[FnoFFen]

I have recently converted from a 2004 525iA to a 2011 525dA. I will here just try to sum up my impressions so far changing from E60 to F10. Before the E60 I had a 1999 523iA (E39). I have now had little more than three weeks with the F10 and that means what annoys me now maybe will change after getting more used the car.

This review is unfortunately dominated by negative impressions. There are changes made from E60 to F10 that really is quite annoying. Therefore, I start with the cons.

Cons:

Creep speed/push (movement of car in D or R by just releasing the brake without pushing the accelerator) is significantly lower/weaker with my F10 compared to both E60 and E39. I don’t know if this relates to the change from petrol to diesel – however I think not. Feedback on this question is appreciated. This weak creep push is the major source of irritation for me at the moment. A slight hill and the car doesn’t move at all without pushing the accelerator. I now often need to apply the accelerator when parking in garages and similar narrow places – this I hardly ever had to do with E39 and E60.

Unfortunately BMW moved the cruise control buttons in the F10. The solution in E60 with the handle for cruise control located down and in the left side of the steering wheel was excellent. Now the buttons are located directly on the left side of the steering wheel. Why this change was done I have no idea. One consequence is that the buttons for controlling radio volume was moved to the right side of the wheel. I normally drive with my left hand holding the steering wheel. That way in the E60 I had easy access to both cruise control and volume. If I now want to control volume I need to move my right hand to the wheel – and then I could just turn the volume button directly instead. Result: slightly less comfort. I also sometimes accidentally hit the handle for set speed when turning the wheel strongly e.g. when parking. I fear I will destroy this handle some day. That said, I am glad BMW decided to keep the possibility to easy change set speed in steps of 1 or 10 km/h, which I really liked from the E60.

Also I wonder why BMW returned to the old solution (E39) where you have to set cruise control “ready” before activating it. One has to push two buttons to activate the cruise control. Furthermore, I have the symbol for cruise control lit all the time even though the cruise control is not active.

In the control for climate (I have the “big” version) the turning wheel for controlling the fan speed is gone – now I need to push several times the buttons to change fan speed more than one step. This is irritating and means less comfort. I can’t understand why this turning wheel was removed in the F10. E60 was an improvement over E39 and now BMW has returned to pushbuttons. The wheel remained in the climate control is reserved for changing the set temperature for the coupe. Why?? . This is something one rarely change and could thus be hidden far down in a menu in the iDrive-system somewhere….

Minor irritating things are longer movement of the turn signal handle – one has to move the handle much longer to apply the flashers. The short movement of this handle was excellent in the E60. I don’t know why BMW returned to the E39 “old-fashion” long movement..? My impression is that the more modern way is short movement of handles as was done in an excellent way with the new gear lever (automatic).

Another source of irritation is when radio is muted, the radio doesn’t unmute (as it did in the E60) when I change radio channel or choose a cd track. It should be obvious that I want to unmute in these cases. Also when I want to change a radio channel I need to first move to that station with the iDrive wheel and then confirm by pressing down the wheel. Too many pushes in my opinion and loss of comfort .

Something minor as well: regrettably I didn’t get the automatic closing of the trunk. To close the trunk is really hard compared to how this was in the E60 .

Something also very annoying not related to changing from E60 to F10, but changing from petrol to diesel is the lack of instant push when applying the accelerator at low cruising revs (1200 rpm). I actually thought this should be opposite since torque is higher at low revs for diesel compared to petrol. I will maybe describe this in a different thread since there is some physics I don’t understand here .


Pros:

The design of both the exterior and the interior is very nice compared to the E60. It is a welcome modernization, especially for the interior . The dash board / instrument panel around the speedometer and rev counter is really nice with the white color for clock, temperature and km (mileage) which turn to orange when it gets dark - cool. Also nice to get the driving instruction (arrows) from the navigation system directly in the instrument panel (I don’t have HUD). The 10” information screen is also very nice. I also like the iDrive control – it is much easier to operate compared to the iDrive in my E60 with too much resistance in the wheel.

I also like the raised console which means that I have a perfect place to rest my right arm while driving. The cup holders were moved. I liked it how it was in the E60, but the new location seems okay. However, there is a risk of colliding with the gear lever while putting my cup back in the holder. Haven’t happened yet though….

