[pelucidor]

My 535i landed at port last week and should be at the dealership in a few days. It is Black Sapphire and has fairly basic options (Value, Premium, Cold Weather, HD Radio, NAV, Comfort Access). The unusual interior is Cream Beige/Black which is apparently a Priority Option 1 (?) according to the salesman and not normally available in the USA. I have no idea how it will look but hopefully will be decent (we have Sand Beige in my wife's 2008 X5 - a lot of beige).

I think originally it was a custom order in Missouri that fell through and I managed to get it allocated to me last week and diverted to my dealership. Any ideas how it will look? I assume a little like the two tone Natural Brown with mostly black interior but hopefully without the contrasting grey headliner...

The 535i is replacing my Lexus IS350, which was a wonderful and speedy little vehicle over the 45k mile lease. I generally like small cars with powerful engines so was all set on the 335i before deciding perhaps it was time for something a bit larger.

Cars I test drove before deciding on the 535i included:
Mercedes E350 (old model and new one - new model interior felt cheap in areas, thrashy engine at high revs, underpowered, looks great)
Mercedes C300 and C350 (interior felt cheap, underpowered, looks nice)
Audi A4 (2.0t and 3.2 - boring underpowered engines but otherwise nice, too close to 335i in price)
Lexus GS350 AWD (a blander and heavier version of my IS350 with mandatory AWD in the NE)
Jaguar XF 4.2 (interior is much better in photos than real life, absurd leasing numbers due to catastrophic residuals)
BMW 335i (wonderful but too small according to wife)
BMW 535i xDrive (don't need 4WD so unnecessary weight and expense)
Hyundai Genesis 4.6 with Tech

Of these the runner-up was surprisingly the Hyundai - very impressive in many respects and my wife preferred it to the BMW (she wants an 'A to B' car - but this will be MY car). Heck even I preferred the Genesis over the Mercedes E350 and Lexus GS350. However to me it seemed way too big and heavy with one or two areas of obvious cost-cutting and nowhere near as enjoyable to drive - the 535i steering, engine and transmission are just wonderful even if the leather is a little hard. Plus a $14k price differential between the Genesis and 535i became moot when leasing (within $20 per month of each other) due to low residuals and money factor on the Hyundai.


I can't wait to pick up my new vehicle on Friday and have almost finished reading the PDF manual already. Wish me luck...

 

[YGBSM]

Cream Beige Dakota Leather (LCGE) is a regular production option, not Priority 1. Beige Nasca Leather (U6BA) is a Priority 1 option.

You can download the brochure or go to the BMWUSA website to get an idea about the Cream Beige color. It's a lot lighter than natural brown.

 

[cc4005]

:thumbup:

 

[wolfgang0524]

Congrats! I test drove the Acura RL, Lexus GS and ES, and looking at the Infiniti G and M. The 535 just blew them away.

Enjoy the ride!

 

[chrischeung]

Cream Beige Dakota Leather (LCGE) is a regular production option, not Priority 1.

Yes. But the OP is talking about Creme Beige/Black - which is a priority 1 option.

 

[YGBSM]

Yes. But the OP is talking about Creme Beige/Black - which is a priority 1 option.

Do you have a source for this? According to the Online Ordering Guide, the only Priority 1 leather options are U6BA Beige Nasca Leather and U6SW Black Nasca Leather.

 

[chrischeung]

http://www.bimmerfest.com/pdf/pricing/2010/2010-BMW-Vehicle-Ordering-Guide.pdf
http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Cont...=mZDJvJEoNKmCPomY1Jpbq5OJyhV2oXa/eErFg+49V8I=

 

[YGBSM]

Gotcha, thanks

 

[pelucidor]

Thanks for the PDF and the pics - didn't know the 550 had this as a standard option. I think the contrast looks great. Can't wait for Friday.

 

[chrischeung]

It's P1 for the 550 as well. The website is in error.

 

[mrich1353]

Anthracite Headliner

When my dealer was trying to locate a vehicle for me a several months ago, I was ready to pull the trigger on an Alpine White with the Priority One Creme / Black interior when I was having trouble finding a suitable car. I ended up passing because it will be the standard gray headliner. Some may not mind, but I did not want black carpet / trim with creme leather, then the gray headliner.
My preference was an M-Sport which were next to impossible to find in early August due the plant shut down. I had my dealer conduct the search using the Anthracite Headliner option to find my current ride which got me as close as possible without waiting months or picking up in another part of the country.

 

[AntDX316]

My 535i landed at port last week and should be at the dealership in a few days. It is Black Sapphire and has fairly basic options (Value, Premium, Cold Weather, HD Radio, NAV, Comfort Access). The unusual interior is Cream Beige/Black which is apparently a Priority Option 1 (?) according to the salesman and not normally available in the USA. I have no idea how it will look but hopefully will be decent (we have Sand Beige in my wife's 2008 X5 - a lot of beige).

I think originally it was a custom order in Missouri that fell through and I managed to get it allocated to me last week and diverted to my dealership. Any ideas how it will look? I assume a little like the two tone Natural Brown with mostly black interior but hopefully without the contrasting grey headliner...

