RE: BMW 5 Series: Review

[telecat]

Muzzer79 said:

HardMiles said:

Looks nice. If it had only Bluetooth, sat nav, ABS, cruise control & parking sensors, dump the rest of the electro shyte, it'd be contemplated. I simply can't abide new cars. They are predominantly overweight due to the masses that have no idea how to use them...

Perhaps they should also ditch that new-fangled key-thing and give you a handle that you insert into the front grille and turn to start it up?

Lovely car, shame they have kept the 2010-year interior design....

Its the difference between what is useful and what is not. Starting a car using a self starter is useful. Having it unlock and start up as you walk toward it. Not always useful.

[kambites]

HardMiles said:

Kambites, it's not the cpu chips that weigh loads, but it'll likely have over 2 miles of cables running through it. Strip that guff out and weigh it...

Curiously enough, I have done, although admittedly not on a car quite this new. Still I can't believe you're looking at more than 50kg for an entire 5-series wiring loom, I'd guess closer to 30kg. That's less than the weight of one power-adjustable seat or set of curtain air-bags.

[D200]

spikyone said:

It's not a car for me - anything without a manual is not a car for me, but especially so a barge like this. But I will say that the gearbox tech sounds very clever. I had an auto/diesel W212 as a courtesy car a while back and it was never in the right gear. The worst of its traits was refusing to downshift as you approached a roundabout or junction, leaving you without any acceleration if it was clear to go and turning "plenty of space" into "oh st I'm almost stopped in the road with a white van bearing down on me". Anything that can make autos more intelligent can only be a good thing.

If anything without a manual isn't for you then basically any Ferrari, Porsche, Lambo, Mercedes, BMW etc. etc aren't for you. As most of these cars have no or next to no manual option. For a good reason.

I also think an auto in a barge like that is especially desirable - you wouldn’t want a manual 5 series, 7 series, e class, S class and so on

You mustn't have driven a good modern-ish auto – for example the zf 8 speed auto is great - and it’s been out since 2011 i think

There is a chap at my work who hates autos. He likes driving he says, like manuals, goes for long drives in his Hyundai i20

I asked him did he ever drive a modern auto but he hadn’t ever driven any automatic car ever, but much prefers the manuals like on his i20's.

Nowadays in high performance cars especially you need an auto or DSG - PDK or whatever - its only pretentious journalists who hanker after a manual in a very high performance car.

Could you imagine a manual 458/488/650S/GTR etc - you would be constantly changing gears every 2 seconds and it would be right pain in the H

Don’t mention the 911R – it is not a driver’s car. No matter what ‘thrill of driving’ evo say – a lot of pretentious toss – guaranteed it is the 911 that will be least driven, ever

[HighwayStar]

Vroom101 said:

HighwayStar said:

Vroom101 said:

Speaking of BMW drivers, has anyone seen the TV advert for this car? The driver 'Scott' (it says his name on the dash display ) appears to be a stereotypical PH company director type. As soon as I saw it, the word 'Tw*t' entered my head.

Lol... I've seen the ad... Scott Eastwood, spawn of Clint no less.
The things that wind people up always amuse me sometimes.

I don't let it wind me up, but it amuses me how BMW have fallen on the stereotypical thrusting executive example. The 'Tw*t' remark was aimed more towards the PH company director, rather than BMW drivers

I didn't realise it was Clint Eastwood's son though.

Ahhh... Makes sense with context, I agree.

[Patrick Bateman]

Doubt I'd view changing gears manually as being a pain in the arse on that lot.

[confused_buyer]

D200 said:

I also think an auto in a barge like that is especially desirable - you wouldn’t want a manual 5 series, 7 series, e class, S class and so on

Some people evidently do want a manual 5-Series as evidenced by there being quite a lot about. Not many people, maybe, but BMW are making one and some people think it is a shame they are not (yet) offering it in the UK.

A similar situation exists with the new Volvo S90/V90 which hasn't got a manual option in the UK - there are a small but nonetheless significant number of manual versions of the last S80/V70 knocking about so some of their customers obviously are interested in a manual option.

It is all about choice.

[D200]

Patrick Bateman said:

Doubt I'd view changing gears manually as being a pain in the arse on that lot.

Each to their own I guess but I think after a while you would. They are so fast and go through gears so fast you would be constantly clutching, change gear via a stick in H pattern, release clutch, press accelerator and so on. If driving them hard you would be literally constantly changing gears every 2 or 3 seconds.

Fair enough if the car had a full on sequential race box it would be fine but that's not practical in a road car

I used to dislike non-manual performance cars but now prefer them to manuals. Fair enough, in a classic 911 or something a manual is nice.

[D200]

confused_buyer said:

Some people evidently do want a manual 5-Series as evidenced by there being quite a lot about. Not many people, maybe, but BMW are making one and some people think it is a shame they are not (yet) offering it in the UK.

