BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
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Pro nav isn't an essential, just a nice to have. 
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Pro nav isn't an essential, just a nice to have.
Using that logic you may as well buy a Kia Picanto then. A 3 litre engine isn't essential..
The interior is designed around the proper screen.
Pro nav isn't an essential, just a nice to have.
I kind of disagree, the standard nav equipment is awful, which for me would make pro nav an essential.
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Must have changed the peasant nav at some point then. Mines fine, though not a 5 series. 
Disagree on the 3 litre engine though, that is essential!
Disagree on the 3 litre engine though, that is essential!
The interface is squashed and looks poor, there isn't enough screen space to properly display everything and the plastic blanks each side of the screen where the screen is smaller than the proper one look daft.
It's part of what makes a 5 Series such a nice place to be and it's a very common option.
It's part of what makes a 5 Series such a nice place to be and it's a very common option.
The plastic surrounds are incredibly ugly
A service is never just a service is it 
BMW tell me I need new front discs too (although the pads are only 55% worn the discs themselves are below recommended min). So £450 brake discs and pads, £150 oil service (expected) plus whatever I spend on tyres, this is going to be an expensive car ownership month 
Lucky they included a free vehicle check The glove box catch is broken too (stuck in locked position) but at £200 to fix I can live without a glove box for a while...
BMW tell me I need new front discs too (although the pads are only 55% worn the discs themselves are below recommended min). So £450 brake discs and pads, £150 oil service (expected) plus whatever I spend on tyres, this is going to be an expensive car ownership month Lucky they included a free vehicle check The glove box catch is broken too (stuck in locked position) but at £200 to fix I can live without a glove box for a while...
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Just got back from my time with the new G30. They gave me a 530d xDrive.
First thing I noticed when I sat in it was how the subtle improvements really make it feel a lot more exec. The layout of the buttons on the centre console and the white text as opposed to the orange look a lot more classy. Only thing. I didn't like was the new 3 buttons for switching between Eco Pro, Comfort and Sport. I much prefer the F10 two button selector.
Things like the new ambient lighting, although it wasn't dark enough to fully appreciate it, really add a nice touch. Being able to select more than just orange and white makes a big improvement and you can mix colours up. I went with blue with white and it looks really nice, reminded me of the XF subtle blue lighting that I really liked. The new seats are really nice, a big improvement, especially the headrests. I can never quite get the headrests right in my F10, and they're far too firm. These almost felt like pillows in comparison.
New screen and iDrive are actually much better than I thought. The responsiveness of the screen and the speed of the software make it really nice to use. The home page layout is actually useful and you can actually just use the home page now rather than keep it on sat nav or media just to have something on the screen. You can choose what you display to make it a bit more personal. The gesture control is a bit gimmicky and I couldn't see me using it, the few times I tried it, occasionally it wouldn't pick it up.
It had a lot of toys, fully digital dials, heads up display, HK audio and a lot of other things that you'd expect from a car they give to you to tempt you.
To drive, it was virtually the same. The sound proofing might be ever so slightly better as the diesel note is even more muffled. Outside the car however, it sounds a lot more diesel like, there was a noticeable dag dag even after a long and spirited drive. Gear box is no different and the engine feels no different, well not different enough for me to tell what was different, it might be a little more responsive at lower RPM but is that the xDrive? I can't say I noticed much from the xDrive in that short time other what I just mentioned, that it seems to pick up speed a lot quicker from a stand still, and even in the wet roads I found it hard for the traction light to kick in when in Sport manual. The heads up display that it had was lovely, I've had them in hire cars before and found them to be too distracting, but this one you can adjust the position if needed but I didn't bother, my eyes seemed to ignore it when I didn't need to look at it.
It's no way near a big enough improvement for me to want to buy now, I will definitely get one but only when the deals are there and the price is right. And I certainly wouldn't pay new prices for one.
First thing I noticed when I sat in it was how the subtle improvements really make it feel a lot more exec. The layout of the buttons on the centre console and the white text as opposed to the orange look a lot more classy. Only thing. I didn't like was the new 3 buttons for switching between Eco Pro, Comfort and Sport. I much prefer the F10 two button selector.
Things like the new ambient lighting, although it wasn't dark enough to fully appreciate it, really add a nice touch. Being able to select more than just orange and white makes a big improvement and you can mix colours up. I went with blue with white and it looks really nice, reminded me of the XF subtle blue lighting that I really liked. The new seats are really nice, a big improvement, especially the headrests. I can never quite get the headrests right in my F10, and they're far too firm. These almost felt like pillows in comparison.
New screen and iDrive are actually much better than I thought. The responsiveness of the screen and the speed of the software make it really nice to use. The home page layout is actually useful and you can actually just use the home page now rather than keep it on sat nav or media just to have something on the screen. You can choose what you display to make it a bit more personal. The gesture control is a bit gimmicky and I couldn't see me using it, the few times I tried it, occasionally it wouldn't pick it up.
It had a lot of toys, fully digital dials, heads up display, HK audio and a lot of other things that you'd expect from a car they give to you to tempt you.
To drive, it was virtually the same. The sound proofing might be ever so slightly better as the diesel note is even more muffled. Outside the car however, it sounds a lot more diesel like, there was a noticeable dag dag even after a long and spirited drive. Gear box is no different and the engine feels no different, well not different enough for me to tell what was different, it might be a little more responsive at lower RPM but is that the xDrive? I can't say I noticed much from the xDrive in that short time other what I just mentioned, that it seems to pick up speed a lot quicker from a stand still, and even in the wet roads I found it hard for the traction light to kick in when in Sport manual. The heads up display that it had was lovely, I've had them in hire cars before and found them to be too distracting, but this one you can adjust the position if needed but I didn't bother, my eyes seemed to ignore it when I didn't need to look at it.
It's no way near a big enough improvement for me to want to buy now, I will definitely get one but only when the deals are there and the price is right. And I certainly wouldn't pay new prices for one.
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Good write up.
I can't help but think that the new front kidney grills look way too big, mind.
I can't help but think that the new front kidney grills look way too big, mind.
Agreed. They remind me of the fat pigs from Angry Birds.
What else does it come with? DCT, Competition pack, EDC etc...
No.
Sounds quite a lot.
They will automatically add 1 year extended warranty if you buy an Approved Used Car from a BMW AUC dealer. Anything more than that is negotiable but hard to get. See here: http://usedcars.bmw.co.uk/bmw-approved-benefits.aspx.