Those cars were made to drive, not to play music over 12-speaker sound systems, watch tv or heat your ass. They came with nothing but a great set of seats and a great, great 3-spoke steering wheel–although the US version probably came standard with an airbag. Driving was what these cars were for and BMW never forgot about that while designing every nut and bolt.

BMW will happily continue selling cars since a) it is still the best “driver’s cars” (for those who cares about 0-60 and enjoy neck snapping at every opportunity), b) there are plenty of people that will buy anything as long as it has roundel on the hood and c) there is not much choice considering Lexus inability to compete in sportiness, MB quality problems, Audi overall weak package and odd look of Infiniti. That’s how I ended up with BMW – I didn’t love it, but I liked other brands even less.

I completely agree that 535 is jerky.

Personally,
I like the look of the 5 and 7 series, but not the Z4 at all. I buy a new car every year and have done so for over a decade. The cars are all starting to look too similar and have for years. BMW 5 and 7 series are NOT cookie cutter looking, they look much different, and i’ll be honest if they looked like a Camry I wouldn’t buy it regardless of their capabilities.

From where I stand I am comparing my 2007 Acura TL Type-S options and performance to a hopefully superior 5 series. I feel the 335i would be the best bet but I feel is too small. I drove the 550i up to 100mph and I agree that at speed it was superior to my Acura but until that point I was amazing put off by it. It shifted slow and hesitated at slow speeds, the on and off ramps didn’t compare to my Acura. The nav screen was much smaller and hard to read, the interior looked about a generation behind my Acura. I do believe it was quieter inside while driving. I can afford the BMW but I just can’t justify it DAMN! What do I do? I want basically my car that handles a little better at the extremes is a little faster but I don’t want to compromise the fine qualities of what I have. I also don’t want to pay more than 50-60K. I looked at the M45 and it is not faster nor does it handle better than my car.
WHAT A SHAME, I guess I have to buy a Vette and keep what I have, I don’t see an option.

I read the article Jay Shoemaker wrote about the BMW 535I and was astonished at his remarks. I am 62 years old and still ride high performance bikes – like my current BMW K1200S. I bought a new 2008 BMW 535xi last week and can say it is without a doubt the finest mix of luxury and performance I have ever driven — and I've driven everthing out there worth driving. I live in Northern Nevada and we have snow/ice, so I was looking for all wheel drive in a performance vehicle but was willing to settle for 2 wheel drive if it was exceptional. I drove Lexus 450h & 460L; MB E550 and E550 4Matic; Audi A4 & A6; BMW 335I, BMW M Series Coupe; Porsche Caymen S, Carrera S and Carrera S4.

I can afford any of these and the best buy of the lot was the BMW 535xi. It was fast, handling was exceptional, all the hype about the "I Drive" is a lot of bull, it had all wheel drive and it was under $60K. I got 20 way adjustable sport seats, Navigation, Sirus radio, automatic, sport wheels, heated seats & steering wheel and sport package included. As far as speed goes, it will hold its own with anything I drove except the Porsche Carrera S series. 

There are frequently speed traps near my house, and my wife warns me not to speed. To which I reply “Honey, I don’t speed, I just go 0-30 really fast, and don’t slow down for corners.”

That is until a cop pulls you over… from then on, it wont be much fun anymore.

Look, no car is fun in traffic. It’s traffic’s fault, not the car’s. It’s the times you’re not in traffic when the roundel-hooded ride is so fun!

Its for safety purposes. You dont want an SUV sideswipe you in a low beltline car… Imagine a dodge ram ramming you in an old e39

Still, they’re only computer renderings for now, so we’ll have to wait if the real one is just as nice as these pictures promise. I saw some less appealing ones as well in an Austrian Magazine a while ago that looked only slightly better than the current one.

With respect to the Bangle discussion; in contrast to common believe Bangle did NOT design the 7 series. A fellow dutchman Adrian van Hooydonk designed the exterior. Bangle’s mistake was to choose this design over two rivalling designs. Whether or not he made some changes to the overall appearence I don’t know. I know pretty certain Bangle DID design the Z4 and 6, which I personally think are quite good looking cars (especially 6 series).

Finally…on the wagon/sedan question (I’ve mentioned this before) In Europe wagons are much more popular than sedans, especially among private buyers. So, the ones that like wagons better may have a more European taste in cars. So congratulations to you :)

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/roadtests/comparison/2006/50k.japan.sport.sedans/06.infiniti.m45.f34.500.jpg

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/roadtests/comparison/2006/50k.japan.sport.sedans/06.infiniti.m45.r34.500.jpg

Good god the E39 is handsome. Thanks for reminding us… I want one suddenly.

I think all current sedans look ugly because carmakers are trying to squeeze max amount of interior space out of every vehicle platform. When the resulting fat midsection is combined with the less voluminous rear of a sedan, the look is that of a fatso. I feel the added rear visual weight of the wagon treatment camouflages this, and achieves some of the same effect Porsche does with their wide body models. Big hips over big belly. Always a good tradeoff if you ask me.

Here are the renderings of next gen 5-series…
http://www.automotorsport.se/bigpix/2007/BMW5ny_bak_stor.jpg

http://www.automotorsport.se/bigpix/2007/BMW5ny_front_stor.jpg

Looks a lot cleaner IMO.”

It’s certainly better. They took the front 2/3 of the 3 sedan and the rear of the 3 coupe and embiggened it a bit. It’s better than the current 5, no doubt.

But, the e39 still takes the cake. What is the fascination with really high beltlines these days? It compromises visibility. It means that you have to have huge wheels for the car to look balanced – and replacing 19 or 20 inch rubber is expensive.

It also means that you have to do something about the door sheetmetal. Without any frippery a high beltline means huge slab-like doors. So you have to flame-surface, or crease, or otherwise Bangle-up the car.

I mean compare the current or upcoming designs to the e39:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/bmw/images/CIMG4728-house-big.jpg

A few tasteful changes to the e39 would have been fine. But that’s not what we got.

Since I cannot buy this car, it is comforting to know it sucks. Thanks. I needed that.

CAN I CHECK MY OWN OIL?

Or…

Do I have to bring it to a BMW dealer where they will drain the oil, measure it, and then re-install it in the car?

http://jalopnik.com/cars/all-your-car-software-are-teh-suck/complexity-creep-bmws-electronic-dipstick-causes-oil-grief-265670.php

With respect to point 1), I suspect that most of us couldn’t agree more. Chris Bangle singlehandedly ruined a theme which BMW had spent years to build, and the E39 5 series was one of the best looking sedans ever built.

And yet, with all my aversion to the bangled design of even the 3-series sedan, when it came time to buy a new car, I drove the G35 and the IS350/GS350, and none have the driving dynamics of the BMW. The G35 is close, but the thrummy V6 does not invite use at higher RPM’s, it is larger than what I was looking for and the fuel mileage is simply not competitive with the 335. And the twin-turbo is simply the most tractable engine I have ever had the pleasure of driving.

No question that the buttery leather and interior appointments in the Lexus is at the top of the class, or that the G35 is the hands-down value leader, but the E90 335 is a spectacular car.

While I think that Dave M. is right about image-concious buyers, this is true with every expensive car, from BMW’s to Porsches and Ferraris; Ferrari sales have risen spectacularly since they included a sequential manual gearbox for those who cannot or will not shift for themselves. But take a 335, sport-package equipped 3- or 5-series to the track and you will quickly find out what the fuss is all about.