I LOVE the new automatic gear handle (I know this is not related to F10) and the comfort seat that I didn’t have in my E60 . The feature not having to put the key in a hole to start the car I also like a lot and is an improvement in comfort. I have the soft close of doors which also is really nice. The doors always get properly locked independent of how weakly I push them – love it!

The F10 feels like a bigger car and it is more difficult to evaluate the ends of the car, which of course is negative. However, there is a slight improvement in comfort (more “big car” feeling) even though I was satisfied with the comfort in my E60.

My general impression when moving from E39 to E60 and finally to F10 is that BMW must have concluded that the E60 was too radical with all its changes. It seems therefor as they with the F10 returned to the conservative image of the E39, however updating the technology. In addition to what I have described above is also in the dashboard the return to having the engine temperature and fuel reserve as single indicator displays – as it was in the E39.

I hope for some comments from others that have converted from E60 to F10 and if you agree with my impressions.

[Lee]

As this is my first 5 series, I have nothing to compare, but reading your comments is very helpful as I hope to keep it for many years. All of your cons, save one, don't resonate with me -- probably due to a lack of 5 series experience. I was driving through the Munich traffic this week and I was just thinking how pleased I was with what you classified as a lack of 'creep.' In heavy traffic, coupled with auto-hold, I found it very helpful that the engine brakes on its own. I also think it works well at higher speeds, especially going downhill.

With respect to the trunk, I also find it annoying. In an attempt to save a few bucks, and grief from the wife, I didn't get the electric option. When it arrived, she asked me why we had to manually close. Can't win!

Again, appreciate your insight and because I find this nearly perfect, I'm sure I'll also be disappointed with the next model.

[remmib]

Hey, another Karmøybu.

Never had a 5-series or automatic gear before and coming from an e90 and before that, an e46, I really like the f10.

The moving of the cruise control and volume control doesn't bother me actually.

And I like the f10 climate control in this better than the ones in e90, Ilke that you now can set the max fan speed in auto.

Like you, I also feel the trunk is to hard to close, it was easier on the e90.

[the_rangdo]

Originally Posted by FnoFFen

Unfortunately BMW moved the cruise control buttons in the F10. The solution in E60 with the handle for cruise control located down and in the left side of the steering wheel was excellent. Now the buttons are located directly on the left side of the steering wheel.

I love that they moved them, I can't count the number of times I caught the cruise 'handle' going for indicators. Much prefer cruise on the steering wheel.

[FnoFFen]

One thing I forgot to mention: I have comfort access. After reading on net later I now understand that keyless start you get anyway and therefore comfort access is no big deal. Opening the doors by gripping around the door handle is okay, but locking by holding the finger for one second on the top of the handle is annoying. So, I use the button in the remote to lock the doors.

Why didn't they make it (as I thought it should be) that the doors open automatically when you approach the car and lock when you move away from the car? That would be really comfort access. Some security issues why it is not programmed that way?

[rsyed]

i have owned 5 different e60/e61 (lci and non-lci) between 2005 and 2012 and I understand all teh points you have pointed out, specially the point with regard to the cruise control (i am sure by activating it, you are signing of the terms and conditions for using the cruise control ). but after being on my second f10/f11 since November 2010, I have to admit that even though there are features i loved on my e60/e61, the f10/f11 is definitely the more modern and overall seen better car..

[FnoFFen]

Originally Posted by rsyed

i have owned 5 different e60/e61 (lci and non-lci) between 2005 and 2012 and I understand all teh points you have pointed out, specially the point with regard to the cruise control (i am sure by activating it, you are signing of the terms and conditions for using the cruise control ). but after being on my second f10/f11 since November 2010, I have to admit that even though there are features i loved on my e60/e61, the f10/f11 is definitely the more modern and overall seen better car..

Yes, I think I have to get used to all that is new. I find that I like the F10 better and better everyday . And I can tell I had troubles with the E60 when I got that too. The light steering in the E60 compared to E39 (i.e. strong power steering - I had servotronic) was something I disliked strongly for several months back then ! Got used to it in the end, though . I find the steering slightly more heavy in the F10 - which is okay.

Regarding to the comfort access: I discovered today the use of locking the doors by putting the finger on top of the door handle. I had lots of goods in my hands and was going to leave the car. Without comfort access I would have to drop all the goods to stick my hand in the pocket for locking the doors. Now I could keep all the goods and put one finger on top of the handle - and that was it