My 2 month report/review on my F10, the car intended to seek the role of "Perfection"
Well, I'm nearing the 2 month and 1,600 mile anniversary with my car, and wanted to post some updated thoughts ("some" in my world is a wall of text, reader beware).
I was seeking out "perfection", to my tastes and desires, of course. What were they? I had a Mercedes W212 E-Class, and I wanted a car MORE refined, more luxurious, more expensive feeling, yet I also was trying to make sense of getting myself into a Porsche 991 911 more than anything.
How could I get those two worlds to meet? Oh, and do it for something that wouldn't cost as much as the Porsche would?
My selection: The F10 535i M Sport, with exactly the Options I wanted, sans any fluff I wouldn't find necessities. Getting it for such a uniquely great deal, from the owner of Bimmerfest himself (Jon Shafer) made it extra sweet, and got me off on the right foot (best car purchasing experience ever so far for me).
I'd been fawning over the N55 as the BMW I6 has always been one of my favorite motors, I loved the addition of a Turbo to fill in the only void I'd found from that historic motor (lack of low end torque for those of us in congested areas), and I couldn't resist it being mated to the revered 8 Speed ZF with the Sport Auto option ticked.
So, the 535i it was, "Perfection seeked".
To date, I can't say I've ever driven a car that impresses me on so many levels. The fact that I can still get into this car and marvel at the state of the art craftsmanship, the beautiful materials, shapes, seating position, seats, design, etc. really says something.... I mean, I didn't come from a 90's Ford, I came from 2 straight brand new Benzes from 2010 and 2011. This is one car that can truly make me feel like "Life is good" on even the worst of days. It really works hard to explain and prove to you that and why you are fortunate to drive it.
It's one of the rare cars that makes me look forward to 5 PM traffic over the hill (my M-B's were good at this as well, though less good), because I can experience the creature comforts, the isolated and coddling-ly luxurious feel. I was out the other night next to some guy playing some generic Rap track bumping out of a custom system.... shockingly I actually couldn't hear ANY of it until I rolled my window down to insert my ticket into the slot to get out of the parking garage. He was bumping it LOUD, which I could hear with even the slightest crack of my window.... however with my window up, I couldn't hear ANY of it. This is almost certainly the quietest car I've ever extensively driven.
At the same time, it's the first car I've ever owned that I just want to get in and drive for the sake of DRIVING ENJOYMENT. I want to get in the car at 5 AM and put it in Sport +, hit some turns and straightaways and experience this impeccable drivetrain mating. Oh, and get over 30 MPG to boot? Pfft. It walks that fine line so damn well. Yes, it's a little cozy on turns, but I accept that as the coziness is wonderful on straightaways.... and the suspension really starts to flatten and balance itself when pushed hard, I feel. I do appreciate the extra firmness in the 2013 M Sports seeming exclusive non-adaptive lower and sportier suspension. As for the chassis, the car itself feels iron-clad in how it treks down the road, hefty and substantial yet without the negative effects that often come with that, truly Germanic with a sporty soul, solid as hell (almost 40,000 nm's of torsional rigidity don't lie), weighted in the way I like a Luxury Car to feel. You can instantly tell this chassis was derived for and from models that are far more expensive than the 5-Series (a big win for us, which IMO is why the F10 feels over-engineered for this segment, yet understandably a key setback to those who want a classical rawer and more connected BMW driving feel).
The car changes characters drastically from Eco to Comfort to Sport/Sport + mode. I even recently found the DS mode, and along with Paddles, the car is an endless amusement park (don't even get me started on the tech, I feel like I've gone into the future coming from even a New Mercedes previously). Putting it in Sport and hitting the pedal even a bit just gives so many great sensations. I think it feels fast, in the most usable way possible (torquey), but not TOO powerful to where you're seeing triple digit speeds in a split second. Speaking of which, the mixture of performance and quietness is so incredible that doing 80 feels like crawling, and the car seems to feel more stable and secure at triple digit speeds (I feel this is actually a dangerous mix, as it can give drivers a feeling of perhaps too-confident invincibility). I got my first speeding ticket in years (how cliche). I now feel like every straightaway with a clear and safe path ahead is an excuse to put it in S and feel a rush in those dynamic ways mentioned above. The best of the best part is how SMOOTH it is, and how uniquely incredible it sounds, both of which my passengers have brought up. Even my Girlfriend who hates cars wants me to give her the "vroom", she even wanted me to race someone (of which I won't do as those days are over and not worth it)! Lol. She genuinely seems like it "turns her on", which is a big catch for this car, let me tell you. Coming from what she's used to, the mixture of isolation and exhilaration, smoothness and sound truly seem like she thinks of this car as some high performance race machine when I give it some gas. Goes to show how potent the balance on this car is.
