What do YOU LOVE about your GT?

Originally Posted by starryeyed

I know - me too. I was wondering why my car didn't have it. So it must have been an option on a 535 for a portion of 2011? I wonder if that's something that can be retrofitted......You're so lucky Tonomeis!

So I'm slamming my front doors a little harder than other cars to get them to shut, but once they are closed, the cabin is a perfectly insulated pod. By "perfect" I again mean a great balance. I can still hear the engine, the ultra-smooth shift of the transmission, sirens coming, and other important feedback, but I don't hear a lot of road noise, wind, noisy mufflers, etc. despite my speed. I love that!

So 90 doesn't sound much different than 50! Good thing for that heads-up display, right?

I just look at the paperwork and the "soft close doors" were part of the ZCV Convenience Package

316 Power tailgate N/C
319 Universal garage-door opener N/C
322 Comfort Access keyless entry N/C
323 Soft-close automatic doors N/C
430 Auto-dimming interior and exterior mirrors N/C
431 Auto-dimming rearview mirror N/C

Other than the whole car, I would say the response you get from other people.

I was picking up a large pair of JBL 4333s this weekend from Craigslist sellers and they couldn't believe that they fit the car. Not only that, they had two E39 5-series, one M5 and one 540i, and they were all over my car as this was the first time they saw one.

They loved the back seat as well...but mostly because they had a 2 year old and 5 weeks old baby

I did my best to sell them on how great the GT is, we need more of them on the road!

They told me that they looked at the X5 but the wife didn't like it (she drives the M5...). I wonder why their SA didn't show them the GT. BMW definitely needs to increase the awareness of the GT with their own SA.

Originally Posted by vincesfo

Other than the whole car, I would say the response you get from other people.

I was picking up a large pair of JBL 4333s this weekend from Craigslist sellers and they couldn't believe that they fit the car. Not only that, they had two E39 5-series, one M5 and one 540i, and they were all over my car as this was the first time they saw one.

They loved the back seat as well...but mostly because they had a 2 year old and 5 weeks old baby

I did my best to sell them on how great the GT is, we need more of them on the road!

They told me that they looked at the X5 but the wife didn't like it (she drives the M5...). I wonder why their SA didn't show them the GT. BMW definitely needs to increase the awareness of the GT with their own SA.

More of them, but not too many! I live in a small town and this past week I saw 3 others! I couldn't believe it.

You're right though - BMW has come up with a pretty unique concept where exposure and awareness are key to its success.

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

The fastest I drove mine in Germany was the recommended 100mph until the breakin period was over, but I did ride at that speed for awhile. It is definately noisier at 100, but it's not objectionable. It would have been nice to try to hit max speed, but didn't want to stress things, and the traffic was too high to probably get much more, plus many sections have speed limits anyways.

100 mph in my GT vs. 100 mph in my '08 535 Wagon - there's such a huge difference. I had to really project my voice to have a conversation at 100 in the '08. The GT is sooo much quieter - I don't have to belt out the words to be heard.

You'll have to take your car to Loudon for one of the BMW Club track sessions. Any idea how fast you can go there?

Originally Posted by starryeyed

lexhair, tell me about your soft close doors? When you shut the door, does the car suck the door closed the rest of the way? You have an '11 535, right? I saw it on a 550, but I don't have that feature on my 2012 535. Did yours come with it?

I believe there is "late 2010" build 2011 535 which is what I have (Oct 7, 2010 build date). Now I didn't spec the car, I bought it 'used' off the lot from what I think was a BMW USA exec (the dealer is geographically very close to BMW USA). The paperwork shows a ZCV, ZCW and ZPS package with NAV.

The soft close only picks up and latches when the door is manually closed against the latching mechanism like when you try to close a manual car door but not quite hard enough. It doesn't suck the door closed from full open per se.

OH SO TRUE!
Last week when we took another couple out to dinner.......
Our friends wife sitting in the back passenger side looked up at speedometer and said "wow michael you know your going 105mph" Her husband sitting in the passenger seat said "no way.. the only reason i would think that is because that car in front of us is approaching so fast" loved it!!!!!!

I am loving all the cameras lately including the front corner cameras.. and i use the top view almost religiously over the rear view camera.. i wish there was a way to see the front of the car as well as we see the sides and back.....
mp

Originally Posted by starryeyed

100 mph in my GT vs. 100 mph in my '08 535 Wagon - there's such a huge difference. I had to really project my voice to have a conversation at 100 in the '08. The GT is sooo much quieter - I don't have to belt out the words to be heard.

You'll have to take your car to Loudon for one of the BMW Club track sessions. Any idea how fast you can go there?

The top view camera sounds pretty sweet. I would probably use that a lot for parallel parking.

I drove home in a driving rainstorm and the GT handled magnificently. I'm not sure what it's called, but you know when the wheels on just one side of the car hit pooling water and the difference causes the car to shimmy and swerve? I hit pooling water at about 75 mph, but the effects on the GT were minimal - hardly any swerving. The car felt so solid.

I love the way the GT handles rain!

I have my 530d GT since about 4 months and did 3000 km. I enjoy it everyday.
What I like particularly are:
- confort seats
- soft close door
- line departure
- space and comfort in the back
- iPhone integration and web radios
- great drive and parking with IAS and DH
- large GPS screen that can be split
- low consumption on average 8.5l/100 km with mix highway and city
- sun roof
- electric boot

I'll add on to mine:
1. Visibility. Excellent sight lines to the right when I'm backing out of the driveway.
2. BT integration. Pulls my substantial list of contacts in from my iPhone effortlessly and call quality/sound is excellent.
3. Send destination to the car via Google Maps. Beats the heck out of entering addresses.
4. Included traffic conditions and dynamic rerouting. Sure it's available on a $150 garmin so it should be included in a $2000 nav package (but isn't in many cases).

