I got that part, but I was asking what child is going to accidentally open the drivers door and fall out while the car is moving.

All cars have to have seat-belts and child safety locks. Plus I believe it is mandatory to have a 2 stage (or whatever it is called) opening mechanism. A half pull won't open the door. There is a second catch in the door latch and I believe a second subtle layer in the pull handle (one to release the lath and the second to push the against the pin to open past the second catch).

 

that's what i meant by not only the driver's door but all doors and that's why i said what yyz-e55 mentioned is very true .

 

There's nothing inherently wrong with the W212, but it's simply not an engaging car to drive. It's pedestrian, imho. But it's certainly a comfortable and solid car. It's ideal for the commuter or anybody who spends a lot of time on the freeways. However, that disconnected driver's input is primarily what diminished my interest in the brand. But again, it's a great car for driving comfortably on the freeway and for long distances.

BMWs are obviously more of a driver's car and clearly even the cockpit layout is designed with that in mind. These are two different types of cars and one needs to pick based on personal priorities. Hopefully you'll forget all about being "cushy and cosseted" and get into driving. Next step for you should be a VW. The 991 is definitely a driver's car.

 

100%. As much as I appreciated the drive of the W212.... it just didn't do it for me on an emotional or engaging level at that point, I wasn't involved with the car. I felt like I was commuting in it. The 5-Series just feels so exhilarating for me to get into.... i know it's a brand new car and vibe for me, but I have never been so excited to DRIVE a car so much. With the W212 I'd take it out all the time to *cruise*, with the 5er I want to find turns and areas where I can accelerate quickly and to my best ability responsibly (like a freeway onramp, etc.). I've never wanted to exploit the engineering and abilities of a car so much. I mean, with the E I did, but with the E that was done by sitting in traffic and taking long highway drives. That's not a knock to the car, it's just the way the car is, hate it or love it.

It just feels cool as ice to drive this car right now. A much more red-blooded, wrapped-around-you feeling. The mix of sportiness and comfort gives this very dynamic level of both safety and coziness and an adrenaline friendly youthful sporty nature. As I said on the Bimmer board: "Now I know why BMW drivers drive like such d-bags". On the other hand, my friend who's a bit younger than me who's taking over my E comes from a similar background as me, i.e his ideal way to enjoy the benefits of affording his first luxury car is through the classic, comfort and luxury approach of M-B. He's absolutely going crazy in love with the W212 and says how surreal it is for him, etc. Funny thing is it's the exact same way I feel about my new 5er.

I guess my point was that I don't think this diminishes the W212 when it comes to its inherent nature, as it does generally what it's supposed to do on a fundamental tip especially, IMO, and if you buy it, you should be buying it for exactly what it does.... which is what I did. But yeah, my mood toward cars started changing a lot in the past few months and I got that cushy M-B'ness out of my system and was ready for a new vibe and it just feels right, right now.

 

KA,

Just dropping by to congratulate you again on your new 535i. Wow, it didn't take you long to mod the car.

 

Thank you very much, Cal! Much appreciated.

Yeah, I act fast.

I have a rear spoiler coming in and that's it for exterior mods. The rest of the investments I'm gonna make toward the car on on keeping that black as good as I can. I also have some touch up paint coming in.

Just heard of this thing called Opticoat which is basically the answer to all of my dreams, and apparently it's truly legit. I urge everyone to look it up and check it out! It's expensive to have applied especially on a Leased car, but I'm considering it once the initial Wax the dealer applied starts to wear off.

 

I'm just about to say exactly that... welcome to the d-bags club and congrats on the new car
No more love for White?

 

On a leased car it may not be worth it depending on how long you plan on keeping it for. For the same cost you may be able to get 2-3 smaller details over the course of time to keep it looking good and then you'll turn it in and move on

With that said, here is a map of authorized installers of Opti-Coat. If you choose to go that route, this will help you find someone in your area searching by zip code

http://batchgeo.com/map/232199a337c8...9c28a4d3b9c6e7

 

THANK YOU! Yeah, it's only a 24 month Lease.... though as per usual with me I'm already trying to justify the crazy high residual buyout price.

