- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 26 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
5.0 stars
"The perfect 4-door sedan? Yes!"
Pros: Comfort, handling, acceleration, USB port!!! Included Maintenance, fuel economy, MUST HAVE SPORT PACKAGE!
Cons: "soft" styling, Price, including Porsche-like cost of options
Summary: Wow!
I cannot begin to list the cars that I have owned before this but let's just say that I just sold my 2006 M5 and replaced it with the 535i. And this car (with the sport package) is better than the M5 in almost every way but one.
Before settling on the 535i, I drove the Mercedes E-550, The Lexus 400ih (also wow! but some major flaws), The 550i, E63 (owned the E55), and the Audi A6 (owned the RS6 before). BMW has just hit the nail on the head in the 535i's combination of performance, options, "road feel," and overall driveability.
Pretty much everything that previous actual owners have written here is spot-on; I would give this car a 9.5 but had to pump up the rating to 10 in order to offset the poverty-stricken haters out there.
Facts:
1. The iDrive still may not be the best system out there but when you skip the SMG, ultrasound, nav, heads-up, and every other electronic option vying for the limited Windows CE- controlled CPU time, it works quite well.
2. The engine is wonderful. The twin turbos give this car power anywhere on the rev curve and the acceleration is nothing short of breathtaking. For $10K less and 30% better MPG, this absolutely stomps the sh#t out of the 550i. And yes, it's no M5 but $33,000 more, the SMG transmission, 12MPG, and an anemic iDrive speed hardly seems worth 1 second on a 0-60 time.
3. The steptronic transmission is, as they say "like butter." Whether in sport mode or normal drive the thing never misses a beat; no need for manual shifting here- it knows what you want to do before you do it.
4. THE USB PORT IS DA BOMB! I am currently running a 2GB key drive and it reads and categorizes everything perfectly. Radio? What radio? And I thought XM and Sirius were awesome.
5. Keyless entry. What an awesome invention. Forget digging for keys EVER.
6. Touch-sensitive memory short-cut keys which can control any function. Forget what is programmed on a button? Hold your finger over it! Program one button for calling home from the bluetooth-compatible speaker phone. Program another to enter the USB port mode. Program another for your favorite radio station. The only flaw here is that there are not enough of these buttons (only six); there should be a "shift" key which doubles or even triples these buttons.
A few issues:
1. As many have noted, the styling is a bit soft, especially when you look at the 550i or the M5 and see what is possible. There is no excuse for this; the 335 has twin wide-mounted exhausts- so should the 535i. The front spoiler could and should be more aggressive; Lord knows not one but two factory-produced versions exist and cost no more to intall as OEM equipment. Then why does BMW not include this? Simple- to make you want to spend the extra $10K that the 550i costs (sort of like a $10K "aero kit" option on the 911).
2. Price. $60,000 is what this car will cost you with the "necessary" options. While that's a bit steep, remember that for FOUR years you will NEVER pay for an oil change, tune-up, windshield wipers, brakes, ANYTHING except gas and (if you don't buy the wheel/tire warrantee) tires. The tire warrantee is a slam-dunk because the car has runflats which cannot be repaired if they eat a nail or screw and so they are replaced FREE, (no pro-rating) so long as they are above a minimum tread depth. When you compare the residual values and the actual cost of ownership to any similar car in its class, it's an economic no-brainer. Also, dealers are currently selling the cars at $2,000 - $3,000 off MSRP. Because of the exceptional maintenance and warrantee plan, a used 535i becomes an exceptional value. There are even many leasing programs available for 1-year old used cars.
Overall, I cannot remember being happier or having a bigger smile on my face after buying a car, [except perhaps my twin turbo 911 with the factory x50 package, but I think that had more to do with the G-forces involved with 3.6 second 0-60 times
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