New arrival
posted in Family transport |
I turned up in Brighton yesterday morning for the handover of my new (well, new to me) BMW 535d M Sport Touring. Having ploughed through an Olympic breakfast just North of the city, I was ready for whatever japes lay in store. I’m starting to think it’s just me, but every skirmish I seem to have with dealers these days ends in farce. Deep breath. Click the pics for hi-res versions
Found the car in the car park easily enough. I couldn’t resist having a quick look round the outside before seeking out the sales guy. I had agreed to buy the car based on their description of it, with a get-out clause if I didn’t concur. So I was nervous that they’d oversold it’s condition. Externally at least this wasn’t the case. Couple of stone chips, a tiny nick by the rear window and a small scuff to the base of the front splitter. It’s two and a half years old and has covered nearly 30,000 miles. It’s unreasonable to expect it to look like new.
Once introduced to the sales exec I got the keys and went to have a look at the inside. Disappointment. It hadn’t been properly cleaned. The local Albanian guys I use in Peterborough do a much better job for £10. Someone had vaguely waved a vacuum cleaner at it, but that’s all. I had a go at them about it, they were apologetic and have compensated me to get it valeted, but really it’s not good enough on a £30k car.
We went for a drive to make sure all was well. It was. The first thing I noticed is how good the ride is on run-flats! Not crashy at all. Occasionally it’s a little skittish on a bumpy roundabout, but nowhere near as bad as all the negative reviews I’ve read. I’ll have to give it time, but at the moment I can’t see an issue.
I tried to get the salesman to run me through the iDrive. He bumbled about with it for a bit but couldn’t really find his way around too well, particularly when my questions diverted away from his script. This winds me up - SALESPEOPLE: KNOW YOUR PRODUCT. He did get hold of a colleague who could tell the sharp pointy bit on his arm from the hole in his backside, and he managed to quickly pair my phone with the on-board bluetooth and gave me some tips on programming the steering wheel buttons.
So I waved goodbye to Chandlers Brighton, reset the trip computer and headed north. A few miles down the road the boot tonneau cover slipped out of it’s mounting and blocked my rear view almost completely. The 5 series has a “clever” latch on the cover which retracts it upwards and backwards when you open the boot. It’s a good idea. Except when it activates while you’re on the motorway. I pulled off and reset it. I’d probably not clipped it in correctly.
A few miles later it happened again. And has happened a couple of times since. There’s clearly a problem with it. Warranty job. I’ll wait a short while to see if there’s anything else that needs attending to before booking it in with my local dealer, the apparently excellent Sycamore of Peterborough.
By the time I got home I’d averaged 70 mph and 36 mpg. I’ll take this second figure with a pinch of salt until I measure it the old fashioned way, but it’s encouraging.
I’ll quickly run through the optional extras the car has:
Head up display. This projects various information onto the windscreen, just in front of the driver. It means you can see the speed and satnav instructions without taking your eyes off the road. I think it’s marvellous, and as far as I can tell, unique to BMW. I may grow tired of it over time, but so far I think it’s a brilliant idea.
Comfort seats/heated/exclusive leather. I didn’t get on with the standard Sport seats that are fitted to the 5 series M Sport models, so I decided to insist on finding a used example with this option. It’s not easy. Of around 50 535d M Sport cars for sale in the BMW network, only two had it fitted. Now there’s only one :) They are electrically adjustable every which way, including headrest height. In addition they have adjustable side bolsters so you can squeeze yourself in just the right places. Seat heating: Not bothered but my Mrs likes it. Exclusive leather: It’s nice, very fine grained but the ordinary stuff would do for me. All told this combination alone costs about £2000. I’d take the comfort seats but not spend extra on the upgraded leather.
Media pack. This consists of Professional Satnav, bluetooth phone preparation and one or two other irrelevant bits (I think you might be able to contact BMW assist directly through the system). The Satnav is fantastic, once you learn how to use it, and has the “3d” perspective view that I really like. The bluetooth phone preparation is also very good and is working perfectly with my Sony Ericsson W850i. It’s possible to browse my address book via the iDrive screen (with a one-touch press on a user programmable button on the steering wheel). One other nice piece of integration I like is the point of interest (POI) database. You can do a search based on your current location or destination, restricted by category (e.g. hotels & restaurants). While you’re browsing the results of the search it’s possible to select a business and phone through to them via the bluetooth connection with a single touch of the button. I think this is a very cool feature, though I’ll probably never use it.
Visibility pack: Xenon lights that see around corners. You can see the lights swing to one side when you’re steering. I haven’t worked out yet whether there is any point to this, but it’s fun to watch.
Electric tailgate: good for showing off and that’s about it. Yet another thing to go wrong. I am sounding like my Dad.
Quick bit about the driving experience. It’s early days but I think I’m going to like it. It’s not as composed as the Merc E320 CDI Sport I tried a couple of weeks ago, but a lot more fun. And substantially faster. In my experience, for the first time in a diesel, there is no noticeable lag then kick in the back. Just seamless, constant power. It’s also very refined at high speeds. You’ve got to be careful. I guess with the HUD there’s little excuse for accidental speeding.
Good news: Whilst I was fussing around it this morning I noticed that the previous owner had fitted some aftermarket McGuard locking wheel nuts. Bad news: The key is nowhere to be found! Chandlers are going to have to sort this, and I ain’t going back to Brighton!