[Piers]

Originally Posted by Beancounter_74

.....and what did she think about the BMW?

[Bmwlvr60]

Excellent choice!

[Piers]

600 miles in. Impressions so far

Got the equaliser settings sorted thanks to a friend on here
Auto handbrake/start/stop tech takes a bit of getting used to!
Still love the MFD, in fact everyone that sees it does.
It is bigger than the E60
Interior quality

Loving it.

[Bmwlvr60]

Originally Posted by Piers

600 miles in. Impressions so far

Got the equaliser settings sorted thanks to a friend on here
Auto handbrake/start/stop tech takes a bit of getting used to!
Still love the MFD, in fact everyone that sees it does.
It is bigger than the E60
Interior quality

Loving it.

[mrsmith]

Originally Posted by Piers

It finally arrived this morning, picked her up with 3 miles on the clock.

2014 LCI 520d MSport Space Grey with Oyster leather

Options -
M Sport Plus Pack -
19" 351 alloys
Sun Protection Glass - finishes the look of the MSport
Harmon Karden 500w HiFi - sounds fantastic

Pro media
Enhanced bluetooth
Multi Function Display - what an awesome piece of kit, well chuffed!
Ambient Lighting - exterior handle lights are a lovely finishing touch.

Coming out of an identical SG E60, I am staggered at how much better this car is. I have only done 70 miles, but the build quality, ride, gizmo's are all a very pleasant surprise.

Love the Multi Function Display, was just curious, can you change the display types without changing the driving mode ? i.e. Can you have the sport look on the display without putting the car in sport mode ?

Also what does the Enhanced bluetooth get you ? Can you still connect and browse through your iPhone media by usb if you dont't have the Enhanced bluetooth option.

I ask because I'm about to order a new 520D M Sport myself (currently have 2011 520D M Sport) and some of the options have changed.

[Piers]

Originally Posted by mrsmith

Love the Multi Function Display, was just curious, can you change the display types without changing the driving mode ? i.e. Can you have the sport look on the display without putting the car in sport mode ?

Also what does the Enhanced bluetooth get you ? Can you still connect and browse through your iPhone media by usb if you dont't have the Enhanced bluetooth option.

I ask because I'm about to order a new 520D M Sport myself (currently have 2011 520D M Sport) and some of the options have changed.

The MFD can only change with the driving mode, but interestingly, it is all the other other bits it does that make it so great, colour sat nav in central section, change of radio/song on ipod in the rev counter, which saves it all having to change in the central display. It truly is multi functional and well worth the money

Re the enhanced bluetooth, it is primarily straming music from the iphone. So I can play spotify through the car on bluetooth for example. I am not 100% on the rest. I had a pro media E60, and he told me they had split the pro media, and therefore needed enhanced bluetooth to do the same as I had before, so for £350 did'nt want to risk it!

What colour combo have you got and going for mrsmith?

[mrsmith]

Originally Posted by Piers

The MFD can only change with the driving mode, but interestingly, it is all the other other bits it does that make it so great, colour sat nav in central section, change of radio/song on ipod in the rev counter, which saves it all having to change in the central display. It truly is multi functional and well worth the money

Re the enhanced bluetooth, it is primarily straming music from the iphone. So I can play spotify through the car on bluetooth for example. I am not 100% on the rest. I had a pro media E60, and he told me they had split the pro media, and therefore needed enhanced bluetooth to do the same as I had before, so for £350 did'nt want to risk it!

What colour combo have you got and going for mrsmith?

Currently have the Titanium Silver with Black Dakota Interior, think I'll stick with the same interior with maybe Alpine White this time.

Here in Ireland the enhanced bluetooth is €650 extra. I always connect my iPhone by USB which displays all my music (including spotify) on the dash .. so I'm assuming if I don't intend to do it via bluetooth then I don't really need the enhanced bluetooth.

Some of the options are crazy money in Ireland, the Business Sat Nav is standard but it costs €2000 extra to upgrade to professional

[Piers]

^ May be an obvious reason why, but why not order from a UK dealer, then fly over, pick it up and drive back?

