BMW

wrote

That would be a 535i.

Pete

Or 535d

How do you like it? How is the acceleration/ handling? Any turbo-lag? How bad/good is the iDrive? I have a 2003 530i 5 speed and I am considering an upgrade to the 2008 535i or perhaps the 550i. Thanks in advance for any insights.

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The engine is great with no lag however the same engine and Trans in the 730d (single turbo) feels exactly the same (I have the 730d and drive the 535d often) but the 535 has about another 35HP over the 730d.

The iDrive takes some getting used to as do other things but the computer system will remember how you drive the car and will eventually it will feel sluggish (auto) if you regularly drive slow around town like starting off in 2nd and a "hole" when trying to pull away smartly.

Either get your dealer to reset the ecu or email me and I'll tell you how to do it. If enough people want to know I'll post it here but it's only useful for

2001 >> 5, 6 & 7 series.

I Love it...it is the best car i have driven so far....and i have had zero problems so far. *knock on wood*. Even in cold winters (of -30 F), it has always started up and accelerated very well the first time. How is the acceleration/ handling? Acceleration much more than i have ever needed. It is very fast though i have really floored it only a couple of times. I have a manual transmission and i am not very sure as to how the auto transmission is, but it should not be that different. All BMWs that i have had have always handled very well.

I ran with all season tires in Minnesota snow all winter, and it never slipped (of course, i drive safe). The manual transmission has a little bit to do with it, but it handles well for "big" car (compared to 3-series).

Any turbo-lag? No noticeable lags at all......couple of times when accelerating in the ramps, i

*think* i might have sensed a lag, but no more than half a second. Unless you drag race, it should not be a problem.

How bad/good is the iDrive? I like the iDrive quite well...IMO, there probably is NO easier way to put all that options in a better arrangement to be controlled by a single button/dial. I like the single controller as it allows me to do my settings while driving with out taking the eyes off the road. It took me less than an hour to learn it inside out and all the various available options. But, then i am software engineer who deals with (bad/good) GUI driven applications all day long, so it could be because of that. With the right combination of voice command and the controller you can pretty much reach all options within 2-3 click and twists.

I have a 2003 530i 5 speed and I am considering an

The major differences between the two (535 vs 550) is the engine and the horse power. I am personally biased towards inline engines, but if you don't care much about how your engine cylinders are aligned, 550 will get you 60 hp more. head over to

are quite a bit of threads which compares the two.

You REALLY need to test drive one. Everyone's idea of 'great' is different to another's. Hiring one for a week is a sensible investment when you're talking about shelling out a great deal of money and the repercussions of getting it wrong are somewhat expensive!

Yes, one test drive.

As soon as I put my foot on the accelerator I new I wanted it, so I ordered it right after the test drive.

Now I wait...

Yes lag. It's not bad, but it's there. Might be less noticeable with an auto.

Test drove a 535i this weekend-- sports package/ automatic transmission. Once I switched to quasi-manual mode (tiptronic or whatever they call it) I was sold. Amazingly smooth and powerful engine. No noticeable lag. Hit

85mph darting around mid-town manhattan traffic. Any reason to wait for next year or is this the perfect sedan?

Small gripe- the location of the iDrive controller is right where you shift (I would be getting a manual) and seems a bit awkward.

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If it is any help, i have a manual and it does not get in the way or anything....

on the other hand, it is pretty handy when you have to shift while working on your CD :-)

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