[kenw]

Hi AP
Thanks for your excellent review of your 540i.
I too have purchased a very similar car although the SE variant. I thought I would share with you my experience so far and ask a few questions
I have owned a 5 series since 1988 all have been new and all have been 3 litre engnes three petrol and one 530d. All have been SE variants.
My E28 in 1988 was a 525e which had a low revving engine, superb for motorway cruising.
My E39 in 1990 was a 528i SE touring and I loved that car. I kept it for 12 years and sold it to a friend who is still running it. I had virtually no problems with it except a harsh suspension problem from new, which was cured by changing the rear sub frame mountings in the first month or two, under warranty.
My 2014 E11, again a touring, was a 530d SE and was the most comfortable all rounder. Equipped with VDC the comfort+ setting provided an exceptional ride. Sport and Eco Pro settings transformed the car in both dimensions and made it unrecognisable from the Comfort+ tourer.
Thinking that the new 5 series would be the same with the advantage of new tech I changed to a G30 540i SE Xdrive in June this year. I spec'd it similar to the E11 with VDC, 18" wheels and comfort seats. I also added the Technology Package and the Driving Assistant Plus , HUD, Adaptive headlights+ High Beam assist, LED fog lights, folding mirrors and Bluestone paint.
You will have gathered by now that I prefer a comfortable, but responsive car. There is a lot to love about this 540, and responsive it certainly is, but comfortable it certainly is not. I have now covered 2590 miles and am averaging 30.3mpg (imperial). Its now run in so I have been driving it positively for a week or two and thats not helped the mpg!
Over good tarmac surfaces the ride is fine, but this car thuds over ruts in the road and fidgets over uneven road surfaces, even with adaptive dampers fitted. When negotiating turns over uneven surfaces the car can also jump off line an inch or two which can be disconcerting.
So I read with interest that several new owners have found that the suspension is really good. Of the four 5 series cars I have now owned, this has definitely the worst suspension and is a world away from that in the E11. So I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has a G30 and feels that the suspension is too harsh.


I had Oyster seats in my last car and they did suffer from the 'jeans' discolouration problem, but you can remove it easily enough with AutoGlym Leather Cleaner.
I agree with you on the door stowage pockets, why have BMW dispensed with the velvet lining to these? and the shape of the long area means you cannot get your hand into the rear whilst seated. Pretty basic stuff that I don't expect BMW to get wrong these days.
The glove box and the small stowage box on the drivers side are all smaller than before, so convenient places to store sunglasses, wallets etc are at a premium now.
Wireless charging with my Samsung S7 works a treat though and charges the phone quickly.
The Head up Display is brilliant and already I dont want another car without it. A real safety improvement as you do not have to take your eyes off the road very much at all.


I did not opt for the more expensive BMW Icon Adaptive Headlights instead I upgraded the standard LED lights to be Adaptive with High Beam Assist. This is bright enough and works fine, but the inner two headlamps have no function. The LED beam has a strange blue vignette pattern at the top of the dipped beam which is very evident when the lights are on full beam. Strange that a company like BMW cannot produce a pure white beam. Have other owners experienced this?
The difference between standard and the more expensive Icon lights is that all four headlamps are used and you get the intelligent high beam assist, which dynamically blanks out parts of the beam. In the basic version they just go on and off like traditional lights. I would probably pay for the Icon lights next time. The brochure is very poor at describing these different features, and the sales staff did not know either.


Variable Damper Control - As I have indicated I am not impressed with the version in my car. There is no perceptable difference in suspension feel between ECO/Comfort/Sport/Adaptive settings. In sport you can feel the steering and gearbox tighten up, but not much difference in ride quality. It certainly does not mask all but the worst in the road.
What do other owners think?
I agree with your comments on the comfort seats. If you can afford the extra £1750 then they are worth it.



Driving Assistant Plus
I like most of the features in this package. I do not have Lane Change assist as my vehicle was pre July, but BMW have agreed to give me a software update to turn this on.
I did not initially like the 'tug' on the steering wheel when you crossed a white line, so I turned that off but have left everything else on .
I am not sure if the Lane keeping Assistant is really fit for purpose yet. I have experienced the car 'hunting' back and forth between the centre white line and the inside white line particularly when the camber influences the car to steer to the left. I dont think I would encourage anyone to take their hands off the wheel and leave it up to the car to drive itself (even for 30 seconds!). Too often it cannot cope with the situation and turns itself off. If you are not watching and alert to this you could easily get into trouble.

Active Cruise Control with stop and go is brilliant, and the Stop function works great in all but a few situations (when a vehicle in front is half in your lane, the radar sometimes does not detect it, so does not slow down!) but I find that when in a queue of traffic the Go function does not start very often. I have been advised by BMW that it will only restart by itself if you have been stationary for less that 3 seconds! Seems an awfully short time period.
It will start if you press the throttle or the steering wheel button. Is your car the same?

So in Summary
I too love most of this car, EXCEPT THE SUSPENSION and would welcome feedback.

I think its fair to say I am disappointed that I have not found my new F11!

Improvements I would introduce:-

I would re-introduce VDC COMFORT PLUS suspension mode and make it available as a retrospective upgrade to existing owners who want it .

I agree about iDrive screen integration. Mercedes have the edge in this area and it would be simple to extend the dash over the top of the screen to integrate it more.

I hate the carpet pile in the boot. Why use this coarse pile that everything gets matted with. Trim the boot with the same carpet as used internally, as is done on the Touring version.

Bring back the temperature control knob for the front centre air vents. I don't want to have to find this setting in iDrive when my wife says she is too cold!

ASS off by default should be an option particularly as BMW have said it leads to premature component wear and poorer fuel economy.

Provide with the car a printed handbook for the Navigation, Entertainment and Communication features. Having this available at a £30 premium is ridiculous on a £55000 car. Its not available in iDrive either as some sales staff think, and you can only access the handbook when stationary.

Ken