A similar situation exists with the new Volvo S90/V90 which hasn't got a manual option in the UK - there are a small but nonetheless significant number of manual versions of the last S80/V70 knocking about so some of their customers obviously are interested in a manual option.

It is all about choice.

Purely because the auto was a 1800 quid option and lots are cheapest possible 520d SE fleet cars. I know people who bought the manual but immediately regretted it after driving an auto.

I think a manual is preferred in something like a GT86, a hot hatch etc but not a big saloon like this

[D200]

SHOCK HORROR

The new 5 series is a heavy car

Of course it is, talk about stating the obvious

So is a Merc E class, Audi A6 etc - the 5 series is actually slightly lighter than them

[iSore]

XMT said:

Love it - except for the price lol

I'd say £36'000 for a base 520dSE with all the kit that it has isn't dear at all. In BMW terms it's almost a bargain for what it offers.

[D200]

iSore said:

XMT said:

Love it - except for the price lol

I'd say £36'000 for a base 520dSE with all the kit that it has isn't dear at all. In BMW terms it's almost a bargain for what it offers.

I think so too. No new cars are cheap nowadays and this is not a cheap car by any stretch of the imagination

But considering the new Landrover Discovery for example costs near 63K [eek!] for the 2.0 Diesel HSE version 36k for this isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things, and as standard comes well enough equipped for most.

[Helicopter123]

iSore said:

XMT said:

Love it - except for the price lol

I'd say £36'000 for a base 520dSE with all the kit that it has isn't dear at all. In BMW terms it's almost a bargain for what it offers.

Already £6k off that at Broadspeed.

Has to be good value at £30k???

[CrgT16]

I like it, sat on one today and it is really nice and feels very comfortable. Not driven but I can understand how motorway miles could be done on one of these in a very comfortable way.

For motorway miles and comfortable commuting I think it is very nice. Sure cheaper barges around but I though it was very nice to live in on an everyday basis. For fun driving.. too big but I suppose the brief for this car is to be comfortable and it certainly is, at least for me.

[VGTICE]

CrgT16 said:

I like it, sat on one today.

Did you dent it? Modern BMW's are made out of paper thin steel so you sitting on in must have left an indentation at least.

[VGTICE]

mcbook said:

VGTICE said:

Oh how snowflake of you. Just because it's your opinion doesn't mean you're right. Tell me what would happen if you tried changing lanes without indicating during driving test?

My driving instructor told me (granted, this was 15 years ago) that indicating was not required when returning to the left lane of a dual carriage way, following an overtake. Completed the same manoeuvre on the test with no mention of it on the results sheet.

That's interesting. Now imagine a 3 lane dual carriage way. You're in lane 3 overtaking a MLM, another car ahead of you in lane 1 is coming up to a slower car so wants to overtake using lane 2. You tackled the MLM and want to return to your left lane (no 2) and decide to do that without indicating. At the same time lane 1 car sees lane 2 clear, sees you in lane 3, doesn't see you indicating your intentions to change lanes and therefore indicates and starts overtaking into lane 2. You collide. Who's fault is it.

[confused_buyer]

D200 said:

Purely because the auto was a 1800 quid option and lots are cheapest possible 520d SE fleet cars. I know people who bought the manual but immediately regretted it after driving an auto.

I think a manual is preferred in something like a GT86, a hot hatch etc but not a big saloon like this

I've seen larger engines versions as well. They're certainly about.

To be frank, I don't think I'd spec a manual either but there is something quite nice and unique about a big engined proper manual. It is a rare and unique experience but by no means unpleasant. Last month I was driving a diesel V6 engined A6 with a manual and this month I've been driving a Volvo S80 manual (both far more common in auto format) and I'm surprised to admit I really liked both in that format.

[kambites]

I'm dead against anything other than a proper manual in "fun" cars, but there's no way I'd pick one over an auto in a 5-series.

[D200]

confused_buyer said:

I've seen larger engines versions as well. They're certainly about.

To be frank, I don't think I'd spec a manual either but there is something quite nice and unique about a big engined proper manual. It is a rare and unique experience but by no means unpleasant. Last month I was driving a diesel V6 engined A6 with a manual and this month I've been driving a Volvo S80 manual (both far more common in auto format) and I'm surprised to admit I really liked both in that format.

They exist for sure but very small %

I checked autotrader and for f10/11 there are 518 autos 3.0's vs 9 manuals

I think reason there was more manual older ones (e39 etc) is auto were poor compared to zf 8 speed plus about 10mpg worse than equiv manual. But newer auto much same or better mpg for auto

[court]

I had the misfortune of running round in a company F10 520d manual for a month. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. If nothing else the awful position of the shifter meant there was no room for the cup holders so BMW removed them!

[DM525i]

My interest in BMW's and cars generally is on a distinctly downward slide. Owning and daily driving an E39 525i with a manual is great. When I can't be arsed changing gear I generally don't have to, granted it is on country roads. How long will the 3/4 series be available with a manual? I'm going to have to find a new interest.