[mrsmith]

Originally Posted by Piers

^ May be an obvious reason why, but why not order from a UK dealer, then fly over, pick it up and drive back?

ah yes if only it was that simple. Firstly we have to pay a registration tax (VRT) on the imported car, in this case that would be about €10000. Then we would pay Irish VAT @ 23% of it's value including the VRT. Then claim back the UK VAT.

Plus the fact that that I would then have to privately sell the current car.

[Piers]

Originally Posted by v12

Beautiful - Space Gray is my next color.

Not a fan of the hideous instrument cluster though....

Cheers on the colour.

Everyone who has the MFD thinks it's awesome, lucky we are all different When it's available in the states, I am sure it will be popular there too

[camnhoj]

Originally Posted by mrsmith

ah yes if only it was that simple. Firstly we have to pay a registration tax (VRT) on the imported car, in this case that would be about €10000. Then we would pay Irish VAT @ 23% of it's value including the VRT. Then claim back the UK VAT.

Plus the fact that that I would then have to privately sell the current car.

The joys of living here in the banana Republic

[Piers]

3,500 miles in and still loving it. The Space Grey is still proving to be the rarest MSport colour around, which is nice. Oyster has proved to be a great decision, love it.

Pro nav has so much functionality, even played a DVD on it last week, happy days!

[Piers]

So, a year passes so quickly, since my last update, 17,000 miles in total.

The car has been faultless, (well, maybe one, see below) just had one service so far.

Had the rusty calipers painted by BMW after a bit of a struggle, but they did it and did it well.

The oyster leather has stayed oyster so far, no signs of staining yet.

The MFD is still a crowning glory on a lovely car, the way you can control the media through it, sat nav instructions and driving modes, allowing the full pro nav screen to maintain a full map at all times is brilliant. Only problem is, what will I do as my next car, who is going to equal this (Tesla maybe - or another 5 )

I have not been so impressed with the fuel economy to be honest. It's not that I care about the money ( well I do, but that is not the most important point ) it is that despite my BEST efforts over 100's of miles of touring, I have NEVER got ANYWHERE NEAR the quoted numbers, not even close, BMW are quoting fiction. 42mpg is nearly 20% off quoted, and I appreciate it is in a wind tunnel etc, but really....

Auto is effortless and smooth, paint finish is glassy, demisting on cold mornings (even remotely) is very impressive, love the heated comfortable seats and folding mirrors.

A massive step up on the E60, and I was impressed with that.

What would I change? 3 litre diesel maybe? but I don't really neeeeeed it, it does sound good though, other than that, I may even be persuaded to keep this car longer than normal.

[Jocky Wilson]

Interesting to read your post Piers as we both purchased 520D's around the same time last year. You have a couple thousand more miles on the clock than me but I think our findings are quite similar. I may have done slightly better on the mpg than you, but only just. I spend far more time in Eco Pro mode than Sport mode for example. I'm still a long way off BMW's numbers though.

Otherwise, lovely car. Personally my plan is to keep it for many years. (I can't really afford not to as I nearly broke the bank buying it).

[cipher5]

I would love to retro the MFD into my 2011 but the price is crazy expensive.

[rmastale]

Originally Posted by cipher5

I would love to retro the MFD into my 2011 but the price is crazy expensive.

What is the price? Have you found anyone to do this? I'm assuming the MFD retro is the same as the 6WB?

[cipher5]

Originally Posted by rmastale

What is the price? Have you found anyone to do this? I'm assuming the MFD retro is the same as the 6WB?

$2,000

http://www.bimmer-tech.net/shop/bmw-...panel-retrofit


Other option is:
http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1039855

[rmastale]

I love this community. Thanks so much... I'll be doing this in the next month or so. Need to find someone to install though that's for sure... I'm not touching the code.

Originally Posted by cipher5

$2,000

http://www.bimmer-tech.net/shop/bmw-...panel-retrofit


Other option is:
http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1039855

[cipher5]

Originally Posted by rmastale

I love this community. Thanks so much... I'll be doing this in the next month or so. Need to find someone to install though that's for sure... I'm not touching the code.

Good luck sir! Definitely can get it cheaper if you buy a new part and then code or find someone to code. I started to read the coding tutorials and despite being a programmer (by education), looking at it scared me!

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by Beancounter_74

.....and what did she think about the BMW?

Good one LOL!