rayscar

I had this posted on my picture thread but thought it would be better to post it separately so here it is:


After driving my E500 for 800 miles, here are my impressions:

The car is very smooth, fast, quiet, and solid felling. It handles great. I have notice a slight drift to the right. Not sure it is the problem that other have posted about. There is no ticking noise on my car or any problems. On mostly a highway trip, I averaged 24.9 mpg. Not bad considering a big V8 and i was going between 55 and 75 mph most of the way.

The HK sound system is very nice but not as good as i imagined it would be. I'd like to see more ability to adjust the sound to my personal taste (other than base & tremble and some other minor options).

The cup holders are way to small and not designed well. I guess Europeans don't "get" the cup holder thing.

The wipers worked great on my trip. They did not skip or jump and were very quiet.

The standard seats are very comfortable. I was in them for 4-5 hours at a time and they still felt good.

The fit and finish is excellent as is the leather, wood (I know it's veneer), and other interior items.

I thought there was good road feel from the wheel although it might be a little too much for my taste.

I don't like the ash tray on the dash. I would like to have that as storage space for those of us who do not smoke. Just seems like a waste of prime dash space for us non-smokers. As option for storage or an ash tray would be good.

Climate control seems to work fine. Don't know how to use all of it but then all you need to know is set it on auto and leave it.

The bixenon lights are great. Much brighter than normal lights.

The pano roof is a must have IMHO. I've gotten lots of compliments on it. It makes a big impression. No more noise than a normal sunroof and it has an electric cover for both roofs if the sun is too bright. The pano roof is my favorite option.

Now if the DVD-Nav would just get here!

Bottom line is that this is one of the best cars I've ever owned. It is expensive but all good things are. I would not hesitate to buy this car again or recommend it to family or a friend. If you have one on order you did the right thing. If you are thinking about buying one, all I can say is that you won't regret it if you do IMHO.

bmms8

yea, thats what we did, its in your glove box, also, the glove box seems small, so we took out that tray

rayscar

Thanks I didn't know that. I did not see any mat in the glove box though so mine may be missing. BTW, on the inside of the glove box door, there are two little clips with nothing attached to them. Is something missing from my glove box that should be attached to those clips or is it like that for everyone?

saintvir

I use the clips to hold a pen. On the right hand side of the lid, I also store small sheets of paper ... one never knows when you might need to write something down.

potxoli

not near the car now, so working off of memory, but the crank to shut the sunroof if the motor breaks is clipped to the glovebox door as well. Maybe that is what the clips are for, or are there other clips?

rayscar

It could be for a manual crank for the sunroof. There are two small clips on the inside of the door lined up horizontally from each other about 3-4 inches apart if my memory serves me correctly. The clips are fairly small so the thickness of the crank cannot be too big.

jhb

I think the clips are not for the crank, it doesn't fit there. My car has them and inside them is the small rubber mat that apparently fits in the ash tray. Jeff

rayscar

I'll check it out when I go out to my car tonight. Thanks Jeff.

roncar

I see you have the E4 option which is folding seats including the front seat. My understanding is the E4 option is not available. I have a deposit at a dealer waiting for this option to be released so we can order the car. So my question is does your front seat fold?

jhb

I think what rayscar and I got was not the E4 option per se. I think it is what MBUSA calls the "Launch Promotion Split Folding Rear Seat". It does not come with the ski bag and the fold forward front passenger seat. From my perspective, that is no great loss. The pix of the fold forward front seat show that the back of the seat is upholstered in leather (or vinyl). As such, there would be few or no instances where I would use it folded forward. I suppose if you had skis with a ski bag to protect the front seat back, you might. I live in Florida and do not water ski anymore, so, no problem. And it was only $100. We have made several trips to the garden shop and, with the rear seats down, had 10 or 11 flats of plants in the rear with no problem.

rayscar

Hi roncar, Jeff is right. I have the folding rear seat promo option for $100. Both back seats fold down making the already large trunk huge but no folding passenger seat and no ski bag.

rayscar

Hi Jeff, I found the rubber mat in the glove box and removed the ash try last night. Much better for me. Thanks for letting me know. Still can't figure out what the clips on the inside of the glove box door is though

jim256

I now see those clips, too. Thanks, rayscar, I had missed those two at the top of the door, but had seen the lower-placed pen holder and slot for the rubber mat/post-it pad. Since the upper clip has one side with a closed loop and the other an open clip, might it be a holder for a tire gauge? The sunroof crank obviously could not be held there. My best guess..... but open for a better idea.

rayscar

Beats me jim256. I'll have to see if the manual has anything about it.

jhb

I am sure that if we read the manual we would discover the answers to all this, but that would take all the fun out of this. The clips next to where the little rubber mat to replace the ashtray seem to be for your choice of a pen or tire guage (probably the intended use). BTW, while looking at the clips, I also found the horizontal ribs on the right side of the open glove box for coins.

bmms8

yea, i cant find the clips u guys are talking about, i can see the coin holder, the pen holder, but nothing else, these clips are on the door?

mb_newbie

bmms8,

There is a set of clips on the glovebox door (looks similar to the pen holder/clips). You can either use it as (1) Big pen, like MONT BLANC, holder (2) MINI MAGLITE (i.e.: mini flashlight) (3) tyre gauge (4) whatever fits

-- mb_newbie

bmms8

oo, i thought those clips were to hold the glove box in place

bmms8

i took a pic of the clips, i have no clue at all of what they are, the pic isnt that clear, but are these the clips?

mb_newbie

bmms8,

I believe that's the clips. I am currently use them to hold the MINI MAGLITE ( remind me that BMW includes the flash light in the glove box ).

-- mb_newbie

mb_newbie

Tried to attach the picture; however, the image is way beyond the allowance for this forum. (around 960 KB).

-- mb_newbie

Dema

Just load it in any graphical editor and squeeze it to 800X600 or less. If your OS Windows 2K, then you can use Paint.

mb_newbie

Dema,

The 960 KB is a "squeezed" result

I will try to "squeeze" it more and hopefully it is still viewable.

-- mb_newbie

mb_newbie

Another try. Hopefully it works and still view-able.

-- mb_newbie

mb_newbie

This one should be better.


-- mb_newbie