The 535i is replacing my Lexus IS350, which was a wonderful and speedy little vehicle over the 45k mile lease. I generally like small cars with powerful engines so was all set on the 335i before deciding perhaps it was time for something a bit larger.

Cars I test drove before deciding on the 535i included:
Mercedes E350 (old model and new one - new model interior felt cheap in areas, thrashy engine at high revs, underpowered, looks great)
Mercedes C300 and C350 (interior felt cheap, underpowered, looks nice)
Audi A4 (2.0t and 3.2 - boring underpowered engines but otherwise nice, too close to 335i in price)
Lexus GS350 AWD (a blander and heavier version of my IS350 with mandatory AWD in the NE)
Jaguar XF 4.2 (interior is much better in photos than real life, absurd leasing numbers due to catastrophic residuals)
BMW 335i (wonderful but too small according to wife)
BMW 535i xDrive (don't need 4WD so unnecessary weight and expense)
Hyundai Genesis 4.6 with Tech

Of these the runner-up was surprisingly the Hyundai - very impressive in many respects and my wife preferred it to the BMW (she wants an 'A to B' car - but this will be MY car). Heck even I preferred the Genesis over the Mercedes E350 and Lexus GS350. However to me it seemed way too big and heavy with one or two areas of obvious cost-cutting and nowhere near as enjoyable to drive - the 535i steering, engine and transmission are just wonderful even if the leather is a little hard. Plus a $14k price differential between the Genesis and 535i became moot when leasing (within $20 per month of each other) due to low residuals and money factor on the Hyundai.

I can't wait to pick up my new vehicle on Friday and have almost finished reading the PDF manual already. Wish me luck...

yeah i test drove the Lexus LS600 the Mercedes S550 and CLS550 the BMW 750i and the Porsche Carerra S

i have to say the 750i drove the best (for me) out of all the cars cause mercedes's gas pedal is super stiff the brake u gotta press it down like half way before it even starts to bite the Lexus had a super super soft gas pedal a very sensitive brake pedal and steering was ultra soft it was basically effortless the BMW had everything just right the Steering feel the gas the brake pedal it was all just right

if i had the choice i would get the 3 Luxury cars but out of the 3 the BMW is the Best

 

[chrischeung]

I was ready to pull the trigger on an Alpine White with the Priority One Creme / Black interior when I was having trouble finding a suitable car. I ended up passing because it will be the standard gray headliner. Some may not mind, but I did not want black carpet / trim with creme leather, then the gray headliner.

Are you sure about that? I saw one at the dealer about 6 months ago, and I distinctly remember it not having a grey headliner. I specifically looked, since I also had read somewhere that the headliner was gray. In retrospect, perhaps the car had the anthracite headliner option?

The BMWUSA website shows the headliner as black.

 

[chrischeung]

Actually - I did a bit of poking around the internet, and it does indeed look like gray is the standard headliner color. Less desirable for sure.

 

[CK530]

Actually - I did a bit of poking around the internet, and it does indeed look like gray is the standard headliner color. Less desirable for sure.

According to the wholesale sheet, anthracite headliner is part of the M-Sport Package. I'm trying to find out because I might place an order for ED with the Beige/black combo interior. I do not want a grey headliner with a beige/black combo interior.

pelucidor, when you get your car, please let us know what headliner it came with. Thanks

 

[mrich1353]

Anthracite Roofliner

The anthracite roof liner is standard with the M-Sport package. It is also available as a Priority One option with a list price of $500 - Definitely worth it!

 

[pelucidor]

When my dealer was trying to locate a vehicle for me a several months ago, I was ready to pull the trigger on an Alpine White with the Priority One Creme / Black interior when I was having trouble finding a suitable car. I ended up passing because it will be the standard gray headliner. Some may not mind, but I did not want black carpet / trim with creme leather, then the gray headliner.

Ugh! You were right.

The whole reason I didn't like the Natural Brown interior was because of the 'three-tone' car I sat inside (brown seats, black everything else and grey headliner). When I went to pick up the car yesterday I found my Cream Beige/Black also was a 'three-tone' car with grey headliner - I sort of assumed that as BMW already has a totally cream beige interior with beige headliner that they would use that same headliner in my car. Sadly not.

Oh well, too late to do anything about it. I will just train myself not to look up until I can tune out the grey colour. Other than that the car is absolutely fantastic - put 300 miles on it in 24 hours (following the recommended break-in procedures - so no hard acceleration or braking, below 4500rpm, below 100mph, varying engine speed). Can't wait to hammer it when the 1200 miles are up. Even the wife thinks the car is wonderful and much better than her X5 (she was somewhat negative on the 5 series based on a ride in a friend's 528i - she did not join me in test driving etc).

I am a very happy new owner.

 

[smartcpa]

Black headliner is an option without M package. Also beige/black interior is part of individual BMW oredring options see: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/5series/sedan/2007/allfacts/individual/introduction.html