My Dad is a long time Mercedes "fan" I guess you can say (not a car guy, but likes what he likes), and never cared much for BMW's. He saw my car as I apprehensively thought he might not understand why it was such a big upgrade. Not only was he shocked at the deal I got on it, he was shockingly positively shocked when he saw it. He couldn't get over how nice it looked, felt, and when he got inside? Forget about it, he was in disbelief, stating how the car felt exceptionally higher on the totem pole than my previous M-B's of which he was a fan of.
There are also cool features that come with the M Sport package like ACTUAL brake cooling ducts that feed in from the front bumper lower air dams (I'm used to cars with poseur-ducts/dams in the bumper which give a cheap/phony look while functional ducts always seemed reserved for Exotics and the like), which give an air of a true performance car, a car that doesn't cost cut nor pull any punches, a premium car, etc. I literally was geekily happy when I realized I actually had REAL cooling ducts on my car coming in from those aggressive air dams in the bumper. Very purposefully Germanic.
Finally, the styling. I've been driving such an angular and complex-with-lines, jarringly rigid angles, etc. Mercedes for a while (which I loved dearly), that the smooth and curvy nature of this car has been of a sort of cohesive calming effect to me, yet at the same time gives me a greater impression of visual youth, of "sexiness", sportiness, of sleekness and slickness. The design speaks such calmness, classical timelessness and balance at the same time as sportiness, modernity, youthfulness, aggression and steel-sex-appeal. Coupled with the black exterior and tinted windows and it looks downright sinister without losing its composure and elegance/class. It's truly an epitome of "finesse". I can't get enough of the different character aspects of this base with the M Sport Package, yet how they all come together so seamlessly.
Yes, of course I have some nits to pick, but this is already too long. And they're so far down the totem pole (I have a little rattle in my door which I found is actually the plastic around the door lock rubbing against something and making an annoying "creak" of which should be an easy fix I hope), I can't really even think substantially enough of them.
If you made it to the end of this ramble, I salute you! In closing: I feel my decision to pick this car to take on my "desire to find perfection conforming to my desires" is still a righteous one. :thumbup:
Well, I'm nearing the 2 month and 1,600 mile anniversary with my car, and wanted to post some updated thoughts ("some" in my world is a wall of text, reader beware).
I was seeking out "perfection", to my tastes and desires, of course. What were they? I had a Mercedes W212 E-Class, and I wanted a car MORE refined, more luxurious, more expensive feeling, yet I also was trying to make sense of getting myself into a Porsche 991 911 more than anything.
How could I get those two worlds to meet? Oh, and do it for something that wouldn't cost as much as the Porsche would?
My selection: The F10 535i M Sport, with exactly the Options I wanted, sans any fluff I wouldn't find necessities. Getting it for such a uniquely great deal, from the owner of Bimmerfest himself (Jon Shafer) made it extra sweet, and got me off on the right foot (best car purchasing experience ever so far for me).
I'd been fawning over the N55 as the BMW I6 has always been one of my favorite motors, I loved the addition of a Turbo to fill in the only void I'd found from that historic motor (lack of low end torque for those of us in congested areas), and I couldn't resist it being mated to the revered 8 Speed ZF with the Sport Auto option ticked.
So, the 535i it was, "Perfection seeked".
To date, I can't say I've ever driven a car that impresses me on so many levels. The fact that I can still get into this car and marvel at the state of the art craftsmanship, the beautiful materials, shapes, seating position, seats, design, etc. really says something.... I mean, I didn't come from a 90's Ford, I came from 2 straight brand new Benzes from 2010 and 2011. This is one car that can truly make me feel like "Life is good" on even the worst of days. It really works hard to explain and prove to you that and why you are fortunate to drive it.
It's one of the rare cars that makes me look forward to 5 PM traffic over the hill (my M-B's were good at this as well, though less good), because I can experience the creature comforts, the isolated and coddling-ly luxurious feel. I was out the other night next to some guy playing some generic Rap track bumping out of a custom system.... shockingly I actually couldn't hear ANY of it until I rolled my window down to insert my ticket into the slot to get out of the parking garage. He was bumping it LOUD, which I could hear with even the slightest crack of my window.... however with my window up, I couldn't hear ANY of it. This is almost certainly the quietest car I've ever extensively driven.