I guess it technically wouldn't make sense, but damn it would be nice to not have to be so careful with black due to Opticoat. I guess if the price is right....

Lol.

You know, I REALLY wanted white, and this car at this deal (which was a deal I was searching all over the State for, a 24 month "Coupon" that everybody ran out of quickly in CA because the deals were literally "once in a lifetime) only came in black. This car had EXACTLY the Options and MSRP I wanted.

I never considered a black car because of upkeep and how spoiled I was by "lazy upkeep white". However, I started to look at M Sport Black F10 pictures, and imagine myself in a black car, and literally overnight it just started to seem so cool, I almost didn't want the car in any other color. I also felt like getting another white car might make this experience a little less "new/different" for me. Now, it's literally like a polar opposite experience.

Just seeing myself in and with a black car is awesome right now, walking up to it, etc. it just seems so sinisterly dark which in general art is kind of my thing.... so it kinda feels "home". I guess the upkeep will tell me how I really feel about it in the future....

With a black car, I feel like when you leave your house, even during broad daylight, you're bringing the dark/night with you, and with a white car, even at night, it's like you're bringing the light/day with you.

 

Congratulations on the new car K-A. You will love everything about this car except the tires. The run flat tires are a pain and can be noisy after 15k. I've had 4 Bimmers and enjoyed every minute I've owned them.

The nicest part of the Bimmer is the in line 6 cyl. It is just so smooth and has great torque with the turbo. It practically feels like a V8.

Good luck with the new car and hopefully you will keep posting here.

 

Thanks very much Petee.

I am simply in love with this motor. I'd been fawning over the N55 I6T for some time, as the BMW N/A I6 motor has been one that has been in my family/blood practically since I was a kid (passed my driving test in one, the first Manual I ever drove was one, etc. etc.) so I've always admired how unique and smooth it felt. You're spot on in that the addition of a Turbo has changed the complete dynamic of the motor, as it truly feels like a V8, strong, low-end torque which gives it a much angrier and meaner feeling than N/A BMW I6's and it now has that V8-like effortless and balanced, vibration free operation.... The best part is, what it does retain from the historic I6 is the SMOOTHNESS (constantly blows me away how a motor can feel both so light and smooth yet heavy/torquey when you want it to), and that classic BMW I6 sound. I guess there's a reason it's been on Awarded on the "Best Engines List" every year since it came out.

Inline 6's are becoming a lost art, so it's nice that BMW keeps perfecting it, as I feel they're inherently superior (and more unique) than V6's. I heard M-B will bring back their own pretty historic take on the I6 back soon as well.... that would be pretty cool.

Other observations are how insanely good the gas mileage is on the car (add that to my gush-list of how many dynamics this engine provides). The Start/Stop feature might help with that but I hate that damn option. I keep it on as I'm trying to get used to it.

 

Hype, you better hurry if you want a Aston Martin. They are selling less than 4000 cars a year and the group that bought it from Ford need more cash to keep it going. Without a large car manufacturer with deep pockets, it will be difficult for the brand to do the R & D to keep up.

 

Now thats a car to drool over. My friends buying a Rapide so we checked out the inventory at Eurocars in Costa Mesa. Aston Martin's are gorgeous cars with elegant interiors. Im surprised though that the Rapide with a V-12 only pushes 500hp propelling the car to a top speed of 180 and 0-60 in 5. The DBS pictured is faster but not a 4 door coupe. You have to view these cars in person to really appreciate the craftmanship.

 

This CL65.

 

This canary yellow bad boy

 

This AMG is really nice IMO

 

Some new pics. That spoiler can't get here fast enough to just add that little extra touch to the rear.

 

K-A - congratulations on the new Bimmer.

I think the front looks superb. Classy and aggressive at the same time. The sides look dated though, and could be on any BMW from the last few years. The rear is incoherent and doesn't really work IMO.

There has been much criticism of the incoherence of recent MB designs, e.g. the new SL, but BMW hasn't designed a good rear for years. It's a shame because the front of both the new 3 and 5 look great.

Also, did you not want chrome around the windows? The 'shadowline' looks less distinctive to me.

