[rich1068]

I realised that I've been chatting away on here and never really mentioned what I'd ordered

Anyhoo, here we go over and above the standard M Sport spec

Carbon Black
Black Dakota leather
Automatic Gearbox
Visibility package
Media package - BMW Business Advanced
Model designation deletion
Seat heating, front
Ambient lighting
Park Assist

Not much compared to some of you guys but should make quite a nice motor I think. I just hope I don't catch the modding bug again

Everything else is standard M Sport such as the 18" wheels and hexagon trim. That little lot is coming in at £430pm + VAT on 4 years contract hire.

The bad news is that due to me using a national leasing company but telling them I want the car sourced from my local BMW dealership, the paperwork took a little longer than expected. I thought the car had been ordered weeks ago but it was actually only last week and my provisional build date is mid-March

Oh well, hopefully it will have stopped snowing by then.

[335dxd]

Sounds good......did you not consider sports auto.....only £100 odd quid more and gets you paddles and dynamic drive.

I am sure it will be worth the wait,

[rich1068]

To be honest I didn't. Mainly because I read the option price wrong and thought it was about £1k more than the standard auto. The dealer rang me to ask if I was sure I didn't want it the day he was due to place the order and I realised my mistake. If I had changed my mind it would have probably added weeks to my order while all the paperwork was done so I left it.

That said, with the amount of town driving I do I really doubt I would have got much use out of the paddles. As for the switch from standard to sport or whatever it is, I can always use the gearlever manually or just knock it over to alter the change behaviour. I'll probably never do that just like I'd probably never utilise a sports auto. No loss imo.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by rich1068

To be honest I didn't. Mainly because I read the option price wrong and thought it was about £1k more than the standard auto. The dealer rang me to ask if I was sure I didn't want it the day he was due to place the order and I realised my mistake. If I had changed my mind it would have probably added weeks to my order while all the paperwork was done so I left it.

That said, with the amount of town driving I do I really doubt I would have got much use out of the paddles. As for the switch from standard to sport or whatever it is, I can always use the gearlever manually or just knock it over to alter the change behaviour. I'll probably never do that just like I'd probably never utilise a sports auto. No loss imo.

Surely your order is not locked in and can't be modified. I'd think again, as the sport auto allows the throttle and steering to be set up as well. (Via the DDC function and iDrive configurations).

Worth talking with the dealer before it is too late.

HighlandPete

[indus]

Originally Posted by rich1068

I realised that I've been chatting away on here and never really mentioned what I'd ordered

Anyhoo, here we go over and above the standard M Sport spec

Carbon Black
Black Dakota leather
Automatic Gearbox
Visibility package
Media package - BMW Business Advanced
Model designation deletion
Seat heating, front
Ambient lighting
Park Assist

Not much compared to some of you guys but should make quite a nice motor I think. I just hope I don't catch the modding bug again

Everything else is standard M Sport such as the 18" wheels and hexagon trim. That little lot is coming in at £430pm + VAT on 4 years contract hire.

The bad news is that due to me using a national leasing company but telling them I want the car sourced from my local BMW dealership, the paperwork took a little longer than expected. I thought the car had been ordered weeks ago but it was actually only last week and my provisional build date is mid-March

Oh well, hopefully it will have stopped snowing by then.

Rich, nice car, I'm sure you'll be happy.

But why mid March? That would mean 14 weeks lead time and that seems excessive. Is that because it's through a leasing company?

[335dxd]

Originally Posted by rich1068

To be honest I didn't. Mainly because I read the option price wrong and thought it was about £1k more than the standard auto. The dealer rang me to ask if I was sure I didn't want it the day he was due to place the order and I realised my mistake. If I had changed my mind it would have probably added weeks to my order while all the paperwork was done so I left it.

That said, with the amount of town driving I do I really doubt I would have got much use out of the paddles. As for the switch from standard to sport or whatever it is, I can always use the gearlever manually or just knock it over to alter the change behaviour. I'll probably never do that just like I'd probably never utilise a sports auto. No loss imo.

Understood most of the time we just put it in D and drive.....but still think for £100 odd extra it is really good option upgrade for what you get.

[indus]

Rich, don't you need the reversing camera and surround view options to make the parking assist work?

[rich1068]

Originally Posted by indus

But why mid March? That would mean 14 weeks lead time and that seems excessive. Is that because it's through a leasing company?

Shouldn't be because it's a lease, it's all in the dealers hands now. He did say it could move forward a couple of weeks though. He said 'build', not 'delivery'. I'm wondering if he made a mistake. Anyhoo, no problem other than my impatience. I've still got my Saab until then, it's just less to settle. And January/February will be expensive months for us anyway. I'm trying to be sensible.

Originally Posted by 1970Jon

Understood most of the time we just put it in D and drive.....but still think for £100 odd extra it is really good option upgrade for what you get.

Fair point but it's more delay.

[335dxd]

I know Rich after a while you end up just end going round and round looking at the options etc and to be honest the 5 is such a great car you just want to get it asap and just drive it!

[indus]

Thanks Rich.

So have you specced reverse camera and surround view because without that I don't think the park assist will work

[JOHNBMWM5]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Surely your order is not locked in and can't be modified. I'd think again, as the sport auto allows the throttle and steering to be set up as well. (Via the DDC function and iDrive configurations).

Worth talking with the dealer before it is too late.

HighlandPete

Absolutely right, you can change your order for some weeks yet, I would change it.

[Breach]

Dunno about the reverse camera, but the surround view is definitely not required for the park assist.

