[kave]

After just over two years with my 520D i feel it is time for something else.

I am considering a 535D with the following specs:
M-Sport
Sports automatic
Harman Kardon
Solid Black
Tinted windows
Towbar electric
Heated steering wheel, Standard
Park sensors front and rear, Standard
Bluetooth Professional, Standard
Black Panel display
Alcantara Uplholstery, leather is 1200£ in Sweden.
Aux heating

What do you think? I am mostly in it for the engine and drivability.
I use my iPhone a lot so it is always mounted on the panel so I think the Navi package which is 2000£ in Sweden is not needed.
I like music so I think paying 100£ of the HK upgrade is worth it.

This will cost me 170£ more than my current 520D every month.

[Balster]

If you can afford it....go for it.
Nice spec. Totally with you about the speaker quality, your going to be spending your time inside the car so you want it to be good. Radio 2(or Radio Sweeden!) on the HK sounds great :-)

[Piers]

Sounds like the same conversation I will have with myself in a few years. Nice spec, and that engine is awesome, a friend has one.

[rsyed]

i also not use a navigaiton day in day out but the big 10+" screen just gives the interior a different feeling...

i would not want to pay so much money for a beautiful car and then have cables and dashboard mounts for an iphone when a navigation is needed..

[kave]

rsyed: You have a point, but I check mail, sms messages etc while waiting for green light so I have to have my phone there anyway.

[d3rm0]

I have to echo the comments on Prof Nav. The 10 inch screen looks amazing, the 3D images when in the city are amazing. I only discovered the Siri integration a couple of weeks ago and "he" reads, and replies, to my emails and txt messages plus dialling numbers from my contacts works 98% of the time. I went for Carbon Black and I love it whether dirty or clean!

[Piers]

I am afraid I am another pro media worshipper. A phone sat nav is crazy in a car of that money, and is all anyone will remember of it! The navigation is awesome, actually works, as does text messaging, emails the lot.

[remmib]

Originally Posted by Piers

I am afraid I am another pro media worshipper. A phone sat nav is crazy in a car of that money, and is all anyone will remember of it! The navigation is awesome, actually works, as does text messaging, emails the lot.

+1, I came from a e90 without iDrive, to the f10 with pro iDrive, and I love it. Not just the map part, but all the other stuff.

[Balster]

I'm with Piers on this one.
How many times have you seen a luxury car go past and a mobile phone sat nav is being used...you have got to laugh at such a sight. No sat nav in a £35k+ car!!
it will also kill your residual, if your selling it privately in the future, you will struggle to shift it.

[GMTRB5]

How well does the RTTI work? I've got the pro media in my 330d but will often use my tom tom iPhone app as the IQ routes are much better usually than the BMW nav, and the HD traffic has saved me many times from sitting in a jam .. If the RTTI is good then that may reduce my usage of the tom tom app when I get my next car!

[Piers]

My experience of RTTI so far is that it is as good as the TT. I have not run them side by side, but the RTTI has saved me from jams already.

[gspannu]

I believe the 5 series LCI model now comes with BMW Navigation as standard. I think it comes with BMW Business nag as standard, so the upgrade to Professional Sat-Nav is not that much.

I too migrated from a 520D to a 535D; all in the space of 1 year as I felt the 2L engine a bit overwhelmed by the weight of the car. The 535D drives like a proper diesel supercar - I cannot recommend it enough.

Another thing, I definitely will buy on every car henceforth is the Head-Up Display; it is probably the most under rated but the best safety feature on the car.

[kave]

I get it, but here in Sweden the bmws are more expensive over all and either leather, navi or metallic paint is standard, even the 550i or the M550dX.
There is a campain now so Professional Navi is 2000£ instead of the usual 3500£.
I might get the 530D Xdrive instead of the 535d and save 5500£, that way I can get Navi etc.

[Ellmat]

Originally Posted by gspannu

I believe the 5 series LCI model now comes with BMW Navigation as standard. I think it comes with BMW Business nag as standard, so the upgrade to Professional Sat-Nav is not that much.

I too migrated from a 520D to a 535D; all in the space of 1 year as I felt the 2L engine a bit overwhelmed by the weight of the car. The 535D drives like a proper diesel supercar - I cannot recommend it enough.

Another thing, I definitely will buy on every car henceforth is the Head-Up Display; it is probably the most under rated but the best safety feature on the car.

I couldn't agree more. The 300+hp engine is awesome I had a 530d for a while, but found the performance "ordinary". The HUD certainly is a fantastic safety feature and should be standard in all cars, not an over-expensive option.