Love the 5 interior though. Far superior to the W212.
I know I'm in the minority, but the simple instrument design of the 5 series craps on the fussy and wannabe sporty 'hooded gauges' on the facelift 2014 W212.

 

wouldn't I love to have one.....the four door Raptide would be my choice if I did do a trade; with the CLS being the one to go.......
going to the AM dealership is so intense......being surrounded by 42 billion
dollars worth of cars makes butterflies haha...Ferarri and Masarati are there too.......that's another dimension of car ownership
I agree, when you are standing in front of one........or four of them! you cannot help but being impressed with the details that go into the interior of the car......I'm not nutty lovin' the lay-out of the cabin.....but they're so posh and luxurious that you kind of just forget about the things you don't like.....THEN you hear the start-up bark and growl and you know why you're there
I also puzzle over the engine sizes versus their output numbers.......disappointing they're not higher (///)
KA, glad you're loving thr car man, pst pix anytime


the Raptide

 

Thanks Wig.

That's actually funny as to me the sides and rear of the car have always been damn near perfection but the front I always had a little issue with. When you get up close to the car you notice the lines are really curvy and all connected together/cohesively blended which is something that you don't notice so much from afar or in pictures. Yeah, the biggest problem with it is how similar it looks to other BMW's, but when you I guess train your eyes closely to the BMW design idiom you start to notice the subtle nuances that give each their own personalities, though to the layman they might think there's just one "BMW 4-Door" that they see everywhere, lol. I will say that the incoherency of just kind of wild changes M-B keeps doing just started to hamper my mood toward them and for now at least I'm more-so respecting the BMW approach of "find a distinctive look and keep refining and iconizing it".

Yeah, the interior seriously feels a class or two (or three) above the W212's, it's really night and day in that regard. I really love the gauges too. I have the Black Panel Display option that comes with HUD and basically the gauges are very sharp and crisp digital representations of the classic BMW gauges (models without the option come with the actual analogue gauges of course).

Based on my friends, etc. reactions, everybody loves and approves the 5, but the fact that everybody I know still at the same time gushes about my E shows just how strong they perceived the styling of that car.... The E is definitely doing its best from afar to make sure I don't forget about it.

Edit: Oh, about the shadowline, they actually come standard with M Sport models. I'm a big advocate for aluminum around the windows of M-B's, but on BMW's I do really like the shadowline/black chrome look. What I love about BMW right now is that unlike M-B they provide diversity and variety for people in terms of aesthetics. While MBUSA says "you can have it any way you want it, as long as it's an AMG Sport, Black headliner, aluminum window surrounds and glossy door frames", BMW provides for Sport or non Sport models to be sold, which gives you things like an easy chance to get black or light colored headliners, either aluminum or black window surrounds, or matte or gloss B-Pillar frames. For a detail freak like myself who as an enthusiast wants my mass market Premium Car to at least have some various options to personalize it, I really appreciate that.

 

+1, The rear fenders are the best part of F10, very muscular but yet elegance at the same time. I too sometimes having issue looking at the hood, the hump that gives better driving visibility from inside, doesn't really looks proportional from the outside (looking from the side facing front fender). Nothing is perfect

KW suspension is a must in my opinion (if your car came with standard non sport suspension), you will not regret getting this for f10. Standard suspension gives too much body roll in low speed. I went with v3, but I think I would have like kw comfort better for its ability to do higher stance alone.

 

Thanks! I just can't get over how logic defyingly good this car drives. Whether you're sitting in traffic, taking a long distance trip or hyper driving in Sport mode on twists and turns you're getting what you paid for out of the car.

I'll look into those. For 2013 M Sports we actually get an all new M steel suspension and from what I can tell so far it is exactly what the car was asking for. It feels a bit tighter than the 12 M Sport I drove last year I think but will probably revisit when I get a chance.

 

So KA, would you say the 5 M Sports is the best car you have ever owned? Where does it rank?

Congratulations btw, you really seem to be enjoying the new ride. Oh, can you post up a butt shot?

 

 

This is a Mercedes Forum. Thanks KA for all your inputs but I have heard enough about your great BMW. I believe you should move to that forum.