[rich1068]

Damn you all!! I'll speak to him!!



And re: Park Assist. Good try indus. How's the spec for the Touring going? They do look sweet with the privacy glass.

[gorban]

The sports auto might not be a must, but you will want to put the gear box in sports mode occationally. The D mode is extremely optimised for fuel efficiency and the revs will be pretty low during slow driving. Using sports mode is a relief sometimes.

[indus]

Originally Posted by rich1068

Damn you all!! I'll speak to him!!



And re: Park Assist. Good try indus. How's the spec for the Touring going? They do look sweet with the privacy glass.

Rich, I was being serious. I thought for the park assist the car needed all the cameras to guide it.

As for the Touring, that's not causing me the sleepless nights. I'm now wondering whether I should stick with carbon black or go for silver, or even sophisto grey

I need to let them know by tomorrow morning

[ellhutchinson]

I think that the sports mode adds another dimension to the car. Others are right in saying that in ''normal" mode the car can seem to chug along in a high gear at low revs particularly between 20 - 40 mph. Putting it into sports makes it rev around 500prm more and hold onto gears longer which makes it much more responsive and fun to drive, and if you dont pay for the diesel like me, who gives a s**t!
I don't think that the sports mode is suitable however on the motorway at higher speeds as the revs are probably too high and the car becomes quite audible and jerky, just my opinion anyway.

[rich1068]

Sorry indus, I missed your reply. What did you go for in the end? The Audi or the Merc?

@ ellhutchinson. Thanks for that. I have to say, I don't pay for my fuel either. Well I do, indirectly. A partnership, it's not like I'm physically putting my hand in my pocket.

So to all. Are there any real differences between the standard and sports auto boxes other than the flappy paddles and a switch?

[indus]

Originally Posted by rich1068

Sorry indus, I missed your reply. What did you go for in the end? The Audi or the Merc?

@ ellhutchinson. Thanks for that. I have to say, I don't pay for my fuel either. Well I do, indirectly. A partnership, it's not like I'm physically putting my hand in my pocket.

So to all. Are there any real differences between the standard and sports auto boxes other than the flappy paddles and a switch?

Stuck with carbon black and switched the leather to black from oyster. Oh, and it's a BMW by the way

I think the sports auto makes a HUGE difference. By hanging on to the gears it makes the car far more fun and sporty to drive when the mood takes you.

[rich1068]

Fair point but as I mentioned earlier surely this can be done with the standard auto minus the flappy paddles? But Highland Pete mentions above other adjustments that can be made? Also Sisco mentions it here http://f10.5post.com/forums/showpost...3&postcount=11

Terminally confused!

[rich1068]

Well good news and err... good news.

I've been in touch with the vehicle supplier and altered the order to include the Sport auto. Slightly bad news is this will set back delivery (probably). The mid-March I quoted earlier was in fact for delivery not build. I found out today it had shifted to maybe early March. With the change of spec we're more than likely back to mid or late March. No problem.

Anyhoo, the other stuff. My guy at Sytner said I'd be getting the 'new model'. Eh? Well it turns out I'll be getting the Combox (whatever that is, still reading up), USB (didn't originally order that!), heated seats as standard (ordered them as an option, saving will offset cost of gearbox upgrade) and the new start/stop function being implemented across the auto range. Not a bad result I think

[Breach]

Originally Posted by rich1068

Well good news and err... good news.

I've been in touch with the vehicle supplier and altered the order to include the Sport auto. Slightly bad news is this will set back delivery (probably). The mid-March I quoted earlier was in fact for delivery not build. I found out today it had shifted to maybe early March. With the change of spec we're more than likely back to mid or late March. No problem.

Anyhoo, the other stuff. My guy at Sytner said I'd be getting the 'new model'. Eh? Well it turns out I'll be getting the Combox (whatever that is, still reading up), USB (didn't originally order that!), heated seats as standard (ordered them as an option, saving will offset cost of gearbox upgrade) and the new start/stop function being implemented across the auto range. Not a bad result I think

I ordered end of November and got as standard:

6FL USB interface
508 PDC
494 Seat heating front
441 Smokers package
431 Rearview window, auto dimming
428 First Aid Kit
423 Mats
302 Alarm System
258 Runflats

I didn't ask but I guess I'm getting the Combox as it's now by default. Are you sure about the stop and go with auto? That's all speculation IMHO, the 9/2010 catalog says it only comes with 520d MT.

[dgmc]

Originally Posted by rich1068

Well good news and err... good news.

I've been in touch with the vehicle supplier and altered the order to include the Sport auto. Slightly bad news is this will set back delivery (probably). The mid-March I quoted earlier was in fact for delivery not build. I found out today it had shifted to maybe early March. With the change of spec we're more than likely back to mid or late March. No problem.

Anyhoo, the other stuff. My guy at Sytner said I'd be getting the 'new model'. Eh? Well it turns out I'll be getting the Combox (whatever that is, still reading up), USB (didn't originally order that!), heated seats as standard (ordered them as an option, saving will offset cost of gearbox upgrade) and the new start/stop function being implemented across the auto range. Not a bad result I think

I'm also looking confirmation re Auto Stop/start with auto box. My dealer thinks this will be in the Wk 10 changes - March builds and 530d M Sport will also get the new 260PS/560NM 3.0 diesel engine as is going into X3 at same time.

Confirmed changes to Jan 1st builds are the Telephone USB audio and Heated front seats. Wk 10 changes still to be confirmed but above is more than likely.