I've said before that if I were to need to replace my 928 with something more practical, I'd get a 540 wagon. I've done one better, I replaced the Saab with an '03 540 wagon:





Definitely a worthy stablemate. It's probably a little quicker off the line, and feels very similar at most other speeds. 290 HP and 324 ft/lbs torque, but hauling an extra ~450 lbs. Definitely a quick car. Turns out I'm in good company, Tim Murphy has one of these too!

This does not have the sport package, which is fine as it's primarly the wife's car. When I first got it, I found it to be floaty when going around turns, but after putting some snow tires on it, I think the OEM conti GrandContacts are just not very good tires. They are brand new, I'm still trying to figure out what to do about that. It's still no 928, but for a car this big, it's fairly nimble, and the creature comforts are very nice.

I really like this car, and it holds a crapload. Has the Nav system which I'm pretty happy with, not as good as Honda's, but pretty intuitive. What I find the most interesting is that iDrive uses the same interface, and that the **** really improves navigation over the simple rotary **** on this version nav system. It's very intuitive, and the iDrive **** simplifies the navigation through the menus. It's that they want to do *everything* through iDrive that makes it bad. I suspect BMW will move to a somewhat middle ground in the near future, with more buttons back on the dash, and the iDrive as simply the control method when you need to navigate in the screen.

 

Nice one, is that Titanium Silver? XI or rear-wheel drive?

 

Awesome! I use a '95 E34 525iT as a daily driver, which has been bulletproof. There's a silver '02 540iT around here with the type 66 wheels that induces station wagon lust in my heart. (Am I officially middle aged now???) I will seriously consider another Touring if the tranny in my E34 ever gives up the ghost.

I have never heard a nice thing about OEM Conti's on any BMW- why do they use these tires?

 

Most new luxury cars have 250+ hp.....with similar weight as a 928.......so they perform pretty close, especially at lower speeds.....plus they have the benefit of much lower gears (& more of them)......my 06 Acura TL puts down 207whp (260 crank) in a 3580lb car....with a 5 speed automatic.....off the line it pulls more G's than my 928....but only barely (.54 vs .50)......it feels quicker below about 50mph...above 50 the 928 is gone......the acura handles really well too.....until you pass about 8/10ths....then it understeers like crazy....which is normal for a FWD car

 

I know exactly where you live! Just east of Greenbay almost in Wilmette; that's a nice little street to speed down, very few intersections. ;-) My 944 was dicey in the snow, the 540 should be better!

 

Spending 6+ hours in the back of Tim Murphy's wagon, it's easy to see why BMW is the ultimate driving machine. Tim drives his BMW hard, very hard. Every shift, well, you almost cannot even feel them. It just keeps pulling harder and harder. This was with four adults (ok, the women are 1/2 size compared to Tim and I - we staggered the seating to keep the car balanced).

 

It's Bluewater metallic. RWD, didn't do xDrive in the E39, which is fine with me.

It does have 100 more lbs/ft torque than the TL, you can feel that grunt whenever you really want to move.

Scott, that's actually the L behind the cars - I'm between the stadium and Evanston hospital - and right at the end of a dead end street, so no speeders. But I am almost in Wilmette, I think Isabella is the street you're thinking of?

 

Round about $? I've always liked the BMW 4L 8s.

 

Low $30's. I think the prices for the V8's are kinda in flux right now, as Edmunds had a CPO listed for significantly more than I paid. If you're willing to go a few years older, they can be had for much lower, but I wanted one that still had some warranty coverage and reasonable miles - plan is to keep it for a while. We'll see, sounds like the 535TD Touring will be available in 2 years, although probably another 3 after that until used ones are in the price range I'd be willing to pay.

 

Not bad.
I actually just bought my wife a TL, but the previous version, late 03 model, and then locked it in with a 100,000 mile Acura care plan. I think it needs more motor mounts, and the trans issue will probably happen soon. But its not my problem until I think 2010. When the car will be paid off, and I should have a lot of exciting nearly new car choices! We drove the 5s, and I sat in the back with great agony. I love those cars, but I didn't like the prices here or even on ebay.

I decided that I may just bring a car home next time instead of letting my wife make more car choices. I drive it enough that I think I need to be more central in the decision.

 

Brendan
Be careful....my mom has an 03 TL and it blew its tranny at 55K miles AFTER it was "fixed' in the recall.....& my mom doesn't exactly drive hard either...luckily for her it was still on the 60K powertrain warranty...otherwise the dealer would have taxed her for $5K

 

No Doubt. No Doubt. I "Broke" my wife's previous Acura MDX while, um, towing a very moderate trailer, and an empty (I mean empty) roller 928. It decided that the Torque converter lockup was goo until 1mph. That does wonders for the 5pm traffic cycle.

This one is more, uh, tricky. I am not even sure the recall has happend on this car, but its cleaner then a new car, so I think it hasn't been at the dealer much. I will start to document "transmission issues" and make sure a new one is popped in my 65k.

 

Beautifull car. You will love it for years. The companion to my shark is a 92 525i. Though it is no race car, it is simply the most compfortable car I have ever spent 12 hrs on the road in. It now has 153k on it and runs like new. I have spent 2k on maintenance over the last 5 years and that is it other than oil change. The feel of the wheel in your hands while driving this car is like no other big car I have ever experienced. I will definately buy another when this one gives up the ghost. Oh, did I mention it gets almost 30mph on long trips?

Good luck with the new toy

 

The TL almost made it onto our look at list. While my wife and I really wanted a wagon, we both love the way the TL looks, and I had a really good experience with my Integra. Plus Honda makes the best Nav system, IMO. However, when we checked one out at the auto show, no fold down rear seat! Pretty much killed that right there. Might seem like a small thing, but I've never had a car were it hasn't come in handy. Plus, they are the new Jetta around here - not sure if it's like that elsewhere ,but they are everywhere.

I'm not sure if the 5 wagon has bigger back seats, or if you were looking at the latest model 5, or if you are just big. I'm a bit over 6'1", and can "sit behind myself" no problem in this car. We got 4 adults, a kid in a car seat, a folding wood table and 4 folding wood chairs, a medium size cooler, kiddie toys, and a portable crib in. Took a bit of organizing in the back, but I was mighty impressed with the cargo capacity, the cargo area doesn't really look like it's as big as it is.

The biggest downfall is the fuel economy - we're getting about 17.5mpg right now. Can't win 'em all. Hopefully gas stays cheap-ish for a while.

 

My 06 TL auto is funny with the gas mileage...sure its rated 19-29 on premium gas...but the best my wife can manage in mostly in town with some short freeway trips is 16mpg?!?!?! I can get 18 in town when I drive....mostly because the wife has a lead foot..... :>(

But I have seen as high as 34mpg on the freeway at 70mph! At 80ish in gets 30.....past about 85 it really starts to drop off.....I would guess 20mpg @ 100mph