First off I really wanted a 530i and I wouldn’t even look at a 525i because I figured that the lack of horsepower would be a problem, especially since most of the cars I have owned had a lot more hp’s the last 2 cars I owned had 300 & 285 hp. What changed my mind you ask??? Well, I saw this amethyst-silver metallic beast sitting on a hill for sale, that kept calling my name, at (of all places) a Mercedes Benz dealership and I needed to see it. It was a used 2005 525i, and the price they where asking was a VERY good deal, actually a lot cheaper than the asking price of a used 04 525i (and a lot less mileage) and had a few bell’s and whistles (except the one I really really wanted xenon lights) so I figured that it was at least worth a test drive. I had done a lot of research on the E60 (model of the new 5 series) and actually knew more than the dealer (but once again he was a MB dealer so that was OK) and with my test drive I was actually impressed. OK it did lack some off the line power, but not bad.. and once this little bad girl got going on the highway it made up for the slight loss of hp’s on off the line, this car wanted to move.

About the car, GREAT size, when I was at BMW dealership (didn’t like that experience, I have had a lot of cars from the high end lines Lexus, Lincoln, Cadillac, Infiniti and BMW was definitely the worst) the guy kept trying to get me to buy the new 3-series, and don’t get me wrong the new 3 is a great car. It had more HP than the 05 5 series (the 06’s have the same engine as the new 3 w/the more hp) it was smaller, lighter and the 330i came with most of the options I wanted to get for the 5 series and they came standard. Why didn’t I just get the 330i then? I just didn’t feel as comfortable in it as I did in the 5 series. I am 5-6’ around 200lbs and I have always had a big car and I just liked the feeling in the 5 and I loved the thickness of the 5’s steering wheel (it is heated and just feels great in your hand). Inside the car I do admit is kind of bland my last car was a 03’ Lincoln LS with every option and navigation and before that was a 98’ Lexus GS 400 and both of the cars inside where cool looking and compared to them it was kind of boring looking. One thing that caught my eye was the I-drive, now I have read many many reviews of the E60 and every review had a negative report of the I-drive, so I wanted to see what all this complaining was about. After playing around with it and watching the included DVD that comes with the E60, I loved it, yes some things would have been much easier to use if there where just buttons like changing the radio stations, but you get the hang of it and it’s really not that bad. I think most of the bad review was because these people only spent a limited time with the I-drive and because of that didn’t really understand it. Also many new cars are starting to have some forum of I-drive (MB & Infiniti for example) and I Believe this is going to be the future of cars. Oh I forgot to mention the cup-holders they stink!! They are pretty cool looking you push a button on the dash and they come flying out but they don't hold things well, can't Believe a car like that would have such a crummy cup holder.

Servicing. OK after the time I had with the BMW sales staff I was pretty nervous on getting my car serviced, but I have to say it was a good experience. The local BMW dealership has 2 places to have your car serviced, 1 at the dealership or a new location that was recently built and is billed as being a state of the art facility so I opted to go to the new facility (especially after the dealings with the salesman) and it went very smooth. One of the things I love about this car is that if your car has any problem or it’s time to have it serviced (oil change, etc.) the car actually calls the dealership and then the dealership calls you!!! I saw that my car was flashing on the I-drive screen that it was time for an oil change so I told my self I was going to call tomorrow and set everything up, well tomorrow came but instead of me calling my service person called and said “John hi this is BMW calling your car just called us and said its time for an oil change would you like to set up an appointment?” How sick is that??? All servicing is free under the warranty which is GREAT even windshield wipers are covered…

All in all I love my BMW, would have liked a little more off the line power but it isn’t much of a problem anymore after driving it now and getting use to it. I have heard that BMW's aren't that great in the snow (I live in Boston so that is a concern) but I heard that the new E60 is actually a lot better in the snow so I guess we will see pretty soon. But don’t listen to all the complaints of the I-drive you will get to LOVE it and this car is so sharp and you will get a lot of looks and compliments so get ready, I don’t think it comes in a bad color every color I have seen it in looks great.

P.S.
If you are interested in the E60 BMW I would suggest going to WWW.E60.net it is such a great site you will learn so much about the new 5 and they have GREAT people on that site that will answer any question you might have.
Amount Paid (US$): 35,000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2005
Model and Options: Automatic, Cold & Premium Packages, 5 Disk CD Changer, Sirus package.