably better. That's an extra $3700 in the 5 Series. No thanks. There's plenty of FM stations broadcasting in HD in New Jersey and New York and it sounds better than I've ever heard FM sound. My CD's sound extraordinarily good- and I can copy about 400 of them to the car's hard drive. Some AM stations broadcast in HD too- HUGE difference for those of us that also like talk radio and the news. XM/Sirius sounds better in my 5 Series than my H-K X3's.

Power:
For me plenty of it. 550 driver's looking for better MPG's go for the 535. I'm quite happy with the 4 cylinder engine.

Handling:
Having fun on the twisties and overall

Feel of the road:
Steering wheel gives nice feedback

Electric Rear Shade and Manual Side Shades:
Rattle free and shade from the sun and privacy. It won't satisfy many of you, but it is an alternative from tinting.

I picked up rear all weather mats and they didn't fit. It sounds like BMW screwed up. No mislabeling and no alternative. Parts guy is looking into it.

Front all weather mats and trunk tray fit perfectly.

Waiting for license plates. Bought BMW carbon fiber holders- have them on X3 and like them.

There was no Dynamic Damper Control option for the 2014 528- wish I had it. Love the extra tightness that it gives the X3. Will look into different Springs and M5 sway bars I guess.

Soft close doors may be a nice option to have. Doors need an extra push to totally close.

This is by a wide margain the best driving, fun, most technologically laden and luxurious car I've ever owned. It's superfantastic!

[wrickem]

Beautiful car (I stood on my head to look at it, your picture is down side up ). I have pretty much the same spec'd car and feel pretty much the same way about all of your points. Good luck with it!

[slownfast]

really want that headlight! want to trade the headlight? *just kidding

[Bmwlvr60]

Originally Posted by wrickem

Beautiful car (I stood on my head to look at it, your picture is down side up ). I have pretty much the same spec'd car and feel pretty much the same way about all of your points. Good luck with it!

Thanks!

[Bmwlvr60]

I started with XBimmers about a year ago when I was looking to move from Acura to a German luxury brand. So many people here have been incredibly helpful, educational, full of knowledge and unselfish with their time. Making the decision to swap out our MDX for an X3 was easy. Switching from an RL to a 5 Series was a bit more difficult. At first I was looking at the 3 Series then I finally realized it was too small of a car for my needs. So many enthusiasts here who crave power and want a "more refined engine" talked about the 535 and 550 over the 528. For my needs in the end you folks helped me make the right decision. There's great information here and insider info that just can't be found anywhere else. A special shout out to all of you who post here- you are a sophisticated, knowledgeable, intelligent and articulate group of people. I truly expected no less in a forum where people own and discuss luxury automobiles. The Kool-Aid is delicious by the way; Audi and MB are not brands I have any interest in anymore. :-)

Has anyone seen the Smilies doing the happy dance lately?:

[Bmwlvr60]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bmwlvr60
I find that the 5 Series doesn't have much storage space- interesting since I don't need room for CD's since the car has a 20MB hard drive. So I bought this:

BMW Backseat Storage Pocket 52120410752

and a place to store trash:

BMW Clean Bag 82270416591

I bought the all weather BMW floor mats and the fronts fit, but the backs don't for 2014 XDrive models. BMWNA knows about the issue and are fixing it.

Lots of compliments on the car. Color combination and all the technology. People really love the Mocha Nappa leather.

This is such a fast car. For those of you that are used to a 550 I'm sure you wouldn't think so, but for most people the 4 banger does a great job!

Everything is very tight which I love.
Is not having a glove compartment with a lock a German car thing? Or is it a Japanese car thing to have one?

My X3 and 5 Series don't have one. Every Japanese car I owned had one.

The arm rest in my 5er can be locked, but the storage space is tiny. The point of having a locking glove compartment with a trunk lock inside, is to be able to valet the car and give them the key or fob that won't open the glove box or trunk. This way shopping bags and other valuable may be stored safely.

How about the handy storage box to the left of the steering wheel? Another opportunity to have a safe spot to store valuables- if it came with a lock.

Thieves, for the most part, like to be able to grab and run quickly. Please don't make the "it's not a safe afterall" argument.




Put 400 miles on the new 5er this weekend. What a fantastic highway cruiser.

ACC worked flawlessly on the highway- was able to rest leg for long periods of time. Had some traffic Friday afternoon and it was so enjoyable to let the car do almost all the work automatically. Used ACC on a rural road and when the car in front of me turned off the car accelerated and I needed to hit the brake with my foot because the traffic light turned red- still need to use common sense with electronic gadgets.

Love the luxury seats- felt relaxed after driving straight for 190 miles. Massage was on and so was the heat- at a low setting.

How did I live without HUD? Makes it so easy to keep one's eyes on the road.

Figured out the 8 memory buttons below NAV. Programmed 1 button as HOME for NAV. Others are for family cell #s, and others are for fav radio stations. Love the way it allows us to mix/match.

LED's: quite the conversation piece with enthusiasts that have admired them in person. I will say to be careful: I had them on along with the engine or a coupe of hours while I was storing CD's onto the hard drive. They were facing my dark garage and I was walking in and out of the house and looked into them a few times. It's like looking at the sun- saw light halos when I closed my eyes that night.

Knucklehead move: mistakenly put some windshield wash in anti-freeze container. SA said not to worry; has some of the same chemicals.