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  Just got my 550i!! (Initial impressions here)

 Just got my 550i!! (Initial impressions here)



After agonizing over whether to cancel my order for an '06 550 and order an '07, the wait (and the 72% residual) got the better of me, and I decided to just go for the 06.

Well, I picked up my car (finally) yesterday (original post was here: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho....php?t=127194), and already have 200 miles on it (not worrying about the lease yet .

Silver-gray/black, pretty much everything other than HUD, active cruise, and fold-down seat.

Here are my initial impressions:
- Driving/Driveability: WOW! This car just begs to be driven and pushed. On the 73 tollroad to Laguna Beach yesterday (a great, generally wide open road), I was up to 100 without really knowing it (my wife didn't know it either - til she saw the speedometer Turns that my MBZ E500 would have slid in, the 550 is steady and just seems glued to the road. Incredible.
- Comfort: I highly recommend the comfort seats (anyone getting an 07 sports package won't need to decide). The seats are incredible. I've had a '98 BMW 540, a 2000 Lexus GS400, an '03 MBZ E500, and now the 550. I could never really get comfortable in the 540. The Lexus felt great, but didn't have the support for long drives. The MBZ (w/ multi-contour and drive-dynamic seats) had the most comfortable seats in a car I've had - up until now. Also, there's a little bit more room in the back-seat than in the MBZ
- i-drive: Well, the jury's still out here (of course, I haven't read the manual, so this may help). I want to get: the satellite radio station persistently in the left pane, and use the right pane for different displays, etc - can't seem to do this. And it seems that whenever I go to select another sat radio station, i lose the display of what's on. It's easy enough to learn how to use idrive, just may not be able to do everything i want with it. Additionally, the system seems slow to start (and it's start-up times are inconsistent). I'm wondering if this is specific to my car (not a problem already!!), or if tihs is just the way it is in the 550's.
- Storage: Well, here's one place where the 550 loses. I had a much larger center console, and much larger door-pockets, in the Benz. Very limited areas to store stuff (CD's, my blackberry, etc . Additionally, it's sad (but not surprising) to see that BMW still hasn't made a suitable cupholder. I haven't tried with my Starbucks travel mug yet - but put in the cupholder yesterday and it seemed rather floppy. Anyone have any suggestions on good sized coffee mugs that stay put? (I need my morning coffee).
- Sound: GET the premium sound. Sounds great, and very adjustable. Other folks have said that the Sirius doesn't sound that good -- I don't know, on the 200 mile drive yesterday, Sirius sounded great (not as crisp as a CD, but pretty darn close).

More as I drive it

A few more questions:
- Any way to program the car so it locks when you step away from it? (I have comfort access)
- I had seen somewhere that it can be set so you don't need to pull on the handle twice to open - anyone have instructions?

Thanks all.

Another entusiastic 550 owner,

ira
   Reply » Just got my 550i!! (Initial impressions here)

Congrats on the new car!

Regarding iDrive, if you haven't already, read the owners manual. I found that after investing the time to read the manual and do the initial set up in iDrive to my preferences, it's a great system. And review the voice commands, which allow you to do many things without using the iDrive controller.

The start up is a bit long (although I just had my car updated to 20.02 and it's a bit faster). The reason for the variable start up times is that the car doesn't go to sleep for some time after you turn the ignition off, so if you stop at a store and come back to the car quickly, for example, the iDrive may not have gone to sleep, so when you start the car it doesn't need to go through the entire start up process.

Post some pix when you have a chance.

   Reply » Just got my 550i!! (Initial impressions here)

Congrats Santa,

I just got my 550i on the 25th of Feb too. Silver Gray, with HUD but without Active Steering.

About the locking the car when you walk away. There is not such an option, and I believe it works well. Since what if you wanted to walk away, and your family was in the car. Or your friend was talking stuff out of your car to help you, and you walked away?? A really cool way to lock your car is to place your THUMB over the KEY SLOT, and then rotate it as if using an INVISIBLE key. The car locks, as soon as you are about to lift your thumb. But remember to do it slowly. My friends are always impressed

I would love to find an option to unlock and open the door with just one pull. I don't know if that option exists.

   Reply » Just got my 550i!! (Initial impressions here)

Quote:
Congrats Santa,


I would love to find an option to unlock and open the door with just one pull. I don't know if that option exists.
The double pull is purely mechanical and there's no electronic setting to change it. You'll experience it if you have the doors set to auto-lock. The first pull unlocks the door and the second pull opens it. The auto-lock feature doesn't have an auto-unlock option when you park so if you want to avoid having to pull the handle twice then you'll need to disable auto-lock in iDrive.

   Reply » Just got my 550i!! (Initial impressions here)

Quote:
The double pull is purely mechanical and there's no electronic setting to change it. You'll experience it if you have the doors set to auto-lock. The first pull unlocks the door and the second pull opens it. The auto-lock feature doesn't have an auto-unlock option when you park so if you want to avoid having to pull the handle twice then you'll need to disable auto-lock in iDrive.
Yep, i know that. I had the same thing on my Z3, my M3. Was just wondering if we could do something about it

   Reply » Just got my 550i!! (Initial impressions here)

Comfort Access does not require you to pull the handle. It will unlock if you pull the handle but this is a redundant mode. For the primary mode, there are proximity sensors behind the handle indent cavity that sense a hand placed in the cavity. This applies for all four doors. If your car does not unlock when your hand is gripping the handle (not just one finger), then have your dealer look at it.

Locking is equally easy. On the drivers door, touch the door keyhole indent on the left side with your thumb or finger for 1/2 second and the doors will lock. You can also put your thumb or finger on the fixed (non-moving) segment of any of the other door handles.

Finally, get out of the car with your windows and/or sunroof open and hold your thumb or finger on the aforemention keyhole indent for 3 seconds and all open windows/sunroof will close.


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