Originally Posted by lexhair

I'll add on to mine:
1. Visibility. Excellent sight lines to the right when I'm backing out of the driveway.
2. BT integration. Pulls my substantial list of contacts in from my iPhone effortlessly and call quality/sound is excellent.
3. Send destination to the car via Google Maps. Beats the heck out of entering addresses.
4. Included traffic conditions and dynamic rerouting. Sure it's available on a $150 garmin so it should be included in a $2000 nav package (but isn't in many cases).

For #3, I'm still learning stuff about the car. How do you send destinations to the car via Google Maps?

Originally Posted by Tonomeis

For #3, I'm still learning stuff about the car. How do you send destinations to the car via Google Maps?

When you have an address selected on Google maps, there's a row of menu choices:

Directions
Search nearby
Save to map

more

Click on more, then send, then car. From that window, you pick BMW and use the e-mail address you registered when you first enabled the BMW assist info...it will show up as a message on the car typically within a minute or so. From that, you can choose to navigate to: the address sent.

Back and forth from the NYC area to Syracuse with 29+ mpg for my 535GT. Who needs a diesel (but it would be nice)?

I love the duality of the car, which is consistent with BMW's approach of building 2 cars, into 1. My wife treats and drives the car as a luxury sedan. I prefer the Sport+ suspension/steering setting coupled with manual mode. While it's never going to drive and feel like our 328xi sedan, it comes fairly close to it, in the sport setting, so both of us are able to enjoy driving the car!

1) The note of the M Sport package sport exhaust
2) Realizing the panoramic roof can open wider
3) Ceramic controls
4) I can carry 3 bikes, luggage, and three passengers
5) DRLs
6) 20" M Sport wheels

Just Zaino'd the car at my parents house today.
Here are a couple of bad iPhone pics:
http://db.tt/ljh3AASp
http://db.tt/MU3Tfl7z

Originally Posted by Tonomeis

For #3, I'm still learning stuff about the car. How do you send destinations to the car via Google Maps?

The best way is to install the BMW Remote app on your iPhone or Android device.

Go to "Control" section located on bottom of app and choose "Google Local Search".

Once you've found your destination on the map just choose option to "send to vehicle" once you've clicked on the pin and display the pin detail screen.

In the iDrive menu go to "ConnectedDrive" and select the "messages" option. You will then be able to set the nav destination to your desired location.
(note: this part is from memory, so I may have forgotten a step)

From a pc, once you've searched and located a place in Google Maps, click 'More' then 'Send' then select 'Car'. From there, it should be easy...you must know the e-mail address you registered your car with.

1. Wind noise
2. Run flat tires
3. Adding oil every 2k miles
4. Having to hold the steering wheel to the left so it does not drive off to the right side of the road
5. MPG
6. Rear window aka thermal solar collector

Was a beautiful day today still lovin my GT But it was baby brothers day today.. Forgot how much I love this old boy!! My roadster is 51 years old this month..

[QUOTE=mpress;7005140]Was a beautiful day today still lovin my GT But it was baby brothers day today.. Forgot how much I love this old boy!! My roadster is 51 years old this month..[/QUOTE

I know what you mean. I have a 2003 C2 Cab which I will never give up I love to take it out on good days. Can't compare to the BMW.

I needed to pressure wash my driveway yesterday. I got some funny looks when I pulled up to the tool rental shack at Home Depot but the pressure washer fit just fine. All I had to do was pop out the deck lid, I didn't even need to fold down the seats.

FWIW
DLM

I'm one of those former wagon owners who moved to the 550GT. Must say I was a bit disappointed by the performance, as my 540I Wagon (with a Dinan performance upgrade) was FASTER in some situations, like passing... And, the gas mileage was averaging under 17Mpg while my wagon had run about 22mpg overall.

So, I went for the Dinan stage II upgrade and WOW! This is the kind of performance I would have liked to see out of the chute. In Drive mode, it is very luxurious and a little stodgy; you have to really stomp on it to wake up the turbos and get some serious power.

On the other hand, Sport mode turns it into a whole different car: a SPORTS car! Better performance across the board, maybe a little too much so for the wife Shifting, acceleration, suspension, everything works better with the Dinan upgrade!

The added bonus: my first road trip I stayed in Drive mode and drove 70mph road miles for a tank of gas. My mileage was 24.95mpg!

Now my overall AVERAGE is 18.6mpg, I have had it up as high as 19mpg overall - nearly what the wagon would do.

The mileage is very directly tied to driving style now.

And it is fast. Very, very, fast! No question it would blow the doors off my old wagon.

I highly recommend the expensive Dinan upgrade, will pay for itself in gas and grins!

The engine in the 2013 550i GT has really sparked the performance of the car. There us a clear difference in the Eco, Comfort, Comfort+, Sport, and Sport+ modes. The Sport+ mode significantly accentuates the entire driving experience and behavior of the car.
The offered amenities provide great comfort. The camera packages and blind spot warning provide a feeling of safety in all situations.
I could not be more pleased.

Just read through this thread and find myself anxiously awaiting delivery of my 2013 550i xDrive GT! Production is complete and we are simply waiting on the carrier to get it to the US!

I have only owned the car for 10 days and I keep finding out new stuff. I love getting up to take this BEAST to work everyday. It made me so glad that the Audi dealership snubbed me and forced me to find this gem of a car. I love this CAR!!!!!!!!

I love the looks other people give you. They can't figure out what model BMW it is. Definitely a head turner.