530i Loaner - Wow!

[Video Chef]

I brought the X in for its final look prior to hitting 50K and moving in to the CPO. They gave me a new 530i to drive. Wow, what a cool car! This one has the active steering, iDrive, Logic 7 sound etc. It will be nice to finally see iDrive in the next gen X5. I love all the options you can finally set, without delaer programming, via iDrive.

[imaznumkay]

my sister has a 530i and its pretty amazing...we test drove a m5 though just for fun at the dealership...
v10 was just too much for anyone to handle in my family lol
but yea 530i is an amazing car .. i tend to sneak out with the 5 rather than my X sometimes..

[Video Chef]

And people think the Nav in the X5 is complicated - wait til they see one with iDrive. I would have to believe performing laser surgery is easier than adjusting the vent settings via iDrive. Anything with that many settings has to be more complex I suppose. Way more dangerous using it while driving, I feel. The Logic 7 sound was interesting - essentially feels like it focused the soundstage in the midle of the vehicle, like a Dolby Pro Logic setting.

[SuperGreg]

I'm jealous, I love that car!

[benathon]

Yeah I got one too; I thought the iDrive was easy to use but too detailed and it takes too much time to adjust. It was a 2004 so it only had 225 hp I want to see how the 255 hp is.
The Logic 7 was not that big of a deal to me. I thought the amount of room in the car was amazing especially the trunk.

[vinuneuro]

What did you think of the Active Steering? Haven't hear much feedback on that from people. I guess people are staying away from that option.

[Video Chef]

Just my opinion, but I didn't care for it. It felt too much like front wheel drive steering or four wheel steering. It's pretty cool, just something you have to get used to, I suppose. You feel as if you can turn the car around while standing still or that it reads your mind and starts to turn the car ;-).

[rangerfan]

I have driven the 545i a few times and find that the iDrive isn't that annoying at all, and I actually really liked the active steering. I'm likely to jump into one of those when I decide to move away from the X, unless the next X is worth moving up to.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by vinuneuro

What did you think of the Active Steering? Haven't hear much feedback on that from people. I guess people are staying away from that option.

When I took my X5 in for the coil recall two weeks back, I got a 545 loaner. The Service Manager cautioned me that it had active steering. Then the service advisor cautioned me. Then my sales rep cautioned me when he passed through the service department. Seems they have had to replace lots of front rims due to curb impacts in parking lots, all with customers on demos with this one car.

So, I was cautious. I noticed it immediately. It threw me off at first, since the car did not do exactly what I expected (it turned more than I planned, at low speed).

I wouldn't necessarily turn it down when I order or purchase an E60, but I wouldn't pay more for it either. I could take it or leave it. It was handy in parking lots once I got used to it, but I never remember thinking that turning the steering wheel in a parking lot was such a drag that it needed to have another system designed just to address it.

[mguhler]

I had my X3 in for ignition coil recall and received a 530xi Wagon (which was fantastic!!!) and the steering was agressive at low speeds. Noone warned me about anything, but I quickly learned that it only takes a little turn of the wheel to take that bend at 25mph.
Idrive was fun, I could get used to it. I guess i fit the BMW mindset when creating Idrive, they say older (50+) don't get it (no offense, just what I read in C&D).
The Xdrive was what I was used to in my X3, great in rainy conditions, superb in cornering.

Sound system was pretty sweet too, like my X3.