At the same time, it's the first car I've ever owned that I just want to get in and drive for the sake of DRIVING ENJOYMENT. I want to get in the car at 5 AM and put it in Sport +, hit some turns and straightaways and experience this impeccable drivetrain mating. Oh, and get over 30 MPG to boot? Pfft. It walks that fine line so damn well. Yes, it's a little cozy on turns, but I accept that as the coziness is wonderful on straightaways.... and the suspension really starts to flatten and balance itself when pushed hard, I feel. I do appreciate the extra firmness in the 2013 M Sports seeming exclusive non-adaptive lower and sportier suspension. As for the chassis, the car itself feels iron-clad in how it treks down the road, hefty and substantial yet without the negative effects that often come with that, truly Germanic with a sporty soul, solid as hell (almost 40,000 nm's of torsional rigidity don't lie), weighted in the way I like a Luxury Car to feel. You can instantly tell this chassis was derived for and from models that are far more expensive than the 5-Series (a big win for us, which IMO is why the F10 feels over-engineered for this segment, yet understandably a key setback to those who want a classical rawer and more connected BMW driving feel).
The car changes characters drastically from Eco to Comfort to Sport/Sport + mode. I even recently found the DS mode, and along with Paddles, the car is an endless amusement park (don't even get me started on the tech, I feel like I've gone into the future coming from even a New Mercedes previously). Putting it in Sport and hitting the pedal even a bit just gives so many great sensations. I think it feels fast, in the most usable way possible (torquey), but not TOO powerful to where you're seeing triple digit speeds in a split second. Speaking of which, the mixture of performance and quietness is so incredible that doing 80 feels like crawling, and the car seems to feel more stable and secure at triple digit speeds (I feel this is actually a dangerous mix, as it can give drivers a feeling of perhaps too-confident invincibility). I got my first speeding ticket in years (how cliche). I now feel like every straightaway with a clear and safe path ahead is an excuse to put it in S and feel a rush in those dynamic ways mentioned above. The best of the best part is how SMOOTH it is, and how uniquely incredible it sounds, both of which my passengers have brought up. Even my Girlfriend who hates cars wants me to give her the "vroom", she even wanted me to race someone (of which I won't do as those days are over and not worth it)! Lol. She genuinely seems like it "turns her on", which is a big catch for this car, let me tell you. Coming from what she's used to, the mixture of isolation and exhilaration, smoothness and sound truly seem like she thinks of this car as some high performance race machine when I give it some gas. Goes to show how potent the balance on this car is.
My Dad is a long time Mercedes "fan" I guess you can say (not a car guy, but likes what he likes), and never cared much for BMW's. He saw my car as I apprehensively thought he might not understand why it was such a big upgrade. Not only was he shocked at the deal I got on it, he was shockingly positively shocked when he saw it. He couldn't get over how nice it looked, felt, and when he got inside? Forget about it, he was in disbelief, stating how the car felt exceptionally higher on the totem pole than my previous M-B's of which he was a fan of.
There are also cool features that come with the M Sport package like ACTUAL brake cooling ducts that feed in from the front bumper lower air dams (I'm used to cars with poseur-ducts/dams in the bumper which give a cheap/phony look while functional ducts always seemed reserved for Exotics and the like), which give an air of a true performance car, a car that doesn't cost cut nor pull any punches, a premium car, etc. I literally was geekily happy when I realized I actually had REAL cooling ducts on my car coming in from those aggressive air dams in the bumper. Very purposefully Germanic.
Finally, the styling. I've been driving such an angular and complex-with-lines, jarringly rigid angles, etc. Mercedes for a while (which I loved dearly), that the smooth and curvy nature of this car has been of a sort of cohesive calming effect to me, yet at the same time gives me a greater impression of visual youth, of "sexiness", sportiness, of sleekness and slickness. The design speaks such calmness, classical timelessness and balance at the same time as sportiness, modernity, youthfulness, aggression and steel-sex-appeal. Coupled with the black exterior and tinted windows and it looks downright sinister without losing its composure and elegance/class. It's truly an epitome of "finesse". I can't get enough of the different character aspects of this base with the M Sport Package, yet how they all come together so seamlessly.
Yes, of course I have some nits to pick, but this is already too long. And they're so far down the totem pole (I have a little rattle in my door which I found is actually the plastic around the door lock rubbing against something and making an annoying "creak" of which should be an easy fix I hope), I can't really even think substantially enough of them.
If you made it to the end of this ramble, I salute you! In closing: I feel my decision to pick this car to take on my "desire to find perfection conforming to my desires" is still a righteous one. :thumbup: