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BMW 5-Series Sedans

12737 messages,  Last post on Feb 16, 2013 at 11:05 PM

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What is this discussion about? BMW 5 Series, Sedan

Messages Page 1071 of 1275

#10693 of 12737 Not so sweet revenge… by shipo

Aug 26, 2005 (11:16 am)

Of late I’ve been commuting daily along a 6.4 mile section of I-93 between Exit #3 in New Hampshire and Exit #48 in Massachusetts, a portion of a stretch that seems to have the highest number of “Rear-End” style of collisions of anywhere in the country. Hardly a week goes by where I don’t see at least three such accidents on my very short portion, my wife who doesn’t exit I-93 until Exit #39A, reports many more.
 
I told y’all that so that I could tell ya this. I’ve become aware of a troubling trend in these accidents, a trend that should be worrying to all of us who like driving BMWs. In just the last three weeks I’ve seen five different BMWs and one MINI Cooper “S” involved in such a collision and in every case but one, the other car happened to be a Ford truck. Coincidence? I certainly hope so. The good news is that all of the drivers and passengers involved seem to have survived the incident without significant injury, including the folks who sat in the back seat of the Cooper that was Rear-Ended by a Ford F-250 4WD truck. Yikes! Just the thought of that scares me. Of course the bad news in all of this is that when a BMW (or a Cooper) gets hit from behind by a truck of any kind (Ford or otherwise), it makes a nasty mess of the car.
 
Anyway, to the point of this tragic story, yesterday morning while I was engaged in the uphill merge onto southbound I-93 at Exit #3 I saw a beautiful dark gray metallic E39 528i SP go cruising by me in the left (of two) lane, moving with traffic at somewhere north of 75 mph. Less than a mile after I completed my merge, and before I had been able to work my way into the left lane, I saw a cloud of rising blue smoke from the left lane a few hundred yards in front of me, very quickly followed by an arcing plume of car parts. Of course my lane immediately “dropped anchor” as well, taxing the brakes of my current mount (1998 Grand Caravan) to their very limit. As I approached the accident scene, I saw that that lovely 528i had managed to return the favor as it were and slam into a large Ford Econoline delivery van. Ouch! The hit was hard enough to make the drivers’ airbag egress from its usual hiding place in the steering wheel, buckle the hood in half and judging from the twin plumes issuing from the area of the engine, one blue (oil and/or rubber), one white (coolant), do significant damage to the contents of the engine compartment. My bet is that this world has seen the last of that E39, which gave its all to inform the Ford trucks of the world that BMWs don’t like being pushed around. Unfortunately the Econoline, while damaged, will probably live to drive another day.
 
Best Regards,
Shipo

#10694 of 12737 Re: Not so sweet revenge… [shipo] by kdshapiro

Aug 26, 2005 (12:58 pm)

Replying to: shipo (Aug 26, 2005 11:16 am)
Yikes! Remind me not to drive anywhere near where you live. I'll take my chances on the free-for-all in the tri-state area. The driver of the that BMW is probably going to be facing some nasty financial surprises in the next couple of years.

#10695 of 12737 Re: Hey folks [hihomike] by larryoflebanon

Aug 26, 2005 (1:17 pm)

Replying to: hihomike (Aug 24, 2005 7:36 am)
I could not agree more with your opinion on the 2001 BMW. I had a 2001 540i until it was totalled last month. No car I have driven since quite measures up to that. I have been wondering if the new 3 series may be a good substitute since it is almost as large as the old 5. Has anybody compared the two?

#10696 of 12737 bummer by anthonyp

Aug 26, 2005 (6:24 pm)

It is easy to have things change in a hurry on the Interstate...I have seen alot of sliding around in the heavy thunderstorms the pop up.....I must admit even though I am getting more proficient with the Idrive, it really is dangerous to use except for the most easy things...I guess the worse danger would be to try and use the navigation..Tony

#10697 of 12737 550s on BMW USA site by manybmws

Aug 27, 2005 (9:01 am)

http://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/5/550isedan/default
 
SMG 0 -60 5.4 seconds!

#10698 of 12737 Re: 550s on BMW USA site [manybmws] by kdshapiro

Aug 27, 2005 (9:11 am)

Replying to: manybmws (Aug 27, 2005 9:01 am)
Woot. They made sure it was a brute. I can't wait to see the real world gas mileage.

#10699 of 12737 Re: 550s on BMW USA site [kdshapiro] by rich545

Aug 27, 2005 (4:15 pm)

Replying to: kdshapiro (Aug 27, 2005 9:11 am)
Hmm, I don't even think that makes it faster than the 545 was. In Edmunds' road test they took 5.6 seconds in the 545 with automatic so I imagine with SMG it would be about the same. I had heard from my salesman that the 550 would only be .01 seconds faster 0-60 so I guess he was at least close to right. I think where the real difference shows up is at higher speeds (say, 60-100). Anyway, I also noticed that Active Steering is now optional with the Sport Package whereas it wasn't when I bought mine. Also, the price jumped a bit of course!

#10700 of 12737 Re: 550s on BMW USA site [kdshapiro] by rich545

Aug 27, 2005 (4:16 pm)

Replying to: kdshapiro (Aug 27, 2005 9:11 am)
Oh, and the gas mileage on my 545 is just about dead-on with what BMW published so I would guess that what they say the 550 will get will be very close to accurate as well.

#10701 of 12737 Re: 550s on BMW USA site [rich545] by manybmws

Aug 27, 2005 (4:36 pm)

Replying to: rich545 (Aug 27, 2005 4:15 pm)
Last 5-series brochure quoted:
 
5.7 seconds 0-60 SMG - so 550 is .3 seconds faster than 545.

#10702 of 12737 Re: 550s on BMW USA site [manybmws] by rich545

Aug 27, 2005 (8:49 pm)

Replying to: manybmws (Aug 27, 2005 4:36 pm)
Right, but Edmunds pulled 5.6 with an AUTO, not SMG. Maybe they'd be able to better the 5.4 SMG for the 550 too though. I'm just saying that it isn't that much faster at least 0-60 wouldn't you agree? Especially considering that you're paying about $3K more for that .3 second. Come on, work with me here! I'm trying not to be too annoyed that 2 years after I bought my 545 they came out with a 550! What do you think AUTO vs. AUTO would be in the real world?

Messages Page 1071 of 1275

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