[MBrown1003]

Originally Posted by BimmerGuyFL

So I was surprised today when I took my 335i coupe for it's weekly Saturday wash at Fields BMW in Orlando Florida, when I pull up a new 2011 F10 550i was parked up front. I got my sales person to let me take it out on the back roads and on the highway.

I really love the new exterior and interior design. Very high quality that's unmatched by any other cars in its class. Ride quality was fantastic! I tried out the Comfort, Normal, Sport, and Sport+ settings. I didn't notice too much of a difference between all 4 settings. Sport settings seem as if the steering becomes a bit and I mean a bit sharper than Normal and Comfort settings. Also in Sport the gas pedal was more responsive as well as the transmission kick down faster. Comfort didn't feel as soft as I thought it was going to, there is a bit more softness but not dramatically so from Normal or Sport settings.

Power was amazing and sounded great! Def drives like a lighter 750i but feels like two class notches above the previous E60 530i Sport I had back in 2005-2007. Interior seems smaller than that of the E60 models but not in a bad way. Love the move back to the more intimate feel from BMW's of the past.

I noticed that the power seats don't go up high enough, seemed strange to me.

Overall I loved the new F10 5-series. Only thing I didn't like was the too light steering feel at all speeds while driving the car. Wish it had a bit more heft like the E39 5-series or like my current 335i coupe.

I recently also test drove the 535i on a special event in Atlanta. The 535i did not have the sports package as well as the Dynamic Handling package of course. After driving today the 550i I would say I rather get a nicely loaded 535i without Sport Package as I didn't really notice any great gains over the standard suspension.

Hopefully buy the time my 335i coupe lease is over in a year and a half, BMW might resolve the too light steering feel currently being introduced on the 2011 F10 5-series.

Thanks for the info! After four Fives, I've had a couple of Threes (335i coupe, M3 sedan), and I think I'm ready to go back to a Five. Based on your comments, I agree and hope the 2011 irons out the ride/drive issues you identified. I've got 17 months left on the lease on my E90 M3 -- that should give them plenty of time to get it all sorted out!