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Sedans Luxury Performance Sedans
10006 messages, Last post on Nov 26, 2009 at 6:59 AM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Next time around (in about 2 years), I will be spending much more time driving the Infiniti M. It has come in first in many comparos and the fact that CR raved that the M is now their favorite sedan speaks volumes to me.
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I am a first-time BMW owner (after owning Toyotas, Mercedes, and Volvo), and I have had a black/grey BMW 530xi for a just three weeks now. In spite of an initial issue that needed the iDrive screen to be replaced during the first week of ownership, I love this car. I have no prejudices against other makes, and I actually think the M35x was a close second to the 530xi for me, but I am VERY HAPPY that I chose the 530xi. Here are my initial impressions: - The exterior gets me excited just walking up to the car. - I love the spartan, uncluttered interior (unlike the oppressive interior of the M). - I LOVE the way it drives with my manual transmission. - The Head-Up Display is awesome. - Bluetooth works flawlessly, AND uploads my address book. - The Logic7 stereo is great to my non-expert ears. - iDrive is easy to get used too, and then it grows on you (the uncluttered interior is actually very pleasing after a while). - The interior space is awesome -- much bigger on the inside than most other sedans. - The new 255 HP engine is fantastic -- and I am THRILLED that I get close to 30 mpg on the highway in 6th gear. That's worth a LOT to me -- and much better than the 22-25 MPG of the Infiniti M35x that my friend has. To each his own, but I think the sentence at the end of the Edmunds comparison (they gave the 530xi 4th place out of five) says it all: "If you consider road feel luxurious, the 2006 BMW 530xi is the best car here." I DO consider road feel to be extremely important (my wife and I get motion sick very quickly in floaty cars like the Lexus) AND it's PERFECTLY FINE by me if the 530xi costs $10K more than the competition -- it is worth it to the people who buy it. I ABSOLUTELY do not condone high-handed dealer behavior, but that happens with every manufacturer (you should see Toyota!), and please don't slam me for my personal opinions above -- I am just sharing them with you. Cheers!
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Replying to: hpowders (Aug 15, 2005 4:13 am)
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Replying to: freddybb (Aug 15, 2005 7:21 am) I, after a long story that I will not repeat again, ended up with the Audi A6 3.2 with the 6spd tiptronic (with regular and sport mode auto shift, too.) With some 3,000+ miles on my Audi, I am very pleased. Two weeks ago I took at new 530xi out for a test drive. The ONLY version they inventory (at Ohio's largest BMW dealer) are automatics ("we will, from time to time, have a stick. . .we do not usually order either stick or sport package equipped versions as they do not sell well.") The BMW 530xi was very nice -- but with the automatic it was, basically, emasculated (just like my Audi). Now, having driven a 225HP 530i with an auto, my wife's X3 3.0 (225HP) with a stick, etc -- the 530xi was plenty peppy (the term I use is "adequate.") But my A6 seems close enough to make the BMW NOT seem all that special. However, the very fact that the BMW 530xi can be had with a stick shift would make me seriously consider putting the Bimmer at the top of my shopping list. For, even though I damn with faint praise ("adequate" engine power, etc.), I can by imagination extrapolate that the 530xi would be THE performer of this group when equipped with the 6speed manual. I love my A6 3.2, but I am more than a little envious that ONE LPS car, at least, can be had with a proper transmission. Congratulations on your new BMW 530xi -- I look forward to you regaling us with your experiences with this car. BTW, iDrive and MMI (I have the latter) are not as bad as they are cracked up to be. But still they seem to be on these cars somewhat because "they can be" on these cars. I don't know if I can honestly say I am better off with MMI than I would be without it -- my main reason for actually LIKING MMI is the fact that my Navigation, Radio/Sound system and Telephone are all voice controlled with the Voice Command option for MMI. Cheers right back at you! 
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Replying to: pat (Aug 13, 2005 2:53 pm) Very biased opinion  I found the report to be heavily weighted towards the subjective. The text strongly hinted at looks being more important than performance. This is an LPS forum, where the L stands for Luxury and not looks 
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I have been soundly beat down over in the RL forum for daring to suggest to that Consumer Reports is a reliable and useful automoble information source (of course over in the RL forum they have to trash all comparos except Edmunds). The main argument against CR seems to be that they have very poor test facilities and very poor testers relative to EVERY other car resource. So I have a question; how does one go about investigating just how good these car mags are at testing cars? How can I find out about Road & Tracks faciliites and their engineers? Ditto Car & Driver? Or even Edmunds? After a quick look at their respective websites I could not find links giving information regarding their test facilites or the bios of who does the tests. On the other hand CR makes this info readily available on their website. Often on this site comparos are referred to and discussed. What makes a comparo worthy of discussion? Are any better than others (other than the one picking your car)? Does one magazine have a superior testing facility than the orhers? I'm sure the other mags have a test track, but its not obvious on their websites!
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Replying to: jjacura (Aug 15, 2005 7:49 am) |
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Replying to: cstiles (Aug 14, 2005 3:37 pm) Security was the worst at Newark, they made me take off my shoes, pull out my laptop so it could be scanned, etc, etc. Compared to that, security into London and then Nice was a breeze (I drove from Nice to San Remo in a new A4 2.0T TDI rental). In all cases though you're going to want to arrive at the airport at least 2hrs before your flight, and try to be at the gate at least 45 minutes before. If security isnt a headache, customs will be. Now that I think of it, I saw at least a few JGCs as well, not really sure why they would possibly want them. Not too many A2s, but plenty of A3s, the BMW 318i hatch, and gobs of M-B A-class. A large % were diesel in San Remo as well, which definitely makes sense. It was about 100 Euros ($130) to completely fill the A4, so I was happy for every extra mpg I could get over a gasoline 2.0T. My Audi was a tiptronic, with shift paddles on the steering wheel. Not much of a point with the diesel, since you're into the red at 4500rpm, shifting for yourself isnt much fun. |
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... the wood trim is REAL rosewood. That is very expensive and hard to get wood. Not contact paper, not cheap, lacquered over fibreboard, but real rosewood. If you had said you prefer the shiny look, fine. If you had said you just don't like wood trim, fine. ... Ditto; I agree!! Looks are subjective - likes and dislikes are subjective - period. Wood quality is objective - period. I haven't even chosen a car yet (narrowed it down to two - RL or M35) but I am tired of what's mostly RL owners bashing the M35 interior's QUALITY. I have asked for objective testable examples where the RL has a higher quality interior and no one has yet to provide a single objective example I have test driven the RL and the M35 extensively and find reasons to be imnpressed by both - including the looks of both! However in my opinion the heavily laquered wood in the RL looks amazingly like the plood in my MDX  Of course I like my MDX so thats OK. But the wood in M35 looks better in my opnion. Perhaps Consumer Reports should have tested the finish on the wood samples
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